Local barrel racer, Jamey Hunt, wins $80K

Jamey Hunt riding Gripe Gut Juice for the win! -Photo: Submitted by Ashley Hunt

By Tami Stevenson

Once the love of horses takes root in a soul, it’s usually a life-long passion that never dies. The admiration for these majestic, powerful and noble creatures lives on throughout ones life. Although, most horse owners will confess that it is expensive to own horses in today’s economy. Nevertheless, one local family has turned that around. They are enjoying a good living from their horses with no plans of slowing down.

Jamey Hunt, has loved horses since he was a kid. He, along with his wife and fellow horse-lover, Ashley Roberts Hunt, of McAlpin, have found a way to make their life’s passion a way of life.

Jamey has been a trainer and farrier for more than 25 years and took to barrel racing after watching his sister barrel race when they were kids. He gave it a try and loved it. Ashley barrel races as well.

Throughout the Hunts’ career with horses, they have taken home more than $1M in prize money and most of that from barrel racing. According to Jamey, the majority of prize money has been won in just the last five years or so, as they decided to get back into barrel racing and take it more seriously.

Jamey, along with Ashley’s horse, Gripe Gut Juice, was featured last month in APHA News and Barrel Racing Report for his $80,000 win from Legends Of The South, at the Rob & Teresa Stopanio Memorial Barrel Race, December 28-January 1, 2023, in Ocala.

They purchased the solid Paint gelding, Gripe Gut Juice, as a late two-year-old. He told Tanya Randall, during the interview, “Another guy had bought him off the track, and I actually traded $1,200 worth of shoeing for him. He was cripple and I took a chance on him.”

Ashley said what everyone thought was wrong with him, ultimately was incorrect. Jamey, being a farrier, realized, after working with him for a time, that it was something else and he was able to help Juice recover. Ashley began riding him and has claimed him as her own, although they both compete with him. Today, Juice is nine years old and has won approximately $250,000, mostly in open barrel races, according to Jamey.

This last weekend they were in Louisiana. Between he and Ashley, they took home over $20K in prize money at the Kinder Cup Barrel Racing Championship.

Jamey is originally from North Carolina. He met Ashley, who came to North Carolina with a friend to look at some horses. One thing led to another and the rest is history. They have been married 13 years and have a son, Nate, who is now 10 years old.

Today, they live on the property where Ashley grew up in McAlpin, next to Ashley’s mother, Mary Roberts, who spends a lot of time with Nate.

“She’s a big blessing for us, that’s for sure,” Jamey said. “They are really close. He spends a lot of time with his granny and it helps a lot.”

Nate is homeschooled and according to his father, not into horses all that much.
“He doesn’t mind horses, but is not into riding and all, and that’s fine with me.” Jamey added. “I think it’s because that’s all he hears 24/7, because it’s our life. Eating breakfast in the morning, we’re talking about horses, then at night at dinner we’re still talking about horses. So he gets all he wants to hear about them.”

His interests are more technology-based. He’s really into computers and games. According to his father, at 10 years old, Nate is already building computer games and has been for several years. “And he loves history, especially war history. He’s a whiz at war history. He studies and studies and is really into that as well.”

They said homeschooling works best with them being on the road so much. If Nate is with them, they just bring school along and he does his work while on the road. His grandmother helps with that as well, when he stays with her. The Hunt family is very appreciative of Grandma and all she does.

He said as far as home schooling goes, establishing a schedule was key. “So many people have trouble, but they don’t keep their kids on a schedule. Once you establish that schedule, it’s not that hard.”

When they are not on the road Jamey and Ashley are busy training and prepping the horses for the next competition. He said he does his very best prepping each horse. He will spend a month or so working with each horse going over every little thing they have to do in the next competition to make sure each horse has the opportunity to do their very best in each thing they’ve entered them in.

The Hunt family is a great example that with enough hard work and ingenuity, dreams can become a reality.

Nate Hunt, front left, Ashley Hunt and Jamey Hunt at Southeastern Arena in Unadilla, Georgia, at the MR Productions “The Fabulous Fifty” show in January, 2023, where Jamey took home $8,472.

-Photo: Submitted by Ashley Hunt