Daily Archives: April 7, 2009

Spencer Turner, Winning Ride at IFR 2009

Date, Rodeo Name and Location
 I went to the 3rd Annual Bethel Cong. Methodist Church IPRA rodeo in Butler, Georgia on March 28th
 
Which horse did you draw?
 I drew a little bay horse 310
 
Stock Contractor?

The contractor in Butler is Oubre Rodeo Company
 
How was your horse in the chute?
She stood okay
 
Did you learn about the horse before hand?
 I made a phone call before hand and was told that the horse was not worth driving to get on, and that he was really weak. Also I couldn’t pull a real tight saddle, I couldn’t tighten up the back cinch at all and that I shouldn’t pull on his head too much. If I did any of these things he would not only be weak but he would completely stop. So I had that going for me! haha.
 
 
Tell me about your ride, did you feel strong, did the horse perform the way you thought it would?
 I got on him and he reared up and tried to smash me. When the gate opened he turned out and didn’t move, he was standing half in the chute and half out. We stood there for a few seconds with me kicking him in the belly. Finally they closed the gate and we tried it again but he did the same thing. The judges said if I tried him one more time I would get a reride, which is in the rule book if you try an animal three honest times and nothing happens you get a reride. So I got off of him and was going to try it again. When I got off he sat down like a dog and wouldn’t get up no matter what we did. They awarded me a reride, the reride was 303. This horse has been around for a long time and a contractor owned him from Iowa and I had never been on her but had seen her buck. I knew she wouldn’t be real rank or bucky but just be a good hopper. I was content to have her for a reride. They run her in the chute and she started acting up. When I tried to reach back and snug up my back cinch she reared over on me in the chute and smashed me pretty good (I was getting used to it cause that was the 3rd horse that weekend that had smashed me in the chute) She kept rearing up and trying to paw at me. Finally after her doing that a few times I suggested we tie her in the chute. After they tied her in I got on again, this time she ran her head through the slide gate in front of her and wouldn’t back up to get her head out. I remained seated on her but I was getting really frustrated with the whole ordeal. After she got her head out, she sat down and wouldn’t get up. Finally she halfway stood up so I nodded my head. She was weaker than I thought she would be. She wasn’t kicking out at all and hopped in a big circle. I spurred her good but knew that she wasn’t going to be good enough for me to win on. She made a big circle in the arena and came in front of the bucking chutes. I bailed off and was walking out of the arena when the judge got my attention and said that I jumped off too soon the watch said 7.44 seconds and I didn’t make a qualified ride. I didn’t get bucked off or wasn’t out of shape riding, I just thought it had been 8 seconds so I jumped off like I do. Apparently I need to reset the internal clock in my head! I was disappointed in the whole situation. I really wanted to get on a bucking horse this weekend but all the horses were really weak and ended up just kinda run-bucking. I was also disappointed in myself again for thinking that the 8 seconds were up and jumping off. I know the Lord has a plan and a reason for everything, so maybe this was my attention getter to let me know that I have to take every ride seriously and start paying more attention and taking care of business. I am blessed that the Lord has giving me the talents to ride broncs as good as I do.

 Comments about the rodeo? committee, hospitality, etc.

Well this was defiantly a fun and exciting weekend even though I didn’t make any money. I drove Amber’s truck and trailer from Springfield, Mo to Butler, GA Friday night so she could get some rest, while driving across 78 highway in Alabama the truck was running low on fuel but there wasn’t any fuel stations and Amber and I were getting really nervous. When I finally found a station the fuel light had been on for a VERY long time. I was relieved to find a station. I got out going in the store and getting the pump turned on and happy we didnt run out of fuel, when I got inside the guy said that there was no power and I couldn’t pump fuel. I then became a little nervous again. He said that all the power on that road was off and that all the fuel stations couldn’t pump fuel. I had no other choice but to get in and keep driving. We finally came up on a station with power and I pulled in there and pumped 40.76 gallons in a 40 gallon tank. That was kinda close!  For most of the drive there were major rain storms and we were told that Bulter had a bunch of rain and was under tornado warnings. We got about an hour from Butler and got a call that they had postponed the rodeo till 2pm the next day. We drove to the arena and took pictures of everything underwater. Amber knew some people about 35 miles away and they were kind enough to let Me, Amber, Billy Griffin and Scott Davis stay with them that night. We all got cleaned up and were going to head into town to eat some steak. Apparently on the way to get in the truck Billy and Scott stepped into a huge fire ant hill. The ride to the steak house was very entertaining! They both had ants all over them! They were squirming all over the truck trying to get them off. When we go to the restaurant they both jumped out and did the “ants in the pants” dance right in front of the door. They kept jumping up and down and screaming “THERE BITING ME THERE BITING ME”. It was quite hilarious!!! Scott eventually ran (very fast and funny-like) into the bathroom. The people inside were all looking at us really weird. It was quite a site!

I was very impressed with the rodeo committee. After all the rain they had and everything underwater the arena and parking was perfect! The arena was sand and the parking was mostly sand too. They did an EXCELLENT job of getting it ready for us on Sunday.