When it comes to barrel racing, choosing the right leg protection for your horse can be overwhelming but also very important. Getting started in barrel racing itself can be daunting, something I help with here in the guide to barrel racing The right splint boots not only protect the legs from potential injuries but also offers support. There are many to choose from with new brand poping up all the time. hey all in essence do the same thing, but which is best for your horse, and also you.
We will compare some of the top splint boots, some that I have personally tried and some I still use today; Including the Classic Equine Legacy2 Support Boots, Professional’s Choice 2XCool Sports Medicine Boots, Tough 1 Extreme Vented Sport Boots, and Weaver Prodigy Athletic Boots.
Splint boots offer essential support to the tendons and ligaments, in barrel racing we know it is a high demanding sport. The right boots will help from the legs from getting too hot and full of dirt that can cause discomfort and potentially further issues.
Let’s gear up with the best splint boots and make every run the best it can be.
If you go to a race you will see lots of Classic Equine Legacy2 fronts and the newer release of the Flexion Legacy2(pictured above) for good reason. They are made from 100% virgin neoprene, these boots are easy to use and countour around your horses legs really nicely.
For those riders who are really particular about fit, the inner rib is a game-changer. Positioned between the tendon and the cannon bone, this rib ensures the boots maintain perfect alignment, ahh yes, we love that for you!
The Classic Equine Legacy2 Support Boots or any of their Legacy line boots are a good choice for any level barrel racer. They fit great, are easy to put on and just look good!
If breathability are high on your checklist, then the Professional’s Choice 2XCool Sports Medicine Boots are for you. Ditching the traditional neoprene, these boots are made from ultra-lightweight, super-breathable materials that make them different in the world of barrel racing.
But, also beware, I did hear that the material isn’t as protective as neoprene due to the mini air pockets that allows them to be more breathable. Overall, Professional Choice does have quality porducts and you can’t go wrong with this choice.
These boots are designed to give your horse full support with the suspensory sling, which offers flexible support to the fetlock and tendons. Plus they look cool!
The boots also come with nicely places velcro that help them shape perfectly to your horse’s legs. Keeping out dirt and debris which is always a treat for the horse.
In a nutshell, if you’re after a pair of boots that offer good protection, cost effecient and a fit that feels custom-made, the Tough 1 Extreme Vented Sport Boots are definitely worth trying out.
These boots are designed to offer support and protection with their innovative Dynamic Sling System, which cradles your horse’s suspensory tendons and ligaments like a well-fitted glove (they say).
The combination of a neoprene liner and stretchy binding creates a snug fit that feels almost custom-made for your horse’s legs.
I have not personally used them but these boots have been tested and fine-tuned by a variety of industry professionals. If its good for them it must be good for us, right?
They’re easy to put on, and provide your horse with the freedom to move naturally. The Weaver Prodigy Athletic Boots are worth a shot!
How to Choose the Best Splint Boots for Your Horse
There are so many option out there. Econoclast, relentless, Tacktical, and many more smaller brands that I will share below.
Evaluate your horse’s specific needs. Are they prone to injuries, or do they need extra support? Do you just want to look good with funky paterns and colours?
Breathability is another thing to consider. You don’t want your horse to work with hot legs as it can cause injury. A lot of boots get hot naturally so it’s important to take those bad boys off your horses leg as much as possible. This means after your runs too, take them off. This also included the overreach boots too!
Other Choices Good Choices
There are lots of high end leg wrap options out there. Here are a few others you can choose from.
Then of course there are polo wraps. Some use them on all four legs, some use them only in the hind legs, some say they dont offer enough protection. They are less convenient then the splint boots as they need to be cleaned and rolled up before each use.
They are also better suited for the more advanced as you can mess up applying polo wraps quite easily. (But, if you want to learn, there will be a blog and video showing you how to properly put them on soon)When it comes to our horses precious legs and tendons, we really want to get things right! Having said that, polo wraps have a place, but my opinion is id say stick with more protection and convenience alone, these do not get my vote for barrel racing.
Explore the many options out there, you will find the ones that work for you and your horse.
Let us know below which ones you have tried which ones you like in the comment section below.
Control or Crutch? Asking “Does your horse need a tie down?”
Tack and equipment are a big part of training horses. Every horse and rider is different and we have many options to choose from.
Headgear, can be a controversial topic. While some view them as necessary, others argue that they are merely a crutch for training or underlying issues. Having experimented with different types of headgear, I understand both sides. This blog post will explore the truth about all types of headgear such as tie downs, bonnets, headsetters, discussing what they offer, how they work, and potential drawbacks for our barrel horses.
How do tie downs work
They are used to help control a horse’s head position, ensuring their head sits below the tiedown. But as Trevor Brazile notes, in his article here “Tie-downs are not built to be pushed on the whole time.” The goal is to create a clear boundary without limiting the horse’s natural movement.
It’s important to remember that misusing a tie down can cause more harm than good. By using a tie-down properly, riders can help their horses perform at their best without sacrificing comfort or freedom of movement.
Personal Experience: When I Found Tie-Downs Useful
Throughout my barrel racing journey, I’ve tried many different types of headgear. When riding a particularly chargey or hot horse, I found tie-downs offered a barrier that the bit didnt always provide, espeically when things happen so fast like in barrel racing.
I personally try to stay away from anything that restricts the movement of my horse. If I feel a need for a tiedown, before I just throw one on my horse I will ask a few questions first.
could there be a underlying issue with my horse? What could it be? (example, teeth need to be done, they are body sore somewhere,
Am I using the tiedown to fix a training issue
Tiedowns have a place in the tack room but not on every horse. It is our job to decide when it seems fitting to use a tie down and for what purpose.
Ask “does my horse need to become more stiff?” Then perhaps a leather tie down will improve your communication and create that wall for them to feel secure and stable and making them stiffer throughout their body.
“Does my horse toss their head anytime you use the reins?” Then maybe it’s time to understand your bits better and uncover the reason why your horse is tossing its head before you mask the behaviour with another tool.
The Pros of Using Tie-Downs
**Easy to Use**: Tie-downs are simple to attach and adjust, making them beginner friendly to set up.
**Instant Results**: You are instantly creating a boundary for their head. But be sure to teach your horse the new boundary before you get on.
**Balancing Aid**: With a thicker leather noseband, tie-downs can give the horse something to lean against, helping maintain their balance.
The Cons of Tie-Downs: Potential Stiffness and Misuse
**Causing Stiffness**: When a tie-down is too restrictive, it can lead to stiffness in a horse’s neck and shoulders. Imagine trying to run with your head held in an awkward position—it’s not comfortable for you, and it’s certainly not comfortable for your horse either.
**Becoming Tense**: Over-reliance on tie-downs can encourage a horse to become bracey. Instead of responding smoothly to cues, they may push against the restriction, making their movement tense and jolty.
**Risk of Pain**: Poorly fitted tie-downs can cause the horse pain. Whether it’s cuts or bruising, the wrong setup can do more harm than good. Always double-check your gear with someone who knows how to properly adjust a tiedown.
**Fixing a Symptoms**: It’s tempting to use a tie-down as a quick fix for behavioral issues, but this doesn’t always mean youre fixing the root issue. Real improvement comes from a proper training foundation and clear communication.
**Causing Anxiety**: A too-tight tie-down can make a horse feel trapped, leading to increased anxiety and tension. This added stress can cause a lot more issues in the arena.
By understanding these pros and cons, you can make more informed decisions about whether or not a tiedown is right for your horse.
Food for Thought
Horses communicate without the use of speech, therefore it is our job to listen to them in other ways. This is through our intuition, our energy, verbal cues, posture, body language and other hidden components to language horses respond to that we as riders can be unaware of.
At the end of the day, tools are simply tools. There isn’t one magic tool to make our horse perform how we want. It takes understanding how to communicate more effecively, becoming a more empathetic rider and being the horses leader to create healthy working realtionships.
It’s our job to educate the horse, if they aren’t educated then we have no one else to blame but ourselves. Use the tools, but don’t rely on them to do all the work.
When there are no shortcuts, there are also no holes.
While tie-downs can be a helpful tool in the barrel racing toolkit, they shouldn’t be your go-to solution for every problem. Remember, a solid training foundation will always outweigh any quick fix from equipment.
Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
The path of least resistance is real. We see it all around us, from the rain running down in a stream away from our barn to the natural ways we can train and work our horses. We have to approach our day-to-day in a way that will set us up for success. At the end of the day we want to feel accomplished and successful. I know I sure do. So how can we better our odds of feeling this way after work, a day at a race or competition, or a training session with our horses?
How can we apply the principle of “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard” to our advantage?
How can we use our path of least resistance to set ourselves and our horses up for success? This idea is something I learnt from training barrel horses and something my mom has taught me from her time training dogs. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it applies to many areas of our life.
Let’s uncover how it works!
Imagine again the path of least resistance, it’s easy, right? It flows naturally, it all goes in the natural direction. Meaning, you can get the work done with the least amount of effort and struggle potentially involved. There are simply less obstacles for you to overcome. Meaning, we can control and structure our days and training sessions in that way. We can make the right thing easy like the path of least resistance and the hard thing full of it, with all the obstacles and resistance.
This is a part of the foundation to training horses. We want to show our horses the path we want them to take, we have to clearly identify the path of least resistance. It doesn’t matter what discipline, but we always have to remind ourselves of this principle.
A riding example is making perfect circles. They’re important for me as far as training barrel horses, but choose whatever aspect of training you’re working towards. But here, our goal is perfect circles. We want to think of the circle as the path of least resistance or the most comfortable path for our horses. We begin by setting up our circle correctly, once they are going we allow them to go on their own, but if they fall out or into the circle, we correct with our leg and/or rein which is a resistance for them. But once they are in the proper position again, we allow them to hold themselves naturally in a way that is the most comfortable for them.
Over time, the horse knows that the path of least resistance is to hold the circle correctly on their own. The cool thing about this is we allow for mistakes, and things to go off track, and we allow ourselves to correct as we go. This approach helps me understand how I am influencing my horses. Am I being fair and giving them the chance to decide what the path of least resistance is for them? Am i allowing for them to make the mistake before i guide them on the better path? This way they, like us will actually learn through our process and develop a better understanding of right an wrong.
When I apply this ideato my own personal life, I feel my goals are more attainable because i know which path is the least resistant and i try to strategize my days to make it happen!. We have the control toplan our days to allow for success, just one small successful step is all it takes.
With consistent effort, we will be able to set up everything in our lives to guide us down the path of least resistance. We can accomplish the things we set out to do, we just have to set ourselves up for success by making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
The path of least resistance is real. We see it all around us, from the rain running down in a stream away from our barn, to the natural ways we can train and work our horses. We have to approach our day to day in a way that will set us up for success. At the end of the day we want to feel accomplished and successful, right? I know I sure do. So how can we better our odds of feeling this way after work, after a day at a race or competition, or a training session with our horses?
