3 years! That is how long it has been since I went to a barrel race. I spent 2 yrs out of the arena and finally took up gymkhana in 2018, but I was still missing something.
Last week, my local hometown had out 2nd Gilroy Rodeo. The rodeo was brought back in 2018 after a 60 year hiatus. This year, Triple Seven Barrel Racing Association had a barrel race in our Gilroy Rodeo Arena.
I took advantage of that and ran in my first barrel race since 2016.
I pre-entered the barrel race, recieved draw #9 and Snick and I headed to the arena. Dress code was required so I put on my LOL Cowgirl western shirt and cowboy hat. We did a little warm-up in the parking lot and prepared to run.
Was I nervous? You know it! I had competing against/with this ladies in 3 years! But I put on my big girl panties and ran my pattern. Was it our best run, nope (we did that last month at Firecracker Frenzy, running a 19.977), however I wasvery pleased with our run. Laying down a 20.8 and keeping our barrels up (huge goal as we tend to hit them and a down barrel would have resulted in an NT or no time).
Running barrels is who I am! So I set some goals for the coming months and will be running barrels more. Stay tuned for updates and horses!
(Pics from Tri-County Riders’ Firecracker Frenzy 2019)
