I AM being nice
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Location: MD | What a great round! Congratulations to all of the ladies on having gotten to the NFR in the first place and no matter how their week went, Kudos to them for living their dreams!
Jackie- Another nice, solid run from this pair. Jackie does such a phenomenal job of staying very upright and holding her body so super square. Her shoulder and hip are always pointing for the fence, making sure not to allow Jet to start the turns too soon. She did a great job of being very proactive at the second barrel here. Again, we see her using a straight back pull of her outside rein, keeping it level and pulling toward her hip to keep Jet square and hold his front end long enough to get into the turn deep enough. She accompanied that outside rein pull with a big lift of the inside rein and kept her body very square while moving the required parts in order to do so. All too often, we see someone lean their body in when reining off, which totally defeats the purpose. Now, obviously, the goal of correctness would be not to have to rein off to begin with, but if you find yourself in a spot to need to do so, this is a great example of how to do it. A confident ride up the pen to the third allowed for a very balanced, efficient turn here, capping off a very successful NFR and season for Jackie.
Michelle- Slick was wanting to get to the inside of the line to the first barrel here. Michelle did a great job of opening her left rein to encourage him to move out and closing her right rein against his neck, closing off his ability to move any further in that direction. She was able to keep him upright and forward enough to get into the pocket, but it was definitely a bit squeaky. He got a bit deeper behind it than he would have needed to had they gotten just a foot, or two more space coming in, but came back hard and finished well. Michelle really had to ride her right rein all of the way across the pen, up into the backside of the second barrel before she could go to the horn in order to stay safe here. Having stayed so straight so far into the turn caused Slick to have to take an extra step on the backside while changing his arch, but being fractionally slower in the turn was much less costly than a downed barrel would have been. Like every other night, he wanted to get in at the third. Michelle picked and led him off of it with both reins, drove him by and I can only imagine, breathed a huge sigh of relief at having gotten around it yet again. They might not have finished the third barrel as well as they had in other rounds, but at that point, it was standing and they focused on running out hard.
Carley- Again, Carley really has a lot of faith in her horses and gives them all of the freedom to do their job. Boy looked like he might have wanted a bit more support on the backside of the first here tonight. A bit less quick on his feet than some others in this tight setup, he just never got up under himself enough to really allow his shoulder to come around for the finish and Carley really hadn't done much to help him. She did a great job of not panicking and rode him aggressively back onto a line that allowed them to get into the second barrel cleanly. Due to making that big move across the pen, Boy wasn't very well prepared for the turn. Even more so than on other nights, we see him get very strung out as he attempted to make adjustments and to change his positioning through the backside. Carley rode to a great spot behind the third, allowing him to get around it in as efficient a manner possible for a horse who doesn't seem to thrive in this setup.
Taylor- Having seen the video of Taylor running Madonna through in practice, I know that this pair is well capable of laying down an impressive run in this pen. Taylor actually rode her in much the same manner here that she did in the practice and one might have thought that it would have worked. As it was, Madonna is only a 6 year old and that is a LOT of atmosphere. Overall, it appears as though the mare might have benefitted from getting into the pen just one gear slower and wanted a two handed support from Taylor in order to help overcome the adrenaline.
Cassidy- She made sure to have JJ in her hand here and settled back to her before leaving the alley. She did a good job of staying two handed and staying very quiet with her arms to the first barrel This allowed JJ to be well balanced and to plant a hock as much as his style allows for, creating a nice finish. Cassidy rode a nice line across the pen, again staying two handed right up into the pocket, dropping the outside rein, opening her inside rein and allowing JJ all of the room that he needed to inhale the backside. Here we see Cassidy get back to doing what had set her up so well early in the week. On the way to the third barrel, she got two handed. Two strides out, you see her rotate her right wrist down and back, giving JJ those low placed bumps on the outside rein that seem to keep him traveling true and square. She was well rewarded with a nice third barrel, holding herself well in the average.
