A Rodeo Gypsy's Tale

OH HOW TIME FLIES!

2011-06-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe ow time has gotten away from me. I have been so busy! I left off in March, yet it feels like it was just yesterday. Now-a-days, I am posted up in good 'ol Shandon, California at my mom's place with Taylor. Life is great and summer is upon us. Today is 100+ degrees here and I am thankful for the swimming pool, ha, ha.

Sadly, I am on a small break with Spy guy. About two weeks back we competed in the Livermore pro rodeo up north and it feel apart quickly. He reached the first barrel in good faith and as he tried to turn, he was in obvious pain, and refused to turn. He kept a straight body and ran off :-( Taylor drove me frantically to the vet in Los Olivos about 4 and a half hours away. After some flex test, blocks, and x-rays it was concluded that he has a case of OCD (osteochondrosis) in his stifles. It is a developmental disease that I am sure he has been dealing with and the vet told me it can be extremely painful. The bone grows out and disrupts the round shape and a air pocket appears between the bone and cartilage, causing the pain. I felt horrible upon hearing this news. Spy is 15 years old, so it wasn't a huge surprise to hear he isn't perfectly sound, but I felt bad for not noticing this sooner. He had a few non-steriod injections and now he must rest. I am hoping to bring him back out around the time with Salinas.

Taylor and I have also been planning our October wedding. I had no idea this was going to be such a huge task! It is insane to think about the hundreds of details. It is a bit overwhelming, but I just sit back whenever it gets tough, and think about how glorious the big day is going to be. It should be a big party....oh boy, I can' t wait!

LAtely, I have been putting my focus on my newer mare, Angel and my colt (Spy's half brother) Slice. It has been both sad to step off Spy, but good to force my hand into focusing on the future of my career with this two horses. I love them both so much and although we have had our rough spots, there is some glimmer of hope for us.

I have been doing small jobs and hanging out my with family here in California. It has been so refreshing to be home. Oh, and Taylor, Shelby, Annie and myself have started the INSANITY workout dvd series. It is a 60 day work out from h-e-l-l. I swear if I am not so unbelievably fit by the wedding, it is probably because I died trying ha ha.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I want to say a continued thank you to my amazing sponsors, Western Dove, Central Coast Performance Horses, Morinda Care Equine Products and JB Dewar once again. Without you, this trail I am on would be a very difficult one. I promise I am taking the very best care of Spy, and I hope we can be back on our feet and doing very well soon enough. Have a great day all!

Sincerely,
Bay

Day 59 - Mood: Optimistic

2011-03-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

I must begin by apologizing for my lack of blogging efforts lately. I am a failure when it comes to blogging in the few last weeks and I have no legimate excuse. So, I am sorry my friends!

Well a lot has occurred since we last spoke. It was been about 18 days and I have been soaking in some amazing Arizona bliss. I am "home" now in Buckeye, Arizona. I have since competed in Tucson and Scottsdale rodeo and had no such luck. Taylor has this motto for us and it is: "Let's try one more time" and so I do! This weekend we were entered in the Scottsdale slack Thursday and neither of us had a lick of luck. Friday we traveled over to a jackpot in Queen Creek and Spy and Angel both were awesome! I won a decent checked on Angel. Saturday morning was a open rodeo (Grand Canyon rodeo) at Wild Pass and Spy ran well. He had a great first barrel which has been our issue lately, and then drug down the second barrel leaving it! Go figure. Taylor drew the crappiest steer, and although he did everything to set him up right, he was a bit longer on his time. Taylor's brothers and sister were also entered, along with his brother's wife, Miss Candace. We had ourselfs a good time, but I think between the 6 of us, no one picked up a check! Yikes!
After the rodeo, I loaded my ponies and headed back over to the same jackpot. I ran Spy and WAS CLEAN for the first time in awhile. He ran a 17.3 on a standard. Angel had a fairly good run as well. We fell into the cracks as far as money goes, but I was pleased with my horses performances.

This morning at the open rodeo (two days - two different rodeos - same place) I got brave and borrowed a long over-and-under whip to use on Spy man and boy did he run....right past the first barrel! I just kept him moving though, and it placed us second in the slack. I am still awaiting the final results of the performance today. I was tickled! I wish I would have thought of that sooner!

My mom came and visited a few days back. It was so amazing to see her. It sure made me miss home more and more though. Shelby's birthday is this weekend and I wish I could be there to celebrate her 21st with her. Oh, and my mother brought my puppy Stanley out here when she came, so now he is an Arizona pup. He has a TON of friends here to play with and he is as happy as can be.

Taylor also had a birthday since I last blogged. The old man turned 24 and thinks it is cool that I am into "older men" ha ha! He is too funny. So the two of us are currently planted in Buckeye working for the facility here and focusing on getting things on track for our future, including some major wedding planning. We even got engagement photos taken and I absolutely love them! If anyone is in the Arizona area and needs photos, Brooke Lackey is great and so well priced! I can't wait to debut them to everyone in the near future.

I am trying to think of what else you all need to be updated on. The weather is fabulous.....like low 80's in the days and 70's throughout the evening to where you can ride in a t-shirt all night. I love that! I love not being on the road and living out of a suitcase. I love being around more than one or two familiar faces. I love that my luck may be starting to change.

A lot of thinking, processing and deliberation has taken place over the past weeks and I have definately stepped back as far as racing. I had to re-evaluate my plan and work out some alternative options. Yes, I relize my 2011 NFR dreams are quickly sliping out of reach, but heck why couldn't a girl dream? It takes a heck of a lot longer to my the finals than one year, it takes several years of learning your horses, the arenas, and where you can do well at. I saw the a great quote from my friend and local trainer Lyndee Stairs and it said "experience is the most expensive teacher of all time". I have spent a lot, but I can promise I learned more than I could ever learn sitting at home in my practice pen or at local jackpots. So, I am going to step back, lift my dream and just move it forward a few years. My goal this year is to just stay happy. It is a big enough task when things aren't going your way, and so I am going to tackle it head on and hope for the best.

