Timing is everything

In a sport where one thousandth of a second can determine a championship, timing is everything.  Rating too late, picking up too soon may sound minor but the affects can be very large.  I'm always amused that a barrel racer can describe in such detail all that happened in their runs, making it almost sound as if they were out there for an hour.   We spend hours training, tuning, studying so that we can trim seconds off that clock leaving it all out in the arena.  But what about our timing outside of the arena?

I am a guilty believer of the saying 'Everything happens for a reason,' and if I really think of about it, timing is a big piece when you start laying out the puzzle.  When life seems to go on in a smooth rhythm, it's easy to not see all the little rights.  Turn that around and go through a long dry spell, and boy we can sniff out every small wrong.  so what does that have to do with timing?   Maybe I can explain using a little personal experience.  Missing out on our California rodeo season  pushed the decision to start entering our California ameture circuit in an attempt to make the finals.  The plan was to enter a few and make enough money to secure a spot in the top 15.  Clearly there was something off in my universe, and my empty pockets were hungry for the smallest taste of any placing.

Now here's where I had an opportunity to chose a road that would bring the majority of plausible positive outcomes.   With a few options to think over, I made my decision based upon Stella's needs.  I also figured that the large amount of frustration wouldn't aid in winning.   It was clearly time for me to step it up on a few others, begin their careers and increase their talent.  So off I went with Flo Jo, Kesler and his two girlfriends to a few of my favorites that just so happen to be April's and Buzzie's first CCPRA's years ago.  I didn't make a dime, I didn't even make a clean run.  I enjoyed the moment

More often than not I see girls trying to force the puzzle pieces together.  Taking horses that are too young and pushing them to take on the hard life of a rodeo horse and expecting to win. When it becomes an experience that only we are gaining from, guilt lurks in the back of of the mind.  If the win is more important than the health of our horse we risk possibility of damage physically and mentally on the pair. And I don't know that I have met a competitor who hasn't risked this, even if it was a small risk.  Lessons only come from experience and each time knowledge can be gained.  Although the reason may not be known, being able to find the positives in each situation aid in learning and ultimately growing as a barrel racer.
-"There is always another rodeo."