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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| I am relatevily new to the barrel racing world, I am by NO means a 1D rider although I do like to think that even though I am not a spring chicken I still, some day, can ride in the 1D. I have always dreamt to run at rodeos and this past summer I had the opportunity to exhibition at one. Yes, it was a disaster, horrible and not a very good experience. EVERY SINGLE HORSE before us was either slipping, tripping, falling and the horse right in front of us went ALL THE WAY down. When our turn came, my horse wasn't having it! The ground felt like we were running on concrete and there were these big hard craters around the barrels at which my horse proceed to trot around... anyhow, you guys get the picture! Total DISASTER and an EMBARRASSMENT. So, after the rodeo, I was feeling like a total looser and a "NO GOOD ENOUGH rider". I know in my heart that if the ground would have been decent, my horse would have done his job but... maybe we are not cut out to be a rodeo team. Nonetheless, after seeing all those horses having issues, falling down, slipping etc, I asked a couple of my fellow barrel racers why the rodeo producers don't drag, don't take care of the ground. The answer I got was "it's the way it's always been, either you are cowgirl enough to ride it or not" (not an answer that I wanted to hear as it did not help me to heal my very wounded ego but ok. My dreams of riding at rodeos kind of got crushed right then and there :( ).
So, After hearing the terrible and devastating news about Dreaming of Foose, I can't help but wonder what will take for producers (both barrel races and rodeos ) to take the ground as very serious business. I get it, I know life happens and no matter how careful you are and how well you work the ground, accidents are bound to happen, that's just the nature of the beast but....it seems like lately we are hearing more and more about horses and riders having wrecks due to bad ground. Do you guys think is ok just to say "well, it is the way it's always been"? wouldn't this way of thinking make riders decide not to run? (I know I won't jeopardize my horse's safety and well being. I don't really need the vet bills either)
Also, I believe our horses are getting faster and more aggressive in competition, they have changed, shouldn't the producers take that into consideration when getting the ground ready? I know we always have a choice of running or not if you think the ground is not safe, but wouldn't the rode/barrel race producers want to attract riders to their shows by providing good ground?
"My heart is broken to hear what happened to such a wonderful horse. Such a tragic loss"
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 The One
Posts: 7998
   
Location: South Georgia | Rodeos are known to have pretty rough ground. The arenas are often set up on site and there are rarely tractors there to drag once it is prepared. I'd venture to say that MOST barrel racers don't do rodeo very often. It takes a special horse to put up with odd sized arenas and rough ground.
However, is there a reason why you can't just go to real barrel races? The ground will be groomed at a barrel race. |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| They should have never held the barrel racing in the coliseum. Yes, it's great for the prestige of running there, but there is no way that ground made for pleasure horses to look pretty and for reiners to slide will hold a barrel horse.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| Oh I do and love them, I am honestly an addicted to them LOL. But I would have loved to do rodeos as well but like you said, it takes a special kind of horse/rider combo. But even if I had the right horse, after seeing the ground at some rodeos, I am not sure it's worth the risk (again, just my opinion :-) )
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| But they had held barrel races there in the past correct? |
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Veteran
Posts: 233
| I don't do western pleasure, I don't do Big Lick, and I don't ride my horses in a situation where I'm putting them at higher-than-normal risk of injury. We don't canter on concrete, I don't jump out of reining footing. . . . . I can't control what other people do, but I don't feel bad for taking care of my horse. They can't do for themselves. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| This is precisely why awesome NFR horses make the NFR but rarely " WIn" big huge open barrel races on fast perfectly groomed ground. It takes a special kind of horse that can run and win on trash. Thats what makes a rodeo horse a rodeo horse. I love to watch fancy pampered barrel horses at rodeos that are used to perfect ground 24/7 try and navigate a difficult pen. LOL |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| When we produced rodeos, we always drug for barrels during the show and after for the slack. We always prepared the ground during the week too if the rodeo grounds people wouldn't do it or they allowed us to. There were a couple of old biddies that would not shut up about the ground. Finally one night my dad told the lady if she didn't like it we would refund her entry and then to never enter again. She shut up to us but still complained in the back, but at least the guys didn't have to hear it. NO barrel racer ever thanked us for trying to give them as good of ground as we could.