I love and miss everyone.....yes, everyone! God Bless you all.

-Bay

Day 41 - Mood: Happy & Relaxed

2011-02-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Today I am in Buckeye, Arizona at my lovely future parents-in-laws place. I am beyond happy to be near some family and to be somewhere familiar. I have been looking forward to coming here ! My parents-in-law-to-be, Tammy and Donnie have spoiled me from the minute I pulled in. I am so blessed for breaks like this in this crazy game called rodeo.

Last Friday Nikki and I attended a big race in Stephenville, Tx at the Lonestar Arena. This place was amazing! They have the most fancy facility with so many sponsors and giveaways. I decided to run both my horses all three days (why not, right?). Nikki was running two of hers as well. The first day didn't go so hot. I rode Angel so timidly and it showed in our performance. I got two barrels and they hurt! I am not used to touching barrels with my legs. All my friends know that Spy can tag a barrel like no other, but I never feel them. Spy had a great run, but he sliced down a barrel too, to be the fastest of the night. I was bummed, but I was ready for day two. Off to bed I went, after I watched a few episodes of "True Blood", thanks to Nikki for getting me hooked on that!

Saturday was a great day. I woke up and the weather was already amazing. I was ready to rock and roll. I had a clean run on both my ponies!!! Angel was still a little out of timing, but she ran a 15.6 and Spy was a 15.3 to be placed at the top. The race was a three day, but all the times went into a big pool and there was one big payout at the end. Nikki decided to run all three horses and she moved to first on her palomino, Vanilla. I was so excited for her. She is on a roll!

Day three, Sunday, was the very best! Angel made a decent run that I figured might be better than her previous run. Heck yes it was!! She ran 15.312, faster than both of Spy's runs. I was shocked because we took a stride past the first and sort of stepped out wide off of the second. I was tickled to know she can clock even when she isn't running a perfect pattern.

Spy and Angel both clocked in the top 15 out of 470 runs. Although we didnt pull a check I was proud.

Monday we woke up around 4 a.m. and drove to San Angelo. Slack began mid morning and went soooooo slowly. They raked every five runners and it summed to take all day. I hit my first barrel to make the progressive round. I was pretty bummed. Nikki had a decent run that brought her back to the progressive.

I packed up shortly after my run and headed west. I was Buckeye bound! I made about an 11 hours drive to Willcox, Arizona before I got to rest my head. It was an emotional day knowing I was headed towards family and familiarity. I was excited, yet exhausted. I got some good rest in Willcox and rose early to drive the remainder of the way.

The weather is amazing here! My horses are definitely happy to be out of the trailer. All is well and I have been keeping busy. I have rodeo a few outside horses and I am waiting to ride mine since they were just chiropracted. I will begin back on my diet and exercise program and gear up for my fast approaching wedding. Taylor will be here in the next couple days and we will start making some bigger life plans :-) I am looking forward to a two day race here at the facility on Saturday and Sunday. I am ready to rock and roll and get my confidence back where it should be.

Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone and I sure miss you all! xoxoxoxoxoxo!!

Sincerely,
Bailey

Day 36 - Mood: Just A Bit Down :-(

2011-02-11T22:05:00.001-08:00

I will start on a positive note, maybe that will help my attitude (no promises). I am sorry my friends, but if you feel you only want to hear the glamour and glory of rodeo, now would be your time to exit stage left.

So, Wednesday we were headed to a jackpot in Rapid City. I ran Spy first, he was real decent. He ran a .5 (I forget what seconds, sorry). He and I tipped the first barrel to place 3rd. The booger was running though, and I have a strong suspicion I rode him a little too much like Angel at the first and gave him a check, when he probably needed a kick or more pushing. I was proud. Now Angel came in breathing fire like a dragon, and she has a pretty cool run. She had a few issues going into the 2nd and 3rd where we didn't leave enough room for a pocket, but we recovered and surprisingly ran a .4!! We won second and some decent money and a roper duffle bag :-)

So there's my happy note. It was sweet, but too short lived. Ok, here it comes. I know better than to blog when I'm down or sad, but it has been a whole week since I last did. So please, take my sincere apology at this point in time. I try for my own sake, and for those who love me, or just care to read my blog, to stay positive and upbeat, but I also promised to document my journey, good, bad or indifferent.

So, the weather got bad in South Dakota. We were staying at Nikki's family's house, and I thank God for that blessing. They were so amazing to me, and they had such great hospitality! That family can cook! But the wind chill sent temperatures to -40 degrees quickly and I began to miss my California is so many ways. We loaded up early Thursday morning and headed into Rapid City. Before our 10 am slack, Nikki was entered in a big money slot race at 9 am just down the street. Sadly, she wasn't clean, or else she would have been in the top few on her great grey horse, Captain.

Then, off we flew to the pro rodeo slack. I had this feeling the pen was way too small for the big 'ole Spy giant. I thought I would give my little mare a shot at the glory. She had two okay runs. She got barrels on both unfortunately, but she handled both the slack run that morning and the performance run that night. We are definitely learning things each run, but that doesn't keep me from being so discouraged. It is so difficult to be out here and not winning a lot or not at all. I gave up an amazing job, a safe lifestyle, a secure financial situation and threw all caution to the wind, and I wonder what in the H-E-double hockey sticks I was thinking. I know I am my biggest enemy, but even when I conquer that I have had no luck.

That ride home from Rapid was a quiet one. Bless my traveling partner's soul, she had a great day and I was having a meltdown. She placed in the 1st go and the average! I was so excited for her, but I just couldn't shake my own disappointment.

