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Kiana L. Madrigal

First Posted: 3/5/2014 Karen Kutera loves the quiet time she spends riding her palomino along the trails near her home in Hunlock Creek.
&#8220;You saddle up and go into the woods,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s nice and quiet. You have no one to give you grief.&#8221;
Despite her enjoyment of solitary rides, Kutera was delighted to take her horse Trippin&#8217; In Diamonds, also known as Ice, on a very public and competitive ride &#8212; around the course at the National Barrel Horse Association&#8217;s World Championship in Perry, Ga.
&#8220;We won the 3D senior division, out of 400 in that class,&#8221; said Kutera, who happily shows off a saddle her horse won. She had his name tooled into the leather of the saddle, and she has her own wearable trophy, a gleaming belt buckle that measures 4 inches across.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve so proud of it,&#8221; she said with a smile.
For Kutera, who works as a shift manager at a Rite-Aid pharmacy, affection for horses goes back at least 50 years. When she was a little girl, her father, Bernie Cywinski, worked at a riding academy and encouraged his three daughters to ride.
Her sisters gave it up as they grew up; Kutera never did.
It&#8217;s such a thrill, she said, to gallop around the barrels on a barrel-racing course, which Ice was able to do in less than 16 seconds, without knocking any over.
Calling the horse &#8220;a natural-born athlete,&#8221; Kutera said. &#8220;All you have to do with him is point, and he takes off.&#8221;
On videos of her seven races around the course in Georgia, Kutera pointed out how the horse &#8220;collects himself and puts his butt underneath him&#8221; and pivots around each barrel.
&#8220;For him to have seven clean (without knocking over a barrel) runs was quite an accomplishment,&#8221; she said.
Ice is 9 years old now, and Kutera bought him when he was a yearling. She keeps her horses for life, she said, explaining that her two other horses, a bay (that means he has a black mane and tail) named Streak and a paint (that means he has white markings) named Cowboy are retired from competition but will always have a home with her.
Ice is a palomino, which means he has a golden coat and white mane and tail.
The other horses share a barn with Ice, but each grazes during the day in his own separate paddock, so there won&#8217;t be a chance they could injure each other. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want anybody to get hurt by accident,&#8221; Kutera said.
&#8220;He&#8217;s a people horse,&#8221; she said, giving Ice a gentle pat. &#8220;He loves to be around people.&#8221;
Ice doesn&#8217;t mind traveling either, Kutera said, explaining the horse was fine during a 16-hour drive to Georgia a few months ago for the competition.
&#8220;He eats and he drinks, and he has no problem.&#8221;
The next barrel race for Kutera and Ice will be a Keystone Classic event next month in Shartlesville.

Barreling toward the big win