Really, dragging before the girls run is about all the rodeo people can do. They have to keep the show going and to drag after every 5 is just not going to happen. We limited the perf to 10 girls and in slack we ran the barrels first and drug before they ran. I can't remember if we dragged again after so many girls ran or not, but since we multiple perfs - Thursday night, Friday night, matinee Saturday and Saturday perf, there was usually only 30 or so in the slack spread out on Friday and Saturday.
But y'all are right the barrel horses should have safe ground to run on no matter if it is a rodeo, jackpot or big show.
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | There are a lot of places I don't run because the ground is not to my liking. Luckily I have some great arenas in the area though.
My home town prodcuces a couple fo rodeo series during the summer. Most of us here don't go there due to the poor ground conditions. Most of these producers do not want to put in the work every week to get the ground right. They just don't get it, but then also compain that they have a lack of participants. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
| I totally agree with "hannahbug" here. Your horse can't protect themselves... so personally I only run at places where the ground isn't terrible. There are some jackpots around here with worse grounds than our rodeo arena, so I pick and choose between which races and grounds I want to run at. I used to have dreams of trying to get my wpra card, but the older I'm getting, it's not worth it to me to put my horses at risk anymore. I can have just as much fun at local rodeos and jackpots where I know if my horse should falter, it wouldn't have anything to do with an outside cause. My horses are already accident prone enough as is, I don't need to add another obstacle, haha =] |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| GoMistyGo - 2017-11-16 10:01 AM
There are a lot of places I don't run because the ground is not to my liking. Luckily I have some great arenas in the area though.
My home town prodcuces a couple fo rodeo series during the summer. Most of us here don't go there due to the poor ground conditions. Most of these producers do not want to put in the work every week to get the ground right. They just don't get it, but then also compain that they have a lack of participants.
I never understood the producer's lack of effort. My family is not a traditional rodeo family, though. We are farmers and ranchers, but also business men and women. I think my dad and brother looked at the rodeo company through a business man's eyes in that you need to put some effort into a product to make it good. We wanted the barrel racers to come, we needed them to come. They paid a 5 dollar office fee, and all we had to do was work the ground. We wanted our bucking stock to be on good ground, not deep ground or hard ground, either.
That is why if I were a barrel racer, I would pull out of really bad ground and let the producer know why with out gripping or whining. Personally, I couldn't replace my good horse very easily, it would have taken me a while to save that money up.
I have seen girls pull out when the ground was treacherous, heck some of the NFR girls have said the ground was dangerous so they pulled out. Usually it was because of the mud being slick though. |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | Yes they have had lots of barrel races there before. But the quality of the ground for barrel races starts with WHICH dirt they put in. There are many piles of dirt af the facility and what is used for say the reiners sliding dirt) or a horse show is not the same dirt that would be put into the building for big barrel races like the BBR or Shootout or BFA. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| I sure hope after all the accidents we are hearing about lately that something will be done. I hate to see barrel races or rodeos going down in numbers due to lack of participants.
I do understand that producing a barrel race/rodeo is very hard work, it takes money and it can be very ungrateful job (you can never make everyone happy). So please don't take this post as I am ditching the producers. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| I know at the Reno Rodeo, they drag during slack. Is it like that at other rodeos? I know a few girls who wont drag their personal arenas at home or try to make the ground trashy to get the horse use to it. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| love2ridepre - 2017-11-16 10:28 AM
I sure hope after all the accidents we are hearing about lately that something will be done. I hate to see barrel races or rodeos going down in numbers due to lack of participants.
I do understand that producing a barrel race/rodeo is very hard work, it takes money and it can be very ungrateful job (you can never make everyone happy). So please don't take this post as I am ditching the producers.
We used to produce rodeos and I don't take you as ditching the producers. But, we have to make it clear to producers and rodeo committees that the contestants deserve SAFE conditions in which to work. And it is not cost prohibitive to drag before the girls run and then after every 10. We did it as a small rodeo company. Rodeos don't have the massive entries that big barrel races do. To help, I would gladly pay an extra 5 bucks to kick in for the diesel and tractor driver.
As part of a small rodeo company, there is no excuse for them to not drag the ground for the girls and really no excuse for the rodeo committees to not prepare the ground for the contestants. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| hannahbug - 2017-11-16 9:31 AM I don't do western pleasure, I don't do Big Lick, and I don't ride my horses in a situation where I'm putting them at higher-than-normal risk of injury. We don't canter on concrete, I don't jump out of reining footing. . . . . I can't control what other people do, but I don't feel bad for taking care of my horse. They can't do for themselves.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| the rodeo I went to they did drag right after performance, with a harrow on top of the ground... then let all the slack team ropers (and there were a bunch!) do their thing and without dragging, they set the barrels.