It's truly difficult being away from home, in bad weather, in poor spirits, spending your hard earned savings, and not having a single familiar thing near you. It takes a strong person to withstand all that, and let me be the first to say, it hasn't been me, or any other person I know or talk to. We all have periodic meltdown and types of doubt, and if someone says differently I can almost bet they are fibbing.

Friday was a quiet day around Nikki's house for me. She had a vet and shoeing appointment and I stayed home to do some paperwork and rest. It was so pleasant! I had received a box of goodies from my mom, which included mail, more clothes from home and kid-you-not a ten pound bag of homemade Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. That made the day a little better. I felt like nothing could heal a broken spirit better than a good night's rest and some of my moms cookies. Thanks Mom!

Saturday evening began our adventure out of South Dakota. Sadly, Nikki's family received some devastating news about a family member, so it made leaving that much more difficult for everyone. But, the rodeos don't wait, so we trucked South. We got almost 2 hours in and stopped for fuel. Nikki heard a hiss and sure enough, there was a nail in my inside driver dual tire and it was already past closing time. We were pretty sad. We found a friend of Nikki's to stay at and made Sunday a big day of travel. I am not sure what do into me, maybe it was the pounds of BBQ seeds I had, or the countless junk food I was eating, but I just drove and drove!

Our travels went well from there, but the snow never disappeared as we got more South. It was sort of depressing. Well Monday came and went and we made it to Brandon, Mississippi. We stalled up at an awesome public arena. I had an opportunity to ride with the lady I purchased Angel from.

Tuesday was a day of rest. Nikki and I had the day to ride all the ponies. Our dear friend Sandi took us to dinner with her husband and daughter. We had a grand time at Mexican food. They had a live mariachi (spelling?) band and they sang "Brown Eye Girls" to us. Nikki was in awe....it was her first live band in a mexican food restaurant :-) We had an amazing night of laughter!

Wednesday was game day! We awoke to a fresh box of donuts and bear claws. Sandi was the culprit and that is when I knew for sure I loved her! Ha ha. I was excited for lunch because I was able to pick up Tay and take him with Sandi, Nikkie and I! We got some authentic Mississippi food a.k.a. deep fried food! It was great. So we packed up and headed to the rodeo for a 6:30 p.m. slack. I made the decision to run Angel, probably with as much thought as a coin toss. I had no idea what the right choice was, but I decided the arena was small so I used the smaller horse. She had a great run, especially in the 1st and 2nd barrel. The third gave us trouble as it has been lately and we tipped. Angel was being good, I just made some pilot errors. In the meantime, the snow and rain came down like I have never seen. I was beginning to get nervous about our long all-night drive to Belton, TX. Oh, and Nikki had a good run, she still sitting in the money! Yay for Miss Nikki!!!!

So off we drove to Belton, it took us until 6 am to arrive. The roads were unbelievably clear for the amount of storming they had there. We hit one icy bridge that shook us up pretty good, but the rest was dry and safe. It was an emotional night for me. I had to say goodbye to Tay again and go through that heartbreak. I had a lot on my mind with the difficult rodeo trends, and leaving him. A girl sure has a ton of time to think, and over-think on the road, that is for sure!

Belton slack began at 9:30 a.m. And we were towards the end. It was freezing! I couldn't believe how cold Texas was. Well, I knew it was a bad barrel racing sign when every horse can out knee deep in dirt. It was a deep son-of-a-gun! Spy went full speed ahead and ended up head first in the dirt behind the first barrel. It was too deep and too heavy for him to keep his feet moving. The poor got up and made a great rest of his run despite my attempt to pull his up (I should know better). Nikki had a decent run, we were both just off the pace a bit though.

After Belton we headed back to Stephenville to stay over til our run in San Angelo on Monday. We are here at the school again. I had returned to my trailer to find a frozen/cracked water pump. I manned up and put a little elbow grease in to remove and replace it all by myself! I feel like I can do anything now that I have wired in a water pump!

There is a huge jackpot down the street we found at the Lonestar Arena. It is a big three day race with 12,000 added. You can run once or all three days, but all the times go into one big payout. I ran Spy first and he ran the fastest time of the night but clipped the first. Angel had a bad day or racing tonight and we will just leave it at that. Better luck tomorrow!

I am lying in bed now, so comfy and peaceful. I am still fighting my head, trying to make sure I am doing the right thing. I miss home more and more each day. My mom sends me pictures of Stanley all the time and they make me sooooo sad. I wish I could be having more luck on the road, and maybe that would make it 1% better, but I'm not and so things are rough.

I am going to keep on chugging, or rather "keep on swimming, keep on swimming" as said by Dore on Finding Nemo, one of my favs ;-) I want so badly to throw the towel in because this adventure is taking a toll on me beyond any belief, but I can't. I hate failure, but more than failure I hate quitting.

So, there's my story. I have been so busy and haven't be able to blog too much. I hate that because I lose the good, juicy details. I promise to be better!! Well, have a great night friends. I hope the next time I write I will bring better news.

God Bless

Sincerely with Love!
Bay
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 27 - Mood: Rested, But COLD!

2011-02-02T10:11:00.001-08:00

Cold has a new definition in the great state of South Dakota. Temperatures are down in the -30 degrees with wind chill. I will never every complain another day in my life about California weather, you have my word! I've been keeping a list of states I'd prefer to never live in, and although this one is beautiful, I can't say its going to be in my future. So Nikki (my traveling partner lives here), sorry but I'm a wuss, and my horses run better in the non-popsicle form.

Last time I wrote I was a day away from our Ft. Worth, TX run. Well, Nikki and I ran Friday afternoon in a performance and it was decent. 250+ entries and we left in the 13th and 17th position. I was a 17.53 and Nikkie was a 17.60. Although we weren't exactly thrilled with our runs personally, you have to be satisfied that your horses handled the sticky, heavy ground better than a vast majority of the horses. I was pleased to know if they would have had a progressive round like they usually have they would have brought back the top 50 and we would have been it by a long shot! Yay for possibilities!

