Born into a sheep herding family in Big Piney, Wyoming Vianna has been around animals her entire life. She recalls vividly living in a sheep wagon with her twin
sister, mother and father and fondly remembers spending time on horseback in the mountains of western Wyoming. On a family visit to Kansas, she saw her first barrel race and was immediately hooked. She returned to our state and used any barrel he could find to set up her own pattern. Unfortunately, there was very little opportunity to compete in rodeo at that time as events were based on rough stock
only. She would have to bide her time.

At twenty, she met Jack Gurney and married him after World War II. In 1967, Jack and Vianna moved to Cheyenne to work at the Wyoming Hereford Ranch. Jack, who eventually became foreman, had taught Vianna everything she needed to know about handling cattle and she signed on as the only woman to ever serve on the WHR cowboy payroll. She and her husband raised a son, Smokey, and a daughter, Penny, who helped out on the ranch in every way they could. When the ranch was broken up in 1974, the family moved to Cheyenne. There, Vianna worked for Western Ranchman Outfitters and the Wrangler as well as Laramie County School District #1.

Even before this happened, Vianna became deeply involved in Cheyenne Frontier Days. She was introduced to George and Paul Bruegman who immediately initiated her into bringing horses down from their ranch to Cheyenne for the Parades. Large numbers of horses were driven from the Bruegman ranch forty three miles north of Cheyenne and Vianna was there to help. The animals were unbroken when they started the trip. Teams of horses would be "necked" together, their halters tied to one another, and Vianna would then herd these animals down the trail to CFD. Halfway to the destination, Vianna would get a new team of horses and repeat the process so that all the horses would become familiar with each other and work better as a team. This is all that was done to prepare the animals to pull carriages in the parade, and it was done in one day. Once at Cheyenne, Vianna continued to be involved, driving many of our carriages. In addition to the parades, Vianna was also helpful in exercising the horses for Paul's chuck wagon racing team. Eventually, Vianna moved to the AA Barn and worked under Don Kensinger. There she was responsible for the"front end horses"that would start every parade and the horses for each committee member. This is a role that she continues to fulfill today. Vianna is a very discerning and careful steward of her horses, each of these animals have to be carefully matched to the skills of each rider.

In 1971, the very first year that professional barrel racing came to Cheyenne Frontier Days, Vianna was there to take part. An avid barrel racer her whole life, this was the first time she was able to ride at CFD. On that day, over one hundred contestants signed up to compete the morning before finals. She did well on her horse "Kip"finishing in the top ten as finalists. Though she didn't win, she continued to ride as a barrel racer on the rodeo circuit and in 1999 she and her horse"Wilson"won the saddle at the NVHA Heartland National Rodeo in barrel racing, and won the Rock Springs Rodeo as the 4D champion for a second year in a row. She has won many buckles and lots of money barrel racing on Wilson and even though he retired in 2010, Vianna continues to race to this day.