There seems to be lots of ****in' and moanin' about how mean barrel racers and pro rodeoers are....Well, there are a-holes everywhere on this planet and have been since recorded history.  On the other hand, some of the most kind, generous, gracious, and humble people I have met and known have been in the rodeo/barrel world.  The examples are endless. From the NFR buckle one put in my son's casket, to a NFR barrel racer letting us take a horse for a couple of weeks to try before we made a decision on whether to buy or not, to another NFR'er giving free lessons while hanging out back, our neighbor letting us use his covered arena when ever the weather is bad.  The list goes on and on.

My daughter lost her top barrel horse this week, and one of her rodeo friends drove in from another state to hang out and offer support. Multiple people have offered horses for her to ride until she can make other arrngements.  Another one of her high school rodeo competitors offered her a competitive horse to ride this week, and by the way, this same girl and my daughter are sitting one and two in the all-around. And still she offered the horse knowing it may cost her in the standing.

These are the types of things that we should try and place our focus on, and not on all the negative.  I hope everyone has a great week, and if you have a positive story about someone or something in rodeo, share it.  The weather may get bad around here the next day or two. So, if you are traveling to a race, be careful on the roads.

You are so right about needing to focus on the positives and the graciousness of others instead of the negatives of a few. I think people get more entertainment out the negative drama infused stories (I'm guilty) there are some serious bad apples out there in this horse world, I often wonder how some sleep at night. But on the flip side there are wonderful, helpful honest, salt of the earth folks too. 

Firstly, so sorry to hear about her loss. And I'm so glad she has people like that in her life. They are few and far between. I also hope she's able to find the right horse to fill those shoes, I know it's not easy. 

Not rodeo related but I board mine at a fellow barrel racer's house. And so does another barrel racer I'm friends with. And the barn has a long lane, it's about 1/2 mile off the road and goes kind of down along a ravine and back up. We're in the middle of IL and if there's ice or snow on the lane, trailer access is sketchy at best. You have a single lane between a treeline and the ravine drop off, and the bottom of the hill is a sharp 90 degree turn. So if you slide, you're in the ravine. And we got somewhere around 15" of snow yesterday, some drifts are 5 feet high in places. It's still blowing & drifting today. I had surgery scheduled for my horse today, which we postponed for next Tuesday due to the snow. And he not only cleared the drive so we could all get in/out of the barn to check our horses or ride or whatever, but he scraped it down to the rock and dug my trailer out for me so I am safe to go Tuesday. And said if its not still clear when he's off on Sunday, he will hit it again to make sure I get out safely.

And then cleaned my stalls and turned my horses out this afternoon to strecth their legs, so that after work tonight we could go have Mexican for my birthday. Because thats just who he is, and the barn owner is the same way. Like I'll help her turn her horses in if I'm there and then the next day I'll notice the stall cleaning fairy has already paid me a visit. I've been there almost a year now and its very different from anything I'm used to as a boarder and its nice having this type of people in my life. World needs more of them