After Ft. Worth we drove all night, and let me just tell you, when you start your driving just before sunset, and end it just after sunrise, it sure feels like u drove for 4 days straight. Nikki and I were taking 3 mile shifts for driving it seemed. Neither of us could keep an eye open, let alone two! We finally arrived in the great state of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska to be exact.

We slept from about 7 am til noon, got up, showered, ate and headed to the rodeo. Now, for all my Cali followers, just imagine the city of Los Angeles. This rodeo was on the corner of a city block of business building and mini sky-scrapers. The closed down the block and we parked on the asphalt street. The snow and ice was abundant, and the warm-up area was non existent, unless you consider a 20' by 20' grass/ice patch a safe and usable spot. So, here I unloaded Spy, pulled his blanket long enough to saddle and then reblanket. I stretched his neck and legs and said a little prayer - "Dear God, if I was to ever ask for anything, please allow me this miracle. Please keep my frozen, stiff, non-warmed-up pony safe from pulled muscles and anything else treacherous. Oh and if no one else prayed for this yet, can we win?? Thanks! Sincerely and in Jesus name Amen" Well, I was blessed with a safe and clean run. Pretty and fast had no role in it though! Poor spy looked like a bull in a china shop for sure. I kicked to the first barrel in time to pull up again. Mind u the pattern was a low 11 second pattern...I am sure a smooth trot would have been faster than a rough stop/go, stop/go lope. Poor spy only used 10 strides (I counted on the video) for the entire run. He look miserable!! We finished with a time of 11.70 and Nikki was an 11.73 on her palomino "Vanilla". We left there laughing, vowing to never come back to that tiny, mess! It was cold, miserable and although the rodeo was ran well, the accommendations were not worth the hassle. Well, go figure two or three days later Taylor calls to tell me I pull the last whole check! Ha, funniest thing I have heard all week. I write on rodeo off and its my only rodeo check yet! Buah ha ha ha! Spy never ceases to amaze me.

That night we pulled out of town and never thought once to look back. We then became ice road, all-night truckers again. This time we were Rapid City bound. But after the previous night of driving, we made the wise decision to not go all the way in one night. We had a 1 p.m. Deadline. Nikki was letting her sis ride her grey horse at the high school 20x Challenge and we had to make it there by the time it started.
I crawled into bed at a stop we made around Burke, South Dakota at a good friend of Nikki's. Rehme Sutton is the sweetest for letting stay. She tucked us into her bed around 5 a.m. and we set our alarms for 7 a.m. (Ofcourse!). I am thinking at this point rodeo is more of a character building exercise, rather than an actual riding competition. I am thinking if nothing else, I am going to be a weather-handling, truck driving, emotionally-steady son of a gun! I guess either way I win ;-)

So up at 7:30 (late, yes) and on the road again, just can't wait to be on the road again (ha, glad u can't hear me actually singing this!) And on to Rapid. The 20X Challenge didn't go quite as planned for Nikki's sis, but it was her first ever run on Captain, so you had to give her credit there.

Then out to Sturgis we traveled to Nikki's home and boy, was I glad to see a real house! I was gifted the use of my very own room, with a bed, real shower, etc, etc, etc. You know, the stuff at home all of you don't realize how blessed you are to have on a daily basis. I am becoming so excited about the little things, like a constant shower, not an off and on kind of deal, and sinks bigger than the size of an apple, and a porch to put boots instead of a 1' by 2' mat in the door way. Yes, all of these things I once took for granted are now some of the things I look forward to most!

So Nikki and I spent all day Monday resting, and doing just about nothing but some computer and paperwork. It was glorious! Tuesday we were a little more rested so she took me to go wedding dress shopping, and if you can believe it I think I found the one! I am Miss. Indecisive, but this one I pictured myself in walking down the garden at our wedding spot....it truly felt right. I was tickled!
Today (Wednesday) we are at a jackpot in Rapid City, just down the road from the rodeo. The arena is gigantic, like Salinas big arena size! Spy is going to think he died and went to heaven after our Barbie pen in Lincoln, NE. So I am running both horses, and hopefully proving to myself I need to run Angel lady at Rapid. I am excited, but I can clearly see this is going to be an allllllll day affair. So, I sit and wait ands think, and dream and do all the things us barrel racers do in our down time.

I will sit in this indoor arena and enjoy the heat. I am feeling a bad cold now, so I am going to do my best not to allow it to consume me. Think positive, right??? Yes, whether its barrels, health, wealth, love or something as simple as cooking (not so simple for me), you must think and hope for the best. I must remind myself constantly.

I love and miss you all so dearly. Thanks again to my amazing sponsors, J.B. Dewar Petroleum, Western Dove, Morinda Car Products, Central Coast Performance Horses and last, but certainly not least my family. Without a single one of any of the above, I am not sure I could hang in here and do this. Some provide funds, others moral support, others items, and all of them love and encouragement. Thanks again.
And for those of you just following along on my adventure, feel free to tell me what you would like to hear more about, or less. I want you to enjoy reading my adventures as much as I enjoy living them.
Until next time, Happy Trails and God Bless!

Sincerely,
Bailey

Day 21 - Mood: Pumped!

2011-01-27T11:09:00.000-08:00

Just when you are feeling down, missing home, bummed and worried about things, you get thrown a bone to keep you going. Thank God for those breaks! I was in desperate need. I will explain shortly.

