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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
  
Location: Bastrop, Texas | How many of you have had this experience? You feel like you and your horse are really in synch. You feel like you have a solid game plan going in.
Your horse is legged up. You picture in your mind what you are going to do over and over again in your head, like a broken record. The ground is perfect. You feel great......and then you do something wrong on the first or second, and you end up with a mediocre run.
Last night I made a run at Giddings on my gelding, who has run anywhere from the 1D to the 4D this year. Like most of you, I know he's "capable" of making a great run, because he's done it.....it all hinges on my riding. He feels amped up and on the muscle, but very easily controlled and listening to me. We go flying in and everything just clicks...he's firing, setting, turning hard...inhales the first two in a snap.
Then it happens.....as he peels the 1st and 2nd, I say to myself, "holy sh!t this is going to be fast!" Just that brief departure from my focus causes me to sit up a little and sort of freeze up and coast the rest of the way, because I don't want to blow it. Next thing I know, he almost gets confused....I do something with my hands or body and, he "listens" to me and almost acts confused, angling toward the wrong side of the 3rd. I wake up just in time to salvage what ended up being a 3D run. I had to move him over, rein him off a bit, and we blow real wide on the backside of the third, then sit up while saying "crap, crap, crap" to myself all the way home.
It's not the horse....it's ME! I need to keep fixing ME! My horse was fantastic. He was firing and his turns were about as good as they can be.
One of these days......
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Expert
Posts: 2685
 
| Yep! All the dang time.
I did it just the other week. Twice. I safety up on the first and kill my runs. Run #1 I thought dang that was good and I won the 3D... Watched the video and half way to the first I had pulled her up, loped to and around 1 and coasted the rest of the run. It was GORGEOUS but slow as slow gets.
Then we go to another race and I trusted her much more and inhaled the first actually running. Smacked her with the bat on the way to 2 ready to lay down a big boy run and I dropped my reins turning the barrel because of the bat. Ugh.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | I feel your pain!! My horse is working good, running hard, and listening but I keep making mistakes!!! If it's not one thing it's another. I know it's a learning process but I've got to get it together. It can be very frustrating. |
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: MI | Totally understand...teaching me is the real game...   |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | I have you all beat. For the first time ever last month I ran hard to first (I have a first barrel phobia and tend to safety up). My boy turned it awesome. Best first of my life. My guy tends to be ratey so I pushed hard into second knowing I had a great first and this could be our best run ever. After all 2 and 3 are kind of cake for us. I pushed so hard that I forgot to sit and proceeded to go off over his shoulder as he turned a perfect second and my arm and core strength were no match for the centrifugal force he created. Most embarrassing as I face planted on the way to third. Eating dirt once in a while will make you go home and practice sitting your butt down though. :) |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| ajs2002 - 2015-07-27 8:43 AM I have you all beat. For the first time ever last month I ran hard to first (I have a first barrel phobia and tend to safety up). My boy turned it awesome. Best first of my life. My guy tends to be ratey so I pushed hard into second knowing I had a great first and this could be our best run ever. After all 2 and 3 are kind of cake for us. I pushed so hard that I forgot to sit and proceeded to go off over his shoulder as he turned a perfect second and my arm and core strength were no match for the centrifugal force he created. Most embarrassing as I face planted on the way to third. Eating dirt once in a while will make you go home and practice sitting your butt down though. :)
No, I have you beat- I did that at Waco on webcast for everyone to see, lol. He runs to the left, so his second is into the wall. I had hit the day before and was determined not to hit again. I sat too soon, got back up right when he started to turn and I flew off over his shoulder. I bounced right back up and ran out of the arena as fast as I could. They were radioing from the office to ask gate workers if I was Ok. They were laughing because I was laughing saying well, I didn't hit that barrel. They called me to the office and gave me a pair of bell boots for having the happiest dismount :0. Boy was I embarrassed, every horse friend I know saw it since it was webcast. |
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Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | rodeomom3 - 2015-07-27 9:55 AM ajs2002 - 2015-07-27 8:43 AM I have you all beat. For the first time ever last month I ran hard to first (I have a first barrel phobia and tend to safety up). My boy turned it awesome. Best first of my life. My guy tends to be ratey so I pushed hard into second knowing I had a great first and this could be our best run ever. After all 2 and 3 are kind of cake for us. I pushed so hard that I forgot to sit and proceeded to go off over his shoulder as he turned a perfect second and my arm and core strength were no match for the centrifugal force he created. Most embarrassing as I face planted on the way to third. Eating dirt once in a while will make you go home and practice sitting your butt down though. :) No, I have you beat- I did that at Waco on webcast for everyone to see, lol. He runs to the left, so his second is into the wall. I had hit the day before and was determined not to hit again. I sat too soon, got back up right when he started to turn and I flew off over his shoulder. I bounced right back up and ran out of the arena as fast as I could. They were radioing from the office to ask gate workers if I was Ok. They were laughing because I was laughing saying well, I didn't hit that barrel. They called me to the office and gave me a pair of bell boots for having the happiest dismount :0. Boy was I embarrassed, every horse friend I know saw it since it was webcast.
Edited by ajs2002 2015-07-27 8:58 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 2128
| Been there! It always makes me hungry for redemption! |
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 Veteran
Posts: 133
| It's nice to know I'm not alone. |
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