The Pursuit, the Pause – and a Golden Future, Part I
PART I – LONG TIME, NO SEE!
I’ve been quiet here for a while. Not because I haven’t had anything to say, but because I was still living the story I needed to share.
Maybe you’ve been keeping up on social media, or are a longtime email subscriber. Either way, I appreciate you riding along all this time.
After all, if you’re like me – your genuine love for horses and dedication to growing in your horsemanship and barrel racing is a life-long game.
The last few years have been the most defining of my life. It’s time I told you why – and what that means for you and your barrel racing!
Some extreme and unexpected twists and turns have resulted in profound life lessons and shifts. I’ll be passing those along below before sharing some exiting new offerings here, so stay tuned and let’s review…
WHERE WE BEGAN
In 2011, I had gone through some huge personal growth spurts and was on fire to share my lessons with the world – and folks resonated with them. Blogging was at its height when I started BarrelRacingTips.com and published my first book, as was organic reach on social media. In 2013 my husband and I moved to Texas to enjoy our horses to the max., but my good gelding, Pistol still hadn’t bounced back from a mysterious injury he sustained in 2012.
With him not sound to compete, I poured my heart & soul into writing more books, creating content, building a following – as well as pursuing and reaching some huge horsemanship goals I knew would even further support the barrel racing I was called to do in the future.
I was working around the clock and burning the candle at both ends. Eventually, that pace was no longer sustainable. I started losing my “voice,” and was feeling more inspired to ride vs. write. I always felt called to make the world a better place and elevate others, but it was starting to be at the expense of my health and personal goals. Organic reach on social media was declining. My hard work wasn’t producing the reach and traffic it used to. I felt drained and squeezed from all sides.
Around that time (2019), Craig and I decided to make a change. We began looking for a new horse property that would suit our needs a little better, AND give us more financial freedom than our existing property allowed. The land we found was perfect. The home, barn and arena building process ahead was far from it.
Being that I’m the self-employed one between us with a flexible schedule, my career was put on hold while I did full-time damage control with what turned out to be a shady contractor. In home building there’s often only one, first chance to get things done right. I fought on the front lines for the structural integrity of our new investment while we lived in a camper.
Everything (including my biz and the horses) were put on the back burner for years while the build was (very) slowly completed to our standards. There was daily disappointment of shoddy work, the discomfort of addressing and correcting it, and many days of simply toiling on-site as a laborer. It was an incredibly grueling, discouraging and stressful time of my life.
THE HIGHS AND LOWS
Eventually I was able to gain back some breathing room and start enjoying our horses again. By this time, I had poured 10 years, many failed rehab attempts and over $100K into getting my heart horse, Pistol sound. I decided to try ONE more time before giving up and calling him retired. It made no sense from the outside looking in, since he now had age on his side too. But my unmoving desire to restore my best equine friend’s soundness and make up for lost time didn’t have to make sense to anyone else. And let’s face it – is barrel racing EVER guaranteed to pencil out well, anyway? This was different. It was personal, and I was driven more by improving his well-being than being highly competitive or profitable.
In July, 2021 I started keeping Pistol in a 20×70 pen instead of turned out. I treated his decade-old (never clearly or fully diagnosed) injury like a new injury. I kept him in padded hoof boots 12 hours of each day. I started week one with a 5-minute hand walk and very slowly increased from there. His subtle, decade-old limp went away. Eventually he was allowed gradually increasing turnout. I very, very slowly progressed to riding and conditioning with all green lights and zero regression.
In March, 2022 (EIGHT months later) our BIG target goal arrived – the Elite Barrel Race in Waco, TX. Pistol was more fit than ever and we entered the Open all three days. He was 19 years old, and we clocked at the top of the 4D and won a little over $450 that weekend amongst the toughest Texas competition (with over 400 entries). The emotion of that comeback still shakes me to my core and to my knees.
Although we’ve had minor, temporary hiccups or setbacks since – he’s STILL sound and just as, if not MORE competitive today, after that DECADE of being crippled. I thank God daily for His healing miracles and encouragement to not give up, which lead to taking one more, slightly different and very long, gradual and detailed approach to his rehab, conditioning and care.
Shortly after that in April, 2022 we welcomed home a new four-legged family member, known as Abounding Jospehine (a.k.a. Josie) – a beautiful red merle Australian Shepherd rescue dog. I still had a lot on my plate with the build, so committing to her felt somewhat impulsive, but my weary heart had a hole only a special dog could fill (my blue merle Aussie, Tess had passed away in 2016). I “didn’t have time” to devote to Josie’s training then, but knew it would be best to invest in her educational foundation from the get-go instead of putting it off for “some day.”
With limited dog showing experience, I set some specific goals and barely more than a year after welcoming Josie home, we closed in on tacking four AKC titles to her name, including a first place position on top of the agility podium. I’m proud to have guided her to getting started working stock, as well as officially achieving a Canine Good Citizen title, Trick Dog Novice title, Farm Dog Certification and Agility Course Test 1 title.
Finally, with Pistol back in action, my dog training goals checked off, and our roping arena almost finished – the future felt SO bright and things really seemed to be looking up.
But as any horseperson knows – just when you think you’ve finally got your feet under you, life has a way of humbling you back to your knees.
Click here for Part II, where I shared exactly how that happened.
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So glad you’re back and things are looking up for you! I enjoy your tips and following along on your journey! Your books are amazing! I have all of them! Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge! Many Blessings to you and your family! Prayers Pistol stays sound! Have fun with Josie!