Jolee of all the rodeos you attend a year, is there one you look forward to the most?
I would have to say Salinas for a number of reasons. First, the committee there is so good to the contestants; it makes it nice to go. Second, you make three go rounds and possible a fourth with the short go so you get to hang out there in one place and it’s almost like a vacation. The last few years, my fiancé Allan Jordan was judging the rodeo, so it meant time to spend with him, which is in short supply during the summer when we are both on the road quite a lot. The weather is great and the conditions are good for the barrel racers – you don’t have to worry that you’ll make the long drive and the ground will be bad or things like that.
I always love going to Pendleton, though we don’t go every year due to the distance from home. That is just one of the most fun barrel races you can compete in. Who wouldn’t love getting to just run that much?
Williams, Arizona was a favorite of mine, but it is no longer a pro rodeo. But they were also wonderful to the contestants and really took care of the ground.
Jolee I noticed you are going to sell 2 Embryos from Belle, tell us about Belle, and your relationship with her, and how you came to this decision?
Belle is an awesome mare and I just love her. She can be challenging but I think that makes the wins more special. She definitely has her own opinion on things and makes me work. She is out of the great sire Sticks an Stones and a half thoroughbred mare so she can really run. She is AAA rated on the track and has her AQHA Register of Merit for Racing. Her speed has won me lots of barrel races. She is so athletic and doesn’t always make the prettiest turns, but she can turn as quick as anyone. I have run sixteen second patterns on standard sets and won in little buildings like at the NFR. She is very versatile that way. And, especially when she was younger, she could stand up on anything, which is exactly what you need to rodeo. She very rarely slipped and only fell once, at Ellensburg. She has a ton of heart and is a very gutsy mare.
I didn’t get her until she was eight. She had been on the track until the age of five and then sold to be used for calf roping. I have often thought how much I would have loved to get her as a young horse and be able to put my own foundation into her. Unfortunately, when you buy an older horse, there is a certain amount of old habits and things they were taught prior to you with which you are dealing. She has so many great traits to her, that I have always wanted to raise some babies and see how those abilities pass to the next generation and to have the chance to start them in our program, and therefore, not be dealing with anyone else’s issues. In hindsight, I wish I had pulled an embryo or two back when she was still running full time because the babies would be old enough to be competing now, but it just wasn’t on my radar at the time. I am hoping we can put a few out there now and I can get one too. Because of her age, I know we are limited in the number of babies we might be able to get now. I would love to see several Belle babies competing and winning in the future.
Jolee since you have qualified for 3 NFR’s is there one run that sticks out to you?
There actually are several runs that I remember. I was lucky enough to win two go rounds in my three trips there, so both of those runs are special to me. The first, round 7 in 2002, I won on my Mom’s horse Twinkie. Belle wasn’t right that year so I got on him in the fourth go. It was tough to get off my main horse and then, in the sixth round, Twinkie propped me going into the second barrel and I nearly fell off. I was so embarrassed! Then, we came back and won the round the next night. That was cool.
I won the second go in 2003 on Belle. I was so excited so win one on her. She was doing so well that year, and to win one on my number one horse was fun. She ran a 13.7 that night, which was just a few one hundredths off the arena record at that time. To do that that early in the rodeo was unusual and very cool.
The last run I made at the Finals, tenth go in 2004, is another I will remember and cherish. That year, Belle was off her game a bit and not clocking good in the rounds. We had made nine clean runs that year so I knew if I could get through that tenth go, I was going to win a good average check. When she took off in the lane, I hung up my belt buckle to the saddle horn! I was stuck over the front end all the way into and around the first barrel and I was just sure I was going to screw up nine go’s worth of work. Luckily, I came loose between first and second and finished the run cleanly. For anyone to make it clean ten runs in a row in that set up is quite an accomplishment. I took a lot of pride in it, because Belle was always tough to get through clean indoors; her big stride into the turns often put me by enough to drag the barrels leaving the turn. At any rate, that run was an adventure, and the accomplishment of a big goal for me.
