Rodeo Review - Saturday Night at H&H Ranch - Apple Grove, West Va.
What: An open rodeo, part of H&H's summer series
Who: Mainly locals. H&H stock.
Time: Had to get there at 5:30 to pay fees, but show started late - should have started at 7 p.m.
Fees: $40 for barrel racers, $50 per team for ropers.
Added Money: None - 80 percent payback.
The Ground: DEEP. Although the weekend was completely dry, the ground crew plowed the arena over repeatedly and the ground was so deep! My barrel horse came out of the arena with her bell boots turned upside down because of how deep she had to dig.
Overall: The rodeo moved pretty slowly, so by the time they got to the barrel race, we could only rely on the arena's super poor lighting to see the barrels. The first barrel was decently lit, but the second and third were in pure darkness. I had to ride my 16-year-old horse like a colt to find them, even though she was still trying.
The gateman kept the gate closed, which was a nightmare for my old horse that is used to hunting an alleyway. Needless to say, we crashed into the gate as fast as can be because the timer was a panel-length away from the outgate.
Results: I won it with a 16.2. H&H only paid one hole, which was good news for me but bad news for everyone else. It paid $256 to win it.
In team roping news: I travel with my boyfriend, Corey Rose, and his partner, Alicia Pottmeyer, who team roped. They ran the team roping after the barrels. The bottom end of the arena was in complete darkness, and the steers darted erratically back and forth across the arena. NOT the place to team rope. Corey's steer ducked underneath his horse's legs when he was heading and Alicia's jumped under her's when she was healing. It was a rough time for those two, and not the happiest ride home for me!
I have some rough video that I will put up here later, in case anybody is interested in seeing what the pen looked like!
I would love to see the video! Congrats on your win, sounds like it was WELL DESERVED!
ReplyDeleteI'm still working on getting the video from my friend's camera, as I had forgotten to bring my own! Bad blogger, I know!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the congrats, though. Hope all is well!