Placing third in the NFR's fifth round
Fred's form and stride in this picture aren't really what he needed for it to be a really fast run [it was a 14.01]. He is more gathered up in his turn in this photo, and his stride is short.
Also, he shifted past his turn and lost valuable time. The ground was shifty in Las Vegas, and in that kind of ground he has a tendency to safety up. I am positioned in the "gather up" mode to help him regain valuable time and still leave the barrel standing.
Fred always runs in the same medium-shanked slider bit. I rarely wear spurs, but do encourage him to run out of the arena with an over-and-under type horn rope.
Winning Reno (Ev.) by half-second
The Reno Rodeo is in a large arena with the barrels set far off the walls. This makes it a challenge for horse and rider to get three good turns and do it consistently in order to win. I am proud to say that Fred did his very best to make that happen.
The ground is a clay mix and somewhat firm. Again, this is Fred's kind of ground, and his reach around the barrel here is long and hard.
I had a slight slip in this picture that put him a tiny bit past his second barrel. As you can see, I was focused on getting out of that turn as quickly as possible. I am looking at our forward motion getting off the turn, and I'm thinking of trying to pick up speed to barrel three. After a slip, staying focused on shutting the clock off is a must.
