I trust you all are settling in, enjoying preparations for Christmas, ‘‘tis that time of year! I returned from Las Vegas inspired by a great group of women who displayed excellent horsemanship skills during the National Finals competition. Overall, certainly one of the best groups of horses and riders I’ve seen!
Congratulations to Carmen Pozzobon, the only team out of 15 to make 10 clean runs! I’ve been in that position, I think staying clean on the 10th round was one of the most difficult runs I’ve ever made! This is an example of why we have three go-rounds at the Sharon Camarillo Classics each year to demonstrate what our NFR riders go through for 10 Go-rounds. Just imagine the thrill of putting yourselves in that position, we are exhausted after three runs, focusing, making changes as necessary. At the NFR, after three runs you’d have seven left! Time to pull your hat down and go again! Just one more reason we work hard to know every detail about our horse in order to make successful decisions for wellness and competition strategies.
I was very proud of Hailey Kinsel and wish her and Sister continued success in the 2019 season. Hailey’s an amazing cowgirl on a fantastic horse with a confident focus on the future. I was blown away listening to Hailey talk about her platform #WeCanHelp, designed to focus on teenage girls who have a passion to make a difference in their lives. Not only is Hailey a record setting World Champion Barrel Racer, she’s a woman who takes her position serious enough to use it to make a difference in others lives in and out of the equine/rodeo industry.
Our California hero, Nelly Miller, had a difficult finals; after talking to her husband James mid-week how they were working sister, I was hoping her times would improve. Nelly is a wonderful person, mother, and wife and she’s been a great champion.
Had some conversations with Lisa Lockhart during the week and she was telling me what a tough decision it was to choose Rosa over Louie for the first go around. She said she just knew what Rosa was capable of doing, and wanted to give her a chance. She said that Rosa a very difficult mare, and came to her without much of a foundation.
Back to back runs present a challenge (there we go again, horsemanship never goes out of style!) I loved a comment Lisa made when she said every day she works on strengthening Rosa’s skills and is optimistic about her future. It was wonderful to see Louie run again. I never forget how much we all love that beautiful buckskin horse! A great example of a horse that loves his job!
Congratulations to Jessica Routier, a South Dakota cowgirl. Jessica came in 8th finishing Reserve World Champion, placing in five rounds and winning second in the average!
Also very proud of Jessie Telford, and her great horse Cool Whip, a former Sharon Camarillo Classic Champion and student of the Sharon Camarillo program; winning over $113,000 at the NFR alone, moving up from 14th to 5th in the World Standings. I’m very proud to be a small part of Jessie’s big success. Listen to Jessie story on our latest Fun and Fast Times podcast. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Jessie‘s husband is an acclaimed cowhorse trainer. Their horsemanship skills and competition strategies are lethal in any event, here the importance of cross-training is reinforced. I certainly enjoyed Jessie applying her skills to ride Cool Whip in and out of potentiallly precarious positions, creating consistent performance. One more example of the importance of having great communication between horse and rider combined with good horsemanship skills and the knowledge to know when to apply them.
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Kelli Bruener had some challenges. I’m sure she’s using her skill and knowledge of her horse to get him line back out for the upcoming winter rodeos. I was impressed with her ability to jump on and off different horses trying to get a piece of the lucrative $84,615 go-round payout. I admire Kelli for maintaining her poise in a situation where you’re proud to be where you are, but towards the end of the week it gets pretty difficult to keep your enthusiasm for another run!
Ivy Conrado and JLo had a remarkable week placing in six go-rounds, demonstrating good horsemanship and communication with her horse. It’s obvious that there is mutual admiration in that horse and rider team!
Also admired the teamwork between Taci Bettis and Tammy Fisher. Wonderful to see one competitor helping another, especially in the same event! More often than not Tammy was in the alleyway helping Tacy get into the arena. Tammy should know, she trained it!
Another remarkable story, congratulations to Kylie Weast and her family legacy of successful world class barrel racing; Grandmother Florence Youree was a multi NFR qualifier, her mother Janae Ward was a World Champion barrel racer and her sister qualified for the finals. Not to mention the multitude of barrel racers helped by Grandfather Dale Youree and Kylie’s father Jack Ward producers of top notch barrel racing clinics and outstanding barrel racing clinicians. I can just imagine the barrel racing stories that are told over their Christmas meal! Kylie ended up running the fastest time of the rodeo in the 10th round, 13.37. One more experience that we have in common, I waited to the 10th round to set the NFR fast time, actually “didn’t wait” I’ll call it survived 9 go-rounds before my horse started working! LOL!
I continue to say there are great riders and horses in the Northwest. Thank you to Amberliegh Moore for her beautiful Darkelly Mare Paige for proving that point. Coming into the NFR in 13th place, this remarkable team finished the year in 3rd place with NFR earnings of $157,230; just $500 less than the earnings record set by World Champion Hailey Kinsel.
All in all I have to say the NFR Barrel Racing class of 2018
certainly left their mark in the record books! Congratulation Cowgirls for a job well done!
Written by Sharon Camarillo a few days after the NFR 2018.