We Cannot Forget Mr. Consistent

It is horribly unfair of me to not include a post on how Mr. Consistent did at the CWBRA Finals...

Yea...Spooks finally gets his very own post. LOL

I tell ya...the closer it gets to the end of the season...only one more race for me and the big black horse...the more sentimental I find myself getting about the big lug.

Spooks is not fast. We all know that. He's not even all that agile. What he is though, is a supremely honest horse who gives it his all...every. single. time. I don't care who you are...you have to respect and appreciate him for that. I know I sure have. That is why, regardless of his lack of speed...Spooks has received the same high level of care that Moon gets. The feed, the conditioning, the feet, the grooming, the massages, chiro, you name it...Every bit of it is earned and deserved!!!

Which is why I am happy to say that Spooks won't be retiring just yet...

I am lending him to a friend for her 10 y/o step-daughter. Spooks will continue to receive the same high level of care that he so deserves and yet not have to work quite as hard as he does for me. This little girl needs a step-up horse so she can become a better rider and maybe even start competing. I am thrilled!! The best part is...Somebody will still get some use out of him and when they are done, he comes home permanently. They aren't stuck wondering what to do with a horse they have outgrown and I never have to worry about what happened to him.

I know I always talk about Spooks as if he is 'old'. Truth be known, he is only 14. He's not old. He has many good years left. He's just an old soul.

So anyway...Spooks was tied for Reserve High Point 4D horse in the CWBRA this year. I missed too many races in the beginning of the year to catch up to the leader. So I was shooting for the reserve position. All I needed was for Spooks to go in and make his regular run...

It all started out that way. I have been working a little bit on Spooks' first barrel. He's picked up a little more speed going to it and I realized I hadn't really bothered to instill a proper rate in him. We touched that up a little with some practice and this time I felt Spooks rate and shape nicely...

He started the turn in good form...

I felt him sort of lose his position on the backside of 1st (Spooks is a 'lefty'...he runs to the left barrel first), but didn't think much of it. Spooks has an old scar across the inside of his left hock, a cut that damaged the ligament. He can't pull that leg up as effectively as he should, so very often I get a little 'hop' from him so he can get his hind leg up pulled up where it belongs so he can push off. I didn't realize at the time that he had slipped badly on the first barrel...

All I felt was, as he was going across from 1st to 2nd, I felt him keep wanting to shut down on me. That is not like Spooks, but I couldn't really afford to let him slow down...so I went to the bat and spanked him back up to speed...

And as Julie Robert's told the sales lady in Pretty Woman...'Big mistake! HUGE!'

Spooks laid into his 2nd turn, shoulder first...

And the next thing I know, I feel his front feet skittering out from under him...

Spooks panicked! He doesn't slip going around barrels and he decided he was out of there...

I was trying to keep him from running toward the gate, but I also knew if I just let him get straightened up and get his feet under control that he would turn and head for the 3rd barrel. That's exactly what he did too. And finished his run properly...

I was sooooo mad at myself. I have never had that awful of a run on Spooks before. I knew I did it to him by spanking him instead of keeping him between my hands as he was starting his 2nd turn. But...Gahhhh...He was going soooo slow. :-/

Once I felt his feet skittering out from under him in that turn, I knew why he had been shutting down on me between barrels...Even though I did not feel him slip on the 1st turn, I figured he had felt the sand shifting under his feet in the 1st turn and wasn't taking any chances. Spooks is a cautious soul. He was trying to prepare himself for that slippery footing in the turn again.

The thing about Spooks though...the whole time he is running...he's waiting for any indication that you want him to stop. You literally have to ride him every. single. stride.

'Cause if you slow your body energy even the tiniest bit...he'll just slid to a stop. THAT is probably the biggest reason Spooks is not much faster on the pattern, cause when you watch him run...he's actually striding out...he's just not flowing forward. He's waiting...hoping...for any indication that it's okay to stop. THAT is going to make him a perfect kids horse!!

Since I had run Spooks toward the beginning of the race, according to what times had been running...I figured I was screwed. Spooks usually runs a 20.1-20.4 in this arena and this time his run has been a 21.197. But the more I was listening to times, the more I got to wondering exactly how this was going to play out. Sometimes crappy ground works in funny ways...it will slow the fast horses down, but the slower horses handle it just fine and run their 'normal' times, so there is actually less of a gap in times. That is exactly what was happening too. I lost track of everything when I was getting Moon ready to run...and of course, he set the fast time...so then I just had to wait to see how it broke down...

Moon set the fast time of 17.840 and won the 1D. Our associations run on 1/2, 1/2, 1 second splits...so technically the 4D 2 full seconds slower than the fast time. The weird thing was...the majority of the girls ran well within that 2 seconds. Oddly enough, only 4 of us, with some kind of messed up, but clean runs ended up with times that was greater than that 2 second split. So Spooks placed 2nd in the 4D and picked up an awesome check too. Hahahahaha... He was 4 seconds off of the fast time and still placed...

