OMG It Is A Horse Eating…………….Horse?

Yesterday we had records highs of 74* so there was no way I was passing up a ride. Since I wasn’t detoured like I was the previous day I decided to take Lu. Let me start off by asking – do you have any clue how difficult it is to brush a horse that keeps taking the brushes out of the brush bag and throwing them on the floor? I must say Lucy does not lack in the personality department.

Feel free to look up when I rode her last but I know it has been a while. Needless to say CA would not be proud of me. I saddled her up, jumped on, did a little flexing and off we went. She immediately started off being little miss drunken sailor again but she was a bit better then the last time.

Like Black, she decided ditch diving would be fun until I let her do it. That kind of freaked her out a bit. She did have her first real spook with me. The neighbors to the south of us have a pasture that is lined with trees. She heard something in the trees and jumped sideways. Honestly it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated her spooking would be but maybe she didn’t give it her all.

We continued down the road and even did a little bit of trotting here and there. Man is she lazy! I had to push her to trot fast enough so I could at least post. When we turned around and headed for home she started acting like she wanted to turn back around so I let her to see what she would do. She just started going in a circle. I seriously think her internal compos is off.

When we were approaching our road to head home I noticed something coming down the road towards us and so did Lucy. Was it a person walking? A person riding a bike? No! It was a person riding a horse! In all of my years living where we do that is a very rare sight for me to see & Lucy was petrified. She didn’t know what to think and she was so tense beneath me. I couldn’t get her to walk forward at all. It was pretty humorous in a way.

The gal ended up stopping and we chatted for a bit. She is a pretty big time roper around here and I know she puts on clinics so I asked her if she ever gave private lessons and if so how much she charged. I was pretty surprised with her rates (they included cattle usage) and I think I’m going to contact her about taking lessons both on the ground and on Lucy. This way I can actually learn from someone who has competed (instead of DH) and can also learn from a woman’s perspective.

I’m pretty excited about the idea of actually getting some “real” help. DH will be leasing some cattle with a few friends this year so I will have the opportunity to work them whenever I want (I’ll have to haul to where they will be kept) but it won’t do me any good if I don’t know what I’m doing so hopefully I can get some pointers from Kim so that I can utilize my time with them better.

Here is a photo of Kim roping. Due to copyrights I’m just going to put a link up for you to follow. This is the horse she was riding on last night. He made Lucy look like a yearling.

Woodburn, Iowa 6/07

Adel, Iowa 6/07

Here is also a neat article I found on-line.

Kim Wing Breaks the Ice for Midwest Ropers

Last year, in an attempt to bring opportunities to women in the Midwest a chance to earn points toward the WPRA World Standings, I asked the Iowa Rodeo Cowboy’s Association to co-approve their events with the WPRA, and they agreed.

We were all disappointed when only a few women took advantage of becoming WPRA members and competing in their events..

When I asked some of the women I thought would take advantage of the opportunity why they chose not to they said they didn’t feel they’d be competitive at the WPRA level.

I have to admit feeling the same way as a barrel racer competing successfully in amateur rodeos, until a friend pushed me into trying WPRA competition.

Roper Kim Wing of Van Wert, Iowa, did take advantage of the opportunity, and qualified for the 2007 WPRA World Finals. She was the only roper participating from the Great Lakes Circuit, and she represented her state and the circuit well, finishing 12th in the 2007 WPRA World Standings.

Kim’s success demonstrated to her peers, that if you are a good roper in your region, you will be a good roper in the WPRA.

This year more Midwestern WPRA ropers will take advantage of the opportunities to rope for real purses and a trip to Tulsa.

They are talking to producers in their area, asking them to co-sanction with the WPRA, so that they will have events to compete at. The women are excited, and so are the producers. The ball is rolling in the Midwest, and we want your help to get the ball rolling everywhere—until we’ve covered local regions to the entire United States.

Women ropers everywhere should be making plans to be one of the five women from every circuit, in every event, including both ends of the team roping going to the WPRA World Finals. If, that is, they aren’t one of the top 15 qualifiers. It’s also true that some circuits, like the Great Lakes Circuit last year, may not have enough ropers to fill all their positions, so even more opportunities may be open to them.

The message here is, don’t be afraid to get your card and enter WPRA competition. Find some events in your area, and take advantage of the new opportunities available, or encourage someone you know to give it a try. You will probably be surprised at just how much fun you’ll have, and just how competitive you really are.

See you at the 2008 WPRA World Finals!