How can we apply the principle of “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard” to our advantage? How can we use our own path of least resistance to set ourselves and our horses up for success? This idea is something I learnt from training barrel horses and something my mom has taught me from her time training dogs. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it applies in many areas of our life.
Let’s uncover how it works! Imagine again the path of least resistance, it’s easy right? It flows naturally, it all goes in the natural direction. Meaning, you can get the work done with the least amount of effort and struggle potentially involved. There are simply less obstacles for you to overcome. Meaning, we can control and structure our days and training sessions in that way. We can make the right thing easy like the path of least resistance and the hard thing full of it, with all the obstacles and resistance.
This is a part of the foundation to training horses. We want to show our horses the path we want them to take, we have to clearly identify the path of least resistance. It doesn’t matter what discipline, but we always have to remind ourselves of this principle.
A riding example is making perfect circles. They’re important for me as far as training barrel horses, but choose whatever aspect of training you’re working towards. But here, our goal is perfect circles. We want to think of the circle as the path of least resistance or the most comfortable path for our horses. We begin by setting up our circle correctly, once they are going we allow them to go on their own, but if they fall out or into the circle, we correct with our leg and/or rein which is a resistance for them. But once they are in the proper position again, we give them the opportunity to hold themselves naturally in a way that is the most comfortable for them.
Eventually the horse knows that that path of least resistance is to hold the circle correctly on their own. The cool thing about this is we allow for mistakes, we allow for things to go off track and we give ourselves the opportunity to correct as we go. This approach helps me understand how I am influencing my horses. Am I being fair and giving them the chance to decide what the path of least resistance is for them? Am i allowing for them to make the mistake before i guide them on the better path? This way they, like us will actually learn through our process and develop a better understanding of right an wrong.
When I apply this idea to my own personal life, I feel my goals are more attainable because i know which path is the least resistant and i try to strategize my days to make it happen!. We have the control to plan our days to allow for success, just one small successful step is all it takes.
Eventually with consistent effort, we will be able to set up everything in our lives to guide us down the path of least resistance. We can accomplish the things we set out to do, we just have to set ourselves up for success by making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
Shelby invites you to a Weekend Retreat for the riders who feel they are getting in their own way of success. August 20-21 we are hosting a weekend riding and wellness retreat in Caledonia Ontario. Tap into your deeper senses to learn how to become the leader you and your horse need. We can let go of the fear and start showing up how we know we can, full of confidence, positive talk, calm, unbothered by things that maybe used to throw you off your game. This is for riders of all levels, please learn more by reaching out t We Can Hustle on all platforms or this link:
I have been thinking and questioning “What makes a great barrel?” and this is probably a question that a lot of us have. The reason we finish a turn well is because we approach it well. BUT HOW?! These are the things that I’m going to tell you that I think are the key ingredients to make an amazing barrel.
So let’s get into it.
The Importance of The Approach
I think if you approach a barrel correctly and properly, we’re setting ourselves and our horses up for success. And it starts with the approach if we don’t approach the barrel, right and something goes wrong, and it’s not smooth and easy, we’re not going to finish it right.
What I mean by that is if you go into tight, you’re gonna have to go wide. If you go in with your dropped shoulder and your horse’s hip is kicked out, your horse is gonna have to take an extra step or two and regain balance to actually come around the barrel as effectively and as quickly as possible. We all know, our mission here is to run a barrel pattern as fast as we possibly can.
It starts with us staying centred, approaching the barrel in a nice balanced, upright way, and giving the horse the best chance of success.
I feel like second might be the most common struggle barrel, because we do approach it on a straight line, there’s no angles, it’s very direct. Horses and humans tend to a anticipate the turn and cause a lot of issues with either slicing into it, or a we make a huge pocket, and then our horses hit it on leaving, and there’s just so many things that can happen a second. So we’re gonna use second as our example.
Point of Focus
I make sure I look directly behind my barrel and that is my focal point. That is the ONLY spot I look at and where I want my horse’s head, front feet and back feet to travel to. How I think of approaching it is “shoulder up, drive forward. shoulder up drive ahead.” (this is on repeat in my head) So if you were to draw a line behind, that’s kind of my focal point of where I really am pushing my horse to. I do that all the time so my horses learn to run up to that point. Keep it consistent and don’t start the turn until the horse is clear of the barrel. Always have a focal point where YOU look. It will help with muscle/mind memory.
Straight Lines
Straight lines are the second ingredient to a barrel race. They need to stay square and centered between my hands and my legs, when we’re doing straight lines is it’s not just about their head, we really want their body too. I really feel it with my knees and my thighs, I am staying centered, I’m staying straight and I’m driving my horse forward. I am sitting back pushing my horse along and encouraging him that forward motion like I said earlier, really important to get that forward motion.
Lines are really important to keep the shoulder traveling under everything and to keep it all one working unit. This is part of having your horse work in train tracks with its front and back feet. When we’re approaching and going around the barrel its just making sure that you feel that you have full body control between your hands and legs.
Final Words
Our horses are listening to us they want to do what we want! Love your horse, treat them kindly, guide them, direct them to be the best horses that they can be. It starts with us right now by doing these things; listening to podcasts, watching videos, learning from everyone, what you like and what you don’t like, just keep growing.
Enjoy this awesome chat with NFR qualifier, Futurity & Derby winner, Ryann Pedone!
Listen to the full conversation on all podcast playing platforms.
Transcription:
Shelby: Life of a horse trainer! So, when you’re like, when you’re taking these younger horses, what is your process like? When you’re taking these young horses, what is your goal in your process when you’re getting them out to Expo? And also, when do you know when they’re ready?
Ryann: So, you know this year’s been different. Like my colts are a little bit behind, usually my horses are a little bit behind because I’m kind of a slower trainer but I usually am caught up by Fort Smith last fall, kind of set back a little bit but just because I usually haul those horses quite a bit and really just take them to different Arenas. I usually get three exhibitions so kind of like local through. Let him see the pattern cruise them through. I’m not a big stop on the drill kind.
Build their confidence so I try to treat it like a field trip like okay we’re going to have fun and then like my last exhibition I’ll just like draw to more correct, whatever I need to address and then I kind of like just see where their weakest points are and then I’ll go home and work on that then.
I try to make everything a really positive like positive reinforcement. Instead of like hammering on those colts because I feel like I relate a lot of it. Me as a kid growing up my personality. I didn’t do well with get hammered on. I did well with a lot of hard work ethic but also like positive reinforcement like okay like you’re getting closer but that maybe work on this and approve this and that’s kind of how I treat my colts. So, I don’t hammer on colts too much. And then I’m big, like, I have to wait on those colts to really come into their own because I won’t be told in a run very much. Everything’s usually with my body positioning and body language and everything. So, my style usually takes a little bit longer and then, I don’t call a lot of horses and I ride a lot of my own. So those horses have to make a berrel horse, especially if there’s talent in there. So, if it takes me a little longer, I don’t get too big of a hurry, so I can’t really rush the part like the process.
Ryann: So, like this year I’m back on track. So, I started hauling my three-year-old some so well I’ll hold them quite a bit, just take them to different ranch and kind of build on them from their start exhibition of them and just everything building their confidence. And if there’s one, that’s a three-year-old, that’s not real you know, it might hold on for, you know, let him go work cows or something like that. But it’s all about kind of like keeping it fun for them and positive reinforcement. And then those ones that are going to be superstars and ready at the beginning, they’re going to be superstars and ready at the beginning to begin with those ones that are going to take a little longer, I don’t care how much pressure you put on them. It’s not going to not going to make cream rise. Usually just makes like soured milk.
Shelby: It’s like so many problems that you don’t need and that you can avoid if you just take your time and have patience and I love that like building their confidence, have the patience and kind of like progress how the horse is going to allow you to progress and you’re kind of I guess in that sense you’re like taking them out to test them to see how they do and then you know if they tell you we need to fix this and whatnot. Yeah, I love that and I actually kind of relate that makes me feel better because I feel I always like I start slower and like I’m never on top, but the beginning of the year, but I usually finish the strongest because it’s just that slow progression. So, I kind of like that you said that just of, you know, sometimes if they take a bit longer but as long as you’re doing all the confidence and stuff and just getting them where you want.
Ryann: It’s kind of funny though because like I was at Fort Smith and it was like, Oh Ryann, you’re having such bad week and I was like, really, I didn’t think it was that bad, you know? I feel so sorry for you. I was like Oh hell! I’m not even feeling sorry for myself. Get your shit together like what they were saying, hey Ryann gets your shit together. No, I mean really my colts were pretty good, I did run on them back for consolation because they’re all pretty good. I couldn’t really ask to do much more. You know for what they’re at they’re just take behind, I feel like I have some really strong colts this fall and then my colts for next year will be, they won’t be behind. Like last year, Rodeo just kind in the amount of colts I have, it’s not like, I had like one or two colts, I could haul, would be no had like ten and all my owners were like super aware of, it’s tough. But it was just a business decision and it’s just, you know, had a give up a little bit in certain areas to do that.
Shelby: I know that’s amazing. So, what actually made you kind of like that trigger for you that made you want to pursue the Rodeo world.
Ryann: It’s not my thing, but I think and you got to love it. You know my passion is with these colts and I love like my barrel racing producers and I love my Futurity friends, I don’t have very many friends but the ones I have I like to bullshit with and shut up and you know I constantly learning and I like being around a lot of the trainers and I love watching the horses progressing grow but really like feel the sting, you know, did it for him.
It was really cool to have an opportunity to train a horse like that and then I never really got a full year of Futurity or full year Derby on them just because the breeding or he got hurt this and that. And so, in 2019, you know, Jason and Charlie date, they like to Rodeos they like Ryann, we really want you to kind of think about maybe Rodeo and on them and as like like maybe could make it talk 2019 as like now. Let’s go for 2020.
I’ll get the buildings for 2020. So, if I could go the summer 2019, get the buildings and then we’ll do it 2020. And that’s just like a vision I had. And that’s what I wanted to do. And those guys were really, really great. They provided lots of opportunities. There’s a lot of trainers that don’t get the opportunity to do something like that one, because it is so expensive and anyhow, those that day Jason and Charlie and Dan, they went above and beyond.
So, I was able to fly back and forth. Keep working my horses, they did, you know, I didn’t get any sleep, I didn’t get the Rodeo lifestyle of, you know, hit some Rodeos and then go sightseeing. I didn’t the Rodeos flew home, work my ass off. Get back on the plane go back, you know, and it was it was really long and exhausting and it would have been completely rewarding if I had finished out with stinger but you know it’s a good Lord, just want to test my fortitude.
