Posts tagged barrel racing

This is a story and short bio I wrote a little over a year ago…you can now read it and several other encouraging short stories written by ladies all over the world in “Tough times don’t last ~ Tough women do” Now available on www.teafortheheart.com!

(Copyright © 2011 by A Cup of Tea for the Heart, LLC. All rights reserved.)

About five years ago I met one of the loves of my life— Breezy, a bay six-year-old Quarter Horse mare.She was nothing but a trail horse at the time and quite frankly not much to look at. Her coat wasn’t particularly shiny, she wasn’t all that strong and there had been a time in her life when she had been mistreated, and as a result she had  some trust issues … but none  of this mattered to me. In  fact,  at  the  time  I  didn’t  even  notice  how  unattractive she was physically. See, Breezy may have been “just a trail horse” but  when  I rode  her for the  first time, she and I  had  an  instant  bond that  even  my professional  trainers were amazed at. Horse crazy, starry-eyed, and with a passion for training horses, I was able to look right past her dull, shaggy hair, and  I saw something special in Breezy.  I wanted to help her become the best she could be.

The following fall we started making payments on Breezy  and  with  that,  I  started setting  goals  for her  and for both  of us as a team. With the help of my trainer, I was going to bring out Breezy’s inner barrel racer!

Just like in most things, there are many views on how to go  about training a barrel horse. I wanted a sure way, not  a fast  way or an  easy way,  but  a sure way.  I wanted to set her up for long-term success. Thankfully, I was blessed to know a very good trainer and friend to guide me along the way. So began the long process of building  a successful  barrel  horse!  It  started with  getting  her as healthy as possible—adding supplements to her feed, having the appropriate health professionals work on her, and exercising her every day. The next step was getting her  as “broke”  as possible … meaning,  making  sure she was a master at responding to all of the very basic cues I’d give her while on and off her back. Little did Breezy know, with each ride she was one step closer to becoming an equine athlete.

Once Breezy was in top physical condition  and well broke, it was time for the skill drills! Skill drills are exercises to practice different components of the barrel pattern before trying to master the entire pattern all at once. At a glance, barrel racing is simply 4 straight lines and  3 turns, but when the timer is counting down to the hundredth of each second, every tiny detail of those lines and circles count! Rather than trying to shove all the information for the entire pattern into both my horse’s and my head at  once, we  did  skill  drills.  And  skill  drills  we  did! There was a drill that  taught us how to line up for the first barrel turn, another drill taught us how to leave a barrel turn, yet another drill that taught us how to quickly pick up speed and then quickly slow down again for another tight turn. The list goes on. Some of the drills came naturally, and we mastered them in little time. Other drills took weeks and weeks before Breezy understood and we did them  once correctly. Always, the more  calm, trusting, and focused on me that Breezy was, the quicker we were able to move  on.  With each ride, Breezy  and  I became closer and a better working team. Over time, Breezy learned that she could totally trust me and that if she simply tried what I asked, there  would be a reward. With each of these drills I was teaching Breezy  something, a small piece of the big pattern that was to come. Of course, she was learning these small components along the way without any idea that  they’d  all  be  fitting  together someday. I  purposely kept Breezy from seeing the big picture of the full pattern until she had mastered all of the pieces (including trust) first.

Where am I going with this anyway? The analogy didn’t really  dawn  on  me  until  this  year,  but  I  think  God  has a few  skill  drills  up  His  sleeve!  I  have  often  found  myself in a situation that seemed like it had no point other than frustration, only to find out later it had  a lesson to learn or reminder in it.I’m sure you’ve had  many  of these experiences as well. Sometimes it’s just a little thing you learn about yourself; sometimes it’s a huge  lesson about life. I like to think this means God is training us the sure way. He’s setting us up for long-term success! Even recently I’ve been in situations full of frustration and heartache that I still have  yet to understand what  I’m supposed to learn from  them, but  here’s the exciting  thing  about  that—it means God  isn’t  done with  me  yet!  It  means God  sees past all the dirt, horse hair, and more importantly—the sin that  I’m constantly covered in. He’s looking into my heart and He is seeing something special. God is sending all these ‘skill drills’ my way to see how I handle them,  for me to learn life skills, and most of all for me to learn to trust Him  completely  so that  He can  train  me  to be  the  best I can be. How exciting! No matter how confusing and tough the situation is, it gives me such a peace knowing God is my trainer!  Just like  I kept  Breezy  from seeing  the  barrel pattern until she was ready, God is keeping me from being able  to  see His  life  plan  for me  until  I’m  ready.  If  I  keep calm, trusting, and focused on Him through all of the skill drills, with God as my trainer … how can  I go wrong?!