I am with you, I wouldn't mind paying a little "tractor fee" to make sure the arena is drag properly :-) |
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Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| FLITASTIC - 2017-11-16 9:40 AM This is precisely why awesome NFR horses make the NFR but rarely " WIn" big huge open barrel races on fast perfectly groomed ground. It takes a special kind of horse that can run and win on trash. Thats what makes a rodeo horse a rodeo horse. I love to watch fancy pampered barrel horses at rodeos that are used to perfect ground 24/7 try and navigate a difficult pen. LOL
There is a difference between trashy ground and dangerous where they can’t even stand up. I’ve watched rodeos where even the seasoned top rodeo horses were falling every drag. After a few drags the girls who did not draw out loped or trotted the pattern-not wore the risk. I have also watched rodeos stop the race after fllasand slips and work the ground, there are other options besides leaving it as is, especially since they were falling the day before.
Ive seen that too, jackpot horses outrun the big dogs. I attribute some of that to the ground but also some rodeo horses just don’t fire the same at a jackpot. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| rodeomom3 - 2017-11-16 10:49 AM
FLITASTIC - 2017-11-16 9:40 AM This is precisely why awesome NFR horses make the NFR but rarely " WIn" big huge open barrel races on fast perfectly groomed ground. It takes a special kind of horse that can run and win on trash. Thats what makes a rodeo horse a rodeo horse. I love to watch fancy pampered barrel horses at rodeos that are used to perfect ground 24/7 try and navigate a difficult pen. LOL
There is a difference between trashy ground and dangerous where they can’t even stand up. I’ve watched rodeos where even the seasoned top rodeo horses were falling every drag. After a few drags the girls who did not draw out loped or trotted the pattern-not wore the risk. I have also watched rodeos stop the race after fllasand slips and work the ground, there are other options besides leaving it as is, especially since they were falling the day before.
Ive seen that too, jackpot horses outrun the big dogs. I attribute some of that to the ground but also some rodeo horses just don’t fire the same at a jackpot.
I totally agree with you, rodeomom and have seen the same thing. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I love to watch a barrel race where the horse can just hang it all out there and just let 'er fly. I also love to see these salty rodeo horses bare down when the ground is trashy and gut it out. I HATE seeing these horses asked to do it on plain treacherous, dangerous ground. It's not right.
Not all areas have the soil make up to have perfect ground, but it can be made as safe as possible. It just takes some work, which sadly, not everyone wants to do. Yep, I said it. Flame suit on.  |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| Both my husband and I have volunteered to help at barrel races... My husband still does, I had enough, very ungrateful job and I don't have much thick skin to deal with some of us LOL. So my most sincere thanks to those that step up to the plate and work hard to have rodeos and barrel races.
Nonetheless, I hope that the quality of the ground starts being a priority! The horses and riders safety cannot be compromised, not matter how "this is the way it's always been, cowgirl up"
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Expert
Posts: 2678
Location: Mi | The hard thing with rodeo ground is yes there are some stock contratctors that plain dont want to put the effort in BUT also in alot of cases the committee paying the stock contrator to produce the rodeo just plain doen't have the equipment they need to work the ground properly and as a stock contractor they can't haul that type of equipment with them. Stock contractors have alot of money invested into their livestock and most want the ground conditions safe for them also and it's not good for the spectators to see a performance with horses, livestock etc falling down, getting hurt and so on. As far as dragging goes open rodeos can do whatever they want. Any sanctioned rodeo has rules to follow and most will run 10, 12 maybe even 15 in the performance and then they have slack. Therefore slack has to run whatever number they ran in the performance then drag. If it were 10 ran in the perf and there are 30 in the slack they have to drag 3x in the slack and MOST (key word) open stock contrators do the same. Just my .02 from a contestant and stock contractor point of view.