After 80 I was no anyhow and then I think you wanted to seal the deal in Black. I’m going to make sure you don’t like this Rodeo thing anymore, that’s your fortitude. So anyways but it was it was a really good moment for the tour finale deal. I you know I wouldn’t take that back for anything. Just watch me grow as an athlete because you know everybody has a weakness, you know. I really have to work at it. Nothing is a natural ability for me, I’m real passionate everything I do, but I had I’ve worked every bit of it. Whether it’s like fitness, whether it’s like studying everyone, I load up and go and hot for free from years and I’m still learning but to watch my mental growth grow where I could handle the pressure, like at the tour finale, they gave me a shot to get in there, you know, be eight, fourth and then come in there and win it on a horse that I trained and watch genetics come into play and just a team come into play, and just the whole thing come together. I wouldn’t trade that for the world. I wish I had had a for the finals. So, if I had known, you know, that, that was just a, just a thing, you know, just something that it just for and it made me even more hungry to get back into the Futurity world and miss with my colts and be home with all my animals and stuff. Like, right now, I’m driving home. I’ve got six dogs with me my bird in my badger.
Shelby: Love it.
Ryann: That’s like you know that that kind of thing but the next step you know is seeing Stinger get well and come back sound and then watch him, I think he haven’t shared to do great things. And that’s something that I thoroughly enjoyed as a trainer like making these horses watching them grow and trying to match him up. And for, you know, I have someone that was like your idol growing up by the horse that you trained that’s it, that’s out of her great Mary, you know?
Shelby: Yeah.
Ryann: So, it is all worth it.
Shelby: Yeah, absolutely. Even like the highs and lows kind of, because like, you’re in a far experience, obviously, I don’t know super detail, but for me, I’m like, man, this poor girl. Like, I felt like you said, just all the tests you had. I’m like, man, what else does this woman have to go through. So, it started like, Stinger is just like absolutely amazing and I was super sad. As I’m sure a lot of people were to not see you guys perform in the finals and how like, what did that take for you to mentally kind of? I guess, just wrap your head around that and move forward the best you could.
Ryann: Well, what do you do? I mean, there’s nothing to wrap your head around, you know, when you just adjust, that’s just life, you know? So, you make the best of it. I gave my, you know, hundred and ten percent. You know and as long as I tried as hard as I could, there’s nothing more I could do. I left you know barrels up all tonight’s got average check, placed in one of the rounds you know it was just it just was one of those things. It was a beautiful deal to get there, you know close out the season, really strong.
It was great memories with that horse and then, you know, what are you doing? You just like life does that to people and there’s some people that want to wall in their sorrows and I don’t have any pity for people about that because it is what you make it. You take the good, leave the bad and you learn from it. So, I learned a lot from it and it made me appreciate where I’m most passionate at.
And it was a very nice goal to have, you know, not every time that there’s tons of great trainers and how many great trainers have. You know, there’s a lot of people that dream of going to dinner far and I’m just super fortunate to, you know, had the opportunity to go one time. So, take that and super grateful for the opportunity and I’m super grateful that it kind of made me appreciate where my passion is even more so than made me appreciate like my world of Futurity in derbies even more so because if you Rodeo for, you have to love it, love it and you know it just it’s not so my passion, it’s not something that rocks my world, you know? But um but there’s nothing wrong with that, that’s what you’re passionate about. However, it was a good story because, you know, where I come from Florida and if you go back to like my High School Rodeo career and stuff, I was like nobody.
And then when I moved out to Texas, I mean, if you go through everything and it’s like that with a lot of trainers, some people get handed stuff a little bit easier. Sometimes life, just gives them throw them a bone, a little easier, some of us have to scrape crawl, you know, I’m one of those people that had to scrape all just and I learn to do it with a smile on my face and take the good and leave the bad and just kind of get gritty and step over stuff. I mean, that’s its it was good to see a progression from like where I came from in Florida, right in the kind of horses I rode to close it out like at the door finales and making it to the finals. And, you know, it’s a good motivation for a lot of people that you know, they ever have doubt that they can’t, they can’t you know, you just can’t ever let your brain tell you can’t, you know, everything. Everything is possible, as long as you. Yeah, you know, have it up here.
Shelby: You feel it. And you think it’s, you can actually make it happen and I kind of liked that story anyways, a bit more of like, and I feel, yeah, like you said it’s so much more relatable but also going through the trenches and learning that way, I think you come out so much wiser and have way more knowledge. Like you like you said you learned through those experiences and if you learnt like that’s a good thing. So, I just kind of like that like I appreciate that type of journey and that type of beginning because I mean like I really should have just you figure it out on your own like and you have to get that gritty drive because if you don’t have it, then you’re not going to make it just kind of like you what you said about Rodeo, what was the beginning of your story? Like what got you into Futurity horses?
Ryann: Well, it’s really funny because like I was big intern, I have a finance degree but then when it came out to Texas, you know it’s really interesting what life throws at people then what makes them change their ways and kind of go down different, go down different paths. So, like I used to have this huge passion for Acupuncture and I want to give a nice bunch of school in Equine Acupuncture, and Chiropractic, some Homeopathy. And I want to help all these people and everything and just different things that life threw at me. And trying to change my personality a little bit, kind of change my passion through everything into my colts, just some stuff that happened in life. And even though it’s not anything I wish upon anybody; it was definitely a learning experience and it made me really tough really gritty and super I would say arrogant but confidence like to be able to do stuff on your own make decisions on your own. Tell people know if they’re stepping on you, telling people exactly what you think black and white, you know, that’s a lot of issues with the world now, today, everyone’s worried about hurting each other’s feelings. You don’t have to say anything ugly. Said to be very honest and upfront.
Shelby: A little selfish kind of
Ryann: Any horse trainer, any athlete that that’s all they do is eat, drink, and sleep what they do and they had that much passion, they’re selfish. So, I feel is like anybody that gets with a horse trainer or any type of athlete doesn’t matter. If they’re really good at what they do, they’re selfish in a way that’s part of it.
Shelby: Yeah, not a bad thing at all though.
Ryann: Well, no. I mean that’s one of the big reasons why I’m not a big producer. I’ve got fur babies, literally guess I’m selfish, but I do enjoy it. Help people like I want to help people that want to be helped. So, like it’s fun to see different people that, you know, like get a horse for me or have like desire to start. Like, if there are ways of training or their ways of understanding of horse kind of match with mine, it’s fun to see like how people grow at their horses, you know.
Shelby: For sure.
Ryann: And there’s a lot of different types of horses that I rode. Breeding like, bloodlines wise, I mean, I rode a spectrum of different horses and I can get along with the spectrum of different horses, whether it’s not just one certain bloodline and that I kind of contribute that making a chicken salad out of chicken shit, like learning to adjust to a horse and figure out how to speak their language, but different bloodlines.
Shelby: Yeah. How did that happen? Like, what is that? Like, for you actually? Because I was one of the things I want to know when you’re going to a race and you have, how many horses that you’re running? Like how do you kind of I guess almost current [inaudible] the different horses like going from one horse to the other. How do you get your mindset ready for horse? Is there a problem?
Ryann: You know all my, all my horses. I let them have like, so I give them an outline so they have an outline, but they understand my body language. So, if you see a horse running off with me, it’s there’s no way I’m going to make it good because I don’t handle horse very much. It’s so it takes me a little longer to get those horses that has like feel my body. That’s like kind of what I don’t like to handle over street much, but they felt with me and I kind of give them an outline. Like, hey, this is where I want you to go. This is where I want to do with my body does this. And I really study like my videos, like okay, like if I have a we’re stepping off, or if I have a worst cut in, like I go back and I watched my videos and I watch my body position. Because a lot of people a lot of trainers, like I hear a lot of trainers, you know, and some people are just out to win their Futurity year that simple. I’ve got to make a horse to be sold at the end of the year or go on to the owner. So, in these horses that are that were riding a lot of them are bred to be Barrel versus. Yeah. So, there’s really should have a high percentage of once that ache maybe not your top three winners, but the percentage could be someone’s made now for winter down the road, so I kind of give those folks outline. And then I let them kind of fill it in with their own style, but if you watch a lot of my horses, I kind of need they all kind of run and response my body all the same. I don’t have to do that much different.
Shelby: Right, just to make your life so much easier to ride. Like if you know your horse is doing this or this. Like, it might be a me problem because the horse learns, what your body’s telling it. And I think that’s like nine times out of ten. Anyways, I love that. You watch your videos just to see, like, what am I may be doing wrong to cue the horse incorrectly because if you’re doing it so consistently which you definitely need to. I guess when you have that many horses and I’m sure you learned that maybe the harder way to like, just developing your own style, right? So, like I absolutely love your style. Like I watch your videos on like, man. Like you just stay so square and I feel like you’re so cautious with your hands and you are super loose. So, can you kind of like explain your style a bit like when you’re working your young horse is like what is the outline for you when you’re training them for Futurity?
Ryann: Yeah, I try to keep it simple and I tried to keep them just train them to be so. I don’t want them overthinking it and I try not to put over pressure on so I wait for a lot of that those horses to come into themselves like and I can feel a lot of colts. Like there’s circles, I can feel like this is going to be a badass and I can feel it and then like I might be like old man, this is a damn good goal. You know, a lot of my friends will be looking at me like okay. Yeah, okay. Then I mean I’ve even had some trainers. Say, I need think they’re all good, but I mean, I find good and all of them. I just thoroughly enjoy the horses and I mean; I love a horse and I try to kind of build on their good. And some of them going to be more superstars than to others. And as I get older, I’m going to have to be more selective with which ones they keep in red and which ones I try to like place somewhere or whatnot because I can only ride so many. But so, I, you know, I grew up riding with lots of people in Florida, [inaudible] Wilbert, Alice Daily and then Kim Landry, and they showed me different stuff than what I moved out here in Texas. I mean I could keep going and watching and I went wrong with Dina Sam and there’s some stuff I took from Dina. I’ve gone wrong rode with Ron Ralls and so like my stuff is just constantly growing and learning and watching and when you get your ass kicks go and you watch who wins and see what they’re doing different. And sometimes, you know, it’s nothing you need to change. You just got to keep working and your time will come. I mean, if you’re on the right track it’s not your turn. I don’t care. Like you’re not going to make it your turn by trying to force it. It’s like you got to just keep to the ground, keep to the grind and then it’ll turn around. I mean, I know what I want to put lots of people, but anyhow. So, I just really, it’s kind of like a dance in a little bit. I’m a little bit more philosophical trying to get into their minds those colts where they enjoy it and have fun and be stay out of their way and then just flow and grow. I do find that it’s like interesting because if you keep them longer, it’s like those horse like they’ll hit their highs. And then you’ll see like certain horses, not all horses. Certain horses they’ll go through like a down time where it’s like they just not like some weird like well they just lost it whatever but it’s just like a growing time that gave me. They’re getting stronger. Maybe you got to adjust something, you know, until there’s a skill like 9, 10, 11 12, and you got to really season better. And that’s one thing. And sometimes it’s older than that, but it’s a constant growth and I tried to keep people’s minds for they don’t beat themselves up over or beat up the horse over it or quit, you know I mean it’s a Barrel race. It’s a growing thing and it is and that’s where people think, you know, it’s not a car, it’s a being. So, like a lot of time some is place into it and the stars have to align, you know, I just I mean I’ve seen it a million times like you know, just like American semifinals like in my opinion like happy was I was running him at semifinals. And he threw down that first run. And I was like, oh heck, yeah, well then, I get there Friday, and you just weren’t right, anyhow. He was getting really sick next day. I mean, full-blown sick. And, you know, that’s not anyone’s fault. That’s just bad luck.
