Friday night barrels

Last night we headed out to the rodeo grounds to watch a friend run barrels. Unfortunately for her (and her pony) last week in Pierre the ground was really muddy & sloppy - it was pouring when she ran - and her good gaming horse overreached and yanked a shoe loose. That would have been bad enough, but he also developed an abscess in that foot, darn it!

So last night she was running one of their mares. Bubbles had about a month of barrel training a couple of years back and has been an all-around using/roping horse since. So when she hit the arena, she was looking for a cow (grin!). For all that, they did pretty well - not enough to be in the money, but only a second off. The first barrel wasn't real pretty, the second one was better, and the third turn was pretty.

They were running 4-D, and had a good turnout in spite of the 90'+ heat. Clouds moved in by 8 o'clock or so, and it was a bit more comfortable. They were raking the heck out of the arena, but the ground must have been packed & slick underneath, because there were a lot of slips at the first barrel, and one horse flat out sideways at the second. Nobody hurt though, which was good.

K's dad asked me to video her run with their camera, which looked close enough to mine to be familiar. Unfortunately, it had a record button that I didn't know about, so what she ended up with were some not-to-great stills. Oops. Should have just used mine.

I was informed I should have brought Sunny or Rufus along and had a turn or two myself - gulp! Sunny and I had a few playday outings the year he came back from the trainer, and actually he seemed to really enjoy the whole deal. But with no place to practice and no real desire to run him, it's not high on my list of things to do. I enjoy watching, though. And I am kind of curious to see if Rufus has gamed. My guess is yes, but who knows until we try?

Anyway, it would be kind of fun to get one or both of them patterned, but I don't know about running. I've always thought barrel racing is sort of like falling off a cliff - it's not the fall that gets you, it's the sudden stop!

Friday Book Review - can-chasing fun!

A few weeks ago I reviewed Rodeo Rocky, a book from the Half Moon Ranch series that seriously bagged on rodeo. (It wasn't wonderful.)

My choice for this week's feature takes a slightly more clear-eyed - but still fictional - look at rodeo as a sport and lifestyle. No, it's not a new book, so if you're intrigued, you may need to track down a copy at your local library or via a used book source. (Amazon, Alibris are good possibilities. I found an good ex-library hardcover copy at Alibris for lil-ole-me for a whopping $1.99.)

With the caveat that I'm not intimately familiar with rodeoing, so there may be problems with detail that I'm missing completely, this book has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Tin Can Tucker by Lynn Hall

Abandoned at birth to the mercies of the children's services folks and raised mostly in foster homes, Ann Tucker has one prized possession - a silver trophy belt buckle from the National Finals Rodeo. She's had it since before she can remember, along with a yen for horses, but when Tuck, as she calls herself, realizes just what the buckle is, she decides that rodeo's in her blood and she might as well answer the call.

Figuring her foster parents aren't going to waste too much time looking for a teen who's almost old enough to be out of the system anyway (as long as the checks keep coming), she hits the road, determined to hitchhike her way to her future.

Fiction being what it is, although the odds are against her, Tuck manages to hook up with a goodhearted elderly bullfighter and his grandmotherly wife. Fascinated by the cowboys, speed, sights, smells, and drama of her new surroundings - not to mention actual, real live horses! - Tuck is a bit dismayed to find that if she wants to be successful in rodeo, the only event open to women at a professional level that might make her a living is barrel racing (as opposed to buckle bunny - a suggestion also made).

A quick study, she's also aware that a career in barrel racing isn't going to be easy, or cheap - after all, she doesn't even have a horse - yet. But Tuck takes challenge & adversity in stride. It isn't long before she acquires a roughstring washout bound for the kill pen for failing to buck, and friends willing to teach her about horses and the rodeo way of life. Along the way to her own rodeo finals, Tuck also learns a few lessons on the value of friendship, what makes a family, and the places a good horse can take her.

Written in the early 1980s, there are a few dated details, but surprisingly little at the heart of the story doesn't ring just as true today as it did twenty-five (Holy cow - it is that long ago!) years back. Re-reading it recently, I had a good chuckle at BC's complaint about the expense of hauling a big truck & trailer across the countryside. He should be paying today's prices!