So what happened? Today, Breezy is a successful barrel horse, and she continues to stay consistent and move forward.  Not  only  that,  but  she’s  gorgeous!  I  constantly get comments on her beauty, her shiny coat, long soft mane and tail, and beautiful head. She’s not always the fastest horse in the arena but she’s a crowd favorite wherever we go.

Breezy is a constant reminder to me. Occasionally she’ll  think  she now  has barrel  racing  mastered—I  can just see it in her eyes when she’s thinking, Kelci, I could win this race by myself. I don’t need your help! Well she’s probably right, but her attitude isn’t very nice. Since we do have to work as a team, if she goes into the arena with that  attitude, we aren’t going to succeed. It’s those days that I see Breezy as a good  reminder to check my attitude. I’m afraid all too often  I find I have  the same disrespectful attitude: God, I can handle this situation by myself. I don’t need your help this time! Wow. How dare  I?!  There  is  no way with that  attitude I’m going to succeed in the  ‘arena of life.’ Now, when Breezy is willing, trusting, and runs her heart out for me at a race, she’s a perfect example of the complete  trust and  willingness  I  should  have  in  and  for the Lord. Her heart and determination are an inspiration to me.  I pray  that  I run the  race  of life determined and  with my whole heart in it for the Lord!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5

Kelci L. Goad

I’m nineteen years old and  blessed with strong Christian parents, three brothers, one  ‘sister-in-love’  and  two  horses. Homeschooling  all  the way through high school has been one  of the  biggest blessings in my life thus far. I was able to discover and  explore my passion for training horses and  training people to train horses in much more  detail because of the  flexible schedule of studying from home. Along with training and competing on my own  horse, I had  several horse-related jobs through my high school years, including everything from mucking out  stalls to being a training apprentice my senior year with one  of the  leading professional trainers and  barrel racers in the Northwest. Now with a dream to turn  my passion  into  a career, I’m  going  to continue  my education studying equine business. I can’t wait to introduce more  people both young  and  old to the  wonderful world of horses!

This story is from Tough Times Don’t Last ~ Tough Women Do, now available on www.teafortheheart.com.

Copyright © 2011 by A Cup of Tea for the Heart, LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the
prior permission of the authors except as provided by USA copyright law.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

There are those who mistakenly take my outlook on life and horsemanship as being happy or excited about messing up or making a mistake. To me, positive thinking is not about creating a fairytale land where everything is always rainbows and sunshine and the Prince always rides in a perfectly groomed, perfectly mannered horse sweeping up the Princess to be with perfectly curled hair and too much eye make-up. Nor is it about knocking all three barrels over at a barrel race but coming out with a smile on your face saying “wow, that felt sooo good!”. No. Positive thinking involves recognizing mistakes, mess ups, and hard circumstances yet not allowing yourself or your attitude to be defined by these things.

As far as competition goes, positive thinking is about keeping your mind in a state to think clearly…in order that you can do what it takes to fix the mistake and come back better the next day. It’s not about never feeling anger or frustration, for there is nothing wrong with these emotions. It is about not allowing yourself to be controlled and consumed by the anger or frustration. Because it’s in those moments where you will do something to your horse you will regret. Allowing yourself to be controlled by anger, frustration and even disappointment, throws the very definition of horsemanship out the window. If it’s true horsemanship you are after, the only emotions that belong in the saddle are humor, patience, love, and respect. In my opinion, it is when you are able to achieve this…that you will be well on your way to becoming a true horseman or horsewoman.

