What To Do On A Day Off?

I heard that the weather was pretty decent around here while I was off at the horse show. Figures. But that is okay, because I had some amazing weather where I was at. My first day off after getting back from the show, it started out pretty nice. Some clouds and some sun, but the weather report said it was supposed to rain. Great. So what to do on my day off? Well, go to a rodeo, of course! My OH didn't think I would want to go, considering I had just spent 10 hours in a vehicle the day before. The rodeo was in a very small town about 40 miles east of where we live. I have seen this rodeo advertised many times in the last few years and we have never taken the time to go. We decided we would go check it out.

The newspaper said it was supposed to start at 11:00 a.m. But when we got there, we found out the newspaper reported the wrong time and it wasn't supposed to start until 1:00 p.m. So we just looked around and I entered a drawing (15 times!) for a chance to win a very nice barrel racing saddle. Hopefully luck would be on my side for once!

We decided to hit the beer garden. Nothing better then sipping on an ice cold beer while waiting for the rodeo to start! It was getting pretty cloudy at this point and the rain clouds were definitely moving in.



The facility was pretty old and run down. Next year they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary. I was a little scared to walk up the bleachers. They were made out of wood, and you could see parts of the wood had been replaced, probably due to rotting. Great. Falling through the floor was definitely not on my list of things to have happen for the day! The view from the bleachers was spectacular. The mountains were gorgeous. The arena was very large, I would love to have an arena that size, but I would probably get lost in one that big!



We watched everyone warm up their horses. I was thinking the whole time that I wished I could be out there enjoying the festivities on my own horse!



1:00 p.m. finally came and the opening ceremonies started.



I really liked this Paint. It was a very beautiful horse!



I have always thought it would be fun to be involved in a horse drill team. I think Brandy would do pretty good, but she might have some of her jekyll and hyde moments. Fritzy would be beautiful out there, but she is NOT agile, so she would probably fall over and it would be disastrous.



There was only one saddle bronc rider. I guess everyone came for the barrel racing, roping and bull riding.



I do not know how these guys do it. I could not come off a horse like these guys and as often as they do.



Since there was only one bronc rider, they let the other bucking horse out of the chute. We thought it was pretty, and it looked a little similar to Fritzy, although I think Fritzy is much prettier!



It started to just pour about half way through. I did not wear a waterproof jacket. I don't know what I was thinking. I actually dressed really cute in my new expensive Cowgirl Tuff jeans with my bling bling belt, new white T-shirt with a black sparkly cross on it, my new cowboy boots and my Arabian Nationals jacket. So much for the cute factor. The rain pretty much ruined that one! Even with the rain pouring down, we continued to sit on the rickety bleachers, drinking our beer and cheering on the cowboys and cowgirls! The rain started to let up and the clouds got lower over the mountain top.



The drawing for that barrel racing saddle was announced. I waited and hoped that my name would be drawn. I really wanted that saddle. For some reason I have always wanted a barrel saddle. I have been considering selling my trail saddle and getting a barrel saddle. Part of the reason for that is the weight factor. My trail saddle is extremely heavy. With my back issues, it is becoming hard for me to lift that much weight. I also love the looks of the barrel saddle. Oh, and it also could have a little bit to do with that when I was in my teens, one of my dreams was to become a professional barrel racer! Obviously that didn't happen. I did a lot of barrel racing in my teens, and that need for speed was all I wanted. But sitting there on those rotting bleachers, cheering on the girls, really made me wish I was out there chasing those cans! My OH even said to me "I am surprised you don't do something like this." Well, I used to really want too, I still really want too and maybe someday I will get too! I have a lot of dreams, don't I?

Oh, I forgot about the drawing! Yes, the winner was announced. And no, I did not win the saddle. I was a little disappointed. I had all sorts of plans for that saddle already! But that is okay. I will get my barrel saddle someday! I mean, I DO have a birthday coming up! OH? Did ya hear that? Add that to my birthday wish list please!!

Back update: I have now had 4 chiro adjustments done. The pain the day after my adjustments was terrible! But, after this last horse show, I do have to say, there was significant improvement! I had very minimal back pain through out the show. It was so nice to be able to go back to the hotel room and not be bent over in severe pain. I had my 4th adjustment done the other day, and the day after pain has gotten much better. It still hurts, but my chiropractor says everything is adjusting nicely and now most of my pain is in my left hip/buttocks area where I have that pinched nerve and that is also the hip that sits lower then my other hip. I am down to 2 appts a week and we are going to see how that works.