I have always said that horse had the luck of the Irish.

He also picked up the necessary points to break the tie for Reserve...so he won that title and this beautiful headstall and breastcollar set...

                                              (Of course I would be looking down. LOL) 

I'll get better pics of the headstall and breastcollar after I get all of Spooks' prizes for the year and can show them all at once. ;-)

One last run on the big guy...and it's for the Champion 4D position for my district NBHA. We are leading by a slim 4 points so I can't screw this one up. Nobody gets that lucky twice. Hahahaha

Bittersweet Weekend

This weekend's NBHA State runs ended up being kind of bittersweet.

Spooks did his thing. On the first day, a bobble leaving 1st, caused by the photographer's camera flash cost my boy his State title. He just got a little lost after the flash went off and wobbled like a drunken sailor toward the 2nd barrel. It cost us a couple of 10ths on that run. It was a 17.4 second run.

I carried over his run time to a bonus jackpot race that followed and he did pick up a check in that race. Won the 4D.

On the bright side, he came back strong on Sunday, ran his normal pattern and picked up a check, with a 17.1 second run. He ended up 3rd in the Average in the 4D. Not the 4D State Champion title I was so hoping for.

While I am disappointed....I have to remind myself...there were 100 barrel racers there from all over the state of Colorado. I am darned proud of the big black horse for placing in the top 5 in his division.

I took Moon as well. I didn't have any big plans for Moon, just wanted to see if we could put together a smooth run at an indoor arena. On the first run, I remembered to make him finish the 1st turn, but forgot to snap my head up and find the 2nd barrel. Moon bowed coming off the 1st barrel and I had to do some hard riding and swat him in the shoulder with the bat a couple of times to get him back over and around his 2nd barrel.

Goofy horse still ended up with a 15.3 second run. He placed 5th in the 1D and picked up a check. The only horses that beat him was 2 pro-level girls with their PRCA horses and 'back-up' horses. I was so stinking proud of Moon. There were 104 barrel racers the first day and he had the 5th fastest time. Pretty darned cool.

I also had Moon entered in the jackpot that followed, with a carry-over time and he placed 2nd in the 1D in that. So 3 checks in one day...I was repaid for my entry fees.

Sunday rolled around and really my only goal for Moon was to keep the run clean so we had a shot at the 1D average. Moon is always hotter the 2nd day of running and I was ready for him to fire hard from the gate and he did. He exploded for the first barrel and about all I could do was tell him 'easy, easy'. First barrel was clean and we snapped right out of it in a straight line to 2nd and Moon was running free, but boy oh boy...right at that 2nd barrel, Moon started rating hard, so once again, I had to go to the bat to get him around the 2nd barrel. It was a super tight turn and I am not sure how we made it. I swatted him a couple of times right as he was going into 3rd as well, cause I could feel him shutting down on me again. I sure as hell thought we made the turn, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the barrel wobble and sure as heck...as we ran for home, it slowly fell over. I'm pretty sure that Moon just ticked it with his hip. Boy was I mad!!! His time was another 15.3 and without that tipped barrel, we were guaranteed to have been in the Top 5 Average for the 1D. He just gets too wound up and tries too hard. That makes me have to get pretty drastic with my hands because I don't think he feels a single cue when he is that 'zoned in'. It's too much of a good thing, ya know?

Now, I almost never buy back into a jackpot for a tipped barrel, but this time I decided I had had enough of Moon's crap. I GET that it's tough to go from big outdoor patterns to little indoor ones...but this sucking up on the barrels has GOT to stop. Moon really only does it when he is over-excited. I decided that this time, I was going to buy back in and make Moon run the pattern again. He has to learn that he needs to do the same job every . single . time and he might want to conserve some of that energy because he may have to run more than once a day. :-/ That happens at rodeos too...Sometimes you do have to run and then come right back for the short go...So at some point, he is going to have to learn how to deal with it.

Of course it worked...Moon was a lot calmer for his 2nd run and it was pretty darned smooth. He went back in and ran a 15.4 and I wasn't pushing him at all. He was one hole out of the 1D money in the jackpot...but he did win me a neat jacket for the best average for THAT jackpot. Cool, but not as prestigious as winning the NBHA Open Average.

Sooo...Yea...Pretty happy...Still kinda disappointed. There's always next year for Moon and I, but this is my last year on Spooks. I was really hoping he would have a perfect weekend and come home with that Championship buckle. What he did win was a trophy case FOR buckles...LOL...How ironic is that?

Well, we still have District NBHA finals and Spooks is leading that. Just 3 more runs for me and the black horse and then he will be moving on to a new adventure in life...