(Kelci L. Goad)

“You can’t expect to prevent negative feelings altogether. And you can’t expect to experience positive feelings all the time. The Law of Emotional Choice directs us to acknowledge our feelings but also to refuse to get stuck in the negative ones.” -Greg Anderson

It’s no secret that barrel racing (and almost any sport, really) is 90% mental. A good instructor and trainer will tell you above all else, you’ve got to have your mind right. If you’ve done your homework (which not so ironically fits in to that mental category) and your head is truly focused on what you need to do, 99.9% of the time you’ll do it! Because of this, those who are serious about the sport and success will actually take the time to train their brain as well as train their bodies. Training our minds includes things like reading books and watching videos on equestrian phycology and training philosophy, visualizing the perfect ride and making a point only think through what we need to do, not what we need to not do. It’s not an uncommon sight to see a girl sitting on her horse in the corner of the warm up arena not just thinking, but purposefully thinking. Thinking about exactly what she is going to do when her name is called 5 runners from now. It’s pretty easy to watch a warm up pen full of riders and pick out the ones that are going for the gold and the ones who are just there to have fun.

There are those who ride around at a walk in groups of four, just chattin’ it up with their friends and they may or may not hear when the announcer calls their name….but the kicker is, they don’t really care! If they don’t get to race that night because they were chatting, it’s okay with them…they are just there to have a good time. However that goodtime happens is cool with them. If and when these people do run, they will certainly have a crowd cheering them on. But at the end of the weekend, they are broke and exhausted but have nothing to show for it. Granted, they do have some memories.

Then there is that girl with her eyes closed, sitting alone in the corner of the arena 5 people before her run. The guy doing rollbacks along the fence to remind both the horse and himself to shift their weight. The girl flexing her horse and making sure her horse is in-tune with her. These people are not rude when greeted by other riders, but they will smile, say a few encouraging words of good luck and then go back to focusing. And it is these riders that barrel racers of all levels look to for advise and instruction. It’s these barrel racers that create a crowd by the gate to watch them run…not because they called everyone over and said “hey watch me I’m awesome!” but because the second the announcer says their name, the warm up pen becomes silent. The girl and her horse trot out of the dark corner so focused on the pocket at the first barrel that she barely even hears her friend say those encouraging words of confidence “make a run!” and everyone knows, this is going to be a run worth watching. These riders may be exhausted at the end of the weekend, but more often than not they are rich and have a pretty gold buckle to show for it.

So, if it is so incredibly important to have your mind right in order to have a successful 16 second run, I have to wonder…is this also true for this race we call life? If we put so much time in to preparing our minds for a barrel race why wouldn’t we understand the importance of preparing our minds to meet Christ? If we spend time purposefully thinking why would we not spend time purposefully praying? If we are careful about who we haul with to the race why would we not be careful about who we hang out with on a regular basis? If we spend time reading training philosophy books why would we not spend even more time reading the Bible? If we make such an effort not to think about the things we need to do rather than the things we need to not do in our barrel run, why wouldn’t we do the same in life?

I have to ask myself, in this life – am I running for the gold or am I just here to have a good time? Will I be ready and waiting when God calls my name, or will I be too busy chatting to notice. I hope and pray I am the girl ready and waiting. The girl focused on what needs to be done but still aware enough to give a smile and encouraging words to everyone she meets. The girl who people are drawn to for advise not because she makes a big deal of it, but because people see a rare quality in her. The girl people rush to the entry gate to see because everyone knows, this will be a life worth watching.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. — Author Unknown

So watch your thoughts….

