A Fun-Filled Weekend

Well I’m back! I’m not sure yet if I’m going to share the videos from the barrel race or not- but I am going to share all about what Zach and I did, and try not to bore you with my drivel about how much I love him and blah, blah, blah. I would have for sure shared my pretty, 3/4 speed run with you, but my videographer missed the first barrel. The runner in front of me was a scratch, and so I came in early and Zach wasn’t ready!

I’d like to take this moment to thank all the great girls that kept y’all entertained while I was gone. Let’s give them all a virtual round of applause, shall we? I should also shout-out to Brenda, a totally awesome client who made Friday’s great day possible by getting to the barrel race Thursday to stand in line and get us exhibition runs for Friday on her horse and for Gump! I couldn’t go because I thought Zach was getting in at 5pm that day, and the books opened at 4 that afternoon. And I clearly can’t be two places at once!

Thursday Zach surprised me by getting in several hours early! I must have missed it when he told me his flight was getting in at 1pm because last I’d heard it was a 5pm arrival. When he calls me from Rapid City on Thursday morning he was like, I should be to Texas by 1pm! Needless to say I was ecstatic! I graced the family with my famous shrimp pasta on Thursday night, and then Friday we were up and at ’em to get to the barrel race.

Friday night’s run was really slow, but my horse did everything right, so I can’t and shouldn’t be upset about that.

Saturday we ran over a second faster, but even that was still way off the pace. But that was fine, because we learned that my horse is so long-strided, as one of my commenters mentioned, that it’s very hard to judge and get your timing right for setting him up to turn and be successful. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again- Gump is unlike any horse I’ve ever ridden before- he’s not exceptionally ratey (which means he’s not jonesing to turn a barrel) but he is very fast, and he’s what we’d consider to be a free-runner. He’s broke, but not as broke as he could be, so as we get more and more broke, we’ll get better and better at running.

Sunday’s run was probably one of the best first barrels we’ve ever had, but our second barrel, was a slight disaster. The third barrel was good and I was less in his way- than I was on run #2. All in all I’d say the weekend was very successful and I had a great time. I got to see a lot of friends, and by Sunday night was not only sad because Zach was leaving the next day , but I was absolutely worn out.

That’s the recap of the weekend’s events. It rained again on Monday, and as such is a muddy mess today. The good news is that it’s sunny and beautiful outside! So hopefully the sun combined with this north wind will help us dry out and I might be able to get on a riding schedule before the end of the week. That would make me extra happy!

Have a great day!

xo