Shelby: Yeah.
Ryann: So, you’re tired, you know? And, and I see a lot of people get bad attitudes about it, but it’s like I, you know, if you’re working hard and you’re doing everything you possibly can, and I mean, I feel Like I try to always taught my eyes crossed my T’s. Really, really try, try to keep my horses fit healthy, you know, keep my mind, open and train, train hard and stuff. I can’t, I got to let the cards fall where they fall and then,
Shelby: You know what eventually it’s like, eventually going to happen though. Like, if you’re doing all the things, you know, at some point, if you just keep consistent, keep falling through with the plan, it’s going to be your turn one day and yeah, maybe,
Ryann: Yeah. I mean, Yeah, as long as you’re kind of all the right path, there’s some people that might need to get a little bit of help, you know, but that’s part of keeping your mind open this part of being a, you know. Yeah, I so anyhow you got to find what works for you and you know, watching people grow that come and get help and watch it. Different people grow as trainers or different people that come by with you and grow as jockeys. That’s very rewarding to. So, I always and some people like and I wouldn’t give out all your secrets as. Like, there’s no secrets. I tell people what I do. They have the one, outwork me, and two they have to actually go and do it and apply it and you know what? Not very many people follow through. Yeah, some people think I’m full of shit. People take it and I watch them change and just like yeah like I watch a Jody just create history this past weekend for days. I mean that was huge. She came, it started right in a couple years ago. It’s just a little off and on sipping a cup of worst days that just needed time. You know, can’t push them. They weren’t ready to be pushed and just trying to get her mental game, where she would just slow down and not, try to win and just let it happen. I mean, she’s really, to me, come a long way in a very short time, but she really came and she like believes, like, everything is said, it was like, take it to the moon, and live like I don’t know. Just tweak some stuff to make it your own style, but, you know, in to watch somebody, like really believe in. Like, it kind of fit her style with into go, do what she did. And just like, first time make the finals, I think I’ll win the Derby. Oh no, I’m going to show it up and when the freak in Derby to I mean that’s fun to see. It’s fun to see people do that. You know.
Shelby: Got to be their cheerleaders. You know like cheer each other on.
Ryann: Yeah, especially when they work hard.
Shelby: Yeah, for sure. I actually
Ryann: I always there’s some people that might not care for but I always respect the horse.
Shelby: Yeah. that’s true. And that’s a good way to look at it. Actually. Instead of the person it’s like, it’s always the horse first, kind of thing. And if you can help tours, help the person, help the person, help the horse, and then they’ll win the Futurity and Derby. Yeah.
Ryann: Yeah, that was really amazing. And then she dates my brothers and my brother takes all that credit, you know, because everyone, he trains stinger and Jodi’s dated him. He’s got he’s got her versus train to.
Shelby: Oh yeah. Well thank your brother. That’s awesome. But yeah, one thing you said that I literally just saw the quote and I mean like I’ve heard people say it’s like why are you going to give your secrets away or tell people like what you know? But it’s like I literally read a quote today and it said I’m going to tell them because no one’s actually going to follow through like maybe 1% actually going to take action on the advice. So, give all the best advice ever because like you know there’s such a small comes.
Ryann: It comes back to you. You give you give back.
Shelby: Yes
Ryann: And it comes back to you. That’s it. That’s the big thing. I mean there’s some people that you know, I mean but that’s just life. I made it happen all the time but I’m a big believer like you give and it’ll come back you know, people that need help and it’s going to come back.
Shelby: Exactly. And that’s why I love barrel racing. I feel like there’s so many life lessons there, like you learn so much more just about yourself and about how life Works through just barrel racing in the competition and just the whole community in itself is a huge learning curve.
Ryann: Oh yeah. Yep. And I love good competition. I mean, there’s a lot of people that fret it but I mean that’s what makes it fun. You know,
Shelby: That’s true. When you look at it like that, you have to, you can’t be like oh, they’re there. But it’s like imagine if they weren’t there though. Like what would it be? Like it wouldn’t be that fun. Like if it’s easy.
Ryann: Oh man, that’s the fun of bragging rights.
Shelby: Yeah. Exactly.
Ryann: If you’re going to win when it gets best,
Shelby: Literally love it. Um one thing you said that I wanted to ask is you mentioned how when you’re helping? What was her name.
Ryann: Jodi Miller?
Shelby: Yes, so when you’re dealing her like about the mindset. It’s like you’re trying too hard, you know, just don’t think about winning, don’t try to win. Like is that kind of your mental process for a competition?
Ryann: Well, you know, I had to work a lot of my brain, my brain was my biggest enemy for a long time and there’s a lot of times that I might she called on a horse more than I do. But I’m a big. I’ve been. I’ll let a lot of stuff. Roll, one turns any time. You know, keep it smooth, you know, sometimes like if you if you’re in Futurity someone just throws down a freaking run and, you know, you’re not going to get that run to make a good business, running it up average chat, you know. Like smart like drives hard and if you’re set up with it, you know, go for it but, but don’t try too hard because a lot of times people try too hard and they go for that winner. They go for that blood, and they get the horses way and instead of just I mean you watch some of the best runs like you know, one of the most beautiful jockeys to watch, run is Cassie Mallory. And you are some of her best runs. It’s like poetry in motion. It’s so smooth. And that’s, that’s where I. That’s what I like. I like to try to keep it smooth, keep it simple. Stay out of your horse’s way and in my opinion next, that’s with what really should stop at. And then there’s some times that you do got to go for a little blood but, you know, pick your battles. Kind of a deal.
Shelby: Yeah. How do you handle that though? Like if you know you’re going because I was reading a little about you and you said like, well, it said, you won this huge Rodeo right before the NFR. Did you? Like, you must have known. That was an important Rodeo. So, there was obviously a high school.
Ryann: Oh, it’s the only way. It was the only way I was in its final.
Shelby: Yes
Ryann: The whole setup, if you don’t know Rodeo which I mean I didn’t even know what the heck Pro Tour Finals work oh ok, awesome. Well like it was luck even got their game because they have except once it to you had to be in the top eight. Get back to the finals on Saturday. Saturday is complete sleigh, but out of that topic, you have to be at top 4 and I had to be just with like to get back to say, Saturday. I was last hole so I made back in Saturday’s 8 hole that was just pure look divine intervention, it’s my dang turn, whatever you want to call it, I made it back. But for whatever reason I did I was like in a fraternity at Ardmore and it had to get Jody to hop on my colts and ride them Saturday because I catch a flight to up there to wrap it because I didn’t even think I was going to get back. I mean it just was meant to be and I just had a gut feeling like I get back to top 8 make go make a run and then when I got back, when I made that run top eight, they took back the top four. I just had to be third or better in that top four to get back to the final files to make it to the finals. I was fourth? So, I still so I either had to be first or second out of those four. And those four, four, two world champions that Donna came rule of Valor. I mean, like seriously. I mean so I do, I do for that final four. I mean, and I just like threw it like this. Wait for it because there’s nothing else to do [inaudible]. So that was right under the only times I like you really went for blood but I do but I knew my horse I knew he felt really good at his genetics really played a part. I mean that that horse is bred and born to be in those set up speed back-to-back runs like that that’s kind of his snake heads and it just all came together because I guess it was just meant to be.
Shelby: That’s so awesome. I love that And I kind of like Rodeo for that. Like you said, it’s like you have nothing to lose almost at that point. So, you’re like, if I go, if I don’t go for, I’m not going to win. If I go for it, I, you know, it’s either one or the other.
Ryann: It was either I go for it into the finals or I don’t, it doesn’t matter, you know. So, you know, that was just one of those times like you had a going to like make it happen and it worked out because always work out. It worked out this time.
Shelby: That’s so cool. Love it. Do you ever like this just kind of made me think like if you’re in a rut or something you know or just having like a lot of not good luck, you can’t seem to get it like your brain is not for you. It’s completely being against you. Like how do you is there a way that you come out of that? Or you just stay really positive like, what do you do? Like, how do you get out of that rut?
Ryann: I read a lot of. I read a lot of history books. and I think back to our founding fathers and like you get the rut this i mean how big of a rut is it compared to [inaudible] Boston [inaudible] Tour to win the revolutionary world. i mean how big rut should be we have all the big things all the best technology. I mean seriously they have that just get ready you know re assess your situation. So, your brain, it just gets a little tough, you know, that’s what separates the winners from the losers is because the winners of the closer’s, they’re not going to, they’re not going to fold over roll over. They’re going to take a minute figure this out and it’s going to work out, you know, for whatever reason, life is wanting to teach me something. So, I’m going to take the life lesson and carry on.
Shelby: Yeah, so true, I think. Yeah, like you just said, it’s a lot of perspective. Kind of like, if you put in a real perspective, the grand scheme of things, your rut is like, you know, it’s not a big deal, you cannot progress.
Ryann: No read the titular of Auschwitz that that book about the tattoo of Auschwitz, that that’s a rut. Read the zookeepers wife, when they bomb the shit out of that zoo and Poland or World War Two. That’s a rut, you know, like you think kill it all folders beautiful zoo animals but this using that place to hide a bunch of Jews but that’s a rut. Nothing, you know, thank you. You know, watch those boys. Go over there? Well, world war ll really. I mean, though, that really gets me wound up because those boys have been, like, nowadays, you would listen to the Army, you’re listed to their, you know, their forces stuff. Those boys were just Farm boys’ kid, where you know other way to Olympics it pulled out saying, hey, you got to figure out how to fly this plane. And we don’t even know that much about these places. I read a lot of that kind of stuff, and a lot about our founding fathers and just a bunch of really smart dead people that gets me out of my ride.