Last Friday started out like a typical Friday for me. Fed the horses, fixed myself some eggs and ham, drank my coffee complete with French vanilla creamer and read a Bible verse or two. I had plans to go to a barrel race with my friend that night but we didn’t know what time we were leaving yet because…well that’s just how we roll. Then things started to get a little funky around 9:20am when I went out to turn the horses out. I noticed Cool looked like he was limping a little. It was ever-so slight so I was hopeful that maybe I was just making this up in my head. By 10:30 though, when my farrier and I checked him out – he was definitely lame. Thankfully, we are pretty sure it was just a strain (hmm…wonder what that could be from. *cough* [Check out last Thursday’s post if you aren’t following here]). So…nothing serious, but a bummer none the less. This race I was going to that night was the last race in Cool’s first 6 week series and he was sitting at the top of the 4D…had he just shown up, he would have won it. But, I’ve always gone for the big picture with him so no way was I going to risk it and ask him to run on that leg…even if his run is only a lope right now. No way. No how. Not ever. So, I wrapped Cool’s leg, let myself be bummed for five minutes, and then moved on with the day realizing I would need to focus on Breezy that night.

Friday hurdle number 1: Check.

The day went on rather un-eventfully until about 6:30pm when we could be found pulling in to the facility where the barrel race was. As usual, we unloaded the horses and went in to pay our entry fees. Riding Breezy had been kind of sparse as of late so I got some exhibitions. I tacked up and headed inside for my 3 exhibitions (time-onlys to you northerners, practice runs to those of you who have no idea what I’m saying). All was peachy, Breezy was ready, I was focused…life is good. The announcer said “Jane-Doe you’re up for two and then Kelci Goad has three”. Against my better judgment, I watched Jane-Doe and her horse run in all guns blazin’ to the 1^st barrel, continue to the 2^nd barrel, and trip, stumble, fall and (for lack of a better word) crash.  The horse hopped right up…but Jane-Doe wasn’t quite as quick to get back on her feet. Thankfully though, she did. She was fine, even ended up racing that night!

When Jane-Doe went down, I had flashbacks to last July in Choctaw. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as it sounds, but watching Jane-Doe and her horse fall definitely sent me in to funk #2 of the day. Once Jane-Doe and her horse made it safely out of the arena, I was ready to re-focus. I figured exhibitions were the perfect time for this. Once we made it through our first exhibition I was confident that the mishap (if you will) that Jane-Doe had was definitely not a ground issue. Our exhibitions went great, Breezy and I re-grouped and I was confident that we were ready to run.

Friday hurdle number 2: Check

Well we were just hanging’ around out by the trailer, chattin’ it up, brushing the horses tails, the usual pre-barrel race stuff. Then the sirens started. An ambulance….seemed pretty close, it was rather loud. About that time a friend who had been inside came by the trailer and started to explain what was going on. That ambulance was headed to the arena. Yet another girl and horse had fallen…this time at the 3^rd barrel and this time she wasn’t getting up. As our friend was telling the story I felt myself start to panic…just ever so slightly. I withdrew myself from the conversation and from the area…I just didn’t think I was up to standing around talking about how this girl and her horse fell at the 3^rd barrel. It was just too close to home. Certainly I was concerned for the girl lying in the arena dirt but since she had medical professionals with her I figured it was better to stay busy and focus on what my horse needed.

 I realized Breezy needed some water so I took my bucket and headed to the closest water faucet that just happens to be right inside the arena. It was practically silent in there. As I was walking back to the trailer I heard my friend, “Kelci, are you okay?”. It was about at that moment that I realized I was definitely trying to be okay, but my success level was rather low. Trying to stay calm and not lose all my bananas, I gave Breezy some water and just stood there petting her for a while. I knew I needed to do something to re-focus. The exhibitions had done it for me earlier, but I needed it again…probably even more so at this point. I tried just hanging out with Breezy, talking to her, brushing her. This calmed me down a bit on the outside but I was still freaking out on the inside. If that makes any sense. So, I tried to reason with myself. “Kelci, you know that ground is good in there, Breezy is sound, why aren’t you trusting in what you have with her?”.

