Legally blind Brittney Holland can't remember a time when she wasn't barrel racing. At just 15, the Aledo (Texas, U.S.A.) native has already made quite a name for herself.

Barrel racing is a horse riding event in which riders ride in a set pattern around three barrels in a triangular arrangement.

Brittney is placed in the top five of her district, for youth. Not bad considering most of her competitors can see.

Her family understood her love for horses and riding, and encouraged her. They helped her by calling her and providing directions as she rode. Brittney says: “I have to trust my horse to know that she's going to go to the right place at the right time, and then either my mom, dad or sister helps me by telling when I need to stop her (my horse) or when to turn.” But it does not work always.

Now, Brittney uses a hands free cell phone to help her compete. She uses Bluetooth wireless technology to help her steer the course. Her mother calls on her cell phone, and Brittney uses the phone’s headset to take directions from her family. She explains: “my mom just calls me on my cell phone and it connects automatically and that's how she tells me to turn now or stop etc.”

Brittney’s mother, Susan Holland feels racing has done her daughter a world of good. “She's not on the sidelines just watching, wishing she could do something. She's there with them competing and running, and that boosts her better self esteem,” she said.

Brittney is all set to compete for junior world finals (in racing) in Mississippi going to be held in July 2006.