But Charles, a 15.2hh sprint-bred quarter horse, has nothing to prove after clocking the fastest time at the Australian Barrel Horse National Finals in Tamworth recently.

Tamlin, from Lake Rowan in Victoria, has galloped home with a swanky big belt buckle after the pair recorded the fastest time across the entire event held from September 18 to 23.

The prestigious barrel racing competition attracted more than 700 entries this year with more than 480 entries in Tamlin’s open divisional class.

The 39-year-old rider and her 10-year-old steed finished in third place overall based on their average time from two runs.

Tamlin reckons she can sense when Charles feels the need for speed.

“He’s quite an amazing horse,” she said proudly.

“I can feel when he’s going to run a good time – we get out there and when we see that first drum I can feel him looking at it.”

Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which horse and rider race at break-neck speed around three barrels placed in a triangle in the centre of an arena.

Tamlin and her husband Andrew McQualter-Whyte train and break in barrel horses at their property.

And while Tamlin gets a real buzz out of successful competitions, she derives more pleasure in the day-to-day training process.

“It’s been a long journey with Charles; it takes years to train a good barrel horse,” she said.

“It’s taken a lot to get Charles where he is – sometimes he just doesn’t want to do it and other times he’ll go out and smash it.”

Tamlin admits speed is obviously an important component of barrel racing but says it is equally important to have a horse with a good mind that’s trainable.

She came into the sport “a bit late” having ridden as a teenager and only taking it up seriously in her twenties when she met Andrew.

“It was wonderful to get the fastest time with Charles at Tamworth,” she said.

“He’s a deceiving horse because he can pull a really big time and you won’t be 100 per cent sure.

“The biggest highlight for me was going out and riding really well – Charles and I gelled really well on that run.”

Tamlin said there was always an adrenaline rush that came with racing, stopping and turning around those barrels.

But she’s happiest at home starting and training horses that she hopes to go on and win titles for their owners.

As for Charles well he’s very possibly wondering what all the fuss was about for his 17.260 seconds of fame.