Survived

Weeellll...Last rodeo of the 2014 season...and Frosty skipped the saddle bronc theatrics this run.

Not that there weren't any bronc moments...We just got them out of the way prior to the barrel racing portion of our morning. LOL

After I got done calculating the winnings from the last 2 rodeos, I had dropped to 13th in the standings and it will be touch and go whether I get kicked out of the top 15 after this rodeo...But my fingers are crossed. I don't stand a snowball's chance of winning anything at the Finals...but it sure would be nice to go. It might be kinda nice to get the first-time-qualifying jitters out of the way, without actually having to worry about 'doing well' too, ya know?

It was most definitely a wobbly run. Frosty was wanting to run, but there was no way I was going to get up and help him. No way was I giving him a chance to toss me over his head again. ;-). About all I wanted was a non-bucking event. Mission accomplished...but I could feel Frosty's confusion and hence our wobbly run. He was thinking 'game on'...Mom was thinking...'I'm just gonna sit through this one'. LOL

I don't think it will be long before Frosty is back to where he was and probably even start coming on again. He really is not a horse that can sit for any length of time and then just come back like he was rode/ran yesterday. He's no Moon, in that respect, for sure. So I will just have to make sure an not let him sit.

I still think the root of the problem is his being insulin resistant. He's sweat buckets this week and his sweat absolutely reeks again. The closest description of the smell that I can think of is rancid fat with a coppery tinge that I can taste on my tongue just by smelling it. He was sweated up pretty darned good before I made my run on him this morning, but it didn't reek as much as it has been, so hopefully that means I am finally getting his system cleaned out. The fact that he has been sweating easily and profusely is actually a good sign. Before, when Frosty was really IR-symptomatic, he didn't sweat properly.

The other thing I have been doing religiously was the forward, high leg stretches that Ed Wright showed me to do with him. He was getting awful tight through his girth area again and I have a feeling that was the real reason he blew up with me last weekend. The latigos and cinch probably 'grabbed' him when he set to rate and he just planted his front feet and blew. Besides stretching him really well before saddling him up, I made sure to do a few little sprint exercises with him during warm-up to test him out and I felt him tighten up the first couple of times, but after that he settled down and just broke forward like he should.

The little bronc episode came first thing. I had saddled and walked him, slowly tightening up his cinch and while I saw the guy parked beside me setting up his roping dummy, I had my back turned and didn't see him pick up his rope. It just so happened that the same instant my butt hit the saddle, I heard the rope sing out and the guy jerked his slack on the roping dummy. Frosty scrunched up like an accordion, bogged his head and went to hogging around in circles. Man, did that guy feel bad. He started to run over and I was yelling, 'Stay back. I got him', so he stopped. He was so mortified and kept apologizing, that I couldn't even be upset with him. I didn't notice him and he wasn't paying attention to me. Frosty is just going to have to learn to get over that kind of stuff. He had gotten over it before, but I'm sure getting spanked fairly regularly this week hasn't helped. I'll just have to start carrying my rope and once again exorcise the rope demons.

Well, I guess now that Frosty is back on track, it's time to turn my attention to my fiery little red-head. Oh boy...Little John has been a handful this last week. That is not an easy horse to ride down. He is like the energizer bunny...He just keeps going and going and going....

I never, ever thought I would see the day when I considered Jet, The Big Bay one of the 'easy ones'. But OMG...Shooter and Jet have been the two easy ones this trip. Thank goodness half of this bunch is cooperating. LOL