Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Looking Ahead in 2017

The rain it California the last two weeks on 2016 and between it and the holidays, our riding activities have been curtailed.

I've continued to work Jessie in the curb bit working on our turnarounds, stops, and neck reining.  Yes, we are still taking it slow.  She's improved a bunch.  Now, I'm trying to figure out how to speed things up.  Although, right now, we don't need to do things quickly, so we'll keep plugging along.  More rain is predicted this week to our already flooded and muddy pens.  After years of little rain, we can't really complain.

My first Whoa Podcast of 2017 is out.  I got to talk to Jaton Lord, the grandson of legendary trainer Ray Hunt.  When Jaton was in high school he got to travel with his grandparents during summer break.  Ray was giving horsemanship clinics at the time and young Jaton got to experience them first-hand.

There's a Legacy of Legends event in Fort Worth in March that is produced by Carolyn Hunt, Ray's widow, and Buck Brannaman.  Thirty trainers will descend on the Will Rogers Memorial Arena to start colts for three days.  It should be a good time.

Later this month we will be on the road learning how to extreme cowboy race.  Extreme Cowboy racer Bill Cameron, who is also a judge for the sport, has arranged for the Shades of Gold Ranch in Leona, CA to host a learning clinic January 21-22, then races in January, February, and May.  Ranae and I will be at the clinic on the 22nd.  I'll race in the Intermediated division at the events and Ranae races in the Novice.  We will be doing interviews and videos of our progress.