Tie Down question.....?

I know a lot of girls with 50k horses that can't ride or train for crap. They hit a lot of barrels and hinder their horses. I don't think Sherri Cervi is one of them though.

But there are a good deal of professional barrel racers that couldn't out ride some of my lesson students, they are good at hanging on and not falling off but those horses know their job and get it done, most of the time.

In a perfect world people would have to work their butts off for everything and spend time with their horses, but we don't live in a perfect world.

It's true that a lot of the girls that work hard day in and day out to place in the 4D with their $500 auction horse that they trained and spend every moment with, would probably do a lot of "professionals" horses a whole lot more justice.

But it's unfair to assume every successful person is pretty much a spoiled brat.
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Thank you ariatchick, that is what I was getting at, I just had a stupid attack with my post. I apologize for coming off so rude. But you pretty much said what I was getting at..

I don't barrel race, so I can't comment on their use there.

However, outside that, I see tie downs used incorrectly a lot. My wife, for example, uses one on her horse. He likes to throw his head back. I've been head butted once on him, without a tie down. I don't ride him enough to correct it, and she doesn't care to correct it herself. Is it right? Not really. But it is what it is. That is why I don't recommend others to use it to "fix" their horse.
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I just have to say something....because I can't bite my tongue any longer.

Those girls work hard to get to the NFR, and yes some DO buy their horses....but so do A LOT of other barrel racers.

Quite a few train their own.....I know more betty barrel racers that go out and by themselves $60,000 barrel horses vs people in the top 20 WPRA standings. And less face it....some people just don't feel comfortable training or just don't have the time. And they DON'T all come from wealthy backgrounds....that drives me crazy when people assume just because somebody is successful that they are money bags. Because a lot of those girls have worked hard and put in the sweat, tears, and hours to get to the top....

The NFR isn't like your everyday rodeo they go to. They worked hard to get there, and there is a lot up for grabs so they are going to be nervous and make mistakes. Sure a lot of barrels were hit....but there were a lot of rookies and a couple girls who had to jump on horses a couple weeks before the finals because their mounts were injured.

The T&M is a tiny pen with a blind approach to first. Most of the runs these girls make throughout the year are on bigger patterns, not many 13s patterns. So both horse and rider have to adjust to make 10 consecutive runs on. Some horses are going to excel while others are going to fall apart as the week goes on.

And any time you make a run no matter if your pro or not, your going to get nervous and make mistakes no matter how long you have been doing it. I have been doing it for 17yrs now and am still a shaky sally who you would swear is cracked out. If I ever make it to the NFR I probably would hyperventilate saddling my horse ad not even make it to the alley lol!

When it comes to smooth clean runs....I have learned that sometimes if you try to make a horse run "pretty and perfect" your clock is going to be slower. We all want our horses to run correct and pretty, but sometimes you just have to let your horse run how they run and that may be a little wide here, or there.

None of us can really judge how somebody rides unless we have been in their shoes, or on their horses.


Sorry just had to get that out...

^^^^^ well said!!!!!

Yes, did Forgot to mention that 3 of the girls (or was it 2?) were on borrowed horses they essentially had never ridden before, much less barrel raced on the horse.. And they did AMAZING for getting stuck in that situation. (Where their main mount was out hurt)

I apologize for pushing the "uneducated" comment, but this is exactly what I'm talking about. There's a lot of background stories going on at the NFR that will look like a poor run if the viewer has no idea they are a rookie or has no idea they just ran a horse that wasn't even theirs.

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I'm just on here to learn lol

One question I did want to ask. Do those girls not keep more than one horse fit and ready? I mean, if it was me, I would have at least 3 that were of the same level just in case something like that happened...that way I wouldn't get stuck in that situation where I was competing and trying to win on a horse I'd never ridden before.

I really did feel sorry for Christy Loflin though. She got stuck with borrowing that palomino and having to try to manage some pretty serious training problems with him.

That horse Christy rode has no training issues, they just couldn't get together in that short time. Sure he was hot but so were some of the others.

As for the other girls I know a few did but not not a lot of the rookies. Plus it is hard to get one let alone multiple phenomenal horses to get you down the road. So they just worked with what they had.
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Bearing in mind the ground at the NFR this year was god awful. I would ride a larger pocket on that ground too, and I would ride safe and smart, not pushing every single second. It takes a lot to have all 15 of the worlds top girls riding cautiously, and that's what you saw this year. Cautious riders.

Ideally, I'm sure each girl would love to have 3 or 4 NFR horses in their string. But especially for some of the "newer" girls, they have not found that second special horse and/or can't afford to purchase one at the moment. Not all barrel horses are cut out to be rodeo horses. It really takes a one-of-a-kind individual to make it. And the rider has to "click" with them.

For example, if Sherry Cervi and Lindsey Sears were to switch horses for the year (Martha and Stingray), I really kind of wonder (and maybe doubt) if either of them would be as good. Not that either rider isn't amazing ... and not that either horse isn't amazing .... but they have paired up so well that each individual horse and rider combination just "click". I know that Martha was a good horse before Lindsey got a hold of her .... but now she's a GREAT horse. So I guess I'm just trying to say that it adds to the difficulty of finding that second string or even third string horse to keep as a back up, that is going to be able to compete at such a high level, because the horse and rider have to complement each other and work well together.

I don't think Rascal necessarily had any training issues; it just took a while for Christy to figure out his quirks. They were running much better by the end of the NFR. It'd be like a MotoCross racer jumping on a completely different bike with the controls in different spots, and then hitting the jumps. Might look a bit sloppy first until you get things figured out. He sure was a speedy gritty little devil once she got going on him!