Kelly Maben of Spur, Texas, rides to an arena record of 13.58 seconds en route to winning the sixth go-round of the National Finals Rodeo on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Way out there on the plains of west Texas, in a speck-of-dust town called Spur, Kelly Maben teaches writing to elementary school children. She instructs those in third through fifth grade about proper sentence structure and coherent paragraphs, about avoiding the passive voice whenever possible and not over-using adjectives, about the importance of contributing to a literate society.

For her efforts in helping to educate young minds, she earns $33,000 annually.

Down there on the Thomas & Mack Center dirt the past several nights, Maben has directed her horse around three barrels in a triangular arrangement. Atop the gelding, she has exhibited a delicate balance of speed and control, essential in a rodeo event that evolved years ago when mothers and daughters grew tired of watching men wrestle steers and ride bulls.

For her efforts in this year's National Finals Rodeo (including an arena-record 13.58-second time Tuesday), she had made $73,648, winning four of six go-rounds.

For her efforts over the season, she has made $145,008.

What it all means: Explaining the difference in writing styles between Ted Geisel and Lewis Carroll might be rewarding on several levels, but it sure doesn't pay like pushing a horse through that cloverleaf pattern in the fastest time.

"I think if I was forced to decide at this point in time between (teaching and rodeo), I would have to keep running this horse," said Maben, competing in her third NFR. "He is just too good. People wait lifetimes for a horse like this."

Barrel racing is much like NASCAR in that an athlete is often only as successful as the powerful machine he or she operates. It's even truer in Maben's event, where about 80 percent of any victory should be credited to the part of a team with four legs.

To, in this case, a 13-year-old named Bubba.

Bubba Smith knows football and bad acting. Bubba Crosby knows the Mendoza Line. Bubba Gump knows shrimp. Bubba the horse knows precise angles and timely acceleration.

"Of course, you have to have basic riding skills and experience at this to be really good, but it doesn't matter how well you ride if the horse doesn't want to compete and run for you," Maben said. "It's still a horse, so you really never know what might happen. But if they don't want to run when it's time, then they won't run. I just happen to have an exceptional horse."

How exceptional?

Maben doesn't have to decide between grading homework and shaving another thousandth of a second off her barrel time, because she makes enough money during the summer to qualify for the NFR and still make the first day of school, meaning the only class time she misses is when she is here for 10 days.

Many barrel racers will attend nearly 100 rodeos a year, a seemingly endless existence of open roads and all-night coffee shops. Maben competed in only 27 before the NFR, the majority during an eight-week stretch when she and husband Tye (a team roper) and 1-year old daughter Macye and a few traveling partners not put off by the idea of how a toddler might react to the next 10-hour drive traveled from one competition to the next.

It's not by accident Maben has moved from fifth to first in the world standings since the NFR began, not for a woman whose parents trained barrel racing horses on a ranch in Gail, Texas, not when you combine that kind of knowledge with this special of a horse, purchased off the track and given to Maben several years ago.

But while other riders have better sponsors -- "Mine is the Spur Independent School District," she says jokingly -- and more established reputations within barrel racing, it's debatable if any own as much fulfillment in all phases of life as Maben. Way out there on the plains of west Texas, in a speck-of-dust town called Spur, you would be surprised how little many of the 200 or so students who attend the pre-kindergarten-through-12th grade school know about rodeo.

"You would think there would be a lot more kids from out in the country, but there really isn't," Maben said. "Don't get me wrong -- it's mainly ranch land there, but you still need to explain a lot about barrel racing to the kids. They get excited and tape (the NFR) on television and bring it in to watch the next day. In class, we do a lot of by-example writing. And when my students write a paper, I write one also. I love being able to help them become better writers."

It's a profession whose wealth is measured not in a paycheck.

No problem. She has Bubba for that.

Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.