I am writing my blog today from Tarleton State college rodeo grounds in Stephenville, Tx. The sun is shining and life is good. Taylor and I have been laying low here the past couple of days, getting some chores down, and riding own ponies. I really like it here. It is so exciting to walk into a restaurant with your jingle-jangles (spurs) on and no one looks at you like you're crazy. The drive through car washes are MADE for duallys and there is a western/feed store on every street! Ya, this is more my style here, except for the smoking, yuck! That kills me, there is way to many smokers in these places, it makes it hard to enjoy anything! And the weather has a mind of it's own, warm and calm one minute, then overcast and windy and colder than cold then next. Its like California weather on steroids!

So, last night I drove (ok, ok, I was driven by Tay) to a barrel race in Rendon, Tx, a few miles south of Fort Worth. They had 55 entries in a cool little indoor pen. I decided to run both horses. Spy and I have been having "Mannerism" sessions, and he is slowly getting better on the bit when it comes to the gate and his attitude. I have to thank Taylor for much of this training. He has been a huge help! I was even able to take the sucker in a time only....walking!

I figured it might be beneficial to do so, seeing as this was an open ended arena, which meant Spy had to stop, ummmm.....never! ha ha. So I ran spy first. It was a sweeeeeet run! We went to get in the ground deep on the first and it gave way, he slipped real bad, but as he went to recover he pulled himself out of the barrel quicker than a regular turn would have been! We went on to crack out two other turns and finish with a 14.9. I later found out that another 14 second run hadn't been run there in the past year and a half, and that the arena record was only a tenth quicker than that! Holy smokes. I couldn't believe it. After my run I watched Brenda Mays run a backup horse and she had a flawless run which I might have thought to be faster, but she clocked a 15.1. I was pretty tickled!

Angel had a great run. I am still learning how to stay square on her and now get into a leaning war. She had a great first barrel, but trouble at the second and third barrel, ultimately knocking over the second. She still clocked a 15.3, which on any other day would win the race. She would have placed 4th in the 1D on only 4 girls. My traveling partner Nikki was there too. She had great runs on her horses too...I think we have a dynamite trailer load.

Today has been an good day so far. Tay and I got breakfast and took some laundry in. I sewed like a little old lady to put patches on more rodeo shirts. Now I am going to ride!!! Life is good! Later I have fabulous dinner plans with Miss Shannon Jones, Taylor, Nikki and two other of Taylor friends later. Ahhhhh, so excited!!

Tomorrow I got to Fort Worth. We are up in the 2 p.m. performance and then north to Nebraska :-) Wish us luck!

I sincerely want to thank everyone for the love and support. I know my Facebook updates may get a little overwhelming, and maybe even annoying, but understand there is a LOT of downtime here. Ok, well I love and miss you all. Peace and love!!!! God Bless!

Love,
Bay

Day 16 - Mood: Home Sick

2011-01-22T19:02:00.001-08:00

Tonight I come to you from Amarillo, TX my friends. I can't even begin to tell you all the horribly exciting things that have occurred since my last blog. Let's just start from the beginning. You may want to take a seat, this may take a bit.

So Monday morning I left Vegas bright and early. I was planning on going a few hours and resting my head for the night somewhere in Utah. Thanks to my future parents-in-law, I was offered a really cool place to stay in Salina Utah. Well my trip was going well, nothing too exciting to report, except that I started seeing more and more snow on the road sides. My truck also was doing a weird whistling noise I had never heard when I was accelerating. I thought nothing of it, since it was cold and I had a big load in the trailer. Well I get to this place and sure enough it has been vacant awhile, since the owners are racing in vegas, and I get nearly stuck in the snow. I am thinking to myself at this point "uhhh, what am I getting myself into". If I only had a clue what the future held, I may have packed up and headed back West. Well the stay was more than decent. The horses had decent stalls with large turnouts and the place was nice, with electrical hook ups for my trailer and all. So I took care of the horses and went to bed early to get a jump start and my big travel day tomorrow into Denver.

Well, the next morning started out good. The big snow that was supposed to come, hadn't. Lucky for me, or else I would have never made it out of there. So I loaded my caballos and started my journey. It was but 20 miles in that my truck started whistling louder and louder. I am starting to get concerned at this point, but I carry on because there was no over heating or weird transmission issues at this point. I make it several miles to a town called Green River, CO and I can barely hear myself think because the whistle has gotten so bad. So I pull into the one horse town and stop to buy a Serpentine belt that a few of my friends and family suggest may be the problem. I stop at two sad little auto shops and they look at me like they've never seen a diesel before. I get this response twice "We no work on diesel pick-em-ups, need to go over mountain to Grand Junction." And all I heard was MOUNTAIN, great! I leave Green River and put-put towards Grand Junction at the speed of molasses. It is a 105 mile drive to Grand Junction and I was going 20 mph, you do the math!

So, my network of amazing family and friends call ahead and find me a place to stay in Grand Junction, knowing I would be there late and likely have to stay the night. Taylor's family finds me this place of a friend of theirs, The Youngers. These people are God's greatest, nicest people he created, no joke. They about did everything they could for, except for warn me about the front of their yard where the snow had been melting atop Indian Clay. You would be right if you are guessing I got stuck! Yep, in a hurry to get to the dodge dealership and here I am, alone since they weren't home yet, and in a hurry. Oh and its FREEZING! So, I revert back to my days in the sand dunes, and pull out some fancy maneuvering. It takes awhile but I finally get to a better spot, drop the trailer and situate the horses and off I go.

The Dodge dealership gets my truck in, tells me they will have to keep it over night and look at it in the morning. Ok, I thought, I can handle that. I get back to my trailer and the inside thermostat says 22 degrees. Ok, again, I think, I can do this. I reach doing to fire up the generator and I get a pathetic lack of try from it. So now I start to lose it. No truck, no heat, mud and snow everywhere and I'm starving with no food. I call dodge back, and get my pickup back for the night since it was being touched yet anyways. That made life a little better. I used my truck to jump my generator and all was good. I was told however that another storm was coming through over night, so I braced myself.

