Barrel Horse World

WALK THE WALK

TALK THE TALK

Darcie Ulin-Reck

Written by Lisa Grantham

Darcie (left) accepting the
NBHA Iowa District 05 - Open 3D saddle

Darcie grew up in Blakesburg, Iowa. She graduated from Blakesburg High School in 1982 and attended Indian Hills Community College. She was employed with the Wapello County Treasurer’s office for 15 years. She attended Faith Baptist Church, and dedicated her life to her horses and the ones she loved. She had been a member of the Ottumwa Saddle Club, Iowa Rodeo Cowboy Association, United Rodeo Cowboy Association. Darcie married Rodney Reck on December 30, 1995.

Horses were her life. She started young. Ever since Jr. High School, she had a passion for horses and riding. Her family would haul her all over to compete in horse shows, 4-H, rodeos, barrel races and NBHA. She won numerous buckles, saddles and many other awards. While in high school, she competed in the Little Britches Rodeo Finals in Colorado in roping and barrel racing. Her dad bought her favorite horse for her – Tiger. Tiger was just an average horse, but he figured out how to win, and Darcie knew how to win too. She loved to take care of her horses and run barrels ... and she was good at it.

She really enjoyed finding prospects and training. She would train her horses to run either left or right handed patterns, and it paid off for her on numerous occasions. Once, she noticed at a particular Iowa Rodeo Cowboy Association rodeo that you couldn’t see the right barrel coming up the alleyway. She also noticed some horses were having difficulty at the right barrel because of the angle it was set and the bad ground. Her horses could run on any type of ground. Darcie used it to her advantage and ran left, and won the IRCA rodeo several years in a row, using her mind and her winning style.

She was good with kids. When she came across children that wanted to ride but didn’t know how or didn’t have an opportunity to, Darcie would saddle up Jigger and together, they would teach the children how to ride. Dee Dee was her favorite horse to compete on. She always took time to talk to everybody, and she always had a smile on her face. If she wasn’t playing with kids, or puppies, or talking to somebody, she was working or caring for horses and did it until all the work was done.

Darcie loved the Lord. She always wore a cross necklace as her Testament and Faith in the Lord. Darcie was loved by many and was a blessing to all. She knew how important her family and friends were.

*****

On August 30, 2006, Darcie was turning several mares out into a lot at their farm. Her husband found her unconscious laying just inside of the gate, obviously kicked in the head by one of the mares. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital in Ottumwa to be stabilized, but was later Life-flighted to a trauma hospital in Iowa City. Darcie was in a coma and never regained consciousness.

For the first week, her family and friends remained at the hospital visiting whenever they could. During the second week, they kept day and night vigil at Darcie’s side in ICU. Her family kept the barrel racing community updated several times daily on BarrelHorseWorld about Darcie’s condition. Slowly, her organs began to fail from the trauma.

For 13 days, Prayer Warriors, family and friends, and members of the BarrelHorseWorld community, most of which had never met Darcie, lifted her to the Lord in prayer, asking for a miracle. Many checked the board night and day for updates and prayed continuously. The hearts of every barrel racer were touched by the love and faith and comfort that Darcie’s family showed. Vigilant prayers continued, then on September 12, 2006, at 9:12 am, at the age of 42, Darcie went home to be with her Lord and Savior.

*****

At Darcie’s funeral service, the Reverend read from Darcie’s own bible, some highlighted passages that Darcie had written down from a previous message ... Walk the Walk - Talk the Talk. Darcie lived by those words, and did so with a smile on her face. Darcie was a Christian; she spoke of and demonstrated her faith.

Reverends Phil Griffith and Jim Matheney read from a posting that Darcie had written in a friends annual in high school the following poem:

“IF” For a Special Young Woman

If you can learn to live your life completely

and never waste a day that comes to you

If you can make decisions most discreetly,

and live by them and always see them through ...

If you can be ambitious, but not greedy,

and stand by all things you know are right,

If you can share with everyone who’s needy,

and learn that strength is not the same as might ...

If you can see beyond the storm, the lining

and see some good where good is hard to find,

If you can be the woman God intended

and see inside yourself the beauty there,

If you can let your hand reach out extended and give and take what those whose life you’ll share ...

If you can do these things and learn a lesson

that if you fail you’ll have to try once more,

Then life will be a marvelous expression

of every happiness you’re searching for.

Her co-workers praised her and how passionate she was about life and how they had enjoyed working with her for 15-1/2 years.

Darcie leaves behind a loving family - her husband Rodney, her mother Donna, sister Cheri and her husband Donnie, brother Gary and his wife Mary, sister-in-law Peggy, niece Kelly, and many, many friends and acquaintances. She was preceded in death by her father, Harold “Pete” Ulin and a brother, Danny Ulin.

Darcie Renee Ulin-Reck

9/23/63 - 9/12/06

Thanks to Cheri, Kelly and Don for contributions for this article.

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