Fallon- BabyFlo was ready to roll! This mare just never runs out of energy and spirit! Fallon did a nice job here of once again making sure that she got all of the room that she wanted at the first barrel., getting just a half step deep behind it and allowing Flo the ability to come through the turn in a very upright manner. She rode a great line across the pen. BabyFlo wanted to get a bit disorganized coming into the second barrel and Fallon did a great job of literally lifting her front end up, resetting her shoulders square and getting her set back over her hocks. This is also where we saw a prime example of how we can allow small, "bad" habits start to become part of our ride without even realizing it. Having had to set a barrel back up a few times this week, Fallon dropped her reins and reached for the barrel as they were finishing it, even though they had come nowhere near close to touching it. She hustled up and rode very aggressively to the third here. Getting two handed, she opened that outside rein just enough to lead Flo onto a line wide enough to ensure that they got by the barrel. At the same time, we saw Fallon give those little pumps with both hands, effectively "tossing" Flo just that one little step further up into the backside of the turn. They finished well and as always, Flo ran home straight and hard.
Nancy- Fuzz came in to lay down another of his trademark runs. I just love how quietly Nancy can sit on him. Her hand movements are all kept very tight, mid to 2/3's of the way up his neck. This allows for everything to remain in quite good balance, as nothing ever shifts beyond center. They had a nice, solid first barrel and left on a good line. On the backside of the second, Nancy just kind of dropped and tucker her chin toward her chest, taking away a bit of the forward energy from her ride that it would have required to leave that barrel standing. They displayed another great line and ride to and around the third barrel here.
Sherry- What a great job of managing an entire run with such finesse! Note Sherry's hand placement as she ran to the first. She stayed two handed right up into the pocket, her outside rein carried higher than the inside hand. This allowed her to keep Arson from wanting to get a bit bulged to the outside on the approach, as he had in earlier rounds where she ran him. Again, we see Sherry's inside hand remain tight to Arson's neck, barely moving as she gave just the slightest of support to him to finish the turn uninterrupted. They got into the second barrel pretty straight and Sherry did a great job of really lifting on her inside rein to pick up and hold his inside shoulder square long enough to get them into the turn. She did so in such a way that it really rocked him back over his hocks and set him up to come back very hard and he did. You'll see Sherry drop her inside hand, allowing him to initiate the turn. As Arson snapped back, while you can't totally see it due to his neck, she picked that rein back up and quite aggressively. In doing so, she caused Arson to elevate his head, neck and shoulder enough to keep them clear of the barrel. I can only imagine that from a different angle, we would also see Sherry's inside foot working double time to push his ribcage and hip to the outside, as well. A great line to the third, accompanied by a bump from a slightly elevated inside hand, her wrist rotating ever so slightly up and back as she did so set them up for a flawless third barrel. Congrats to Sherry and the Duperiers on a great run and a great horse!
Mary- Latte has been getting just a bit heavy and leaning to the inside on the approach to the first barrel a few rounds in a row. In doing so, he's just getting out of position enough that he's not really getting organized and a hold of the ground as you would want in setting up for the turn. Here, he got deep behind the first barrel, yet again and just didn't bring his hind feet up through the turn enough to allow his hip to clear it upon exiting. After that, Mary just kind of went into cruise mode. Latte has made a ton of runs in this pen and he starts getting shorter and shorter as the rodeo progresses. Without that hustle to drive him up into and through the backsides of the barrels, he just initiated the second and third turns too soon, causing them to get the second coming in and to roll the third off of the backside.
Sarah- Sarah- did a great job of getting on her line to the first before ever leaving the alley. As soon as they got into the pen, she dropped her outside rein, went to the horn and hustled all the way to the backside and a step beyond of the first barrel. This allowed Bling to be very square and upright through the turn and set them on a nice line coming across the pen. I'm not sure if Sarah felt as though Bling was running a bit harder than she was, or what, but she definitely dropped that leading left rein and went to the horn a stride sooner than I would have wanted to see her do here and it almost cost her. As it was, they stepped off a bit leaving as a result of having cut off the pocket. A good line and aggressive ride to the third set them up well. Talk about precision, Sarah led Bling up into the third barrel and then allowed her to initiate the turn at exactly the perfect time, wasting no space, but still not getting so tight as to have to cause Bling to weaken, or slow down at all. This capped off a great first NFR for this pair.
