This woman is out to win. For 27-year-old Texas native Stacey Denise Swayze, the decision to become a jockey was easy: "I love being outside and I've owned horses all my life. Riding just came naturally to me." She's just the right size, too: 5'2" and 110 pounds. "I eat like it's going out of style," she says, "but riding keeps me in shape. It uses every muscle in my body." Stacey describes herself as a "tough competitor" and says nothing can keep her from jockeying-not even the accident she had in 1995 when her horse stumbled, she was thrown over its head and the horse ran over her. Her injuries included a torn biceps, a torn rotator cuff and a bone fracture, but Stacey was back on the track after a year of physical therapy. Chalk it up to her strong will. "I don't ever want to be helpless," Stacey says. "I can change a tire, or my oil. I have things under control. Besides, riding gives me a feeling of freedom. I wouldn't be happy doing anything else. I don't want to go to heaven if there aren't any horses there!"
