Three good turns

As promised here is a recap of the past week and of course the results from Saturdays show. Ill start off by saying Moose is doing very well! The last two times I have ridden him he has been very soft and quiet. He kept his head low and relaxed almost the entire time and is becoming more responsive to cues from my legs. I was going to ride him today but it rained all night and is supposed to rain all day and maybe even into tomorrow. Joy....But either way I'm very proud of him and how he is coming along. He is about where I want him to be as far as his weight goes and is all around just healthy and sound!

Riley has been doing very good as well. At the show Saturday he really tried hard and gave me two solid runs. We warmed up for adult and it was a little hectic. I had to run him and than immediately tack up May and get ready to run her and than in the following class he was in the first five AGAIN. So most of the day I was running around like mad trying to get one horse tacked and warmed up while the other was walked, cooled and had their legs hosed. I finished warming Riley up for our first run and than they ended up starting the class almost forty minutes late. I was getting a little worried because Riley is a really "ratey" horse and all you have to do with him is push him to the barrel and he will sit and turn almost on his own. He hunts a barrel coming into the chute and knows his job well. But he is so laid back that I have to warm him up well to get him fired up and once he is warmed up he is ready to run! He doesn't like getting all ready than having to sit for almost an hour and I don't blame him. I kept him warmed up by doing a few trotting rollbacks and just keeping him forward and focused. The poor boy was so excited he had diarrhea! (I had given him electrolytes in his feed that morning and always mix Gatorade with his water at shows for that reason) When the show finally got going we were 3rd to run in the class. When our name was called I started riding him out of the warm up pen and he was all business. He never gets crazy and he never refuses to go in the chute like you see some horses do. He gets really tense and prances and than about midway through the chute he sits back and launches, sometimes even does a small rear. That first run he sat back and took off and I could feel it was gonna be a good run. He cranked around all three barrels and flew home and as soon as I got home stopped I heard our times announced as a 15.5! I was so excited. I jumped off of him and gave him some peppermints and began walking him out. His fastest time at that arena was a 15.1 that he had run January of last year.  We hadn't practiced in forever and hadn't shown since State Championships in June. By the end of the class we were sitting at the top of the 2D but than a good run towards the end put us in the crack. I didn't care though, I was just glad he had a good, solid, clean run. My second run that day on Riley was even better.  He warmed up good and when our name was called he went out prancing.Halfway into the chute he sat back, reared and launched again, even harder than last time. He got a little ahead of me but I was back where I needed to be before first barrel and we had a good turn. Second and third were good as well and we ended up with a 15.3. The fastest time of the day was a 14.4. Less than a second off of the fastest time. I was so proud of him! The rest of the day while I worked May and helped the kids he got hosed down really good and than just happily munched on hay by the trailer. I think I gave him a peppermint every time I walked by him =D  For the Open class we fell in the crack between 2D and 3D but, again, I was just happy the runs were so good and Riley felt awesome.

May did pretty good as well considering she hasn't been racing near as long as Riley has. She also has a totally different style of running. She runs really hard and really fast and you have to check her up before the turn or she wont slow down. She gives you 110% all the time and is a really competitive mare. Her biggest problem is going to deep into a turn so at home I really emphasize rating and slowing down when we practice. Even when I don't practice I will work on  slowing her down with my seat and voice while just loping circles or trotting along the rail. Luckily, neither of my horses have trouble with hitting barrels *knock on wood* May has never knocked one over, even during practice, and Riley has only knocked over 3 at shows his entire almost 4 years of competing. Also every time he has it has been my fault for cuing him too soon.
 My first run on May my stupid belt buckle got hung on the horn when I was leaning forward heading to first, and so I couldn't sit properly into the turn, and it cost us some time. When I finally get the money together to have my custom saddle ordered I'm getting it hornless. Yes, you read that right, hornless! I don't hold the horn while I race and never have. There have been a very few times I have grabbed it to stay with my horse when they have gotten ahead of me but I prefer to learn my balance and timing and stay with my horse and I think a lot of barrel racers use the horn as a crutch. I also don't like how I always get the horn hung on my bra, belt, jacket, shirt etc and it hurts like hell when you catch your ribcage on it. I AM NOT SAYING that holding the horn is bad or wrong or that I am better because I don't. I see a lot of big time barrel racers who are much better than me who hold it and are very successful. I can also see where it could help some people, if they use it right, to keep their seat but it just isn't my style of riding. I hold both reins coming into a turn and in teach all my green barrel horse how to turn properly by riding with two hands. There is a lot that can happen in a hundredth of a second and every single extra step counts. A lot of times its a fraction of a second that puts you in or out of the money. I was never taught to hold the horn and that is just how I ride. I'm NOT out to conform or judge anyone. Everyone has their own style of riding, just as I have mine.
The rest of the run was OK. She turned second really nice but third she went a little deep coming into the barrel and we ended up running a 16.8. I was still happy with her as she tried hard and we ended up placing in the Adult class in the 3D.  Her second run was MUCH better. I took my belt off before I even ran ha ha. Her third barrel was also much tighter and we ended up running a 16.1 but were in the crack between 3 and 4D. I cooled her out really well and left her to eat hay with Riley while I coached the kids. Everyone ended up having a good time and it was a really good day over all. At the end of this month we have the Turkey Circuit three day race than December 4 we have the last race of the year. Cant wait!