Shelby: Yeah, can learn a lot from it, too. And obviously, yeah, there are lots definitely can learn. I’m trying like, I like history except I have a horrible memory, which is my problem. So, I learn about and I’m intrigued by it and hearing how things have played out especially in the past. It was pretty brutal back. And yeah, like we’re pretty fortunate and you talked a lot about gratitude which I like just got to be thankful. Yeah, so moving forward, I’m just looking at some of the questions I had. Actually, let’s go complete full circle to the question that got us this conversation that we try to record and we had technical difficulties. But what is the one thing that you wish you knew, or some advice that you had going into your first NFR? If there’s a piece of advice or piece of advice that you just wish you knew in general that you could share with us
Ryann: You know what this in a bar was so different. Like all the girls that went to them for this year. Nobody really knew what was going on. It was through during covid You know, it was just kind of a wacky here, so no one really knew anything. I mean, I guess I would have known wish I would have known, you worked out hard, you’re not going to have your main now. Maybe could have started back in, you know, June and July get to know and becoming a buddy with a you know another horse that really fits your style but you know, it was, it was pretty, I mean, cut and dry. I mean they have a bunch of rules back there. Like if you do this, you’ll get mine I didn’t know that and they have like a little. I mean, that’s how their appearance makes their money. They find the shit out of you over stuff. Um, I’m pretty sure they made some money off that covid. Test to hate me. They try to blame it on Arlington, but I hired a lawyer and you know what it, it wasn’t Arlington. So, there’s a lot of corruption going on there and I just, I don’t know, I love the image that Rodeo upholds. Like the people that like do like the Patriotic Opening Ceremonies and stuff, like, my favorite thing, but, you know, I’m pretty sure a lot of the Barrel Futurity producers would have stood by their people but better than PRCA did over the covid staying and watching, you know, Donna Kay not getting to perform and the calf roper. And I’m getting to compete over a year that over kind of bullshit. So, I guess I would have liked to know that there was a little bit more chivalry and a little bit more like gritty Cowboy-ish – where people would take a stand together a little bit better.
Shelby: Yeah, that’s true. And it didn’t really happen like that. I couldn’t even imagine that. Heartbreak to do all that. And then it’s just like one dumb little test kind of that you could easily like sort out.
Ryann: Some people, what this is, what’s funny to me, okay? So, they what happened was, there’s some people that tested positive but they Isolated for 14 days and they had a doctor’s note saying, you know, you’re going to get that rabbit test. It doesn’t matter how many times you’re going to test positive. What happens is Donny, K is, she did a rapid test and a PCR test. It came back negative which those tests are never accurate. She had zero symptoms. Zero freaking symptoms and to, you know, like if I was, I mean, it’s hard for me to stay but I was 16th girl or 17th. Girl, I would I do. I don’t think I could have taken her spot you know just out of like loyalty and correct. Like a little sense of what’s right is right what’s wrong is wrong and that kind of made me lose my spirit a little bit there too because I have a lot of respect for that horse. Have a lot of respect for Donna Kay and to watch something. So, asinine go down enough or you work so hard? And it was like the worst year and then there’s She had a chance at the world title, she had a chance to win the World there, you know. Anyways it’ll come back around to her but I kind of made me lose my spirit a little bit not going to lie.
Shelby: Yeah, no doubt, no dope, that’s such a hard position to be in to like if you were that spot, I kind of agree with you but like it’s hard to say unless you’re there almost like if I.
Ryann: I know what I would have done if I wasn’t there but you know, a lot of people don’t think I’ve like to function at full level effect.
Shelby: That would have been pretty cool actually just to see like you said just that spirit and just to like take a stand almost
Ryann: Draw a line, you know, draw a line. And that’s what a lot of problems with this country is people don’t tell any lies. You know, what’s right is right? What’s wrong is wrong? What is bullshit is bullshit and.
Shelby: That one’s self in can make a difference to, right? It’s like if you, if one person decides to say, hey this is what I’m doing and you do it in your circle like that does have a ripple effect, I think and it would start.
Ryann: But that it I know I know with my Futurity people that I’m tight with I know I know the producers wouldn’t have treated them like that and II know, I know there’s like some there’s a little bit deeper loyalty in my opinion. Didn’t I mean, some people in the Rodeo business might get really mad about that but you know, there’s just some shadiness because I did hire a lawyer when they said they were going to do that covid thing I had him and he’s actually part of the house and he’s a lawyer. And I mean, he’s part of the legislator legislation, right? Legislation right now in Austin and he called up there to Arlington and he said I hate to break it to you. Ran the good old, PRCA boys, deal. Might not be so good because our Legion, it’s not Arlington. So, somebody was making money off those covid test. I hope it’s like having everything right? I mean I hired a lawyer I paid a lawyer to look into that you know. And that that’s a big issue I have. I mean what why it means schedule is making the money off the test. Yeah, everybody was having to get a test everybody in our little group, was having to get a test and I just wonder who made money off of it. It wasn’t the City of Arlington. So just some of that stuff just kind of gave me a bad taste in my mouth, I hate to say it but.
Shelby: Fair enough. I mean what’s true is true? I guess and you did the background to actually get the facts straight right, which I’m sure a lot of people would
Ryann: Yeah, like I paid a lawyer. Yeah, and I had like let’s fight this shit. Like she was just so devastated I mean they treated her like she had leprosy. I’m not kidding. It was disgusting and she had zero symptoms.
Shelby: Yeah, such a weird deal, such a weird. Yeah. Like even asking the question about the end of our it’s like it’s hard to even answer that because it’s not even a normal. Like nothing was really normal about anything. Like it was just such an odd time,
Ryann: For everything.
Shelby: Yeah. How is it at Futurities and stuff like pretty normal,
Ryann: Totally normal and our producers they work their butt off and you know, I appreciate the producers. Of all these big Futurity is like you go to the Guthrie Pink Buckle, the Ruby Buckle or BBR. Yeah, even the smaller for journeys like Fizz Bomb and Cornhusker did that. They those producers. They work so hard. They gather up sponsorships and their day they take care of us. Yeah. And I just feel like the BRCA just it really sold down there sold the sold their members down a little bit and you’re talking about the cream of the crop that had careful tough year. Had to go to every Tom Dick and Harry Rodeo and it was so easy way to get there. You know, it’s salty. Anyways, that it was just kind of that’s the difference that I felt, you know, everybody has their own perception. That was my perception.
Shelby: Yeah, fair enough. Do you have any plans to do it again? If you have another horse or to go to the NFR,
Ryann: What?
Shelby: Do you have any more plans? I just had to ask. I’m kind of figured out.
Ryann: You know like a bit like I’ve got some horses that I’m keeping like from a breeding program and you know, if I get older and then my husband, you know, like our work slows down and he can go with me and we have like this bus where I can pack my Badger, my bird and horses that we raise. And, you know, I stay out, and it’s just me and him or something. Yeah, probably do it. I don’t ever want to do it like, I did it. Yeah, that’s it. But I have a lot of goals that I want to accomplish in the Futurity world in the breeding industry and stuff like that and I want to do that first. Yeah, and I plan on staying fit enough where I can last a little bit longer.
Shelby: Definitely. That’s very important. Are you, are you kind of like are you dedicated Fitness person? Would you say it?
Ryann: Yeah. And I really, really got really strict. Now, again last year I was just like such a world one and I did as good as I could. But yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed Fitness really cleaned up like I did this. I’m almost done with it. 75-day hard deal and that’s what I’ve got this like a gallon of water, cut out sugars, you know, I don’t drink alcohol, just try to keep everything real clean and try to stomp out any little tempt of mediocrity out. But you know, like some people don’t have to like, but it’s good for my mind to approach it that way, you know. A fun hater but I have a good time. It’s sooner different way.
Shelby: Yeah, and it kind of goes back to just that like you have to work really hard for it and when you have like those struggles, you think, well I need to do it for my mental sake of competition. Like, it’s going to help you out anyways and make you a better competitor, which is awesome. Is that like
Ryann: For me and I don’t like to drink and stuff. I mean like very rare maybe cut loose like once every two years but I’m going to not be, you know, there’s a lot of people that pay me to ride these real expensive horses and you know, if I don’t come through for them, it’s not from lack of try. If I don’t come through for them, it’s not from going out and partying and not doing taking care of business because, you know, that’s their money. And so, I’m kind of big on that. I mean that’s just by like that’s just the way I perceive it and if I let myself down and that way, I feel like I’m not giving a hundred percent and then it flips on my mind a little bit. Yeah.
Shelby: Just the prior like prioritizing kind of what’s important and I think that’s really important to do that. So, when you’re actually just kind of thought of this but like if you’re going to a long weekend or like, if you’re at a huge race and it’s obviously like three days plus, what is your process to stay sharp? If you’re super busy, you’re not getting a lot of sleep or what not, like, how do you actually, like, stay physically and mentally like game on for that long?
Ryann: But I’m a coffeeholic, but I do better tired. So, like if I was a horse, I’m one of those horses that need to be saddled, tied out, close down that stuff like I do better tired. I do better with little sleep. I do better max out.
Shelby: So, you’re perfect.
Ryann: Yeah, I mean, I do better like that and real strung out. I’ve been like that my whole life and there’s not a lot of people that want to like work with me. Work for me for a long period of time because I burn them out, you know, a little of Ryann Pedone goes a long way at first and then it’s like, it doesn’t stay fun do a lot of people for very long.
Shelby: That’s hilarious. Someone asks me. They’re like, I’m like, what do you have questions for Ryann? They’re like, what is her Starbucks order? They’re like her energy.
Ryann: I don’t shop Starbucks anymore. I find local coffee. So, no more Starbucks, too liberal. Yeah, and they support everything. I don’t believe in. So, yeah, I do no more Starbucks. So, I’m a big, I like Americano. You know one shot of americano, if I get a cappuccino, no syrup.
Shelby: This is how to have energy like right?
Ryann: And I get really sleepy if I eat so well, when I, but, and I’ve also been getting these Factor meals, that are really awesome and they’re all weighed out and real clean now, non-GMO, non-antibiotic. You just pop them in the microwave and they’re good. Like legit Gourmet and they come from Canada.
Shelby: Represent Canada that’s actually good because it’s so much easier to write and if you can cross that one thing off your list that just adds more work to do it that.
Ryann: We work a lot; my husband and it’s even he eats some. And then his son you really need clean up his diet, you know. And they can get those for his like, lunch and stuff and it really good.
Shelby: Yeah. Good to know, make note. Speaking of your husband is he has he always been around horses or like, how did that whole thing happen?
Ryann: Oh my gosh. You want to go there? There’s no conspiracy to our relationship. We get together in 2014, we’re good friends before that. Had a really shitty relationship for that with another vet but learned a lot. And then super appreciative for Don, he’s that goody, fun, really good and fun, super laid back, just really good guy. He loves animals. He doesn’t want to ride in my colts but he can work on of all day long. We don’t ride horses together. He loves like the hunt fish and he actually wrote really good. It’s just that, you know colts isn’t his Forte.
Shelby: It is his Forte?
Ryann: No, they’re not. No, they’re nice for that. I mean he does. He works on a bunch of really good horses. You know, he works a lot of like really good horses but, you know, riding colts and stuff. That’s not his thing. He likes to hunt fish
Shelby: Yeah. Still good to hear though. That probably works well for you to like I feel like because I mean I’m single but if you’re never a relationship and you have that lifestyle like you really need someone that kind of like, has this.
Ryann: Yeah, you can’t be an easy guy if you’re married to a trainer. You can’t be somebody that needs their ego stroke. They got to be a big strong man.
Shelby: Yeah, exactly because you’re busy.
Ryann: Busy and I don’t want to stroke somebody’s ego.
Shelby: Right, you got better things for you. I love it.
Ryann: But we’re a good team. Super lucky to have.
