Practice & Non Practice Runs

Friday night I got Voodoo from the pasture & put him in a pen for the night.  I'm very cruel, the pen has grass plus he got a very full hay bag.  Don't worry, when I went to get him Saturday morning he didn't hesitate to let me know how mean I was... he's such a drama queen lol
Anyway, I also had the truck filled & hooked up the trailer and had the trailer loaded Friday night.
Saturday morning I was up (after far too little sleep), did chores, loaded my poor abused pony and was on the road to go barrel racing.
The bad news was I hadn't figured into my travel & chore times that I needed to be there a bit early because I had all the paperwork & timers for my friend that was hosting the jackpot :o  The good news is the estimate I had for travel time of 90 minutes was WAY off and I got there in plenty of time :)

I had been doing some barrel work this last week at home and Voodoo has been working pretty nicely.  But when I went in for my first run (it was a double header, one run per jackpot) Voodoo started off at a nice, easy, slow lope for 1st barrel *headdesk*  Hmm... I guess I should have made one or two speed runs at home when I was practicing.
As we were turning 1st I felt a change in him, like he woke up and went "oh this is for reals!" and he picked up speed the rest of the run.  I was very happy with his 2nd barrel, its my nemesis but this time I managed to not start to cue him for the turn too soon and he maintained nice form around it.  The ground felt a bit iffy and I totally safetied him up on 3rd, still nice but way slow.
When it was time for the second jackpot he ran better to first but he felt stiff... I got him to soften up but he also took it as "hey lets turn here" which was about a half stride too soon, we made it around but it was NOT pretty nor was it fast.  He ran nicely to 2nd and I managed to ride him to what felt like the right spot but I think I was a little off again because he was really tight coming out which caused him to veer off like an idiot on the way to 3rd.  I was feeling better about the ground so I didn't safety up like I had earlier (the ground was harrowed every 5 riders, so by the 2nd jackpot the ground was much better)   Overall our 3rd was better, but still not great, and our 1st was worse.
I did manage to keep pushing all the way to the timers which is a huge mental problem for me.  I always think I don't have enough stopping room.  I guess its from running Cessa as my first barrel horse, being a TB she wasn't built to stop like a stock horse... that girl needed room to stop! 
The good news is Voodoo was consistent, our times had a difference of about .2 of a second.  The better news is that in the first jackpot we placed 4th in the 3D and it paid to four spots :)  For the record we placed 5th in the 3D in the second jackpot and it only paid to 3 spots. 

(how many spots are paid depends on how many entries there are)

His runs are starting to come together again, obviously we need to keep doing our slow work at home but to also add in some "real" runs once in awhile.

Friday Funny ~ Mail

Maybe snow or sleet won't delay the mail 

but there are other factors... 

like lack of faith in the system. 

The man ahead of me at the post office 

was getting forms 

for temporarily stopping mail delivery

 and change of address.

"When you've filled them out," 

suggested the clerk, 

"bring them here in person 

so they don't get lost in the mail."

After Every Ride

Voodoo has a ritual.

First he finds the perfect spot.

Down he goes.

And he rolls.

Gotta get the other side.

Scritch it in good.

Back to the first side & stand up.

"OMG Mom you were taking pictures of that?!"

Makes me wonder why I bother to brush him after riding lol

Wordless Wednesday ~ A Bit of Bling

The Best Laid Plans...

Remember my plan to ride Smudge while there were people around my place for that clinic?  Yeeeah, didn't happen.  I was on the run all morning getting stuff ready for lunch (I was providing a bbq lunch)  Well after lunch the wind came up and it started to rain.  The kind of weather that can put some extra silliness into a horse.  So I decided to go the smart route and let him wait a bit longer.  Instead I decided I would ride him one day this week while Pie was around.
I also altered my game plan a bit, I decided I'd add in what BEC mentioned.  I'd catch Smudge, brush & saddle him and then tie him up and let him soak while I worked other horses, cleaned the barn, etc.  He needs it, the boy is impatient and paws.
Monday it was rainy so Pete & I went green-housing to get plants for the yard.  Today was nice, and being dry & sandy it was drying up enough to ride so I caught up Smudge.  Oh man, this is where I have to make a "bad horse mommy" confession...  You know how sometimes you don't see what's right in front of you?  Yeah that was my problem.  I check the horses daily, but I hadn't taken a real hard look at Smudge in awhile.  I mean I noticed he was fat but WOW I didn't notice quite how fat he is.  When I joke that he looks like he could be Percheron its not that much of a stretch at all.  After I brushed him I weight taped him, I'll let you look at the pics and you can guess what the magic number was lol   Then I saddled him and tied him up outside. 
Applejack got brought in, brushed, weight taped (he's down 115 lbs or so!) :) saddled him up and went for a ride.  The good news about Smudge being so fat is he makes Appy look trim:

Sorry, this was the best pic I could get of Applejack today, he did NOT feel like posing lol

(yes the sky was that blue today) :)

Smudge... "guess my weight"  

Oh and this should help y'all guess, that saddle is NOT a kid's saddle.  Its a 15" Billy Cook barrel saddle.  I am a very bad horse mommy :( 

(and yes I know the back cinch looks terrible, its getting adjusted!)

