Rustynailfl - 2014-03-03 11:09 AM It worked for me if you copy and paste it into a new window. As for the run it looked good to me, and as for the time...my guys do this a lot, one day at the same arena and same stakes they may run a little faster or slower time compared to the next or the one before, but if you look at everyone else’s time that same day theirs is the same, either faster or slower, putting me right where I usually end up. A lot has to go into your time besides just what your horse is running, the ground might be a little slower some days or faster others. I think you’re thinking too much into it and I think it looked like a pretty nice run all in all. Some days are just better than others. Good luck :)

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-03 12:12 PM


The same horse I think won all 3 jackpots and the winning time was a little faster this last time. My 15.5 was 4th in 1D the first show, then my 15.7 was bottom 1D the second show and the 15.9 (video run) was out of the money in the 2D. I didn't get him to the 1D without nitpicking our runs, and with rodeo season starting this weekend, I want perfection and if I have to tune on him/me some to get there, that can be arranged. 

Rustynailfl - 2014-03-03 11:20 AM Then if you think something is wrong I would firstly have him vet checked as possibly he is hurting somewhere. I know my gelding's times gradually slowed, I had him chiro'ed and hocks injected and he has gotten back to his normal running times/placing. Not saying that is a fix for your particular horse but possibly something is bothering him. Or possibly you are riding him just a little differently. I notice myself that if I don’t ride my guys perfect they will have slower times compared to when I do. To me, a ‘best run’ consist of the horse performing perfectly and also myself riding perfectly. A video of your best run in this same arena would probably help some others to comment.

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-03 12:25 PM


I just posted the link to what is probably our best run in there and it's not great. Not sure why, but we don't clock there like we do some other places. There is a district NBHA there Sunday and I don't think I'm even going to run Chance. However, I am curious to see if there's something that we really do need to clean up before a rodeo elsewhere on Saturday. He seems to be feeling great at home and is riding smooth so I'm thinking his feet feel great for once. He will be getting babied this week with lots of time in his magnets, some extra stretches and such, because I want to get the spring rodeo season off to a great start. My big goal this year is to maximize his runs so I don't have to run him 90 times and can save him for the pens he really likes. 

missroselee - 2014-03-03 11:28 AM I agree he doesn't look like he's firing behing or out of his barrels.  I've not seen enough of his runs, but I do know he's a nice horse from what I have seen and what has been talked about on here.  



I know you know way more about your horse then anyone, and your very knowledgable, so I'm going to toss this out there and dont' be offended, but any chance at all he could be bleeding?  I only ask becuase my good horse was winning in the 1D every time, not first, but always in the top four for a paycheck.  Then one day, a few weeks after winning 2D checks out of 600 all weekend long, he ran in the 3D.  Never symptoms of anything.  No blood in his nose.  But he refused to drink and took over an hour to catch his breath.  Took him to the vet, cut his neck open, drained fluid containing blood from his longs and had it all tested to find out he had bled really bad.  He's back to running 1d now. 

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-03 12:43 PM Not offended at all. He has bled a couple times in the past (Oct 2011 & July 2012) but my vet says he's not a true bleeder and that both times were caused by environmental stuff. I've since stopped giving him hay or grain in the trailer and I avoid nasty ammonia smelling barns like the plague since those were the two things we could point to as causes. Haven't had any problems since then.



After the run I'm not happy with, he cooled out quickly, drank a whole bucket of water and just basically seemed to feel really good. This does remind me that I need to order Flair strips since I'm out and will be wanting to use them on him and Joker this weekend.

runnin_turquoise - 2014-03-03 11:28 AM I couldn't see the 3rd barrel at all but what I did see is he didn't really fire going to the first, coming out of the first you had to pull him over a little bit one or two strides out of your turn, this cost you a tenth or more. Also, coming out of your second you held onto his face and he couldn't take right off, he bobbled for a couple other tenths. 

missroselee - 2014-03-03 11:45 AM My vet says that not wanting to drink can be a very strong indicator of a bleeder.  I've gotten so OCD about tracking exactly how often my horse drinks, how much after each run, and down to the minute how fast his breating recovers.



