I'm sooooo proud of Badger! He has really stepped up to my challenges this year and met them all with ease. Badger and I went from running in the 5D (in the 17s)...to the 2D (in the 15s-to low 16s)....Now, to you non-barrel racers that doesn't sound like a lot. But if you run, you understand what a big deal that is for me, us.
This weekend we had two runs in Fulshear and a team roping in Katy. Saturday, I ran a 15.8 to place 2nd in the Open 2D and 2nd in the Novice horse. That moved us up to 2nd (tie) in the standings for Novice and only 11 points behind the 1st place Novice horse. We were barely in the top 10 just a couple of races ago! We had a great run. We had a great run and brought home a check, so we can't complain. I'll add the video later this week.
Sunday morning we had to get up early to be in Katy by 9 AM. We got there only to sit til 11 AM for the roping to start. It was hot, so i spent most of the time in the truck with the a/c running while Shelby took a nap. Ryan's first heeler missed in the 1st round and his 2nd heeler legged (caught 1 leg instead of two). So, by the time he got to the 2nd round I was able to get Shelby in the stroller, pull her up 10+ steps in the colliseum just in time to watch him rope and his 2nd heeler miss. That was dissappointing, but that is how roping is. The bummer is 1st paid $3,000 a man. We sure could have used that!
Speaking of, we have had his condessor on his truck go out, the big window unit in our living room quit working (probably the compressor), our generator for the trailer is not working, I ran over a nail and blew out the tire on our car, and I smashed the side mirror of my truck. So, it was even harder to watch that money slip from our hands. Then, somehow, $80 came up missing out of our winnings/rodeo money. I have looked everywhere and have no idea what could've happened to it. Whoever has it, hopefully, needed it more than us I guess.
Anyhow, sticking with the positive....We then loaded up and headed to Fulshear for the NBHA barrel race. I felt confident after Saturday's run and was looking forward to the run. Again, it was hot, so Ryan got baby duty as I made my run. I wish I had it on video because it felt really good. I felt it was even better than Saturday. The pattern was a 1/2 second bigger, so my 16.418 was a good run in my opinion. I believe we were about 1/10 slower, but can't blame Badger. He had already been to a roping that morning! Anyhow, we placed 4th in the 2D and brought home another check.
I've decided Badger is very good with the average races because he is so consistant, so that will probably be my focus next year. Ryan and I both would rather go to the bigger races and have a chance to win bigger money.
Our weekends are quickly filling up with barrel races and team ropings. So, now it's time to start picking and choosing where to run Badger. It is hard to not run when I'm in the standings, but I need to take care of BAdger. I still hope to run some rodeos and running him two times a weekend is not good for him and will wear him out quickly. I have other horses in the barn, just no time to ride them. In time, right??? :) With that said, I'm planning to back out of the Wharton Rodeo. He doesn't like that arena. I'll also have to skip the Rodeo Sweethearts race. If you remember, I missed out on a 1D buckle my like 1/10 of a second or something like that.
Oh, that reminds me...that will be a fun weekend...3 barrel races in 2 days...I'll probably run at 2 of them. We'll see how Badger feels.
Anyhow...busy, busy, busy...We have got to get some horses sold or ridden to meet the demands of our life.
On to Shelby - She was an angel through this weekend. She had to take a lot of naps in her car seat in the truck and I was very proud of what a trooper she was! She just loves seeing all the people and showing them how cute she is. I always have to stand there as they talk to her amazed at how much she smiles. Of course, some want to hold her and talk to her. She really likes that! I can see the heat being a real challenge for us and our rodeo life with Shelby, but we will get through it. The good news is we FINALLY got a picture of her tooth. It's not the greatest pic and it's blurry, but I thought y'all would enjoy it. :) She wants to hold and chew on the camera or put her tongue over her tooth, so it's hard to get the pic just right. This has been my most successful attempt and I've been trying for weeks!
Here's a video of her...again, attempting to show the tooth...with no luck!!!
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