It wasn't pretty...

But it was fast! Moon made a good run today. Good enough for 5th out of 20 barrel racers. His time was 19.94. That doesn't sound incredibly fast but the winning time was 19.68, 2nd was 19.69, 3rd and 4th were in the 19.8?'s. The horses that beat us were finished rodeo horses, so all in all I feel really good about it.

Now to tear it to pieces, so we can be even better next time!

This Open Horse Show had the strangest rules-1st-you couldn't make a circle when you when in the arena and 2nd-they wouldn't let you out of the arena until you were dismounted. Okay-so I can understand the dismount-some of these kid's horses are barely under control and I am sure that they have had one(or more) run off coming out of the arena, but getting disqualified for having to lope a circle to pick up your lead? That's a new one on me.

Anyway, I wasn't too sure that Moon would pick up his right lead going from a straight away start-so when they call my name and opened the gate-I was trying to figure out the best game plan. I cued him for his right lead and he sort of jumped back and forth between my legs as we was going through the gate. His little pin ears were rigid and he was focused on those barrels. I didn't think he had the correct lead-so I cued him again and he lunged but in the left lead. At this point I was only about 2 strides from crossing the timer and I was not about to let him start for that first barrel in the wrong lead. So I pulled him up and decided to take the circle and the disqualification, every run counts now and I cannot let him get back in the habit of starting in the wrong lead, besides-there was no money riding on it. I tipped his head to the right and cued him for his lead and the little sucker took the lead and headed for the barrel. I was over the line and decided to go for it.
Going into 1st was a little shaky and I think I was about a stride to late asking for the rate but Moon has never blown by a barrel and he sure didn't on this one. As you can see, we are both out of position coming around 1st. I could feel his shoulder wanting to leave and reached up to get a hold of the outside of the rein...
He came out of 1st with just a little bow, but quickly straightened up and was laid out for 2nd. He got there before I was really ready and I know I wasn't looking at my pocket, I was looking at the barrel. I could feel Moon heading straight for it and I picked up the inside rein to move him over but he was already turning it and all I did was cause his shoulder to bow out right here...
Luckily, he finished this stride and sort of paused. That miniscule little pause gave both of us a chance to gather up and we headed straight for 3rd. Moon went straight to his pocket, but I could feel him wanting to slice it. He is so good going into that barrel, but he gets about 1/2 way through and wants to set his hind leg and roll over it on top of the barrel. I lifted a little harder than I should have, I suppose and ended up dropping my hand to hold his shoulder in to finish the turn...
I am also looking down and I should be looking up toward the gate by now. I was so behind in this run-but we held it together and still came in with a fast time. Only 3-10ths of a second off of the leader. I know that we easily lost a 10th of a second or better around each barrel due to pilot error.

Megan snapped this while I had Moon at the fence so he could watch a couple of runs. Yes, he actually does watch-sounds crazy huh? I think it gets his mind thinking about it and gives me a chance to see if there are any trouble spots. After spending the day tied to the trailer, Moon was in pleasure horse mode...
A friend of the family was sitting to my left and he asked me if that was my barrel horse. I said yes. Meanwhile Moon has a leg cocked and his lip is hanging-he is basically asleep. He's kind of a smart ass(in the good, funny-haha sort of way) and he said "Looks like a pleasure horse to me."

When I came out after my run-he had the funniest expression. I do like my barrel horses to be quiet, but Moon takes the cake-LOL.

Megan had a good day on her pink pony too. She was just out of the ribbons in all 3 of her classes, but I think her and Strawberry are in the right mindset now.
Strawberry is a natural little pleasure horse. He just likes to go slow. When Megan leaves his head alone and used her butt to control his speed, they are hard to beat...
Today, Megan just couldn't leave his head alone. Her hand would get higher and I could see her jiggling her reins. Strawberry's head just kept coming up and up and his legs got faster and faster. I think she forgot it was her butt that controlled the cruise on him and not her hands.
Oh well, ride and learn. This is the first show of the season and Megan is in a new age division. Her and "The Berries" will step it up.

She had a beautiful Trail run going until they got to this slicker...
Strawberry didn't mind her picking it up, but he was a little freaked that she was actually going to put it on(as required). But other than staying a little stiff, he decided it wasn't going to eat him and she finished fine...
It was a long day, but much fun. I found a couple more playdays and another horse show to go to in July. And lo and behold-there is a NBHA barrel racing right here in town on Tuesday. Wonder how old Moon will do on his home turf?