Shelby: Love this conversation, Ryann.
Ryann: Nice!
Shelby: Yeah. Are you, how much, like, how long is your drive right now?
Ryann: Oh man, I got like another 30 minutes to home.
Shelby: Okay, that’s not bad. Are you going there? Tomorrow? Is at what as well?
Ryann: Yeah, yeah. I’ll run tomorrow and I just [inaudible] much my friend Patty Ralls, she’s not really. So going to go there to get there early and watch her and runs colt,
Shelby: But actually, I just thought of something I wanted to ask you. So, you talked about having people help you and work. So, I totally did that internship experience. And I mean, if you’re looking for one, I might be able to drop my life and come visit. But anyways, what is it like? Like I want to know what it’s like working for you like. You say you’re super busy, you burn people out like can you explain that like do you like having help?
Ryann: You know, like I’ve had some really good girls come. It’s I think all of them of walked away with some sort of learning, you know. But it’s a lot it’s a lot to be with someone like me, I’m one not scheduled to don’t sleep much free, it’s not just training courses that we have breeding horses, we have a vet clinic, you know, unless it’s open course, it’s going to be like it’s all over the place. I like to go work out; I’m not organized. You know, it’s organized up here but I just kind of roll with stuff not very structured person, never happened but going to have lots of eating time. So, you got to like animals all over the place. I pay good, but, you know, it had to have a certain type of energy to be around me like said, I had one girl, she was great worker, great worker but you know our energies, just take it light. She’s great worker just wasn’t a good fit there. And then I’ve had other people like, you know, usually interns they come and stay a little while and then they’re gone or you get them right there, right? With they’re good, they’re gone or you know, it takes a special person. The girl have right now is really good. So hopefully she’ll want to stay a little longer than the others.
Shelby: That’s right. It’s like all employees. You train them enough and then it’s like okay we’re on to the next thing.
Ryann: I try to give them an incentive to stay though but you know,
Shelby: What is it like what do they do? Like do you want to be the ones handling the horses or do you let them? You know, if they’re saddling or do you want to be the one does I use?
Ryann: I used to have girls that I showed them what I want done but it depends on their level. I really like to come my goals. I like to be the one that does stuff. During the past two summers, I was Rodeo and so much that those girls I had that super, they were both really easy and they never would be quite some time. And I trusted them before says, but no, I overall, I like to be the one to do the stuff to colts. So, it’s kind of just kids on how do they did, and I do want them to grow as a horseman. So, I tried to show something about on stuff so that they can get their feel or see what I’m looking for if that’s what if they want to learn because I do want them to get something out of it. I mean it’s not like I’m kind of a pain in the ass.
Shelby: Some benefit coming out of here. Yeah. Here, let me give you a lesson. That’s all cleared all over. That’s all you do.
Ryann: Or you know like or put him on a horse and they can learn to feel or you know grow as jockey.
Shelby: Yeah, that’s huge to believe.
Ryann: It’s often good. You know. Not a total bad experience. Trainers, there’s like I mean trainers it takes a lot to be a top trainer. And I don’t think sometimes with interns come into it, they don’t know. They don’t take into consideration on how much it costs. What expectations are on us, how much we gave up to be where we’re at, you know what I’m saying? And I’m super appreciative to the people that helped me get where I am and I am super appreciative to the people that work with me. They even, he even saved work for me like to say, work with me and if I don’t jive, I want, because I don’t like any negative energy. I don’t like that so I’m not one. I woke up my nose to spite my face and I’m getting a little old for that. But with when it’s done, it’s done. Like I don’t, I’m not going to pretend I’m, you know, it’s all good. I think what it’s done. It’s done because I don’t like that. Fakeness so, it’s got to be a good flow, you know,
Shelby: Throw it away. That actually is amazing sight literally saying that and I had that experience where I was totally working for somebody and I literally said that, like, I want to work with you. I’m here to help you. You’re here to help like, you know, I mean, like, it’s supposed to be like that relationship type thing and absolutely love that because it is so true. You’re there to work with them and I think with everything it is working together to better, the whole situation until it makes a lot easier.
Ryann: It makes a lot easier and give the best someone who would be better if I get bad taste in my mouth or it’s not going is done and I don’t like to fight I don’t like to figure. I have been known to give people lectures. I don’t really like that very much, but I have kind of a lecture I have you let’s just like how I like to communicate like all right, you know, but perception is no one’s perfect. But if you can get, if you can finally find that bird to the kind of gels you can, make a lot more money having someone solid with you, but you’ve got to make sure that person gets something in return where they can grow to. You’re not just stuck there.
Shelby: Yeah. So true. Love it. Do usually just have one person. Like how many horses do you even like what is your limit per year for how many horses you want?
Ryann: Oh man, you know what we have a lot of our own so like in my house, I probably have a hundred of horses. So yeah, we have a bunch in riding. So, I can do it all. It’s just like catch saddle unsaddle, you know, we have a very good system then. I mean, that’s what I do, that’s all I do. He drinks and sleep, that I don’t have any but obviously workout that’s my house you know. This is what I like to do. So, it’s very few and far between people that acquired that way. So, it’s hard to find these people that don’t get rid of that. But, you know, and I’m not, I’m not a, I’m not really good with time. My time just goes, like this, just blows, you know, so.
Shelby: Feels that way. Sometimes you’re like, oh shit. Like the days over what just happened?
Ryann: I know, I grew up on a dairy, my concept to time is not good. Like on a dairy, there’s no in, there’s no start. You start when you in then you start then you just close. So, my concept to time sucks.
Shelby: But that’s kind of nice. So, I kind of like that were, you know, you don’t have to really look at the clock, you just get your shit done, you get the job done, and then you’re done for the day, and, you know what I mean? Like, you don’t need to look and see really what time it is unless it’s an appointment but maybe.
Ryann: Yeah, I’m really weird about astronaut signs.
Shelby: Speaking of Zodiac, what’s your sign?
Ryann: I’m an Aries.
Shelby: Okay, I don’t know that much but I totally am into it as well. Like there’s something there.
Ryann: Pisces usually out however like one of my good friends, give me bailer. She’s a Pisces. And when I better as we won’t be friends, very long and then like some of my best clients, it’s a husband-wife. They’ve been great clients. They’re both Pisces, I go out with them great. So, there’s exceptions to but they don’t work, I work for them.
Shelby: So maybe that’s the thing that’s the difference. That’s awesome.
Ryann: I had a step mom that was a Pisces and she really had a bad taste in my mouth. I’m out of Pisces.
Shelby: Is anyone listening that’s a Pisces? We’re sorry.
Ryann: I’m sure they’re good. There’s just a little emotional for me.
Shelby: That’s hilarious. Can I add to this some research on that? I’m a Leo, and I think…
Ryann: Leo is good, it’s a good sign. You can get along with Leo.
Shelby: I feel like we’re vibe and this is a good conversation. It’s been awesome! I think this has been kind of like the cutoff time. Like we’ve been at it for a while. God Almighty!
Ryann: Perfect!
Shelby: Do you have anything you want to add like, for people listening that might, you know, one piece of advice that you could give everyone a reminder, you know?
Ryann: In life I think it’s really important for people to discover their purpose in their passion, and really dwell into it, because a lot of people kind of wander around in life, trying to figure out what their purpose and passion is and then just go for it. Fall in…
Shelby: Love it. I think you should write a book.
Ryann: Maybe a little bit more, a little bit more knowledge.
Shelby: Yeah, very wise, very wise. Well, Ryann, thank you so much for joining me.
Virtual Meetups is our way to connect people and share valuable knowledge! Get a chance to ask experts your questions during the second half of our guest speaker meetup. We connected with Joy to hear her journey of becoming an incredible horse woman and barrel racer.
Sports are played between your ears. Have you heard that one before?
When we participate in solo sports, it is a lot of 1-1 time with ourselves and we need to unlock our mind game to the full potential in order to perform our best. Easier said than done.
But, throughout this journey of riding and learning, I have gathered some life lessons from this sport!
Listen to hear what Barrel Racing has taught me away from the arena, how I show up in life has been altered because of barrel racing.
My perspectives have changed from barrel racing and I am going to show with you some of the things I learnt throughout my many years of competition.
What has barrel racing taught me in life? Because we all know when you do a sport, especially a solo sport, the game is played between our ears and the lessons we learned through the spore will transfer over to our day to day lives.
The first one I’m going to start with here is what it has taught me is it’s okay to not be the best and it’s okay to start and to learn.
It’s okay to show up as a beginner and to embrace being a beginner. And I’ve seen that in her that from people where they’re scared, they don’t want to start because they know they’re not that good. Or, you know, of course you’re not going to be good. You’re just starting and embrace it. Don’t be worried about people judging you because yeah, you don’t have the experience and that’s okay.
That’s literally how you get the experience anyways is just by doing it, you know it’s gonna come eventually. And I think when you start, that’s all it takes is don’t think of starting later, don’t be worried about. Barrel racing taught me that. And other aspects of my life, like taking a job, doing the internship, which I mean was about barrel racing, but still, it has to do with being okay with starting. Being okay, to put yourself in a position that you might be uncomfortable in and taking that leap to try to improve yourself or just to try to live out your dreams.
And when you feel empowered enough to do that, then you might feel better about doing other things in your life. Like maybe the other job or moving or starting school or anything it’s going to help you. So for me, learning how it’s okay to not be the best right away, it’s okay to be learning. It’s okay to take those proper steps, those horrible growing pains that we’re all familiar with. It’s a part of it. It’s a part of the process in barrel racing and with everything else, you’re not going to learn everything in one day. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take time.
You’re going to have to take those steps to become the person you actually want to become and barrel racing a hundred percent. I support it fully that that has come from barrel racing because yeah, you start from somewhere, you’re on a horse that you don’t, you’re not familiar with.
It’s kind of scary when you don’t actually know how to handle a horse and you start that way. You know, like you start by being unsure, doubting, not knowing. And that’s how you learn how to be confident is by doing it and taking those proper steps to get there. And that’s really, really, what I love about barrel racing is you have to take it like that because there’s no other way. So for my own experience, I mean, I came from, I was the first barrel racer in my family. My mom had horses as trail horses.
I got the pony, I got the other horse. I trained myself and that’s where I’ve come from. So I understand what it is and what it means to be a little confused. You want to do something, but you don’t know how. And that is the first step is realizing.
I don’t know how, but I want, I want to do it. I want to make this happen. Let’s pursue it and make those mistakes to, to grow really. So with that, as well as when I think about life and barrel racing, I think about two things, the good and the bad. And when I’ve been barrel racing, you know, you, if you ride horses, you know, you need to take the good with the bad. And that has went into my day to day life.
It’s just being aware of that. And knowing this is a really good thing than, Oh, shoot, this day sucks. But you know, you have to be optimistic and move forward because when you barrel race, your horses, counting on that, and you also paid your entry. You want to do good. You need to know how to handle that. Go with the bad and to keep progressing forward, even though you really might not want to.
