July Rocking K Ranch Gymkhana

   Saturday was an awesome day and I spent most of it around horses.  I went out in the morning to feed the horses and cows (Melissa helped), clean and refill water buckets, and muck stalls.  It was so awesome to be in charge of the ranch and it was like owning my own horse ranch.  I couldn't stop smiling and I could see myself doing this one day.

   Here are some pics I took of the barn horses that Robin didn't take to the show.  

Pistol

Oakie

Oakie's hives

The barrel mare Robin's training

   We left after all of the horses and cows were taken care of and came back around 3 with the red truck.  It took about 10 minutes to hook up the trailer because I'm horrible at guiding the truck to the hitch and I'm not too good at backing the truck up so that it nicely lines up with the hitch.  After we eventually got the trailer hooked up and I loaded my tack in, I noticed that the exhaust pipe had broken.  Melissa was a little concerned about driving the truck but I convinced her to go.  

   With everything all ready to go, I grabbed Phoenix and loaded her into the the trailer.  She walked up to the trailer, sniffed the mat, and then just hopped in.  Phoenix has been doing so well at loading the past few months and it makes it so much easier to take her places.  We secured the trailer doors and headed on the road for 1 hour and 10 minutes to Rocking K Ranch in Vail.  

Our wonderful driver and BFF, Melissa 

   We got the ranch around 5 and I signed up for my classes while Melissa parked the trailer and unloaded Phoenix.  Then Melissa helped me groom Phoenix so I could tack her up and warm her up quickly because they were starting in a few minutes.  I walked, trotted, and loped Phoenix in both directions in a dirt lot behind the arena (I arrived too late to warm up in the arena) and then hung out on Phoenix by the arena.  It was super funny that the ranch owner recognized me and I've only been there twice (during pageant training last septemeber and in march to get a business card).

   Our first event was the keyhole race.  It took a second to get Phoenix into the arena due to some large puddles near the entrance, but then she was fine and I asked her to lope towards the poles.  Phoenix slowed down and I thought she was going to stop all the way due to being unsure about going through the poles, but she just slowed to a trot and I urged her through were she made a nice turn and then loped back through the poles, crossing the eye and earning us a 10 second time.  

   Before our next event (poles) I took Phoenix back into the empty lot and warmed her up some more.  This time she did buck when I asked her to lope but I corrected her and trotted and loped her around until she moved calmly.  

   We took our pole run to the left and I let Phoenix lope pretty fast and then slowed her down to turn the first pole.  I had to keep a pretty tight rein on her while weaving the poles due to Phoenix wanting to run faster than I can steer.  She went through the pattern pretty well and our biggest problem was turning around the last pole to run back through the pattern before running home (which used to be much worse).  We almost re-crossed the barrier and got disqualified, but we just missed it and ran a time of 35.28.  Looking at the video I think Phoenix and I could get a good time if we could make our end turns tighter and weave more off of leg pressure and less off of hand (as well as loping faster and galloping home).  

   We hung out and talked to this one super nice 16yr old who commented on our run and then it was time for the mountain cowhorse race.  I've never done it before, but it was a pretty easy pattern and super fun.  I went to go take the pattern and Phoenix started crow hopping and so I made her circle and settle down before I let her lope and take the pattern.  She did a good job weaving and circling the last barrel to run home. 

 

   I was most excited for and nervous about our next event, barrels.  I love all of the crazy gymkhana patterns and events but I dream of becoming a pro barrel racer, so barrels is my most important pattern.  I took Phoenix at a good paced lope (slow for a real run but we just fixed our turns so we were taking it slow).  Phoenix did well at all of her turns and ran home to recieve a 26 second time. From later discussing what could be improved on my run (besides adding speed) with Robin, I discovered that I don't have Phoenix on the bit and control of her head and until I have that, adding speed won't make a difference.  We have a long ways to go until we are pulling winning times, but there was improvement so here is our run.  

   Our last event of the night was flags.  Phoenix and I kicked butt and would've placed 2nd with a 16 second time except for one problem...we got disqualified haha.  It was my fault.  Phoenix loped a nice pattern and listened pretty well to neck reining while I leaned forward and grabbed the flag out of the bucket without stopping and aimed her close to the second bucket so I could make it in.  I made the mistake of assuming the bucket was empty and so I threw the flag into the bucket and it made it in...except that dirt filled the bucket, causing the flag to bounce back out.  I needed to stick the flag into the bucket as I ran by to get it to stay in.  Well anyways, Phoenix is really good at flags and now I know how to not get disqualified.  

   At one point during the gymkhana I really needed to pee so I stopped by the trailer to grab Phoenix's halter and rode her in the dark towards the bathrooms (which Melissa advised me not to do but I didn't see a problem with it.  Phoenix needs to get used to more crazy situations).  Since the bathroom was up this hill, I hopped off Phoenix at the bottom and led her up (that ended up being a very good choice) and then I tied her to a tied ring next to the bathroom.  It was so funny, I stated going to the bathroom and I could hear Phoenix relieving herself through the door.  Guess she had to go too haha.  She nickered to me when I came out of the bathroom like she was saying "omg I thought you left me alone in the dark, I'm so glad to see you".  Then I walked her back down the hill and back onto the race grounds.  

   It was time to head home, so we packed up and walked Phoenix out and then she hopped into the trailer with no prob and we headed on our way.  We didn't have enough gas in the truck to make it home, so we stopped at a gas station and I may have had a little fun while we were there.  

   We double checked the trailer lights while at the gas station and made a discovery.  Our trailer brake lights work but the hind lights wouldn't stay on while driving, which is illegal.  We headed on our way and hoped for the best because there was nothing we could do.  Luckily we didn't get pulled over or anything and we made it back to the ranch (after passing the street 3 times due to the dark haha).  

   I unloaded Phoenix and put her away and we fed the horses and cows (I didn't want to do when we left due to it being too early but I now realize that would've been better since I got back so late) and then unhooked the trailer and headed to get some food around midnight.