Fallon Taylor's New Groove

A Candid Q&a With the World Champion Barrel Racer & Rodeo’s Most Colorful Star.

- Ken Amorosano

Fallon Taylor, the self-described “unicorn-obsessed, tie-dye wearing, outspoken, helmet chick that is trying to change the world for the better one person at a time,” is more than meets the eye. Her roller-coaster life-story, which reads like a made-for-TV movie, has catapulted her image and following to the front echelon of rodeo’s most famous celebrities.

And it is very well deserved.

Fallon was the youngest competitor ever to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo when she was 13, then went on to qualify the next three years, establishing her controversial position as one who bucked the trends and traditions. Dropping the winning streak of her own accord, the ambitious and outspoken go-getter set out for New York City to pursue a full-time career in modeling, something

she did successfully for 10 years. After that, it was on to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting, landing roles in several popular TV shows and movies.

Returning to Texas, Fallon met tragedy head-on when she was bucked off a horse during a late-night training session and suffered a nearly fatal head injury. Overcoming what she was told was a 2 percent chance of ever walking again proved to be the catalyst that set her back on the path to professional barrel racing, and qualifying for the NFR in 2013.

In 2014 she qualified again, this time cinching the world championship and further cementing her image as the most flamboyant barrel racer the sport has ever seen.