And I’ve seen it time and time again, where people are in a rut, they’re struggling. They’re about to give up, they’re going to scratch. Cause they don’t want to, they haven’t made a clean run or their horses at turning a barrel at all, all the reasons why you might want to give up and go home that weekend. But if you learn that there’s bad and there’s good, you need to keep trying. And I’ve seen that literally happen.
Pretty recent actually, where someone can keep a clean run, wanted to, she, everyone told her not to like, no, we all have faith in you. You can do this, you got it. And you know what? She frickin won a race like how crazy and cool is that. And so it just takes that dedication to know when I have a blow, there’s going to be a high somewhere else.
And having that optimistic perspective has definitely helped me and helped keep me more enlightened for knowing those good times and realizing what the pad times are for the bad times. You know, they’re there to teach you something. They’re there to show you what the good times really feel like. And you need to have those bad times. So when you have a bad time, understand it’s worth, it needs to happen.
You need those bad times to know what your good time will feel like in life barrel racing. It’s the exact same highs and lows are there. So you can find that nice balance in life and be happy with it. Now we all know and understand in life as well as you might be having these really good times, then bad things happen. You wonder, why me? Why is this happening? Why can’t I get it figured out?
And you really realize, and it happens to me in barrel racing. And then I realized how relatable it is for everyone in their day to day lives is how incredibly out of control we really are, how we really don’t have a ton of control. And I remember reading something and even myself, I’m like, I need to feel out of control when I ride my horse. Because when you’re running full tilt to the first barrel, you are a little bit out of control.
There’s not a chance that you have full, complete control of that animal at that specific time. So really appreciating and understanding and accepting more importantly that yes, you are out of control like your horses running and that’s okay. You need to be okay feeling out of control because I think we all can relate due to this whole pandemic going on. Is that in life, we don’t have a ton of control of really what happens.
And this was really just shown that I think for me is, wow. You know, we really don’t have a ton of it. So when I’ve been riding, thinking of that as well has helped me with everything in life of realizing and being okay with things happening and me understanding and not getting super invested because I know I cannot do anything about it.
I can’t change someone’s mind. I can’t change the world situation. There’s a lot of things I can’t do. And I sure as hell can not have a hundred percent control on my barrel horse when we’re running a barrel pattern. It goes hand in hand. So to me, that I think is kind of a cool lesson that has taught me to just be comfortable with knowing I’m not in control of everything at all times when I do run and I ride my horse, I’ve struggled a lot with the phrase and the thought of being seen.
And Bernay Brown has some really good books about vulnerability and just showing up, going into the arena. Her arena is different. Where, when I literally heard her say go in their arena, I took a very literal because I would struggle with being seen and being in the spotlight. And it’s kind of ironic that I literally have a podcast because I’m kind of putting myself out there, but the idea of going in the pen to be seen, to have potential judgment, to have potential anything thing is a very scary thought for me.
And once I was able to wrap my head around being okay, going in there, Penn having my 15 to 24 seconds of fame, either barrels or pools, it’s okay to be seen. It’s okay to put yourself out there and actually enjoy your moment. It’s your moment to shine. And don’t shy away from, from it show up there as your full true self.
And it’s your time and enjoy your little moment. You showed up to the barrel race. You drove, however far you prepared you and your horse enjoy being seen. And that also comes with just the preparation made me think of, you know, actually planning and preparing for your best. And I’ve preached that a lot because when I started a new job and I’m halfway through the job, I still want to show up every day and I’ve said it before.
It’s like, it’s my interview day. I want to show up every day for the, we have something amazing happening. I don’t want to show up with no makeup on feeling like a bomb, not fully prepared for my day. And yeah, then I lose it on the chance of something awesome happening. And I literally have gotten two jobs with no resumes because I really feel my ability to show up as much my self, my true self, and be actually prepared for my day has made me really good connections.
And it has literally given me jobs with no resume because I was prepared. The example I’m going to give is when I was in college, I would go to class and I made sure I was prepared for my day. I didn’t show up in my pajamas and just get through the class and go home and go back to bed or something.
Maybe I did it once or twice, but for the most part, I was very much together. I showed up, I went out into the world and to, into society. I’m like, here I am, I’m prepared for anything happening this day. And because of that, I found out there was a popup event going on for lunch. And it was to find after grad students for a job I showed up, I literally didn’t have a resume with me, but I was prepared to be there.
And I talked to the HR people. I told them my situation and they gave me their contact to like, send us your resume. We’d like to have you. And that only happened because I put on real pants, partly, that’s why it happened. But seriously, I just tried to show up and be prepared for the best. And I think that’s what was happening.
And so when you ride and show up to a barrel race, I really think if you’re not prepared and you’re not, you don’t have pride in what you and your horse looked like and how prepared you are. You might not perform as good as you’re going to want to. So I really believe on that whole. It’s not just about the appearance, but it’s about how you feel. And I really stand beside look good, feel good. And if I feel good, I know I’m going to ride good.
And I’m going to show up in the world. Good. I’m going to feel more confident because I spent 15 more minutes on my outfit or something to make myself feel actually confident. And when I go to a barrel race, if my horse is covered in crap and doesn’t look good and has burrs or something, I’m not going to be proud to show him off.
And I’m not actually going to be proud to go in the arena and to be seen. And I want to be proud of the you’re in the arena. And I want to be seen and be comfortable being seen and being comfortable with potential judgment and blah, blah, whatever people mean. People say and stuff. I need to be okay with it. And the first step I think to me, being okay with it is showing up, ready for it, showing up, feeling good.
So being seen in the arena and in general, in real life, I think has played a big part for me and actually being comfortable doing that. The other thing, the other big takeaway that I’ve had that barrel racing has taught me and made me feel at peace with is the competition aspect of you’re not competing against other people.
You are very much running your own race. And I heard someone say that and the idea, and you know, the quote run your own race was mind blowing. It just was like an eyeopening moment where I was like, you know what? That is so, so true. And it’s in that with barrel racing. It’s in that with real life, we talk about comparison so so much, and you can’t compare yourself or your times to other people, you can’t watch their progress and compare it to yours because it is going to absolutely kill you.
And I learned that kind of the hard way where I would get envious and I’d be like, why is that happening to her? But not me. And then I’d almost be mad when someone would win. And that’s such an ugly, unhealthy thought to have of being like, Oh, that person’s doing it. That bothers me. Like, that’s not good. That’s not okay because that’s negative and negative feeds negativity. And it’s going to pretty much bite you in the ass because it’s probably gonna make you not do good because you’re just brewing up that negative energy up in your head. And it’s gonna be like, okay, fine.
You want to be negative. Here’s a bad run, a bad week, a bad day, whatever it is for you. But I just think the whole comparison thing needs to stop. And I learned that firsthand from barrel racing. And they say that comparison is the thief of joy.
And I feel that I’ve experienced it by when I would compare. And I instantly feel like I’m behind. And I compare someone, you know how I said, the good, bad I would compare. Someone’s good with my bad. And I’d be like, what the heck is happening? And I would feel so stuck in helpless. Like I couldn’t do anything. And I’d just be like, why is that person get everything? And I have nothing, and that’s not even showing any gratitude or your life and what you do have. It’s just not healthy for anybody when you compete and compare to other people. So stop doing it.
If you do, it’s so much easier said than done, but really when you’re able to let go of that comparison, thought it really puts you at ease. So with even school and people’s jobs and boyfriends or relationships you see on Facebook and you wonder, Oh, they have all that.
Why don’t I have that? And you need to think of what you do have and think of if someone’s doing really well, that’s amazing. Good for them. You don’t know what they’ve overcome to get to that point. Just like you might do really well for a bit. And you shouldn’t even feel bad about doing well. And that’s also something I’m pretty sure people struggle with because if I struggle with it, chances are someone else might as well.
Hopefully I’m not the only one. But when you do, while you almost feel bad for doing well or feeling weird, like, Oh, I did a lot better than someone else. And then it makes you feel uncomfortable where that shouldn’t happen either. It should be very much everyone can cheer on everybody and be happy for everyone’s individual accomplishments. Because at the end of the day, it’s only about us.
It’s only, we’re only competing against ourselves. No one else, obviously in sports, the competition aspect, we need to kind of, I think divide the actual company petition and the results to our own competition we have with ourself and our own personal results, because those are two very different things. So when we do go and we run our own race, and if we accomplished our own personal best, but we didn’t beat everybody, that’s still okay. And when we see someone getting a cool job promotion, that we’re really jealous of, it’s okay to be happy for them because that’s their path.
They might’ve done some incredible things to get them there that you don’t know about. So all you can do is just be happy that they’re getting there. And then you know that it is possible for everybody in, you know, when people come from the bad to over to the really good, or they always have had really good, it seems like, and it’s makes you sour.
You shouldn’t even look at them. They get them off your Facebook, get anything that makes you feel that way out of your viewpoint. And I went through that where I got rid of Instagram people that made me instantly start judging myself because they were really good. Uh, not intentionally I’m sure, but they are really good pages to make me feel like crap. I would look at them and be like, Oh, they’re so pretty. They have all this stuff. They go on trips. Their life looks amazing. And do you not see that? Like I’m instantly thinking of all the things I don’t have and I’m feeling jealous and envious of this other person who I really don’t even know they’re on Instagram. Like half the people don’t know in real life. So how on earth can you compare yourself with them when you don’t even know their real life?
That actually brings up another point that I’m going to thank my girl. Bernay Brown again for is. She said that people are hard to hate up, close something along those lines. And that has stuck with me clearly. I’m saying it again. It really has stuck with me because if you actually got up close to someone and got to learn them, you wouldn’t probably feel that way. You wouldn’t feel annoyed that they’re just on top forever.
You would eventually probably feel really happy for them. And it’s a beautiful sport of barrel racing and getting through life. Okay, you need to be happy for other people’s wins. And in turn, when you have a win, you need to feel happy for yourself and other people feel happy for you as well. If you just generate that healthy, good energy of being excited for people’s wins and then being excited for your own wins.
Like doesn’t, that seem so much better than being sour about someone winning because ultimately their win has nothing to do with you has to do with them. So let it be about them for a minute and not have it instantly be compared about what you haven’t done or what you haven’t won, because girl, it’s going to be your time soon. I guarantee it. And when it is that your time, you don’t want people to be jealous of you because you know, you’ve worked your butt off to get to that point.
And if people are jealous of you, you going to think that they really shouldn’t be because you’ve overcome your own set of obstacles to get there. And we’re all different. So seeing the results are actually seeing the hard work that went into those results. So when you see someone amazing Instagram, their perfect pole bending video, and they’re like, so happy, all that stuff.