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Ahmac - 2017-11-16 11:29 AM
The hard thing with rodeo ground is yes there are some stock contratctors that plain dont want to put the effort in BUT also in alot of cases the committee paying the stock contrator to produce the rodeo just plain doen't have the equipment they need to work the ground properly and as a stock contractor they can't haul that type of equipment with them. Stock contractors have alot of money invested into their livestock and most want the ground conditions safe for them also and it's not good for the spectators to see a performance with horses, livestock etc falling down, getting hurt and so on. As far as dragging goes open rodeos can do whatever they want. Any sanctioned rodeo has rules to follow and most will run 10, 12 maybe even 15 in the performance and then they have slack. Therefore slack has to run whatever number they ran in the performance then drag. If it were 10 ran in the perf and there are 30 in the slack they have to drag 3x in the slack and MOST (key word) open stock contrators do the same. Just my .02 from a contestant and stock contractor point of view.
Yes, that is why I included the rodeo committees in this. We would battle with them on watering the ground the week before the rodeo so we could work the ground because it was so hard the tractor and disc couldn't break the ground. Many of theses arenas either are left to grow grass when not in use or are used for other things that pack the ground. The girls are going to have to let the committe people know what they need. Many of them have no idea. |
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 The Worst Seller Ever
Posts: 4138
Location: Oklahoma | I have learned ot listen to the rodeo veterans on where to enter and whether to draw out or not. There are certain rodeos that are not good when it wet, there are certain arenas that are best when they are flooded. Some you don't enter on the first night because it needs runs to make the ground good.
Most of the really dangerous arenas, even with a lot more added money do not get the entries that smaller rodeos get. This year at Hillsboro MO I refused to enter becuase it was the one rodeo my horse fell at all year. This year on Friday a bunch fell, by Saturday night they had completely reworked the arena and the ground was the best it had ever been.
Sometimes the committees don't care, sometimes they don't know, sometimes they do all they can, but the arena ground just doesn't get better. Rodeos will always be a different beast, your horse has to be smart enough to take care of themselves too. You will notice a lot of rodeo horses will "safety up" if they don't liek the ground and no amount of pushign will make them go faster. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 368
Location: run2win land | Look at how bad the ground at NFR got and how many years of complaints that achieved nothing because "that's rodeo". That's b.s. in my book. Look at what Spanish Fork does for their ground! It wasn't until the bucking horses and bulls were slipping and falling down and someone sponsoring the expert to come in that it finally got fixed. Last year was the first year in a long time I wasn't holding my breath. I've produced races for many years and ground is our #1 priority. It takes knowledge and working it properly but the dirt in the Coliseum wasn't the barrel racing dirt. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| I was at Hillsboro MO Saturday night (just watching) and the ground seemed to be good. I did hear some horror stories about the night before. I am so glad they took into consideration the safety of both horses and riders and they fixed the arena for the next day. That shows they care! |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I think a lot of folks have no idea of the difference between good and bad ground past running with huge clods. They have no idea what hard pan is, or when an arena is too deep. They have no clue how much water is too much or not enough.
At the huge open races there is no excuse.
At the professionally sanctioned rodoes there is no excuse.
Below that level we as competitors are going to have to step up and not only demand it, but more than likely find a means to fix it. How many of the tractor drivers at these smaller events are someone’s husband who volunteered? How many of the tractors and drags are donated and you get what you’re lucky to get? Proper arena equipment is expensive. Producers can’t be expected to haul in their own tractor and drag for a 1 day 100 runner race for a reasonable $40 entry fee and 80% payback we’ve also demanded so 100 runners show up at all.
I do pick my arenas based on ground, the set up and whose working it. There’s a nice big arena about an hour and a half away. If the right people run the race and work it, it’s great. If the wrong folks work the ground it’s too dry and shifty. It’s also really easy to get it too deep, way too deep, scary deep. It’s a shame because it’s one of the nicer outdoor arenas.
We got really lucky with our rodeo season that it was mostly dry and the ground was pretty decent. There’s some arenas that if it’s wetter next year I’ll probably skip in favor of bigger jackpots, I just don’t trust the ground and the “rodeo glory” isn’t worth it to me. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| please forgive this stupid question ( do remember I a newbie when it comes to rodeos). Is the money worthwhile riding in rodeos? do they penalize you if you enter and once you get there the ground is bad and you draw out? |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| love2ridepre - 2017-11-16 12:53 PM please forgive this stupid question ( do remember I a newbie when it comes to rodeos). Is the money worthwhile riding in rodeos? do they penalize you if you enter and once you get there the ground is bad and you draw out?
