Headed South...West

Last weekend found us in Utah, at a 2 day barrel race...

The weather was absolute crap! It started raining on Friday night and didn't stop until Sunday morning.

By the time I had entered the race, all of the indoor stalls were booked, so it was uncovered, outdoor pens only. It rained so much that by Saturday night the horse's blankets were soaked through and they were both shaking. I loaded them in the trailer for the night. They sure appreciated it, but I didn't get much sleep. Two loose horses moving around in the back of the trailer sure can get the LQ part to rocking. LOL.

The inclimate weather wasn't real beneficial for Frosty and I on Saturday. The only dry place to attempt to get warmed up was the holding pens at the end of the indoor arena. Frosty is not keen on other horses invading his 'bubble' anyway and with so many girls in there. all trying to get warmed up...He lost it. I think I would have scored pretty good on that saddle bronc ride, but I was sure glad he bucked into the end wall and came to a stop. A couple more jumps and he would have gotten me off.

I was obviously a little worried after that about what exactly he might do on his barrel run. It's been a long time since he has blown up coming out of a barrel, but the circumstances sure seemed right for him to do it again.

Instead, he chose western pleasure mode for his run and in spite of kicking and mooching and hee-yawing...He would not go any faster. It was a ridiculously slow time. But hey...He didn't buck.

Sunday, the weather was better...well, at least it wasn't pouring rain the whole day. I did get Frosty out and get him warmed up in the grassy parking areas. I also grabbed my popper bat out of the trailer. I appreciate the fact that Frosty did not buck with me on the pattern the day before...But he r.e.a.l.l.y. needs to start developing a sense of urgency during his runs.

We did not attempt to move around the holding area with the rest of the horses. I stayed out of there until not long before our run and when I did go in, we just went and sat in a corner. Frosty was definitely more ready for this run and stretched out better on his run up the alley. I asked him for more and when he failed to give it to me, I gave him a good pop on the butt. That got him geared back up to where he has been running and he gave me a beautifully smooth and pretty run. It was just a hair over 2 seconds off of the fast time. Good enough for a check in the 5D (1/2 second splits all the way through) and that is about all I can really hope for right now. Just a little something-something to help pay for some of the entry fees ya know?

I think if the weather had been right, he would have ran well both days, but that's why they call it 'seasoning'. It takes surviving a lot of different circumstances to make a solid horse. Frosty has his quirks outside of the arena, but for the most part he is staying well focused during his runs. His pattern is perfection. Now, we just focus on creating that speed...or getting however much speed Frosty has out of him.

This next couple of weeks should give us the opportunity to work on that. We are headed to Arizona for a couple of weeks. I've got two rodeos to attend and this will give me a good opportunity to really get to work on LJ and Shooter. Jet just needs more of the same or what he has been getting.

Jet did get a reprieve this last weekend. I have been hauling him with Frosty because I wanted to keep exposing him, but I figured the Utah race would be a good place to take LJ and start getting him used to what his life is going to be from now on. The weather made it less fun for him than it would have been otherwise and I didn't get him rode at all, but it was good experience for him and he handled it pretty well...

I'm pretty excited for this little guy. He is such a cool horse. He should come on pretty quick once he gets the pattern down and he is going to be a blast to run, I can just tell. :-)