Then it hit me, my problem was that I was getting caught up in other horses’ problems and circumstances of the past. Was I really worried Breezy would fall that night? Psh, no. I didn’t even have the slightest thought that Breezy might fall when I really focused on the present. I was freaked out by those other horses that fell that night, and I was taking a trip in my mind back to that night in July. It became apparent to me what I needed was something to snap me out of it. Something to almost force me to focus on the present and my relationship with Breezy. How I thought of it, I don’t know but I untied Breezy, took her down to the end of the row of trailers far away from all the commotion, and we did showmanship. Complete with barrel saddle, rope halter, tiger polo wraps and spurs on my boots. I figured there is hardly ever a time when Breezy and I are more connected than when we practice showmanship. Even though I don’t show her anymore, I’ve kept up the practice of it just for fun and because it’s like “advanced ground work”. Thank you, Clark County 4-H. So, thirty minutes before we were going to run barrels, I had her out there trotting circles with me, completing 360 haunch turns, side passing off a snap and setting up for the imaginary judge. As we walked back to the trailer I said out loud “Breezy I trust you”. With a new found confidence, Breezy and I went in and set a new personal record in that arena.

Friday hurdle number 3: Check and MATE.

So hmm…I wonder if this would translate to another area of life? I challenge you to try it! Try it in the same context I did, with your horses. Try it with your relationship with your family and friends. Try it with your relationship with Christ. Just complete an exercise that almost forces you to focus on what you need to focus on, and be on-purpose about it. Do some showmanship before a barrel race, play a board game with your family, go on a coffee date with a friend, say a prayer, read your Bible, watch the sunset. Re-focus.

As a barrel racer, there are so many factors that go in to whether or not you have a good run. In addition to equipment, atmosphere of the arena, ground conditions, and mine and my horse’s health; barrel racing is a unique sport in the fact that your partner not only has a mind of her own, but she does not speak English. Motivating or changing your partner’s mind is a lot more involved than a pep-talk.  With so many factors involved in the outcome, no matter how good you get, no matter how hard you try, sometimes you’re going to make mistakes, take a turn wide, forget to use your inside leg, even knock a barrel down.  When this happens, it’s time to exercise one of the most challenging quotes known to those of us who are known as perfectionists in the arena “Leave it in the Arena”. To a barrel racer, it’s kind of the same concept of leaving work at the office.  Once you get in your car to drive home, the office work is done for the day, you don’t forget about it but you move on, focus on family time and then return to work the next day. Or, once you leave the ally way, your run is done for the night, leave the negative in the arena, don’t forget the mistakes you made but move on and do not dwell on it, let you and your horse rest, and return to fix the mistake the next day. (Obviously like anything, there are exceptions to this…but it’s a good general rule)

A few weeks ago I found myself in a conversation with a broken hearted friend.  It wasn’t a guy, a friend, or even a family member that did the breaking…it was her. She was breaking herself by being so incredibly hard on herself over mistakes made in the past. I heard myself tell her that it’s okay that she made a mistake…as humans living in fallen world with so many messed up factors around us…we are going to make mistakes. The important thing was, the mistake was admitted and had been corrected. I reminded her that she had been forgiven and now she needed to forgive herself. The words seemed to bounce right back to me, not because she didn’t hear them but because I needed to hear them just as much as she did.

All too often I find myself using the words “well I’m a perfectionist” as if that gives me an excuse to have a bad attitude about a mistake. Slowly but surely I am learning to strive for excellence rather than perfection. Perhaps I should refer to myself as an excellence-ist.  I’m learning to release my anger at myself for having made mistakes in the past; whether the past is 16 seconds ago during a barrel race, last week on a test, or two years ago when I treated someone wrongly. The perfectionist beats herself up over the fact that she messed up at all. The excellence-ist while she does strive for the best, realizes that mistakes happen and when they do, she leaves them in the arena, makes the correction, and comes back stronger next time. Meanwhile the perfectionist is still stressing herself out over something she cannot change because it already happened.

“Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future.” -Denis Waitley