I woke up the next morning, and to my surprise, no snow! Yay, great day! NOT! It took dodge half the day to figure out I had a crack exhaust manifold and repair it. It would have taken all day if I hadn't called my buddy Barry at Dodge Rodeo. He was so kind to call and expedite the situation. So 1 pm rolls around and I am on the road and headed for Denver! Only 200 and some miles Piece of cake! So I truck along and make a stop here and there to let my ponies out. P.S. Eagle, Co has a super nice fairgrounds that is open to stop at. And O keep trying and WHAM! Out of nowhere comes a snow storm! Mind you, I have never driven snow (except for a few brief moments in the recent Mojave snow storm). I start to panic a little. A few phone calls later I am informed that it is an all out snow storm over the Vail pass ahead of me, that requires all vehicles to be chained and everyone is recommending I don't continue without chains. Well do I have chains, of course not. Yikes, so my ego tells me to go on, how bad can it be. So friends, let me ask you this. Have you ever held your breath for 5 hours? Ya, that was me. I had melt down after melt down as I crept through this snow blizzard. The snow was as high as the roof tops in some places. I keep seeing wrecked vehicles and jack knifed big rigs, and I kept praying for a miracle to get me through. By thr good graces of God I made it. I think I about gave my parents and Tay a heart attack, but it was bad! I should have never been on that road, especially alone. By the time I reached Denver, my muscles were frozen in the clenched setting and I had cried every last tear I had, or so I thought.

So I get to the Denver rodeo coliseum late and get stalls and what not. The poor horses are in these 8 by 10 stalls. So I get the bright idea to hand walk them a bunch, alone again, at night, when everyone had left to go home. Ten minutes into my adventure, my mare spooks at who-knows-what and before I know it I am lying face down in the gravel/mud and she had stepped all over me, my calf, and lower back a little. I found more tears to cry. I was in pain. I had let go of them, but they stood by me as I laid there for a few minutes to catch my breath again. I put them away, took a deep breath, went top my trailer to discover my generator still didn't work, so I packed up my bags. Luckily Taylors dad was in town and had a room, so I went there, passed out and ended my nightmare of a day.

The next day was better (how could it not be?). I got up real early to ride in the 6 am barrel practice. I took both ponies around the pattern and made the decision to run Spy man. I then napped. I thought it was well deserved :-) my run that night was smooth, clean and I felt like it was just pretty! But, we all know that when Spy is pretty in his run, it usually isn't the fastest. I was a 15.7, the round was lead by a 15.2. I wasn't mad, but not overly excited either. Spy had his running shoes on after the run was over though because he used every last inch of the denver coliseum arena, and then the stall barn to get stopped. I thought I might killed someone along the way, but we finally got stopped a half miles away.

The next days run was fast! I went to turn him at the first though, and I had a ton of this mane in my hand, restricting me from getting his nose. It made him bow out of the first real bad, but he recovered and went on. We still clocked another 15.7, I just wish I could have seen our time without the tour of the arena at the first barrel.

Well, I packed up and started to head south. I stayed at a great little fairgrounds in Lamar, Colorado that my great friend Jessica told me about. I then got up early the next morning, which happens to be this morning and drove to Amarillo. I found a cool little indoor jackpot here. I ran both of my horses. They won the jackpot with a 15.5 I believe. Spy was a 15.4 and drug down the second. Angel would have been wicked fast too. I drug my third down leaving it, and so I pulled her up a little (I have no idea why) and she was a 15.8! By golly she's fast! There were some tough, tough horses there today, so I was excited to clock with them.

And now I am laying in an amazing King size bed in a friend of Taylor's house. They were so kind as to give me some stalls, a shower and an awesome bedroom in there amazing house for the night. I do have to say, if anything, this trip I have met some of the kindest, most giving people. I am so lucky to have stumbled across such generous, and genuine new friends.

But, my mind is missing home. My sis, my mom, my pops, and Stanley. I even miss shelby'S god Riley! I have never been this long without family and it definitely saddens me. Buuuuuttt, tomorrow I get to see Tay for a few days and that makes me happier than can be! I miss the fella!

Well, I better get some rest. Tomorrow I will drive to Stephenville to be with Tay, but its a good 6 hour drive. Good night friends. I miss you and I am wishing you all the best. Please call me! I love hearing from home. Sweet dreams and God Bless!

-Bailey
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 10 - Mood: Mixed Emotions

2011-01-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

So circuit finals just ended last night. I have been in Vegas since Thursday. It wasn't your typical Vegas trip, this was a busy weekend packed with 3 rodeo performances in two days and a lot of traveling on my part. Luckily, I didn't have to keep my horses in those tiny South Point stalls which were also very pricey! Michelle LeMaster was kind enough to put up our ponies for a few days :-) Thanks Michelle, you rock!

So, let me begin where I left off. Round two at Odessa. I rode Spy man in the slack again. He was feeling good and he was off to great start, but for some reason his hind end got stuck in the ground and he popped up out of the turn. That definitely cost us, but he went on with the run. He was trying so hard to make up for lost time that he wrapped the second too tight and pulled it down leaving. The third was quick and we ended up with a 14.5, which was wicked fast for having the issue at the first. Spy feels like he is in tip top shape and actually putting more run into his pattern. I am very proud of him.

Shelby had a great second run in Odessa, but she two over wrapped her second to drag it down. She was going to be a 14.4 I believe. So, we packed up our things on Wednesday morning after the 2nd go slack and headed to Buckeye. Taylor drove with us, and it was nice to have him by my side again. We spent the night in Buckeye and left for Vegas in the morning.

