Daily Archives: June 19, 2009

Date, Rodeo Name and Location

June 13th * Belleville, IL * IPRA rodeo

 Which horse did you run?

Well I questioned whether to run at all b/c the ground looked AWFUL (see below) but I Ran JB Absolute aka Abby…

How was the ground, alley, warm up area, etc?

So this was my 3rd year going to this rodeo.  The arena is set up in the middle of a field and all they do is plow up the field.  The 1st year I had Mighty Mouse and the ground was hard mixed with grass and I won 2nd.  Last year they didn’t even dig it up the 1st day so Rookie and I ran on grass and ended up 3rd.  This year they had decided to dig it up the Monday before the rodeo WHILE it was raining and then it continued to rain all week which made it the biggest mud hole I HAVE EVER SEEN.  They had tried to disc it and just kept burying the tractors in it.  About half the girls turned out the 1st night.  When I got there Saturday morning I was hoping the sun would dry it out some but it wasn’t drying it out fast enough.  The 1st barrel did dry out some and they ran the tractor over it a few times just to let the tires pack it down.  As far the alley way goes they just open up panels for us to run through at this rodeo as well and we warm up in the middle of the field.

How did you feel mentally?

To run or not to run?  That was the question.  I knew the owner would leave it up to my judgement but luckily I drew 9th out so I had a chance to watch the other girls run before.  I also paid close attention to the horses in the other events to see how they were handling the ground as well.   I knew if I was going to run I had to commit to it 100% to get her through it and be confident on her.  She was very scared in grand entry and didn’t want to walk through the water and was trying to jump over the ruts.

Tell me about your run, the good the bad and the ugly. Exactly how you felt about it?  After watching the girls ahead of me go I decided to run and just make sure I was confident on her but to let her pick her spots and try to keep her in the ruts where it was more packed down.  She was VERY nervous going in and was running a little scared to the 1st… I bumped her once and she came right back to me having an AWESOME first barrel.  The 2nd barrel was made up of 2 or 3 ruts so I pushed her into one and let her follow it all the way around the barrel.  It wasn’t the prettiest 2nd barrel but the safest way around it.  Going to the 3rd was where the water was sitting and it was VERY muddy.  Abby kinda of just jumped and hopped through it.  She stuck a little bit in the mud at the 3rd so I just tried to guide her around.  She ran out hard and we won 2nd!!  The times for this rodeo were all over the place.  1st place was a 15.4 then me with a 15.8 last hole was a 17.1 which is crazy for there to be that big of a spread lol

Comments about the rodeo?

I normally really like this rodeo.  They add $1,000 to each event which makes it worth going to and normally the ground is not like that.  I would suggest for the committee to leave the ground alone next year until the day of the rodeo to avoid ground conditions like that in the future.

Anything interesting happen on the trip there or back?

This rodeo was only 1 hour from the rodeo the day before so it was pretty smooth sailing from one to the other.  The drive home also went smoothly suprisingly   Memphis and I had a good weekend. He of course is always making new friends and he is very happy that rodeo season is getting into full swing!!

Quote of the day:

The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results.  Norman Vincent Peale