I came home from the rodeo pageant with one thing in my mind. I want to barrel race again. Gideon and I were at the hunter/jumper barn that I loved, but being around the rodeo again had simply given me the itch. It came from so deep in my gut that it was absolutely unavoidable. Gideon was sold to me to get him out of the barrel arena. His previous owner had been abusive and completely fried his brain, and I promised to leave the barrels alone. I had. But it was over a year since I bought him and I needed to see what I had, plus he trusted me so I didn’t think it would be a problem. Lauren and I loaded him on the trailer and headed to a nearby ring that had barrels. I decked gideon out head to toe in my barrel racing attire – nice saddle and boots on all 4 legs plus some extras. We set up the barrel pattern and I swung on board and started to warm up. After a few minutes of trotting and cantering circles it was time to get down to business. We started slow and by the time I was cantering the pattern I was speechless. This was possibly the most talented horse I had ever sat on. He was possibly NFR material – that’s the elite of the elite. What was I supposed to do? Make him a jumping horse or keep him a barrel horse? Get him away from the one thing that was a source of misery for him in the past or do what he was insanely talented at? I decided to try the barrel racing. I payed for all my shows myself which means they were few and far between on my high school kid budget.
I still remember the first one I took him to. We had only gotten to practice a couple times leading up to it. We sat nervously in the usual hurry up and wait horse show atmosphere while one of my friends from the jumping barn jabbered about how she could win on her show horse and english saddle. I smiled politely as if agreeing but it really annoyed me. It always felt degrading when people said stuff like that because I spent years learning the sport. Did she really think we were so bad or she was so good that she could beat us?
Eventually it was our turn. I honestly don’t remember what exactly happened but I do remember being totally frustrated and disappointed when it was over – not to mention embarassed in front of my new jumping friends who thought they could do this better. This seemed to be the story of my barrel racing career. Lots of build up for lots of disappointment. But I knew it wouldn’t always be that way. One day it would be our day and when friends asked how we did I would be able to tell about all the money and belt buckles we won…some day.
Lesson for the day: persist until you succeed!
Soli deo gloria
~Sarah
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