My first run at circuit finals was Friday evening. My nerves where high because Angel was my mount of choice for these runs and I hadn't swung a leg over her since the Thanksgiving race in Buckeye in November because of her tie-up episode. So here I was, shaking in my boots and poor miss Angel was cool and calm as could be. We went out there (3rd on the ground) and smoked off a first turn. Going to the second I felt like she leaned on me so we got in a leaning battle which resulted in us stopped dead in our tracks to then skip around the second barrel. The third was similar to the second. We ran a 17.1 to place 6th in the go. Wow, I thought to myself if I am making such huge mistakes and still clocking, I can only imagine when we are smooth. The second go was a little smoother at the 2nd and third, but by no means what a bystander would deem as a "good looking" run. She over wrapped her second, but this time he clocked a 16.6. FYI there were only like 3 16.5's all weekend. I would have won third in the go. I was tickled to know that she was again at that speed with HUGE bobbles. Go round 3 was meant to be the golden ticket. She ran in the arena faster than before and just as she was leaving the first the ground gave and she went down just in her front legs. My mind told me to pull up, but she fought me so on we went. I had a second and third turn I had been waiting for all weekend, not perfect but 200% better and atleast we kept forward motion. We crossed the line at a 17.0! Can you imagine where that little girl of mine would have run on the clock without the fall.

So here is where my mixed feelings come in....I know I have found an amazing, everything-I-could-ask-for mare, and I know she is going to be a star, but I hated spending my first circuit finals in such a foul way. I wish it could have been the fairytale finals I always dreamt of, but like all my friends are saying, maybe God has bigger and better plans for us. I read a message from my new friend Carrie, who I purchased Angel from. She recalled to me her first circuit finals where she hit barrels all three rounds (not on Miss Angel) and came back the following year to win it. I can only hope to have a cool story like that to pass on to someone else someday struggling emotionally like I was this weekend.

Now my mom, my sister, Taylor and everyone have left. I am spending the night here in Vegas before I head out to Denver, or at least half way to Denver tomorrow. I am not going to lie, I cried like a baby when everyone left. This was the first time I can ever recall being away from all of my family for a month or more. I can only hope they can come visit me in Tucson at the end of February. Gosh, that seems so far away. I can only imagine how home sick I will be when I lay down tonight in my trailer, with no mom, no sis, no Tay, no Stanley, just nobody :-( I have to remember, like Tay always reminds me, why I am doing this. I am doing this because it is what I love to do. I need to not make it my job, nor rely on winning for justification for my choices. I love this sport and I can only hope this will be all I do for as long as I so choose.

Well, I have spent enough time in this Vegas Starbucks for tonight. Thanks for listening my friends. I love and miss you all. Thanks for the encouraging messages and calls. I will be back in a few days maybe after my first run in Denver to give another update. Goodnight and God Bless - Bailey.

Day 4 - Mood: Pleased

2011-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

My first run of this big trip is in the books and it is definitely nothing to frown at. Odessa got 196 entries this year if I am not mistaken and these girls are tough! My traveling partner, Nikkie clocked a 14.00 to win the 1st go on a palomino 6-year old she rides. We are so dang excited for her!!!!! I am pretty sure she is still in shock. I am proud of her for taking a gamble, and stepping off of her season grey, and following her heart to run "Vanilla" when the time was right. Spy had a very decent run at 14.35. I ended up 15th I believe. I was super excited! Spy's run was nice, only a small skip behind the first barrel that cost us a very small amount of time. The second go is going to be fast. He really loves this small long pen. I think he feels like he is back "home" since he started his career out here in the indoor pens. Shelby would have had a quick run too, but Billy nearly went down behind a barrel, but he recovered gracefully and finished the run. I can just hear him thinking "Watch out suckers, I'll be back". I am so proud of my sis for coming out here and running. It takes a lot of guts to throw yourself to the lions like we are, I fight that battle everyday in my head. We just have to remember that both Bill and Spy (and Miss Angel too), have all it takes to be the top. They have proved it time and time again.

I think that is the biggest battle out here, Confidence. I try to make every run with a clear mind and open heart. I have run with these girls time and time again, and the only times I can't hold a candle to them, is when I allow myself to believe I am not good enough. I have to stay positive and keep pushing forward towards my personal goals day after day.

Taylor finally arrived late last night, so Shell, him and I sat up last night laughing at whatever we can u with. He makes everything so fun. I love his humor. I think we are going to really need eachother's push and motivation through this. I am so thankful for such an amazing and loyal fiance' in this. I see way too many not-so-great guys out here in regards to their relationships and loyalty, and it just makes me that much more thankful.

So now we wait. Our next run is 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning, which is 5 a.m. California time. We will be leaving shortly after our runs to head back west for VEGAS! Circuit finals baby, and time for Angel to shine! I am not sure if she will run all three goes there, or what, just because of the recent tie up (5 weeks ago), but Spy is always ready to come and seal the deal.

I will be posting a video of our Odessa run soon, and also the run I made in Buckeye Saturday on our way through to TX. I was tickled to say the least to run a 17.0 on Spy. My next goal: 16.9 on the standard.

I hope everyone is doing well in this new year. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the recent Tucson shooting. That was absolutely devastating! Please be safe my friends. I love and miss sooooo many of you. God Bless and Goodnight.

Sincerely,
Bay

Day 1 - Mood: Anxious

2011-01-07T19:48:00.001-08:00

I woke up this morning partly excited, partly terrified, slightly unprepared, but fully open to what the future is going to bring. Forgive me for my lack of attention to spelling and grammar as we travel and I blog from my Blackberry in size 2.5 font. I have my sister in the driver seat and we are headed to Buckeye, Az for a layover on our way to the two-header pro rodeo in Odessa Tx, starting Monday for us. I will be meeting up with my traveling partner Nikkie and Taylor as well! I haven't seen Taylor for almost a week, so you better believe I am excited!

