#TeamDiO Spotlight:

Gracie Gambino, World Champion Tie-Down Roper

By Allison Armstrong Rehnborg

At just 19 years old, Gracie Gambino is already a two-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) World Champion tie-down roper, a horse trainer and a co-owner/operator at 4P Arena in Bedias, Texas. When she’s not riding horses from sunup to sundown alongside her business partner and boyfriend, McCray Profili, the hard-working Texas cowgirl is pursuing her own riding and competition goals by hauling to rodeos every weekend. As anyone in the horse industry knows, training horses for a living means spending lots of long, hard days in the saddle, but Gracie wouldn’t have it any other way.

“McCray is an open rodeo caliber team roper, and he has great horsemanship and makes a lot of horses look really good. I feel like I do the same in the breakaway roping, calf roping and barrel racing end of things. So when McCray and I met, it all worked out. We knew this was what we wanted to do,” Gracie explained. “We want to wake up in the morning and start saddling horses and not be done until dark. We want to haul to rodeos every weekend. We want to make a living out of this and continue to get to do what we love every day.”

On top of all her hard work and determination, Gracie says that being a member of Team Draw It Out is a huge part of why she can pursue her goals. 


“I would like to thank Draw It Out because I’m 19 and I’m off in the world doing big girl things, you could say, and it’s all because of my sponsors, MVP, Charlie 1 Horse Hats and Draw It Out, that I’m able to do this,” Gracie said. “They just don’t know how much it means to have so much support. It doesn’t matter if it’s money or products. Just the smallest things help us get down the road so much. I appreciate it in every aspect.”

Gracie first learned about the company from her friend and fellow barrel racer, Alyssa Kelly, and decided to try Draw It Out Horse Liniment on her main competition mount, Stylish Especial. “Grayman” is an American Quarter Horse gelding who has helped Gracie win many saddles, buckles and prizes in barrel racing and calf roping.  

“I thought it would be nice to give Grayman some relief and help him feel better, because I knew he just had to be sore after competitions,” Gracie said. “I started using the liniment on him and the more I used it, the more I loved it. It also helped me to go longer between his hock, stifle and fetlock injections, which are part of his annual maintenance. I started using the liniment and never stopped.”

Gracie says Grayman has always been a high-functioning athlete, which is a big part of why she was able to win both her WPRA world titles on him.

“He’s top performance level,” Gracie said. “He does so much for me. Whether it’s barrel racing or goat-tying or calf-roping, he was always using his back end and that was probably the area where he got the most sore.”

Gracie became an official member of Team DiO after meeting Jon Conklin, founder and president of Draw It Out, at the 2019 WPRA finals.

“That was the year I won my first world title,” Gracie remembered. “I had run out of the liniment on the third day of the finals, so when I met Mr. Jon, I just started talking with him about how much I used the product and how much I loved it. He put me on the team right there on the spot.”

Although Grayman has now become Gracie’s little brother’s mount, she still has plenty of horses to ride at 4P Arena. Gracie uses Draw It Out Horse Liniment Gel and Draw It Out PLUS Horse Liniment on her horses in training.

“I recommend Draw It Out PLUS Horse Liniment because it’s amazing,” Gracie said. “It makes them feel so good and helps relax their muscles. That’s something I’ll use on a horse after a long rodeo.”

Whether she’s gearing up for a competition or tending to her horses after a long training session, Gracie says she knows Draw It Out has her back.

“You could say we’re like a big family, and I always feel well taken care of,” Gracie said. “They want to put this product out to the equine industry because it can provide pain relief without an expensive vet bill, and I think that’s important. Draw It Out has the same goal that I do, which is to make our horses feel better.”