Friday, I was nervous hours before the rodeo. Jayden started the afternoon giving horses baths. Jayden and I got primped up at home deciding which of us would have straight hair and which would have curly.
Mark helped us by driving the truck and parking for us. He then took the boys and Tahoe and watched. We got to the arena each night at 5, had a group meeting each night at 5:45, then had to be at the arena gate by 6. We pulled in and saw Fallon Taylors rig. We ended up either she parked by us or we parked by her each day. You can’t miss her rig, she calls it the tye dye tornado and it looks it. Fallon is one of the NFR World Champion barrel racers Jayden follows on Instagram. She also got to meet her and talk to her last year at the Dayton rodeo. It was dreadful hot and we got to the arena plenty early. Our coaches had us ready and waiting way too early. I think they were nervous too. It was just more time to sit on your horse anticipating starting. Traveler was nervous and full of energy. The hill was filling up with people. There were trucks and campers and so much commotion. It was unbearable hot and I was sweating in my long sleeve white shirt. The bomb went off each night at 10 minutes until 7. That got the horses a little more on edge. Boyd, the rodeo announcer, introduced us and got the rodeo started with some high volume music, “Are you ready, are you ready.” Our music starts and we are heading into the arena. Traverler was moving fast and shying away from things in the corners making it hard to stay in the pattern where I needed to be. He would cut corners and speed up in certain places. The performance went to fast. We did the routine correct, it just felt like I was having to force him through so much of it rather than just glide through like he does in practice. When we posted, the second bomb went off. Traveler was anxious and did not want to stand still at first. Once he settled, he stood fine. I sat there looking at all those people on the hill. It was a pretty awesome feeling. I was one of those thousands of fans for years watching. Now I was in the arena performing along with my daughter, what a neat experience. I hope that she will cherish this time and remember it all her life too. As soon as we exited the arena, we switched flags and ran to the side gate for sponsor flags. Some nights we had very little time in between and had to run around and right in as they called out or sponsor flag. It was a fast paced night. During sponsor flags, we sit and then the American flag enters. I love looking out into the crowd during the star spangled banner. My favorite is when Boyd says the prayer. I love his prayers, they are so awesome and powerful with such a strong message. He talks about how diverse we are and how there are many religions and he is going to pray to his savior Jesus Christ who spilled his blood for us and for our eternal life. It goes on and each night a little different and he quotes scripture. I love it! Where else can the general public go these days and hear a prayer like that. God bless rodeo!
The rest of the night half of our team was to go out onto the hill and greet people and do autographs. That was so awkward and out of my comfort zone. The kids were great and they just adore you. The adults look at you like you are weird. Although, Kyla and I made a friend. We had a 21 year old attractive guy get our autographs and took selfies. He was so funny and he asked if we were in school. Ha! I think he was bored and had nobody to talk to. Eventually we made our way to the top and signed autographs until the last person left. Luke liked hanging out beside me, I think he thought his mom was a celebrity, but not as cool as Mrs. Rodeo Iowa. That made for a very late night. Jayden watched the horses at the trailer during fireworks as Traveler was not liking them one bit. Night one was over and I was relieved, only 3 more to go.
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