Lisa- Again, Lisa's line to the first was textbook. Louie might have taken just one short little scotchy step with his hind end, causing them to not get across the backside of the barrel as they as she might have wanted, but it worked out. They carried a good line across the pen, but running at that big, yellow wall ten nights in a row was definitely having an impact on Louie here. If you were to pause the video at 6:05, you see Louie had already loaded his shoulder and begun to initiate the turn. Lisa did a tremendous job of pushing her inside shoulder and hip forward, in an attempt to pick him back up and get just a bit further up in there, but to little avail. Fortunately, Lisa's balance and body control allowed her to salvage a barrel that would have been out of reach for many. Not only did she have to reach to get it, but she had to hold it for a while in order to get it set back up safely, as well. Through all of that, she remained very balanced, square and constantly encouraged forward motion from Louie. Lisa rode a bit more aggressively to the third after such a close call, allowing for a very nice turn.
Callie- This one has ice water running through her veins! She did a great job of maintaining that same great line to the first that we have seen from them throughout the entire NFR. Here, she took just a bit of insurance and as she was bringing her outside hand back to go to the horn, she brought that outside rein with her, giving him just a slight bump back toward his wither, setting him on a path sure to allow them to clear the backside. She wasn't too concerned with getting any kind of snappy finish here, either. Solid and clean was definitely the goal. Having not finished the first barrel super well, Callie got Dillon onto a good line to the second in short order. She used that high, forwardly placed, leading outside rein to get him all the way up into and clear of the second barrel. She might have led him a half step further than intended, causing the finish to be a touch too close to call "conservative". They carried a great line to the third, Callie again leading him forward. Dillon stiffened a bit as they began to set for the turn. It appears as though they would have been fine anyway, but then he caught a bad spot of ground and the resulting stumble carried them well clear of the barrel. What a phenomenal job Callie did over 10 nights!
Deb- Deb did a great job of really riding Bud Light to a great spot here at the first. You see her leaving the alley opening her left rein, as Bud Light wanted to drift in a bit. Just about as soon as that adjustment had been made, they were at the entry to the turn and Deb closed the outside rein, opened the inside rein and guided him to a wonderfully balanced turn. Deb really rode her right rein across the pen, as she has most nights. She does such a great job here of switching hands just early enough to allow Bud Light to change his arch just before initiating the turn to allow for a very smooth, efficient second barrel. Having hit him a couple of times about halfway up the pen, I an only imagine that she felt as though they had enough momentum to carry them through the third barrel. As it was, he just got a bit short and flat in the pocket, causing them to not clear it as they finished.
Jana- Hammer came in well, but was definitely back to being a bit strong here. He really could have used a bit more support from Jana's outside rein to help get him organized at the first barrel. After having gotten very deep behind the turn, he again became quite disengaged through his body as Jana's inside hand ask for the finish. His head and neck went where she asked, but his shoulders, ribcage and hip were just still running through the turn. They found a decent enough line across the pen and it appeared as though Hammer allowed Jana to keep him a bit further to the right as they entered than he had in earlier rounds. As a result though, as soon as she dropped her rein to allow him to turn, he really closed in hard and got wadded up against the barrel. That caused them to have to take an extra step forward on the backside, in order to get lined out straight to finish well. They carried a nice line up the pen to the third, but again, Hammer got strong, stiff and to the inside. Had Jana gotten two handed and helped him to be a bit more organized for the turn, this could have been much cleaner. She was able to keep his shoulder up enough to get by it, but he was quite, out of shape and strung out, causing them to step off finishing the turn.
Vickie- Vickie rode a very forward, balanced line to the first barrel and was rewarded for her efforts with a very smooth, balanced turn. They finished so sharply that she may have found herself just a foot, or two further right as they entered the second barrel than she had intended. Being just that bit further away from the barrel really encourage her horse to dive back over to the backside. As it did, they got a bit heavy on the front end and at the same time, encountered some ground that wouldn't support such a move. That stumble pushed the rest of their turn about 5 feet beyond where they would have been. Their line to the third being a bit further to the right than she might have wanted encouraged her horse to start to load it's shoulder and initiate the turn just a half step too soon. Vickie did a great job of using both reins to pick up enough to get them by it, but pulled her horse out of the turn a bit in doing so. They floated off of the backside a result, but it was the best she could do to salvage a turn which hadn't had a chance to set up well from the backside of the second.
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