Sounds like bleeding certainly isn't the issue.   

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-03 12:45 PM Our third barrel was really smooth for once in there. LOL. That third is right on the wall and with the white board to the left of where we run, it's super tricky on a lefty. I guess I hadn't noticed me hanging onto him leaving the 2nd  - we had been drifting away really bad going to third (dang white board has gotten us several times there) so I was really concentrating on finding my spot at 3rd, probably a little too focused on that as we left 2nd.

dianeguinn - 2014-03-03 6:23 PM Melanie, this is just my opinion, and I've been watching you and Chance a long time. I personally think he's sore in the back end somewhere....he's dropping the inside leg on the turns and he's hanging up behind. Almost sure signs of soreness. IMO, since it looks like he's WANTING to bow out of the turns instead of finishing tightly (but you grab him and make him finish), I'm going to guess stifles or SI....his hocks may be sore, too, but it doesn't really look like that to me. I'd get him to a good lameness vet and have him checked. These older, finished horses are hard to spot soreness in because they're so used to doing their job that they just go in there and work anyway, until they just can't any more, and I know you don't want him to get there. Look at his hocks from the side and if there's fluid pockets in the little depression on the hock, he needs his hocks injected, but I'd put more money on stifles or SI. JMO

polorunner - 2014-03-03 11:26 AM

The video is a little hard to see, but from what I could tell there was hesitation leaving the first and the second barrel. It looked as if his head came up each time and he wasnt stretching out to run. That will cost you some time.  I couldnt tell if that happened on the 3rd. 

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-03 6:36 PM


OK we've checked hocks before (and haven't found squat wrong with them), but not stifles or SI specifically. I definitely don't want to ruin him or lose him for any extended length of time because he's the one I trust the most. I'll see what I can get set up for Thursday or Friday this week and get a good game plan in place for the weekend, even if it means running Cliff instead. (I have been on the fence about who to run for a month since Cliff first outran Chance. LOL).

Thank you for watching his videos. 

newracer - 2014-03-03 7:16 PM I know nothing but this is what I thought too. Not snappy on his first and second barrels. Looked to me like he may not have liked the ground or it didn't agree with him..hesitation coming out of his second barrel I bet with all these, you lost quite a bit of time. Edited to say..do they still do Tanner Timing? You can really see where time is lost compared to the lead horse. You third was much snappier from what I could see.

dianeguinn - 2014-03-03 6:23 PM

Melanie, this is just my opinion, and I've been watching you and Chance a long time. I personally think he's sore in the back end somewhere....he's dropping the inside leg on the turns and he's hanging up behind. Almost sure signs of soreness. IMO, since it looks like he's WANTING to bow out of the turns instead of finishing tightly (but you grab him and make him finish), I'm going to guess stifles or SI....his hocks may be sore, too, but it doesn't really look like that to me. I'd get him to a good lameness vet and have him checked. These older, finished horses are hard to spot soreness in because they're so used to doing their job that they just go in there and work anyway, until they just can't any more, and I know you don't want him to get there. Look at his hocks from the side and if there's fluid pockets in the little depression on the hock, he needs his hocks injected, but I'd put more money on stifles or SI. JMO

dianeguinn - 2014-03-03 4:23 PM Melanie, this is just my opinion, and I've been watching you and Chance a long time. I personally think he's sore in the back end somewhere....he's dropping the inside leg on the turns and he's hanging up behind. Almost sure signs of soreness. IMO, since it looks like he's WANTING to bow out of the turns instead of finishing tightly (but you grab him and make him finish), I'm going to guess stifles or SI....his hocks may be sore, too, but it doesn't really look like that to me. I'd get him to a good lameness vet and have him checked. These older, finished horses are hard to spot soreness in because they're so used to doing their job that they just go in there and work anyway, until they just can't any more, and I know you don't want him to get there. Look at his hocks from the side and if there's fluid pockets in the little depression on the hock, he needs his hocks injected, but I'd put more money on stifles or SI. JMO

