Daily Archives: February 18, 2009

Spencer Turner, Winning Ride at IFR 2008

Date, Rodeo Name and Location

Friday Feb 13^th,   Rotary Classic PRCA rodeo in Starkville, Mississippi

 Which horse did you draw?

 I drew a bay horse… 564 Slugger

 Stock Contractor?

 The stock contractor at Starkville was Classic Prorodeo, I believe they are from Texas

 How was your horse in the chute?

 My horse was a big pain in the chute. He was bout average size but he threw a big fit in the chute. We tied him in but he still was rearing up and trying to flip over. Eventually he sat down like a dog and I had a hard time getting him to stand up. With the help of some other cowboys we got him to stand up and while trying to put my saddle on he continued to throw hit fit. While trying to saddle him my saddle actually ended up on the ground beneath him and he was stepping on it. And trying to get it out was an ordeal all in itself. With the help of the other guys we eventually got him saddled and halfway calm.

 Did you learn about the horse before hand?

 I didn’t know anything about the horse. Before I got there I had a feeling it was a colt. After talking to the stock contractor, my feeling was right. It was a colt that he said had been bucked just a few times.

 Tell me about your ride, did you feel strong, did the horse perform the way you thought it would?

 I had no idea how he would buck or what he would do at all. The stock contractor said he usually bucks with his head a little lower so to give him a little more rein than average. Being a colt that I didn’t know I just gave the horse an average rein. When I got in and nodded he came out pretty hard and did put his head on the ground. I slid him some rein. He was really bucky and kicking over his head really well. It was a lot of fun. He was getting high in the air and bucking real good and I was riding him really well to. Everything was going great. After the buzzer sounded I double grabbed and was waiting on the pickup men. While doing that the horse had a little duck move and threw me off. He kicked pretty high and I landed on the ground underneath him and he landed on my lower leg and the pickup horse’s leg or hoof hit me in the head. It was kind of a train wreck. I got to my feet and walked out. While walking out (I kinda had the wobbly legs from being hit in the head) I heard the announcer say that the judge threw the flag at the beginning of the ride because I failed to mark the horse out of the chute on the first jump so I got a no score. I was disappointed to get a zero but I am extremely happy with the way I rode. I was blessed to walk out of the arena with just a badly bruised leg and a cut on my eye and a black eye.

Comments about the rodeo? Committee, hospitality, etc.

 I’ve been to that rodeo before a couple years ago and I liked it. The stock contractor is always a very nice guy and the committee there feeds us well. The arena was packed and was a good show for all. I guess I should thank the EMT for cleaning my eye up too. He wasn’t sure about me at first, I told him I was fine and wanted to get my gear gathered up first before I went to get the injury looked at. He looked at me like I was crazy, but when I answered all his questions correctly he let me get my stuff. He thought I should go get it checked out at the hospital but I just went to hotel and iced my leg and eye.

 What CD is in your cd player at the moment?

 There is a Red Dirt CD that a good friend made for me in my cd player right now