Finals, finals, finals!

Man have I been behind... I'll try to get caught up and I'll start with wrapping up the barrel racing season (in short form).

SBRA Provincial Finals
I decided to only enter Voodoo.  I was hauling in with my friend/neighbour but we missed the first day.  We got a LOT of rain the day before and day of, and neither of our trucks have 4x4.  By doing so we were automatically out of the short go :(
We managed to make it in for day two.  That's one thing the drought this year was good for, even after how much rain we got things dried up super fast!  By the morning of day two the back roads had just a few, small scattered puddles.
Voodoo and I had a nice run.  I've been having a few rider issues this year, the main one being that I'm not riding from first to second and not riding hard enough from second to third and then home.  Another part of that issue is that I'm not really kicking.  I *think* I'm kicking but it's more of a small flutter.  So, I tried to remember to R.I.D.E and I did... still needed to work on that some more though.

District Finals
I took both Voodoo and Lefta.  They camped out in the pens on site and I camped out in my brother's living room (about 10 minutes away).  All around it was probably the most fun district finals I've been to.
The first day Voodoo was a bit of a jerk, I couldn't get him lined out right from first to second and then we hit it.  There was a buy back option but our time wasn't even near close to being good enough that I thought it would be worth it.
Lefta on the other hand... she was a bit nervous coming down the alley but once she was in the arena it was like she was thinking "oh, barrels!" and off she went :)  We had a nice run, not super fast but good.  For the first time I asked her for some speed on the pattern.  I RODE her to second and the rest of our run and she handled it great.
That night I got the horses settled and had drinks with some of the girls and then my sister-in-law and little niece came to pick me up.  My niece was so excited I was sleeping over.  It was pretty cute, her cousin was sleeping over too so she said we should tell her dad he couldn't come home so it would be an all girls sleep over ("Even my DOG is a girl!!") lol
My SIL picked up coffee and food on the way to her house (she knows me well!), and when we got to her place I had a quick shower then we sat around by a fire having drinks, goofing off with the girls and making s'mores.
The next day Lefta was a bit of a pill to warm up.  She seemed a bit stiff, probably because my horses aren't used to staying in a small pen, and she was really distracted.  We hit our first ever barrel and the run was crap, I decided to use the buy back option and when she came in for her second run later in the day she was awesome!  It was pretty cute coming down the alley, she had her nose tipped to the left (I go left first) and was just watching for that barrel (at this arena you can't see the barrels until you're in the arena).  I ran her a bit harder than the day before, however our barrels weren't quite as tight and nice as usual - BUT, we ended up having the EXACT same time, to the thousandth! (18.604 both days).
Voodoo had a much nicer run, he warmed up really good and handled so much better.  And I RODE both horses!
The short go took back the top 10 (averaged) in each D.  Lefta was 11th in the 3D, she missed it by one spot!!  I don't think anyone has been so happy to miss a short go by one spot, but since we've barely even started to run I was pretty thrilled with how well she did :D

Biggar Series Final
Oh my, a drought all summer but we get rain at a few key times.  So not only was I not able to make the first day of provincial finals but the day the Biggar series wrapped it was rainy and cold.  It had rained for a few days and the ground was pretty sloppy.
I know Voodoo isn't a fan of mud but he'll run on it (not fast but he'll go).  Lefta hasn't had to deal with mud and slop, and due to how she really holds on to stuff that bothers her (that's a post in itself!!) I didn't want to push her and get her scared.  I also didn't want to risk hurting either of them for a few bucks, so I safetied up and just let them cruise through at their own speed, but I did ask them to start off at a slow run.
I stand by that decision too.  The next day the farrier was out and they were both a bit sore, V even stretched them before working on their feet.  I put their BOT blankets on and then rubbed them down with blue lotion and it seemed to help out quite a bit.  Also, the next time I worked Lefta on barrels she felt like she didn't trust the ground and got a bit anxious.  We worked through it though and she has been better since.
Voodoo ended up 5th in 4D for the series and Lefta won Most Improved :)

That for me wrapped up the 2014-2015 barrel racing series (although technically the Biggar series wrap up was in the 2015-2016 season)  I'm really looking forward to the new season!