After riding Applejack for awhile I decided to see if I could pony Smudge from Appy.  This is another alteration I've made to Smudge's plan.  With how fat & out of shape he is I've decided to move him to dry lot and put him on the diet plan.  Also, it just didn't seem fair to start riding him when he's that fat so I will lunge him (if he lunges, we'll try that out in the round pen) and pony him.
The arena was a bit muddy in places but not slick or too deep so I grabbed Smudge and ponied him, which took a bit of figuring out lol  We went for 20 minutes, walk/trot and one lap of a lope (just to see if we could)  After Appy was still just as fresh, in fact he kept wanting to break into a lope and was getting in his "I feel good!" prance steps here & there, he's such a goof!  Appy was rode for a total of 45-60 minutes tonight, Smudge was ponied for 20.  Appy worked at a walk/trot/lope, Smudge walk/trot (except for that one lap at a lope) and Smudge was WAY sweatier than Applejack.  Poor guy!

Trust me, that may not look like much but he was sweaty! 
One good thing came of today, after having to 'discuss' things with Smudge I'm feeling much more comfortable in my new saddle.  I wasn't sure about my seat in it, it felt a bit loose and like I'd slip out of it.  No worries now lol  I do think that next time I'll use a rope halter, so hopefully we'll have less to 'discuss' when I say come along.

And lastly, this was a picture I was thinking of for last week's Sunday Stills.  Anyone know what song I have in mind for this pic?

Sunday Stills ~ Music Groups or Songs in Pics

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was a bit different:
This will be a fun and challenging challenge to say the least and will not only take photo skills but a knowledge of music. So find a song or music group and then take a picture of something that represents them, sounds easy but it may take a bit of creativity. 

If you need a clue you can click the link for each picture to take you to a youtube link :)
My first one is a music group

This feel of this song would have been nice on this chilly day:

This takes me back to my late teens/early twenties, love the band (they're Canadian!) and this song:

A popular TV show covered this song and it was as good as the original IMO

Feel free to put your guesses in the comments, or just let me know how many you had right :)

I had a lot of fun, and ideas, for this challenge!  Thanks for suggesting it Ed, I wouldn't mind returning to this one sometime :D

Embarrassing Confession

Here it is... I have to ride Smudge, and I'm a bit scared.
Yes, scared.  Of Smudge for heaven's sake.

See all my horses had the winter off.  First the footing was way too icy and then when we did get enough snow cover to make riding safe my back was acting up.
I swung a leg over Voodoo this spring without a worry.  I knew he'd be a bit hot but I also know what to expect from him.
A couple weeks ago Applejack's new saddle came in and I was finally able to ride him for the first time since, oooh, the end of August :D
I had messaged a friend that if I hadn't checked in with her by a certain time she was to come over and see if I needed an ambulance* ;) 
Appy was happily confused to be getting saddled up and a bit eager to go but he cooperated nicely and stuck to the walk/jog I wanted.  Although he did let me know that if I was even considering asking him to run he would gladly comply lol

Smudge needs his first ride of the season now.  And like I said, I'm scared.  Not ohmigosh I'm gonna die!! scared, more nervous & unsure scared.
Because that is The Thing, being unsure about what he'll do.  I know my little black horse and my fat appy.  Smudgers, not so much.  I know he's safe for beginners, when he's had someone on to take the fresh out or he's being used at least semi regularly.  And I was told that the rancher that had him before would turn him out for winter and in the spring just get on without a hitch, but I don't know that... we haven't even had him a year yet.
I have a game plan though.  Tomorrow my arena is being rented for a clinic (Molly Powell), there will be lots of people here so I will saddle up Smudge and go for a nice, calm ride. And if for some reason he doesn't follow the game plan there will be lots of people around to offer first aid and, worst come to worst, call 911*.  And I will wear a helmet!

Yes I feel a bit embarrassed being nervous to swing a leg over 'the company horse'.

*I wore a helmet for Appy's first ride in 8ish months.  Also I didn't think I'd need WL to call an ambulance or that someone will need to call 911 for the Smudge ride, its just my weird humour.  Kinda if I say it I will unjinx it from happening, if that makes any sense.