To be completely honest, my head and my heart are a mixed bag of emotions. I haven't cried so hard as I have in the past two days. Saying goodbye (for now) to my coworkers was tough. My job at JB Dewar has been a HUGE part of my life for the past 3 and a half years. Those people were and always will be family to me. I am going to miss the stability and comforting routine of that chapter of my life, but I am sure this a much more rewarding path for me.

And for those of you that know my other four-legged love, my wiener dog, Stanley, well he couldn't make the trip :-( He was going to be so miserable in the weather and plus I would be spending time in other rigs, so I made that decision. I now have maybe a 10% idea of what a parent feels like when they are separated from their kid, mine just happens to have a tail and REAL bad breath.

Spy seems to be in good cheer. I think he knows were serious now because he is getting his legs wrapped. He has always been a low maintenance, no gadget kind of horse, but I am turning in a softie and making sure he gets all he can to be comfortable.

My friend Deanise stopped by my moms house just before we left. She has expressed a very much appreciated desire to help me along my journey. Her business is called Central Coast Performance Horses. She is a Reinsmen Tack retailer, and she has so sweeeeet tack. Reinsmen has some classy leather work. Thanks Deanise, you rock. All the help is so much appreciated and I am blessed for great hearts like yours!

Well, I just want to take this time to thank all my amazing friends and supporters as I begin this new chapter in my life. You all are the reason I hold my head high and stay confident, because I know I have a team of great hearts behind me. Ours lives are so blessed to be living free and choosing to do as we please. God Bless all, and goodnight! -BT

Merry Christmas To All!

2010-12-25T20:56:00.000-08:00

What an amazing time of year Christmas is. Here it is Christmas night and I have nearly seen everyone I love. Since Thursday I have been to Buckeye to Taylor's parents home for Christmas Eve and back to California for Christmas with my Mom. Tomorrow is my Dad's day :-) Life is so good. Christmas is such an amazing time of love, and family. And boy was Santa good to me. I got a new video camera for my rodeo journey and a BEAUTIFUL new tack set from none other than Western Dove. Katie makes the most amazing tack. The headstall came from my sister and the breastcollar came from Katie. The stones are a neat purple and turqouise. I was blessed with a ton of goodies for the road, lift a nice pocket knife, a new medicine kit, and so many helpful goodies! And if it wasn't bad enough that my mom and sister spoiled me, Taylor's mom and dad spoiled me as one of their own. Gosh, I am one lucky girl to have such a great support team.

So here is where the rodeos plans stand. I will be headed East sometime around January 7th to make two runs at Odessa, TX. I somehow luckily convinced my sister, Shelby, to join me and run as well. We drew up in the morning slack on the 10th and the 12th. Taylor drew up twice on the 10th in the steer wrestling, so if all goes well he will be hopping in with us at Buckeye, AZ. If not, atleast I will get to see him a day or so. Nikkie will be meeting us in Odessa and following us back to Buckeye after Odessa. She is going to run in the Greg Olsen Jackpots in Buckeye the weekend of the 14th, 15th and 16th, while Shelby and I continue on to Las Vegas for the circuit finals. It all seems for far away, but in all reality it is just around the corner.

I just have to sit back, enjoy my time at home and soak up the family time. I am hoping to see my new mare, Angel, come around soon too. She had a bad tie up episode a few weeks back, and now, according to another blood draw this week, she is not able to be ridden yet. Im crossing my fingers we have the very best combination of feeds and a routine to keep her healthy and away from anymore tie ups. I have to thank Jackie Hagberg and her great herb supplements for helping not only Angel, but Spy and Billie (Shelby's horse) and many others on our ranch.

Okay, well it has been a long day of driving and a plethora of presents.... time for bed. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! God Bless!

The Beginning

2010-12-15T20:08:00.000-08:00

Hi all...I finally am breaking down and joining the blogging world. I want to keep an ongoing journal of my journey towards my dreams. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 our time (Pacific Time) Denver, Co rodeo callbacks occur. This is the kick off to my big adventure. Many phone calls and much deliberation went into how to enter this rodeo. The trick here is that in the middle Denver lies my first journey to our California PRCA Circuit Finals in Las Vegas, NV. Luckily for this girl, this road will not be too lonely. Although my dream would be to travel with my amazing fiance', that isn't feasible at the present time. I have found an amazing friend, Miss Nikkie, from South Dakota to join me. So, together we will fill out trailers, load 'em down with horses, hay and high hopes. My whole heart and every fiber of by being is into this. I feel like I was born to travel this rodeo road. I am so blessed to have this opportunity. Please don't get me wrong, I know it is going to be a challenge. Everyday will be a struggle to keep my confidence in a sea of seasoned professionals, and everyday will be a test of my patience and trust in the Lord, but I am willing to put all my faith into this. My horses, 14-year-old Spy (In The Sky Bar) and 8-year-old Angel(She's A Brisco) are going to my lifelines in this. They will make or break me, but win lose or draw they are my life and I will forever be in debt to them for all the amazing things they have allowed me to accomplish.

On top of planning a life on the road I have an amazing wedding I am planning in my head. The venue is booked, the beautiful and majestic Dana Powers Barn in Nipomo, CA for October 22, 2011. I have no doubt this will be the greatest day of m life yet, but boy oh boy the planning is rough. I have so many ideas, and I feel like they change daily. It is going to be an amazing country affair with a small selection of family and friends. I am marrying my best friend in the whole world. Taylor is nothing short of perfection. He was put on this Earth to make me happy, I am so convinced of this. I can't wait to officially be his woman.

I am clocking my final few weeks at work. It is an emotional end to one chapter of my life. My coworkers have become some of my greatest friends. I am not sure any work environment could match the one I had. It is a really tough idea to leave the comforts of a great steady paycheck and amazing benefits to jump into the unknown, but it is a risk I am willing to take to achieve my goals.

Here goes nothing........pray for me!