Theresa Walter sure loves her licorice.

The candy and the four-legged kind.

Walter and her seven-year-old high-spirited mare Licorice, formally known as Fames Licorice Kiss, had another sweet WPRA season for the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit.

They won barrel racing titles at six rodeos around the Big Sky state and had a total of 11 top-4 finishes.

"It was a good year,'' said Walter. "This year, we went to a lot more rodeos, exposed her to different grounds. She was just so consistent. It didn't matter where we ran.''

Walter and Licorice is the pair to beat at the MPRC Finals, Jan. 15-17 at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Mont.

Walter won $18,991 during the 2009 season and had a lead of $7,034 over Lindsay Karp of East Helena. The lead virtually guarantees Walter the year-end title.

A year ago, the roles were reversed with Karp already having won the year-end championship before the Finals began.

"I'll enjoy the year-end when it's over,'' said Walter, who is the executive secretary for Montana's large amateur rodeo organization. "I just want to do the same thing as last year, have consistent trips every time out. I'm going in with the same game plan, one run at a time.''

It was almost exactly a year ago when Walter and Licorice announced their arrival. They swept every round and the average at the 2008 MPRC Finals, earning $7,101, the most ever won - male or female - for a single-event competitor at the Finals.

"I was really surprised how well we did,'' said Walter, who earned her first trip to the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo last year. "It was her first time in that type of competition … big crowds, loud music, small arena.''

Walter and Licorice would go on to win $11,930 at her first DNCFR. She won the first round, was fourth in the average and placed third in both the semifinals and finals.

After the success in Pocatello, Idaho, Licorice developed an eye problem.

"That was really scary,'' Walter said. "She had no tear production.''

Walter had a team of veterinarians treat her prized horse. "But they couldn't figure it out,'' added Walter. "The tear production finally came back and she's been fine.''

Walter and Licorice won rodeos in almost every section of the state this past summer. She also placed fourth at Red Lodge and ninth at Livingston during the Fourth of July run against world-class fields. Working a regional schedule, Walter finished among the top 40 in the 2009 WPRA world standings.

"I think she just has so much heart and so much try and is so versatile,'' Walter said of her horse. "She can run in small or large pens.''

This year's MPRC Finals barrel racing field includes three former Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifiers - Shelley Murphy (Helena), Shelly Anzick (Livingston) and Terri Kaye Kirkland (Billings) - along with Jill Ferdina Miller of Lewistown, who won the Cody, Wyo., Stampede during the Fourth of July. Murphy and Anzick are third and fourth, respectively, in the standings.

Making their MPRC Finals debuts are WPRA rookies Annie Novotny, Chloe Hoovestal and Emily Kallenberger, along with Mandy Hamilton, Twyla Vaira, and Laura McPherson.

"That's what it's all about, the competition,'' said Walter. "The camaraderie among the girls is tremendous. It's fun to compete against those horses.''