Hello and welcome to my Barrel Racing experiences

I have been barrel racing for quite a while now, 10 yrs or more, but I got a late start on it in life. When I started playing around at a local gymkhana where I boarded my horses, I really found it to be very exilerating. The horse I started out with I really believe that they did these types of horse games on him, which is how I was able to get so confident.
Since moving to my home in New River, AZ, I have been fortunate to meet John and Kathryn Deegan, who have been so inspirational in teaching me horsemanship and being so encouraging, they truly are wonderful people. They initially encouraged me to go to a Connie Combs Clinic back in Nov. 2003. It was so great and I learned so much as a novice Barrel racer. At that time I was riding Missy or Skips Miss Moon. She would have been 8 yrs old at the time. Since that first clinic I have attended 2 additional clinics with Connie, but on my current horse, and in Sept of 2008 I was able to go to Charmayne James' Clinic in Colorado Springs, CO. WOW!!! I had picked up a barrel racing book in 2006 by Western Horsemen-Charmayne James on Barrel Racing-which was in debth on haw she trains and runs her horses. It taught me so much and I really started working Skippy according to her ways of training. After attending the clinic, my confidence level escalated to a new high. We got better and better through that season of Oct 2008 to Feb 2009 and our times went from being in the middle of the 4D to being in the mid 3D-Hey today I would be estatic about that. I accomplished most all of the goals I set for us and was improving all the time. Then a slight accident happened where Skippy got hurt in the trailer when the brakes locked up. He fell and as he tried to get back up, kept hitting his hip and back on the devider of the trailer. I thought it was minor and continued to ride him but later found out it was very bruised. I gave him time off for a few months, sought my Vets advise but we have not as of yet been able to get back into the groove we were in before.


Fast forward to today, Aug. 2011, I have Skippy. Born at my home Jan 2001, trained by John Deegan as a 2 yr old, he is 16.1h and about 1200lbs he has been a great horse, but I suck at being a trainer. It's not that I suck, I do not have the experience. This barrel racing thing is very tricky. I have found that my horse is much smarter than I and sometimes you have to trust your horse. There are many things that you can't put into a book or a DVD and unless you have the ability to ride many different horses and can ride everyday, you miss out on some teachings that are so important.
No excuse, but I have a fulltime job, and I ride as often as I can. Keep in mind that I have a family also, and they depend on me for responsibilites at home. Luckily my family is supportive of my passion, and they tolerate late meals of finding their own, as the kids are now grown so it gives me more freedom.
So here are my notes about the runs I make good or bad. If you have any suggestions, I am open to hear them and try something new.
There is a song that I love and I listen to it to give me motivation called The Climb-this is my way of moving that mountain and sometimes your gonna have to lose. It ain't about how fast I get there, but I will have learned along the way by going my speed!

Friday, December 2, 2011

November has flown by and has not been a good month for me. But October was pretty good. Hopefully if this pictures uploads correctly, this was the North Valley Saddle Club run I did on 10/15/11. I would really like to thank the gentleman who goes out and take several great pictures of each of the riders then gives a CD ROM to those riders for free. These are great photos and you really get the detail of your run, because he takes so many shots of you. I do not know his name, but what a wonderful gift you you give to us. Thank you! At the end of October, I took Skippy and competed in the 2nd Annual Fall Spooktacular at Dunn's arena on 10/29 & 10/30/2011. Our first run was great! We ran a 19.537 and took 1st place in the 4D and brought home a nice check that paid for the weekend. Day 2 was not as good as we hit the 2nd barrel. The next few runs we did were terrible. I have to say that this is due to not enough slow work to correct our mistakes in between runs. There are a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest is time. I don't want to say oh whoa is me, but the truth is, my full time job is a priority and so is my family. Making so many runs without slowing it down to correct yourself and your horse may lead to what happened to me. On Nov. 2nd, I was able to go to Dunn's with my daughter for the Jackpots they hold on Wed. nights. My run on Skippy started out great to the 1st barrel, but leaving the 2nd we were out of position and ended up smashing into the 3rd with my left knee. OUCH!!! Any one who was there and reads this, first let me apologize for my language. And there were children present. And to the woman who gave me ice, thank you so much. And to my daughter, Korrina, thanks for all of your help and I know it didn't help that your run was quickly coming up. So I had some major swelling and bruising, but was on my horse in a couple of days trail riding on Sat 11/05/2011 for the Larkyn Memorial Arena annual poker ride as Trail Boss, and then went to PBRA @ BEC on Sunday 11/06/11. Skippy and I did pretty well that day, first running a time of 19.6 I think in our first run, then really improving by running an 18.6 in our 2nd. So we brought back some of our $$ that day. A last minute though came to me that next Monday, Connie Combs Clinic was going to start that Friday 11/11/11, which is a bank holiday. I called Leigh Cheatham and found out I could still get in. So on Friday I was in Buckeye again learning more about this barrel racing thing and where I can improve. It has been 2 yrs since I last went to her Clinic, and no surprise she changes it up and you learn something new every time. I have to leave now, but will come back with more info on the clinic and other news to share.
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