More on that later. ;-)

Update

Oh how these summer days go by...

Last weekend was the last big 'rodeo' weekend...

As I posted earlier...Moon's breathing was not good and he was well out of the money at Rifle. I hit him with another breathing supplement and some immune booster that night and the next morning...

Loaded him and Spooks up and drove to Delta for an NBHA run. I didn't know if I was going to be running Moon at that race or not. I wanted to warm him up first and see how he felt.

Luckily, he seemed to be back to normal, so I put a run on him. My riding was a tish wild going into 2nd barrel. Moon started picking up speed as he as approaching the barrel and I sat pretty hard and pulled. NOT what Ed coached me to do. LOL

Moon was running so hard though, he actually ran past 2nd somewhat before he could get turned. I have to say...In the long run...I much prefer him to run past a barrel a bit than try to overturn like he usually does. He placed 4th in the race with a 17.98. He's had a lot better runs in this arena, but I wasn't pushing him. After all, he had a long ride and a rodeo run later that night, so I was pretty happy. If we can just keep putting some runs like that together and continue to pick up a few points, I think I can get him into the top 5 of the 1D. That would be cool.

Spooks went out and made a smoken' run...which was a good thing. He jumped up from his usual 20.2 to a 19.8. He won the 4D and picked up 5 very critical points. He is now leading the 4D by 2 points now. Just gotta focus on letting the black horse keep doing what he is doing and we should be golden.

Once the boys were taken care of, I loaded them back up and we headed over Monarch Pass to Salida.

Although I got there plenty early...I didn't get a chance to ride in the arena. The county fair was going on and they had lots of stuff going on in the arena. I was fairly disappointed. It's not so much that Moon needs the chance to see a new arena as it is, I am figuring out that I need to actually be able to get in the arena and get a chance to judge the distance between the barrels.

My sit down and pull incident from earlier in the day had me a little worried. That is not the kind of riding that works on Moon. I just kept telling myself that all I need to remember to do is get up over Moon and rate him with my hands up where then need to be.

When it was time to run...I had a little bit of a problem getting Moon up to the gate. He wasn't spinning out or freaking out...there was just a whole lot of activity around the gate...lots of people on horses and lots of people on foot. Moon kind of kept stalling out. This is just something we are going to have to learn to deal with at these smaller rodeos. I have stopped worrying about the time factor about getting in the gate so much. It seems that as long as the gate man can see you coming, you are not going to get flagged out. The announcer kept talking about how getting these horses lined up to start their run is like lining up a sprint car at the light. Luckily a girl I know was there and she rode up to the gate with me. Once Moon could see into the arena...he was fine. He lined up and was ready to go. There was a long score from the gate to the timer, so I kept Moon gathered up and rated down until we were well into the arena and then let him go.

Man...that first barrel felt sooooo good. Moon rocketed out of there perfectly in line for the 2nd barrel...

I picked up my spot on the 2nd barrel and let him roll. When Moon comes out of 1st this nice and straight...there really isn't much I need to do except keep my eye on my spot, get my other hand on the rein (about 1/2 way across the arena), ride him into his pocket, sit and lift my hand...

Moon does the rest.

Everything was just right...except...as Moon was coming into the 2nd barrel, he was still building speed. I picked up on the reins and it felt like he just got stronger...

I had a total and complete panic attack.

I sat down and pulled. As soon as I did, the thought, 'oh shit...that's not what I need to do' flew through my head and I loosened my grip on the reins...but the damage was done...

2nd barrel went over.

Honestly, I don't think it was so much the sitting down and pulling that caused Moon to tick the barrel so much as it was me looking down his shoulder. If I had managed to keep my eyes on the ground in front of him, I think he was still in good enough position to make the turn.

He finished his run and had a great time...which made my mistake even more horrifying.

I was really shaken after that run. I know that in the past, I've had a few 'oh shit, he's going too fast' moments and resorted to sitting down and pulling on Moon, but I can't say that I have ever felt absolute panic like I had at that moment at 2nd barrel.

I was so disgusted, I took care of horses, loaded up and drove him in the middle of the night. The next day, I still couldn't shake the yucky feeling I had, so I called my mom.

To be continued...

Traveling Better

I think Spooks is slowly coming out of his lameness. I have yet to determine if his 'funky' way of moving is due to being sore footed and extremely stiff and out of shape or if he is going to need some chiropractic work.

Please forgive my bounciness-hands and seat...OMG!...This horse is really rough riding and herky-jerky. No cadence to his gaits, whatsoever.



Spooks really struggles to pick up his left lead. At this time, the only way I can get him to pick it up is by rolling him off the fence. Once he is in that lead though, he is actually smoother riding to the left than he is to the right.



I'll be anxious to compare these videos to what I'm hoping he will look like in another month.