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Location: MD | What a fun night of barrel racing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl-abl5ehO4
Taylor had a great first barrel. With his bit, butt dragging style, Bo slides up into the hole and comes back so hard. Taylor looked to the second barrel about halfway across the pen and the moment she did, Bo made a big move to the inside. She hustled up and made it work though. Having gotten in so short actually made the backside of this turn work well. Any more room coming in and his hind end might have set a little too soon to clear the backside due to the lack of momentum caused by his having started the turn too soon. They didn't come all of the way through the turn at the third and left it on a bit of an open line, but they made a nice enough run, all things considered.
Cassidy- Yet another fun run from this enthusiastic pair. I might like to have seen Cassidy ride for a bit more depth at the third barrel. Her line coming in was spot on, but having cut it off a bit on the backside caused them to step off leaving.
Fallon- That extra two feet of pocket going into the first allowed for a great turn there tonight. Fallon rode right up into the hole and made sure to get there. Fallon, as well, looked to the inside going across to the 2nd and BabyFlo responded in kind. Fallon tried to then hold her off, but it just cut off their momentum even more. She did her best to try to hold it up, but really that barrel was already down before they ever got to it. She wanted to cut off the third, as well. A well timed pull on the outside rein left it standing, but also served to get BabyFlo even more out of shape than she already was.
Nancy- Another solid run from her and Fuzz tonight. He handles everything so well! Nancy's hands remained forward and positive and her body stayed super square. Again, a bit more hustle to the third might help to get him enough room to not slow down in the turn, but you sure can't fault the mechanics of his turns.
Sherry- I was glad to see Sherry make the horse change. I felt like they had a great line to and around the first. The second barrel was marred only by the fact that his hind feet popped up out of the ground a touch on the backside, causing them to not be able to leave their as efficiently as they entered the turn. A super solid third barrel rounded out a nice run for this pair. I look for them to clock better after having this first run under their belts.
Mary- Latte has really found his feet to the first barrel after the first couple of rounds. A very nice first and second barrel for them tonight. Mary, having felt Latte set up and stiffen for just a step coming into the second, made sure to reach down and get two handed heading to the third. She held her line, rode him up into the backside and got a bit more depth behind the third, allowing him to finish the turn better than he had in previous rounds.
Sarah- I knew after Bling had been able to get her first good first barrel in Round 3 that things were setting up to be on fire. Another great first and second barrel tonight. She maybe didn't completely finish the third here, but had a great run. There is much discussion about the way that Sarah rides. If you watch, she actually stays far more in balance with her horse than one might think at first glance. You really have to send Bling. A long bodied, long strided, worky horse like this has to get their hind feet all of the way up to each spot around the barrels in order not to come back over top of them. Even at the second barrel, where we see Sarah's inside hand once again well to the outside of Bling's neck, I wouldn't say that Sarah is throwing herself to the outside. Sarah holds her line with her body just about better than anyone. While Bling is initiating a turn, Sarah will put herself out into the abyss, riding a line that Bling hasn't yet gotten to, in order to ensure that she does. Sarah rides with a longer rein in order to compensate for the fact that she has to make so many moves with her upper body, while allowing her not to pull on the mare's face inadvertently.
Lisa- Louie was on a perfect line to the first tonight and it worked as well as it normally does. You'll note that Lisa lead Louie up and across the pen with her right rein just before swapping hands to the second. A nice second barrel set them up for a great line to the third. Uncharacteristically, Louie got very short and to the inside at the third. Lisa did an admirable job of making it work and getting by. Any less of a ride from her would have resulted in a plus 5.
Callie- Another super solid run from this pair. The only real difference to note tonight is that Callie actually opened her inside rein on the way to the third for just a stride to put Dillon on the proper line before leading him all the way to the backside with that high, opening outside rein. What a great bit of feel and proactive riding she displayed in that moment!
Deb- Bud Light held a great line to the first. He was just a bit strung out through the turn, causing him to bulge the outside of his body and the turn to become too round to finish well. That having been, Deb got him up onto a great line in time to have a nice second, setting them up for an equally nice third. I look forward to seeing what she does in Round 5.
Jana- What an exciting, snappy, quick horse this is! I felt like the first barrel set up very well. They just came back off of that wall super hard and caught it leaving. A well timed ride to the second barrel allowed for them to start the turn in what seemed to be exactly the spot that this horse needed in order to have an amazing turn. Much the same can be said for the third. Having a bit it's own way of doing things, this horse still showed that it has quite the ability to stop the clock.
Vickie- The change to this horse really seems to suit Vickie. A great first barrel here. The line to the second was maybe two feet to the left of where she might have wanted. This being so, Vickie really rode two handed, leading her horse over to the right all the way up into the second barrel. Having stayed so straight through it's body that far up into the turn, her horse's momentum carried her a bit deep behind as it was trying to change it's arch through the turn. Even with that, their line to and around the third barrel was spot on. I'm super glad to see things going this well for Vickie. The fans seemed to agree!
Jackie- She did a great job of getting Jet to the first barrel without getting up the pen, as he has in previous rounds. That being said, they still got a bit deep behind it here. Their finish was great though, as was the rest of the run. This pair has just been super solid.
Michelle- Slick had a huge stumble as he came into the pocket at the first barrel. Even with the reins having been yanked out of Michelle's hands and him having to take an extra stride to recover, they sure did a respectable job of righting things and putting together a nice run! A good second barrel seemed to help both of them get back into the flow of things. Slick has been wanting to crowd the third a bit each night and this was probably about as close as he has gotten. Michelle did a good job of using both reins to pick him up and hold it together, but I hope she can get him to stay running up in there a bit further on her next run.
Carley- Radio got a bit deep behind the first barrel and then stopped moving his hind feet through the turn a bit in his desire to make up for it. The combination of having gotten deep and then attempting to over correct a bit caused Carley to have to leave there without having finished as well as she might have liked, but they dialed right in on their next pocket and got the job done at the second barrel. Note that Carley didn't change much of anything about her ride to the third barrel. She did reach down and give him two smacks on the way there, as opposed to the one hit that we have seen in previous rounds. I don't blame her, there sure isn't much to change! So long as she continues to keep his motor going as she did here, I think we'll keep seeing one solid run after another from this pair.
Edited by WrapSnap 2015-12-07 11:27 PM
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