GLASGOW — Five decades after he began accompanying his father to horse shows, Enlo Trammel is still showing horses and has no intention to leave the industry before he dies.

Trammel made a name for himself in pole bending over the years, and when he transitioned to cow horse competitions in 2003, he went straight to the top of those rankings as well. Last month, Trammel became the first Barren County resident to be inducted into the National Pole Bending Association Hall of Fame.

“From the first day, he’s always been very good,” said Ross Carnahan, the NPBA board member who nominated Trammel for the Hall of Fame, and a Hall of Famer himself.

While Trammel shies away from offering a direct opinion on his level of skill, his record speaks for itself.

“We led the nation six times, won seven (American Quarter Horse) Reserve World titles, won (All American Quarter Horse) Congress twice,” said Trammel, rattling off the biggest titles in quarter horse competitions. Pole bending is a timed event in quarter horse shows that involves a rider weaving his horse in and out of a row of poles.

During the peak of his career, Trammel was competing in about 30 shows per year, and qualified somewhere between two and seven horses for the world show annually. When he talks about the years he led the nation in pole bending, he refers to the years he and his wife “decided we wanted to lead the nation.” It wasn’t a matter of arrogance that he decided he wanted to lead the nation and then did, but a matter of dedication.

“It’s not like you could sit there and say I’m gonna try,” Trammel said. “You gotta decide you’re gonna do it.”

Trammel was not alone in his pursuit of horse shows. After coming from a horse showing family, Trammel met his wife, Sue, while they were each studying agriculture at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, and Sue showed horses as well. Now, Enlo, Sue and their 13-year-old son Ethan all compete in horse shows together. A childhood hobby has developed into a way of life.

“My parents really wanted me to be a doctor, but I just couldn’t see myself doing it,” Trammel said. “I always knew I’d show horses, but I didn’t know I’d make a living off it.”

Along with earning income through competitions, Trammel runs a custom bit-making business, Enlo Trammel Handmade Bits, which he began in 1985. He has melded his business with his competitions over the years, and competitors are sometimes customers as well.

“It was a good mixture because I’d see everyone I made for and I’d compete against them and it was easy for them to order and they knew who I was,” Trammel said.

Based out of Barren County, Trammel has never wanted for good competitors. His wife Sue called the area a “hotbed” of the best barrel and pole bending horses, and Trammel credits a lot of his success with the competition he grew going against.

“That’s probably what made us as good as we (were), because when we competed at a local level we were competing against horses that could compete on a national level,” Trammel said.

Although pole bending is a solo event and only his name is on the records and trophies, Trammel always refers to his pole bending in terms of “we,” because he views Sue as an integral part of his career.

“I couldn’t have done what I did without her,” he said.

Trammel chose to leave pole bending competitions in 2003 after a show in Evansville, Ind. He was competing on one of the best horses he’d ever ridden, Trammel said, and he couldn’t keep up with him. After the show, Trammel told Sue the horse was better than he was. Trammel never competed in pole bending again, even though he was ranked in the top three pole benders in the nation at the time.

“When I got to the point I felt I couldn’t do the horse justice, I just walked away,” said Trammel, who struggles with arthritis in his hands.

While he regrets leaving pole bending, Trammel said he knows he made the right decision. When asked what he misses the most about the event, his voice sounds far away, instantly transported back to the pole bending arena.

“I miss the speed. When I did this, you could feel your heart in your teeth. It was just as fast as you could go,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe the adrenaline high you would get off it.”

Trammel’s eyes lit up as he described the feeling of walking into a big arena and seeing the giant stop clock on zero. The audience always knew the top riders’ names, Trammel said, and when he walked in the door, the crowd would roar. A good horse’s heartbeat would slow down as he took in the crowd and prepared for the run.

At the end of the run, Trammel said he was happy if he saw a 19. The race often came down to hundredths of a second, so every moment and movement counted.

“It was probably the greatest thrill you’d ever feel when it comes to pure adrenaline,” Trammel said. “It didn’t compare to when Ethan was born or anything, but it was a lot better than you’d feel 99 percent of the time.”

Everything came down to which rider was more in harmony with his horse that day, and which pair responded best to pressure, Trammel said.

“There were six or 10 of us that were the best, it just depended on who was the best that day,” he said.

That harmony between rider and horse was one of Trammel’s strong points, according to Carnahan.

“He always did his very best. It didn’t matter what horse he was sitting on at the time, he got it to do all that it could, and not many people can do that,” Carnahan said.

Trammel exemplifies not only the skill level required of a Hall of Fame pole bender, but also the attitude of a gentleman and the focus on the sport as a family event, Carnahan said.

“He exemplifies everything everybody in this sport tries to do,” he said.