Depends on the organization and how good your horse is, if it's worth it.
A friend of mine is a PRCA member and it cost her $50 to draw out of one rodeo due to the weather making the ground trash. I can't remember what the entry fee to that one was, but they take it and the penalty. Not to mention your $300 permit you have to get to compete. Then another chunk for your card after you've won $1000.
They pay out based on number of entries and there aren't any divisions. Maybe pay 10 -15 on a big rodeo.
I mean, look at the top girls. Some close to 100 rodeos, some over, and for all that travel and effort, they made $250,000 at best and $76,000 at 15th. The $76K probabably didn't cover much of the expense.
http://wpradev.com/index.php/standings-pro-rodeo-world-2
The prestige is what people are after.... Rodeo. It's an explanation all in itself.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| thank you so much for taking the time to explain how it works. WOW!
After reading that, I can understand why the big rodeo girls do risk riding in questionable ground but for the little time rodeos???... uhmmm, that sounds like very unnecessary risk (again, just IMO) |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| thank you so much for taking the time to explain how it works. WOW!
After reading that, I can understand why the big rodeo girls do risk riding in questionable ground but for the little time rodeos???... uhmmm, that sounds like very unnecessary risk (again, just IMO) |
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| These two videos .. one on Tuesday and the finals on Wednesday will let
you see the caution riders used around the barrels ...
The ground was setup for reining horses with fluff on the surface and
a slick wet clay base for their sliding stops ...
HAPPY AND HUMBLE BRAG POST ON ONE OF MY CAN CHASIN COUGAR FILLYS ...
dba Barrel Horse USA (as the breeder )
CONGRATULATIONS ALISON McDONALD OWNER!!
Known as STREAKYSOX on BHW .
KISSYOURMONEYGOODBYE won AQHA Jr Barrels World Show Level II ..
(horses with less than 25 AQHA points)
"MIA" came back in the Jr Barrels Finals and ran 3rd with Pete Oen a pro
winning the JR BARRELS World Championship with Guys Dashing Jet LTE $125,000 ...
ENJOY BOTH OF HER RUNS BELOW ... the ground was so slick everyone
rode with caution .. Prayers for Sharin Hall her horse DREAMING OF FOOSE
had to be put down with a broken spine after slipping at the 2nd barrel ..
Take note of how Shelly rode two very consistant runs .. with a slip powering
out of the 3rd barrel ..
KISSYOURMONEYGOODBYE ridden by SHELLY MCCAULEY GISH - 2017 AQHA
World Show (Jr. Barrel Racing, Prelims) - https://youtu.be/e7eE6N8Sxx0
KISSYOURMONEYGOODBYE ridden by SHELLY MCCAULEY GISH - 2017 AQHA
World Show (Jr. Barrel Racing, FINALS) - https://youtu.be/XThNRsZUI2g
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 Saint Stacey
| spitzh - 2017-11-16 9:28 AM
I know at the Reno Rodeo, they drag during slack. Is it like that at other rodeos? I know a few girls who wont drag their personal arenas at home or try to make the ground trashy to get the horse use to it.
With the WPRA, if they have 12 in the perfs, then they have to drag every 12 in slack. You can’t change implements once the first drag has occurred. So if they start with a mulcher, that’s what they are stuck using. They can’t decide to switch to a Ground Hog if the mulcher isn’t good enough.
At the big ones like Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, etc. they will do big drags (usually at 50 or 75) and water the ground.
There are some awesome rodeo committees that try really hard and are willing to change things the next year if needed. Most committees go above and beyond for the contestants. Especially at the mid sized and bigger rodeos. The hospitality tents at some are downright AMAZING! Denver usually has Texas Roadhouse or Oluve Garden cater dinner every night. Ft Worth was HORRIBLE! Hot dogs and old nachos. Spanish Fork is AWESOME! Estes Park is probably my favorite! They serve 3 meals all catered by different restaurants in town. Before my daughter got married this past August, I happily drove her around just for the hospitality tents, lol!
All I can say is if you have a horse that likes shallow ground and will take care of itself so you start running WPRA, you will have a hard time doing D races instead of being on the rodeo trail. Just staying in your Circuit won’t break the bank and the payout is awesome if your horse is salty enough to draw checks. |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | love2ridepre - 2017-11-16 12:53 PM please forgive this stupid question ( do remember I a newbie when it comes to rodeos). Is the money worthwhile riding in rodeos? do they penalize you if you enter and once you get there the ground is bad and you draw out?
