9/9/16 Day two of the IRCA finals was
wet. We saw the radar and knew it was coming. There were meetings planned for
today that we had to attend, so we had to get to the rodeo ground early. I took some pictures of Jayden and Ace and you could see the sky turning.
We
loaded Ace at 2:30 just in time for the rain to cut loose. It rained hard and
heavy all the way to Adel. Then they cancelled all the meetings and even moved
the rodeo start time to 8:00. We barely got a stall that we paid for and sat
around in lawn chairs by the stall watching the rain. Everyone else stayed in
their living quarter trailers. There are many times it sure would be nice to
have one. It rained off and on and had stopped around 7 and started again about
8 just in time for the rodeo. The arena had standing water and there were roads
all over the fairgrounds with flowing water across them. My friend Laura and
husband Tanner came with kids to watch. It was fun to see her and she even gave
Jayden a barrel racing pointer. The Grand Entry was a sloppy mess in the rain.
Mark was assigned to rake the barrels for Jayden tonight. They hand raked all 3
barrels by hand after every runner. Jayden ran third and Ace ran a beautiful
pattern all 3 barrels standing!! There was a huge water puddle just past the 3rd
barrel so he hesitated a split second. Her time was an 18.34. I thought her
time would be good and the times would be slower tonight due to the wet and
rain. Not so, the times all got a whole lot faster. 5 people got in the 17’s as
compared to last night only one. Luck was on Morgan’s side again as she ran and
bumped the second barrel, lost her balance, came clear out of the saddle and
forward and nearly fell, however she still turned in a good pattern and took
second place. That pretty much sealed the deal on Rookie of the Year. It’s hard
to be happy for her. Our nature is to be envious and jealous. I won’t let that
creep into me, but I am bummed for Jayden as she lost her title. It is ok,
Morgan is having a great finals and I am glad. She has hauled to nearly ever
rodeo this summer, even more than us and only placed at 3. It is her turn to
have some wins. I am so happy Jayden’s horse ran a good pattern and had all
three barrels up. I am so proud of her for running with the BIG dogs!! Those 15
barrel racers all run within a second of time. Just think about that. You can’t
get much tougher competition than that.
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