The Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) presented its December ‘Touch of Class’ Award to Tiffany McClure, the International Professional Rodeo Association’s 2010 World Champion Barrel Racer, during a private screening of the new Steven Spielberg movie War Horse in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15.

McClure, who grew up in Prince George’s County and graduated from Anne Arundel Community College, received the award from Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance, Deputy Secretary Mary Ellen Setting, MHIB Chair Jim Steele, Governor Martin O’Malley’s representative Ashley Valis, and California Congressman Dennis Cardoza.

"We are very pleased that Tiffany was able to fly in from Oklahoma to be here with us tonight and to accept this award not only for her own achievements but as a representative of the best in Maryland’s equine industry," said Hance. "We thank the Maryland Jockey Club and American Horse Council for hosting this screening and bringing together so many of Maryland’s equine professionals to celebrate Maryland’s horse industry–an important agricultural sector in our state and region."

Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider complete a clover-leaf pattern around barrels. It combines the horse’s athletic ability and the rider’s horsemanship skills to safely maneuver around barrels placed in a triangle in the center of an arena. Last year, McClure, then a 24-year-old rookie, left her job as a large animal veterinary assistant, moved to Oklahoma with her horse Dinks Rockin Again, a 10-year-old red roan Quarter Horse, and joined the rodeo. She jumped to the lead in the rookie category and kept winning her way to the world title her first year on the circuit