So, Wednesday we were headed to a jackpot in Rapid City. I ran Spy first, he was real decent. He ran a .5 (I forget what seconds, sorry). He and I tipped the first barrel to place 3rd. The booger was running though, and I have a strong suspicion I rode him a little too much like Angel at the first and gave him a check, when he probably needed a kick or more pushing. I was proud. Now Angel came in breathing fire like a dragon, and she has a pretty cool run. She had a few issues going into the 2nd and 3rd where we didn't leave enough room for a pocket, but we recovered and surprisingly ran a .4!! We won second and some decent money and a roper duffle bag :-)
So there's my happy note. It was sweet, but too short lived. Ok, here it comes. I know better than to blog when I'm down or sad, but it has been a whole week since I last did. So please, take my sincere apology at this point in time. I try for my own sake, and for those who love me, or just care to read my blog, to stay positive and upbeat, but I also promised to document my journey, good, bad or indifferent.
So, the weather got bad in South Dakota. We were staying at Nikki's family's house, and I thank God for that blessing. They were so amazing to me, and they had such great hospitality! That family can cook! But the wind chill sent temperatures to -40 degrees quickly and I began to miss my California is so many ways. We loaded up early Thursday morning and headed into Rapid City. Before our 10 am slack, Nikki was entered in a big money slot race at 9 am just down the street. Sadly, she wasn't clean, or else she would have been in the top few on her great grey horse, Captain.
Then, off we flew to the pro rodeo slack. I had this feeling the pen was way too small for the big 'ole Spy giant. I thought I would give my little mare a shot at the glory. She had two okay runs. She got barrels on both unfortunately, but she handled both the slack run that morning and the performance run that night. We are definitely learning things each run, but that doesn't keep me from being so discouraged. It is so difficult to be out here and not winning a lot or not at all. I gave up an amazing job, a safe lifestyle, a secure financial situation and threw all caution to the wind, and I wonder what in the H-E-double hockey sticks I was thinking. I know I am my biggest enemy, but even when I conquer that I have had no luck.
That ride home from Rapid was a quiet one. Bless my traveling partner's soul, she had a great day and I was having a meltdown. She placed in the 1st go and the average! I was so excited for her, but I just couldn't shake my own disappointment.
It's truly difficult being away from home, in bad weather, in poor spirits, spending your hard earned savings, and not having a single familiar thing near you. It takes a strong person to withstand all that, and let me be the first to say, it hasn't been me, or any other person I know or talk to. We all have periodic meltdown and types of doubt, and if someone says differently I can almost bet they are fibbing.
Friday was a quiet day around Nikki's house for me. She had a vet and shoeing appointment and I stayed home to do some paperwork and rest. It was so pleasant! I had received a box of goodies from my mom, which included mail, more clothes from home and kid-you-not a ten pound bag of homemade Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. That made the day a little better. I felt like nothing could heal a broken spirit better than a good night's rest and some of my moms cookies. Thanks Mom!
Saturday evening began our adventure out of South Dakota. Sadly, Nikki's family received some devastating news about a family member, so it made leaving that much more difficult for everyone. But, the rodeos don't wait, so we trucked South. We got almost 2 hours in and stopped for fuel. Nikki heard a hiss and sure enough, there was a nail in my inside driver dual tire and it was already past closing time. We were pretty sad. We found a friend of Nikki's to stay at and made Sunday a big day of travel. I am not sure what do into me, maybe it was the pounds of BBQ seeds I had, or the countless junk food I was eating, but I just drove and drove!
Our travels went well from there, but the snow never disappeared as we got more South. It was sort of depressing. Well Monday came and went and we made it to Brandon, Mississippi. We stalled up at an awesome public arena. I had an opportunity to ride with the lady I purchased Angel from.
Tuesday was a day of rest. Nikki and I had the day to ride all the ponies. Our dear friend Sandi took us to dinner with her husband and daughter. We had a grand time at Mexican food. They had a live mariachi (spelling?) band and they sang "Brown Eye Girls" to us. Nikki was in awe....it was her first live band in a mexican food restaurant :-) We had an amazing night of laughter!
Wednesday was game day! We awoke to a fresh box of donuts and bear claws. Sandi was the culprit and that is when I knew for sure I loved her! Ha ha. I was excited for lunch because I was able to pick up Tay and take him with Sandi, Nikkie and I! We got some authentic Mississippi food a.k.a. deep fried food! It was great. So we packed up and headed to the rodeo for a 6:30 p.m. slack. I made the decision to run Angel, probably with as much thought as a coin toss. I had no idea what the right choice was, but I decided the arena was small so I used the smaller horse. She had a great run, especially in the 1st and 2nd barrel. The third gave us trouble as it has been lately and we tipped. Angel was being good, I just made some pilot errors. In the meantime, the snow and rain came down like I have never seen. I was beginning to get nervous about our long all-night drive to Belton, TX. Oh, and Nikki had a good run, she still sitting in the money! Yay for Miss Nikki!!!!
So off we drove to Belton, it took us until 6 am to arrive. The roads were unbelievably clear for the amount of storming they had there. We hit one icy bridge that shook us up pretty good, but the rest was dry and safe. It was an emotional night for me. I had to say goodbye to Tay again and go through that heartbreak. I had a lot on my mind with the difficult rodeo trends, and leaving him. A girl sure has a ton of time to think, and over-think on the road, that is for sure!
Belton slack began at 9:30 a.m. And we were towards the end. It was freezing! I couldn't believe how cold Texas was. Well, I knew it was a bad barrel racing sign when every horse can out knee deep in dirt. It was a deep son-of-a-gun! Spy went full speed ahead and ended up head first in the dirt behind the first barrel. It was too deep and too heavy for him to keep his feet moving. The poor got up and made a great rest of his run despite my attempt to pull his up (I should know better). Nikki had a decent run, we were both just off the pace a bit though.
After Belton we headed back to Stephenville to stay over til our run in San Angelo on Monday. We are here at the school again. I had returned to my trailer to find a frozen/cracked water pump. I manned up and put a little elbow grease in to remove and replace it all by myself! I feel like I can do anything now that I have wired in a water pump!
There is a huge jackpot down the street we found at the Lonestar Arena. It is a big three day race with 12,000 added. You can run once or all three days, but all the times go into one big payout. I ran Spy first and he ran the fastest time of the night but clipped the first. Angel had a bad day or racing tonight and we will just leave it at that. Better luck tomorrow!
I am lying in bed now, so comfy and peaceful. I am still fighting my head, trying to make sure I am doing the right thing. I miss home more and more each day. My mom sends me pictures of Stanley all the time and they make me sooooo sad. I wish I could be having more luck on the road, and maybe that would make it 1% better, but I'm not and so things are rough.
I am going to keep on chugging, or rather "keep on swimming, keep on swimming" as said by Dore on Finding Nemo, one of my favs ;-) I want so badly to throw the towel in because this adventure is taking a toll on me beyond any belief, but I can't. I hate failure, but more than failure I hate quitting.
So, there's my story. I have been so busy and haven't be able to blog too much. I hate that because I lose the good, juicy details. I promise to be better!! Well, have a great night friends. I hope the next time I write I will bring better news.
God Bless
Sincerely with Love!
Bay
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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