Snow in the winter was always so exciting as a kid. Delays and cancellations for school, sled riding, and snowball fights. Now as an adult I don’t look forward to winter as much. Icy roads trying to get to work, breaking ice from water buckets, and the worst of all is when the snow melts and everything turns to mud. We are currently in the seemingly never-ending cycle of snow, rain, and mud that February brings. Thankfully this winter hasn’t been terrible, but it makes riding difficult. We had our first ride of the new year on February 8th and got to ride for a couple days after that. I have been lunging Stinger as often as I can when we can’t ride.
Our first ride has me reflecting on how far we have come and gone back in the past year. Every spring I always expect some shenanigans from Stinger, I thought that was just his personality. This year seems to be different. He started out as a perfect angel, standing to be brushed and saddled, listening to me when I lunged him, I even bridled him without him trying to move away. I thought it was too good to be true and he was saving his attitude for when I got on. But I was wrong, he continued to listen to everything I asked, never once tried to buck, or run off, or spook. I was waiting for something to happen, but I realized I didn’t even feel nervous to get on. I thought maybe it would happen the second ride, but he was the same for every ride and maybe even better each time. Stinger is now 9 this year, so I don’t know if he is finally maturing, or if he has retained all the work we put in at the end of last year. Every spring used to feel like starting over, but this year was different. Of course, we didn’t do any barrel work the first week, but he finally seems happy to be ridden.
I am excited to start working on the pattern again, but it really brings a lot of uncertainty. We literally changed everything last year, so I don’t even have a clue what to expect. I know for sure my warmup routine is going to be changed, but I am going to have to figure it out as we go. I know he will need worked longer than I was doing, but I will have to play with how long he needs worked before a run and stick with it. I have no clue if we will continue to need some exhibitions after the first couple shows, eventually we won’t have the opportunity for them when we switch to rodeos. I also want to be more diligent on using his therapy products and focusing on post-run care. I got him magnetic hock and bell boots last year, but I didn’t use them often.
Then we need to tackle running to the right barrel first again. We switched directions after his time with the trainer and I only ran a couple runs after that. We had been going left for more than two years, so hopefully I get it straight. I fully expect to grab the horn with the wrong hand a time or two. This is the most hopeful I have felt about our season, and I am ready to start planning our summer when all the show schedules are released. (I already know the first outfit I want to wear.)
For now, we will continue working on getting in shape while the mud dries (of course there’s rain in the forecast next week) and watching rodeos on TV to satisfy the craving of running at them. We are also coming up on our next appointment with the vet for his repeat injections.
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The Barrel Racer's Journal 