Horses & NBHA

8/2/18 Jayden's friend Erica invited her to a team roping clinic put on by a well know team roping family, the Day's. Jayden took her Okie horses, Wess and Astro to the clinic. She took the Bloomer trailer and followed Erica and her Dad. I like when the Dad's are along because I  know they are there to look out and help if needed. The clinic was in Fontanel. Jayden went and stayed one night and got in two full days. She said she learned so much and everyone loved her horses. The clinic was mostly younger high school and college age kids. She was excited to catch and slick horn several times and even turned 3 or 4 head. She got her first dally, turn, and a heeler caught.

8/8/18 Jayden and I gave several horse lessons and trail rides lately . Last week she had a lesson with a teenage barrel racer, helping her troubleshoot some problems. Tuesday, Jayden rode the neighbor Lynne’s horse one morning and has been helping her learns some things. We had riding lessons with the Spencer girls in the afternoon. Wednesday I scheduled things a little too tight. My friend Carolyn’s daughter Melody had “riding horses at the Muench’s”’ on her summer bucket list, so I wanted to make sure she got that in. They came at 9Am and we went on a trail ride out in our hay field. It was a perfect day for it and the horses were perfect. Carolyn and I always have so much to talk about and she is a great friend. Jayden rode next to Melody and talked about school and rodeo. At 10 Jayden had a lesson with Dakota. I fixed lunch for Carolyn and Melody as well. I am really working on my hospitality and have had more people for lunch this summer than ever. I may not have my house as cleaned and prepared as I would like, and it is chaos most days, but I make it work and try my best to be welcoming. My time management was a little rough having planned the morning ride and lunch and having to leave the house by noon showered and changed. The boys had a dentist appointment in Ames and Jayden had to drop off her Tahoe in Boone at the mechanic on the way. She had no time to get ready and had to eat her lunch in the car. In the evening when we returned, we had a lesson with Skylar. We convinced her dad to ride with her and we went on a trail ride with them. I think Skylar really enjoyed that and smiled most of the ride.

The weekend before Jayden was headed off to college, Mark, Jayden, and I took an evening trail ride in our pasture as the sun went down. Soaking in those last days before she leaves the nest.

8/11/18 NBHA... National Barrel Horse Association had their state show in Cedar Rapids at the Kirkwood college equestrian center. The college used to have an equine program and they have awesome facilities. For whatever reason the program is no longer. The state NBHA show got to use the center. Jayden wanted to take Astro and Joker to compete. It was a big deal, 2 day show with a 3rd if you make short -go. The entries were a month ago and expensive. After the fact, Jayden realized she could have entered 6 IRCA rodeos. She really isn't a big fan of the shows. They are long, they drag after every 5 horse, they draw a ton of contestants, and pay out low. , Jayden drove herself, truck and trailer, and 2 horses to Cedar Rapids. I am still amazed that she can handle all of it. Packing, loading, hooking up, hauling two horses, the whole bit, alone. She is quite the cowgirl. She arrived, got her horses settled in stalls, saddled each one, warmed them up, made a couple exhibition runs, hosed them off, and fed them for the night. The next day she ran in the Open division in the morning and the youth division in the afternoon. I drove out to see her and stay Friday and if needed I would have stayed Saturday. She ran both Joker and Astro. Joker ran a smooth clean run for her with a time of 16.1, winning time was a 14.5. Each time she runs Joker, he gets a little bit faster and a little bit closer to the top time. I could tell Jayden was nervous to make her run on Astro. She must have asked me three times if I wanted to take her place and make a run on him. I think she was totally serious. She didn’t have a good exhibition run with him and was already concerned. Astro had a few problems and is diving into the barrel and he responds drastically to anything Jayden does, if she pulls or leans, he gets way off. So her run wasn’t great, but she is still learning. There were 260+ runners in the open, 87 in the youth, and a senior division. The barrel race ran constant from 9Am to 7Pm with tractor drags every 5. It was a long day. It was so terribly hot too. It was around 88 degrees outside both days, but indoors was much hotter. It was an indoor arena with no air flow and humid. It felt cool when you walked outside. We went out to supper in the evening to Applebees and stayed the night in our trailer. The air conditioning is just right and the sound drowns out any noises.  The next day was the same thing all over, but reverse run order. Joker again ran a solid clean run and shaved a little more time with a 15.8. Jayden was so pleased with his run. You can tell she is totally comfortable and confident on him. He is her horse and she has put all the time and training into him. She knows his moves and can handle him well. Astro ran a much better run, however he is diving and leaning too soon, which causes him to drop his shoulder and plow the barrel. She knocked second and third he shouldered in but no knock. The two of them really need to be a team and it will take time. I know she will get it once she figures some thing out. He is hard for her to ride, such a different style of running and they have to get used to each other. When she does, I think it will be awesome. He is fast, there is no doubt he will be clocking some fast times. If she had not knocked he was a 15.2 with errors. My biggest prayer going into each run is one for safety and I was glad for that. As far as being at the NBHA show, it was hot, I sat alone, nobody to talk to, and it was along day. These show people are not my kind of people. They aren’t friendly or kind. The only person I talked to over the weekend was my friend Jennifer Holtgrew, who I had not seen in over 20 years. She went to college with me and was a good friend my sophomore year. She has been running barrels since she was a little girl and hasn’t quit yet. She is currently a school teacher on a reservation. It was fun to see her and catch up.

Because she didn’t fall into the 5D divisions, Jayden didn’t make short-go. If she qualified, that meant staying another night. As soon as she saw the posted results, she was ready to head home and we did. It was an expensive weekend for Jayden, she still has to pay her own entires. A weekend like this with entries for two horses and stall fees add up. Its part of her learning reality and expenses.