I run in the United Rodeo Association and Interstates Rodeo Associations here in the Midwest, and there are no turn out fines. For the first time EVER, I turned out of a rodeo in September. It POURED as soon as I unloaded, and 20 girls had run the first night on beautiful dry ground, plus I had left my mudder at home because the forecast looked good when we left. I had my hard ground specialist who has torn front suspensories in the past, and I had my boyfriend's mare who has run at about 4 rodeos in her life. We had state NBHA the following weekend and couldn't justify risking an injury and losing our state fees.
2017 was a great year for me, and I might have broken even rodeoing. That is after you consider that my gray horse won about $3,100 at the URA Finals. I came in with $4,100 won for the year then Chance won 2 rounds and the average at Finals. I entered 47 rodeos, ran at 46, and if you figure average entry fees are $60-70, then add in my fuel, food on the road, and roughly $1,000 in vet bills and massages for the horses, there's no way in hell I made money. BUT, we had fun!
Rodeo is totally an addiction, and I'm lucky that my horses seem to have it as well. Chance in particular is just a nice mid-1D horse at the tough local races, typically runs in the 1D at Barrel Bashes, but he LOVES the rodeo scene and always runs harder with a crowd and music. Some folks go to the movies and concerts, but we rodeo. It's a hobby and sometimes we get lucky and it pays for itself. |
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| In my opinion - Rodeos and horse shows (barrel races) are 2 different things. Shows are put on for the competitor and rodeos are for the spectators. There is no excuse for bad ground at a barrel race/show... none.
As for the rodeos, and maybe I'm old school, but they used to say it takes a year to season a rodeo horse to different ground. I think what many do not realize is it takes time for horses to learn to run on different types of ground so I probably wouldn't base my future on that one run. Give you horse some time to learn.
One thing that I like to do, if the rodeo will allow, is to get my horse in the pen before hand and lope some small circles both ways. It gives your horse a good "feel" of the ground and you will find out pretty quickly if they will handle it or not. Then you should set your game plan for YOUR horse. If he he can't handle it going slow he wont be able to handle it going fast either, so don't go running in there like your a$$ is on fire. Just go in and be smooth.
I agree that rodeos should try their best to have good ground but I also think when you enter a rodeo you have to keep in mind that they are not putting on that rodeo for the barrel racers. They are putting on a show to the public to make a profit. Now nobody wants to see horses falling down for sure, but they also do not want to see a tractor driving around in circles every 5 horses so they are kind of limited to what they can reasonably do during the performance.
I know in our circuit our director is a very important person when it comes to ground and if you have a good director they should be in contact with the committee before the rodeo with some suggestions on how to make the ground good.
In the end though you should always trust yourself first as to what you think you and your horse will handle. If you don't feel comfortable at any rodeo or show, don't run. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| I say vote with your feet a producer can't make money without contestants. There is no excuse I mean no excuse for bad ground, that is just as bad an excuse of abuse as not feeding a horse to knowing run an helpless and trusting animal on bad ground. An only the owner of said animal has control. I am so sorry. Once an animal is either cripple or dead there is an outrage and blame the producer what about the animal owner. I am sorry but the owner of said animal is just as responsible. Especially in the case of a professional horseman. We spend our hard earned money to better our horses and to run on ground that is harmful to them is like working our horses on concrete we would be horrified. It takes a special horse to run rodeo why put them in that position, we buy the best feed and hay and spend on all of the amenities to run on crappy ground just because it's called rodeo. If we don't go to those and those producers don't get the entries the producers will either find a way to work the ground or not have the rodeo. It is up to us to make the division to make people who don't spend the money to make the ground right, vote with our feet. Several year ago I went to a show it was an outside show and they put way too.much water on the ground it was knee deep. Every one said it would tighten up after a while it really never did I unloaded my horses and rode one in the arena and after discoveri g how deep and sloppy it was I did not enter. One reason due to safety and other if they cared they would not let the ring get that nasty if more people had done what I did they would a better job of prepping the ring. Plus I knew I would not have any vet bill because of the bad ground.
Edited by daisycake123 2017-11-20 8:42 PM
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Bad ground (please don't flame me) -long-