NFR Favorites

Every year the NFR gets a little more exciting to me. Having a Pro-Barrel Racer right next door gives me a lot closer look into the world than I have ever had before and I am getting a first hand look at what these girl's lives are like. It has taken a long time to start to get to know my neighbor because she is gone most of the time. But I followed her progress this year and was so excited for her when she made it all the way up to the #16 spot in the standings by mid-summer....

Bessert

Unfortunately by the time the final tally was done, she had fallen back to the #19 spot and that is where she ended up for the year. She's been home for a while now and I have gotten to know her well enough to know that she is a super sweet person and a lot of fun to visit with. It's been a little frustrating for me because she has invited me to go ride with her (she lives next door) and here I was struggling to get my horses back to the point where I think her experience and expertise would really help. I do pay attention when she is riding and have gleaned some valuable info.

She has been traveling partners with and is the one who set up the Sue Smith clinic last winter that I attended. Of course, after meeting Sue and getting a first hand look at what a great horsewoman she is, she became another favorite and I root for her...
My brother knew Sue from years ago and told me she was a heckava hand, which is why I decided to go to her clinic.

Britney Fleck is another traveling partner of my neighbor...
Of course, I just love the story about Fleck's black horse...just a horse she picked up for extra credit for a colt training class she was taking in college. Obviously the girl has an eye for a good horse. And then there is the fact that she is the first North Dakota barrel racer to ever qualify for the NFR. I didn't realize that. There are some pretty good ND barrel racers, so that kind of surprised me.

Both Sue and Britney have had tough luck the first 2 go's this year. Knocked barrels both nights. Sue would have won the 2nd round if that barrel hadn't gone down.

No one gets to the NFR if they aren't the best, so I hope these two get the kinks worked out and win some money.

I have a deep respect for Sherry Cervi...
Stringray doesn't look like any of the other barrel horses, but she can obviously scat...since she holds the arena record at the Thomas and Mack. When Cervi first started making the NFR, a lot of people (me included) thought it had a lot to do with the fact she had the monetary means to purchase horses that could get her there. But she has proven to be a top hand and an exceptional horsewoman. If I could be like any of the barrel racers that are winning...she is the one I would chose to be. Money can't buy the ability this woman has proven to have and I LOVE the fact that she is running and winning on horses that her family has raised.

Of course, I have to root for my home state cowgirl, Lisa Lockhart...
I am just in love with Louie (An Okie With Cash). What a neat horse. Lisa is another cowgirl who is a top hand. I have never gotten to meet Lisa in person, but the rest of my family is good friends with the Lockhart family (and I know some of them). I don't know anything about Lisa's family, but I know she married into a family that raised many good horses over the decades and have always been top rodeo hands. Lisa worked damn hard to get where she is and deserves every bit of recognition she gets. She made every horse she runs and I love how quiet and smoothly she rides.

It's not all barrel racers I'm rooting for this year. Blake Knowles is back at the NFR and steer wrestling off of a horse that is near and dear to my heart...Shesa Fabulous...
Shesa Fabulous is a product of Brian Fulton's breeding program, from way back in the beginning, when he was partnered with Billy Meyers. Sired by Frenchman's Fabulous, the mare is the first foal out of the only daughter of my most beloved dun mare, Diala Dandy Dolly.

Yuppers, Shesa Fabulous is Moon's 'niece'. Every time I watch this mare back in the box...I see her mother (Shesa Dandy Command) and granddam (Diala Dandy Dolly). My beloved old Woofer and her daughter, Shesa Dandy Command have/had a very distinct (and recognizable to me) alertness and carriage about their head and neck...and Shesa Fabulous is a chip off of the old block. Dandy (Shesa Dandy Command) has proved to be one of Brian Fulton's top producing mares and is still listed in Brian's sale catalogs as his 'favorite cowhorse'. I am so very happy that the mare went to someone who was able to prove her value. It's an important lesson to the naysayers of 'backyard breeders'...it's not that we aren't producing horses that have all the ability of the professionally bred horses, it's just getting them into the hands of the right people. Name recognition is the only advantage the pros have over the rest of us. So it's darned exciting to see the fruits of our love and labor prove what we already knew in our heart.