First NLBRA of the Season

We went to St George last weekend for our first NLBRA rodeo this spring.  It was a great weekend except for the rain on Saturday.  It rained during the entire rodeo.  So the kids were soaking wet.  Then one hour after the rodeo, it stopped and the sun came out.  


I hadn't realized how much I have truly missed our rodeo life.  Brent has been out with an injury since October 31 and Racheal has had some medical issues since November.  Thankfully we are getting past both of those and are back on the road competing.  


Racheal seemed to be right at home in the arena.  She placed 2nd in Breakaway Roping both Friday and Saturday.  She placed 2nd in Barrels on Friday but really smoked them on Saturday placing 1st by more than 2 tenths of a second.  


Brent and his partner won the Team Roping in the rain on Saturday.  Brent placed 3rd in Tie Down Roping and 2nd in Team Roping on Sunday.  He is going to have good points in Team Roping when we head to Nationals in July.


Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day.  I really hated to leave the rodeo grounds.  They are my second home.

First Tie Down Roping in NLBRA

Brent moved up to the Senior Boys Division in the National Little Britches Association. So this year his events are Team Roping and Tie Down Roping. Team Roping is not a change. He has been Team Roping for years.

It is Tie Down Roping that makes me nervous. It is also Brent's favorite event. It is the one he practices constantly. He is always out roping the calf dummy or tieing the tie dummy.

Well practice paid off this weekend. In Friday's rodeo his time was 19 seconds and he placed 3rd. On Saturday the calf got away from him for a few seconds. His time was 31 seconds and he placed 6th. Sunday the calf was just a little too fast and ran right through his loop. On Monday he was 22 seconds and 4th. I wish I had a video of the first night. It was so great.

Personal Best

We went to a Little Britches Rodeo in Salina the last weekend of March. I just have to share how excited I was for Racheal. We got a new horse last fall for her to run barrels on. They have been coming together. She won a rodeo on him in October and has placed in several.

On Saturday, her barrel run was 16.2 seconds. She placed second that day.

On Sunday she beat her personal best time. She ran a 15.9 second barrel pattern. I could tell from the second she entered the arena it was going to be a great run. She really drove him the entire pattern. She was in complete control. It still gives me chills.

This was the first time she has ever beat 16 seconds. I was so excited that I am sure everyone in the arena heard me. I had tears when I went out to talk to her.

Sometimes when you kids acheive the next level, you feel as much accomplishment as they do.

Little Britches Rodeo Recap

So last weekend, we went to sunny St George for a Little Britches Rodeo. We had a good weekend. The weather was good until Sunday. We hung out with all of our friends and watched the kids compete. It is why we love to rodeo.

We did get off to a rough start on Friday. We all missed in the breakaway and team roping. Racheal hit poles and missed her first barrel.

However, the kids readjusted their focus and Saturday was a much better day. Brent won the breakaway roping with a time of 2.87 seconds. That is smoking fast. Racheal took second in the breakaway with a time of 4.17 seconds.

On Sunday Racheal and Parker placed 6th in the Team Roping. Racheal also placed 6th in Poles and 7th in Barrels.

Although I love to watch my kids compete, I also love to watch the kids that travel with us. Cole my nephew placed for the first time in Barrels on Sunday. He also placed in the Poles.

We have been helping Racheal's Team Roping Partner Parker learn to tie calves. This was his first weekend at a rodeo in Tie Down Roping. On Friday, he had no luck. He was just too nervous to throw his rope. On Saturday, he did a little better. He caught his calf but missed his slack. So the he only had the back legs. It is hard to tie 3 legs when 2 of them are stuck in your rope. On Sunday, he made it look easy. He roped the calf around the neck right out of the chute. Then he got off like he had been doing it forever. He got all three legs tied and it stayed down the full 6 seconds. His time was 15.6 seconds. That is a good time for seasoned ropers. We were so excited. I am sure you could hear all of us yelling.

Our New Addition

Racheal has been trying for the last 3 years to get her mare to run barrels. Seems like we would make 2 steps forward and take 4 steps back. The mare got hurt in Racheal's Freshman year in September. We gave her about six months off but she has never been the same. Racheal did not want to give up on her. So she just kept trying and trying to get there. She definitely did all she could do. I am sure she still blames herself but she shouldn't. No matter how hard you try some horses just don't work for the events you want to use them for.

So I decided since she only has 2 more years of high school rodeo left that we need to find her a barrel and pole horse. She tried out this horse named Fluke. What a funny name. She seemed to get along really well with him. Although he thinks he is a big bully and pins his ears at you, she likes him.

We took him to their first rodeo in October. Of all things, we decided to try him in the Trail Course. Most barrel horses won't slow down enough to go through the course. He is really smart and well trained. He went through it like a champ and Racheal made a qualifying run everyday on him. Here are some pictures of them in trail.
Going over the jump.

Getting the gate closed.

His shining moment of course was when Racheal won the barrels on their third day. This is the first time she has won a barrel race since she was probably 12 years old. So it was very exciting for her.

The real test will be to see how he does in High School Rodeo but it was a great first weekend.

Little Britches Rodeo

Rodeo season has officially started. We went to Panguitch last weekend to a Little Britches Rodeo. Surprisingly, Brent wanted lots of pictures taken. I am not sure what happened to him. So I have lots of Brent pictures. I really like the one here with his rope!

The weekend did not start off great. Coy was pulling a trailer with calves for the rodeo. When we were on the freeway, he got a flat tire on the trailer on the driver's side. So that took almost an hour. I was pulling our horses in our trailer and just as soon as we turned on to the 2-lane road where there is not a good place to pull over I got a flat on our trailer. Ahhhhhh!

The weekend was also colder that than had predicted. So it was pretty cold. It looked sunny but the wind made it cold. Still a weekend at a rodeo is better than work any day!

Brent did really well in the flag race. He got his best times yet. He ran in 10 seconds each day. His fastest time before was 11 seconds. So he took 4th on Friday and 3rd on Saturday. He missed his breakaway calf on Friday. On Saturday, he had a beautiful loop but a little big. The calf ran right through it. Ooops!


Racheal had a tough weekend. Through no fault of her own, she drew really bad cattle both days. Her calves and her steers were both bad. The one steer stuck his haed in the fence. That makes it a little hard to rope. I think she had fun over all but having bad draws makes for a frustrating weekend.

She still looks beautiful in a cowboy hat.

Catch Up Again

I am not sure what has happened to me but I am having a hard time blogging this year. It is probably because I really dislike winter time. I am not very motivated to do anything when it is cold.

Rodeo season started early for us. We had our first rodeo February 22 and 23. Yes it was cold. It snowed the morning of the first day but luckily by the time the rodeo started it was done.

This was Racheal's first rodeo since the accident. I was extremely proud of her to dig deep down and be able to go in and compete. She had some great accomplishments. She had the best barrel run that she has had on her mare in the last 2 years. Her first barrel was awesome. She had a clean pole run the next day. Even though she had not really practiced poles in the last four months. She placed in the Team Roping too.

However, the weekend was really tough on her. She almost threw up before every event. Then on Saturday she cried off and on all day. I think we may let her start too early. She really wants to rodeo but that trauma is a lot to get over. We will continue to support her in whatever she decides to do.

Brent had some good moments too. My favorite was Brent and Shad in the Team Roping. The had a beautiful run. Brent headed and handled it really well. Then Shad got both heels. They did awesome. They were so cute.