classicpotatochip - 2014-03-04 6:01 AM I agree with Diane. When horses you know well quit clocking, something's up. He may need a break, vetting, something. BUT consider this...1/10 th of a second on a standard pattern is 3 feet. When you shrink the pattern down, each 10th equals more feet, allowing less time for error of even a few feet. It looks like that pen is easy to come in too straight to first he ran by a stride and had to compensate. Fix that, then make sure you're completely finishing first, which I didn't see you do in the video. You let him out too soon. Relax your pelvis in the turn so he knows to finish and not try to leave. This will set you up perfectly for second. I didn't see anything wrong with third, tight and quick. If he's running great in other pens, quit hauling to this one if it keeps kicking your butt and you can't seem to get first right no matter what you do. Other than that, vet or time off or maybe both. A couple of weeks might turn him around.

cheryl makofka - 2014-03-04 4:55 PM Why does this horse have pads on? As this could be part of the problem, and not the hocks, etc.

cheryl makofka - 2014-03-04 9:42 PM Any chance of contracted heels?

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-04 9:56 PM


I don't know. All I do know is that I think his feet are feeling better now than they have in months. I'm judging that off how he is moving in the pen and when I ride, more technical opinions will have to come from the vet. 

Grits - 2014-03-04 11:56 PM This might have been said, so forgive me if I repeat someone.  Look at him throw his nose up as you come out of your turns.  Do you think you are accidentally pulling up on him just a bit as you pull yourself up to leave the barrel?  Maybe you could try to grab the mane with your rein hand, so you won't accidentally get in his mouth.  Or maybe change to a lighter bit or hack.  Otherwise, it looked good.  

motherof2 - 2014-03-04 4:19 PM I see several hesitations in his forward motion leaving the first, head flys up going to 2nd, and 2 hesitations leaving the 2nd. Cant see the 3rd. All those things cost time... 

rodeowithjoker - 2014-03-13 12:40 AM

Update ----

We went to the vet last Thursday, did a lameness exam of walking & trotting on the gravel parking area and he was head-bobbing lame trotting a circle to the right. No response to flex tests on hind legs, got a tiny "ouch" message when flexing and poking around on his right front ankle, but nothing that just screamed "here's the problem." So Doc decided to start with nerve blocks. He blocked two spots on either side of the right front foot, waited for it to take effect, then repeated the lameness exam. No change in the lameness at all. so we blocked a little higher, up in the ankle, and that got a small improvement but not enough to say that the pain was for sure below that block. Wound up pulling his right front shoe & pad, then of course he responded big time to the hoof testers. So while I wasn't completely sold that the front feet (and especially the right one) were the source of our problem, I realize that if his feet hurt AT ALL, he won't run like he's capable of so we've got to fix that.

Treatment plan - 5 PSGAG (supposed to be same thing as Adequan) shots 5 days apart, 2 grams of bute daily for 10 days, Isoxsuprine (17 200mg tablets morning and night for 21 days, then 17 tablets once a day for 14 days, then every other day until the 1000 pill bottle runs out) and shoe him at next appointment with EquiPack pour-in pads on the front.

We've done all that or started on it. Equipack went on yesterday with new shoes, he's had the first PSGAG shot and gets the second tomorrow, and has been getting his isoxsuprine twice daily. We missed the bute yesterday evening, and I don't plan to give it tomorrow or Friday.

I took him with me to a barrel race tonight and let him cruise through an exhibition so Matt could watch and tell me if Chance was crossfiring around barrels or doing anything else abnormal. I made a point to not mess with him at any barrel so he'd do his job completely on his own rather than me grabbing him and making him finish the turns. Well of course, he looked great. Held his leads all the way, snapped around to finish each turn, and just basically made me feel silly for doing an exhibition instead of just entering up. I did not enter him but am thinking I will enter him at a $1,500 added there on Saturday since he loves that pen. By pulling him off the bute two days before, I would think that if something is off & the bute's currently covering it up, it would show up on Saturday. I just want to get to the bottom of it and be confident that I have my gray monster back to 100%, and if necessary I can take him to a different vet sometime next week for a second opinion. It is all so confusing and I just really don't know what to think.