I know it might be easy to think, wow. They seem to do really well all the time. I can’t get it together for one pole run. I can’t do it. And you know, that’s okay, that’s your own struggle that you’re going to overcome. And I made a post on Instagram recently, where it says, struggle, perseverance equals respect if you struggle, but you persevere. People are going to see that. And when you come and you get victory and the victory was yourself, and you’ve made that improvement, like your own personal improvement, you know, people are going to be happy for you. And it’s a great feeling. You don’t want people to feel how you might feel about someone else. You know what I mean? Like if someone wins, they, the winner doesn’t want to feel uncomfortable winning the winner wants to win or do really well and have people feel good about that and not make them uncomfortable that they did.
Okay. And that’s just another version of just super unhealthy behavior of someone’s way up here doing well. Someone’s down there. And I mean in life and barrel racing, even just in life in general, if people are like way down there and someone’s climbing a ladder to success, whatever that ladder looks like for them and the people at the bottom are like, why are you going up that high? Why are you doing that? Why even bother? That’s not healthy. That’s not good for you. All people to encourage you, if you are at the bottom or you’re at the top, but you all are encouraging each other up. That’s when you really win, has nothing to do with your results or your time. But if you are literally able to encourage everybody at all levels, if they’re all trying to go up the same ladder to get the same version of success for them themselves, that’s winning has nothing to do with the competitiveness of barrel racing or the competitive of anything in life.
Boom. And you know what? I’m keeping that boom in there. I don’t care. That was awesome. And so true. And I really hope you guys are able to get something from that. This is the end of my TedTalk. Just kidding. But I hope that was nice. There’s a lot of other things I can say that barrel racing has taught me as far as, you know, the fitness aspect of it. And I’ve said it a few times and hopefully, you know, like I’m into the fitness. I love it. And I know it makes a difference with my writing and my mental performance. Fitness has no negative benefit. If you do any research, you know, like being active, eating, right, drinking your water, and just trying to improve yourself on a daily basis is going to help you barrel racing life, all of the above every way.
So I just encourage you to, if you want to step up your game in barrel racing, or in general, with your job, your fitness level relationships with you or others, to try to strive, to do make a 1% difference every day. If you can do one thing, that’s going to help you. I was just thinking of it the other day. Actually, I think it was literally today. Sorry it was today that if you do or don’t do something, the time is gonna pass regardless. So if you sit on your butt all day, but you want to work out and you’re like, no, I don’t know. Or, you know, you have all the vitamins, but you don’t take them just small things like that. If you don’t take it, the time is going to pass or you choose to take it to help you. And I feel like I’ve kind of struggled with that.
We’re thinking, Oh, like this much time went by. What’s the point anymore? Where there’s always a point because you always have tomorrow to make that change. And just because you slacked off for a week or a month or a year, you never went to the gym. Today is no better time than to start because tomorrow’s coming before, you know it a whole nother year is gonna pass and you never did the thing that you actually want to do. So even new barrel racers are people that want to buy that next barrel Horace or like step up their game, get a step up horse, whatever it looks like to you. There’s no better time than now in that sense of the time’s going to pass. So if it’s something you want to do, try and make it happen and take those vitamins, drink that water. Don’t wait till tomorrow.
Better yourself to better your horse. This is the end of my podcast episode. So if you like this or even better, if you can relate to this and want to actually share your story, I would love to have you on my show. I would love to sit down with everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re world champ just starting. It doesn’t matter. And I’d love to hear, like, I want to hear people’s stories.
So the question I have for you is why has barrel racing taught you that is translated over to your day to day life, such as all the examples I just gave.
If you have anything else you wanted to add, or if you can relate to this, let me know in the comments and I want to hear about it. So if you want to get together for a nice little recorded conversation to answer this question of what barrel racing has taught you, let me know don’t be a stranger. Let’s talk about it. So thank you for listening to this episode. I wish all the best for this week and we’ll talk next Tuesday. Bye for now.
Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.
The power of meeting the right people is something Sarai has realized in her pursuit of learning from the best in the barrel racing industry. Today, we sat down to go over the reasons you should put yourself out there, ask for help in a way that shows your determination and fearless attitude towards being a better trainer and rider.
Internships are something we both have in common and we touched on how and why they help! For the better or for worse, we learn through those experiences and we have a lot to share!
Listen now and let me know in the review section what your thoughts are!
transcribed interview
follow Sarai & Dream Fast Media
transcribed interview
I’m Shelby Olyschlager. This is we can hustle and we are barrel racers. Join us on our journey to personal growth for us and our horses together, we can hustle. Welcome everybody to another episode of the weekend hustle podcast. Today, I have my super exciting guests here as Sarah is here with us, AKA countryole, which kind of funny that we only really met on Instagram. And we’ve talked a bunch of times and kind of got to know each other a little bit. And that’s why I was really excited to have you on because you’re pretty much kind of living part of my dream right now.
So if you’d like, please give us an introduction and tell us what you’re doing and just all the good details. Totally. So, hi guys, my name’s Sarah Angelle. I am from Texas down here in the central Texas area. And for most of my life, I have been a barrel racer, I guess you’d say. And I’ve spent probably the last five years or so really working towards being able to do it as a career. Um, so that’s kind of where I’m at right now. So, you’ve been working along and doing a lot of internships. Can you tell us a bit about that? Like just the experience you’ve had in like every place you’ve been to, cause you said been doing it for about five years. So how as that whole experience has that been for you? So first of all, like interning is such a rewarding and humbling thing.
You, a lot of times when I get asked, what can I do to be better? Or what can I do to learn more? My first response is to tell them, go ride with someone, you know, go find someone who knows more than you, whether that’s barrel horse trainer or cold starter or raining calibers guy, anybody who has more knowledge than you do, we’ll be able to teach you a phenomenal amount about riding horses. So, you know, I tried to practice what I was preaching essentially in college. My very first internship was with Brandon and Bo Kellogg and Bo and Randa they’re actually origin m Florida and Bo had one quite a bit at the futurity stuff. I spent about a year and a half with them and learned a lot. And after I got done with school, I came home. And for a while, you know, I tried to do the real job thing.
Like a lot of us have to do, you know, adult responsibilities. Um, and I kept going back to the horses and I finally asked myself, you know, what do you need to do to make this a reality and not just something you do on the weekends. And I took a leap of faith and decided that I was going to go work for joy Wargo. I had attended one of her clinics in South Texas and had found out she was looking for work and I took a leap of faith because at the time I had a great job with the state. I wasn’t thinking about leaving, but I asked her “can I apply?” And she’s like, yeah, send me your resume. So that was a really unique experience. I drove up there to interview with her following weekend and her and her husband hired me on the spot.
So it was really, really cool. I spent a year and a half there. And now I’m back here in the central Texas area writing for Janet Staton, who has been a mentor of mine for years. She’s actually the reason I probably got the job with joy because she recommended me. And it’s kind of been an interesting time right now because we’ve had some unusual circumstances pop up and Janet injured herself at one of our races and I’ve had to jump on a couple for her. So that’s been pretty exciting and rewarding to do. Um, but yeah, like all this, all this time, I’ve been trying to work to be better and ride under these trainers that know more than I do and seek knowledge because I really think that’s the only way you can get.
Absolutely. I love that so much. And you said a few things that I’ve told myself and I just like, exactly, like just preach it out. Is that like I read a quote once where it kind of said, you know, you don’t ask someone for directions that has never been where you want to go. And interning is such a good outlet to get completely involved in that world in work, alongside and with people that are getting where you want to go. And it’s like, you know, your goals and for you, it’s like, you really want to make it your thing. Like you want to not work and you want riding and training horses to be your goal. So it’s like, you’re putting yourself on the right path to get there. And it’s just like, it’s so obviously necessary. But you know, like I’ve already found some people that are like, Oh, cause I did an intern for one summer and it was such a amazing experience.
And I was so sad to be done because it was like going back to reality. And then if I want to go again, I have to like remake that plan for myself. Like, you know, like quit the job, get that one way ticket and just go do it. And people are like, Oh, I’m so jealous. I wish I could do that. Like, how are you able to do that? And I’m like, I just made it happen. Like it’s not easy. And like you said, like it was a tough decision I’m sure. But looking back, I’m sure. In retrospect, like you’re so glad like you have, and even right now, like, so you went to Fort Smith. I was like so excited for you. Cause you were saying like that Janet hurt herself and you dumped ride some of her horses. So can you tell us a bit about that experience? Definitely. Um,
I will say just like you said, you know, people ask you, you know, how do you do it? How do you go off and do all that to just to capitalize on that too real quick. I have to add that sometimes the internship deals are, they’re hard. They’re hard on you physically. They’re hard on you emotionally. Um, but it helps a lot when you have great people to work for. And I was really fortunate, like all the time I got to spend with Brandon and Bo and all the time I got to spend a like joy and her husband Trent, cause they treated me so well. Um, and all the time I’m getting to spend now with Janet and her husband, Doug stay in. So I just want to make sure I mentioned, make sure that you are working for good people and you deserve to be treated with respect.
And don’t forget that if you’re out there looking for something, but back to your question about Fort Smith. Um, so I guess I’ll start in Guthrie at the lady at the stallion stakes, it was round two of the futurity there and Janet was on her second to last horse. I think we had, we had four entered that one and she ran into the first barrel and I, the horses, she did it on as the one that I’ve been doing good on for the last couple of weeks. His name is topper. He’s like 16 to probably weighs 1300 pounds.
I think he just set really hard to turn. And she had already had some, a strain going on with her groin and he just set to turn and it got it. The rest of the way he, like she said, it was all she could do to hang on the rest of their end. And when she didn’t come outside to meet me was their last horse. I knew something was wrong. I got inside and she couldn’t walk. So that was a great experience because in that moment, like I didn’t have a hat or, or anything to get on the next mayor. So Ryan Budokon, who literally was the horse before our number one horse Dessie shoes, number one, that day Ryan runs her horse and the two spot and then gets off and gets on dusty and run through for Dan it and made a beautiful run. Like it was flawless, really nice mayor. But, um, so that’s kinda where it started as we were like, well, what do we do?
Um, I was, so I was supposed to go home after Guthrie. I was supposed to go home and ride Colts and hit your ad back down to Texas with an owner of ours. Well, since Janet couldn’t walk very well and probably wouldn’t be able to set up the stalls or do anything like that by herself, we decided I probably needed this day. And, um, as we were trying to figure out what to do, she was talking about, you know, who she thought would be able to ride. The three we were taking to Fort Smith. Um, she’s got famous Jaguar who is really talented Colt, but he’s really fast. And it’s hard to get his timing on. We asked for an underground him and we had the shiny little red Corvette. Justin Anjell wrote him for it. And finally, the last one she’s like, well, Sarah, I think I’m just going to let you ride topper. Cause I don’t know anybody else to put on him.
Like your use of the horse. Yeah. Taking him through the barrels. I’m not really fast or anything. Um, but it was exciting. You know, I think a lot of us could say that in that situation, it would be super exciting to get asked to jump ride, but it was, it was, I was nervous because the great thing about Janet is she like had no qualms about it. She’s like, Oh, you’re going to do fine. I have complete faith in you that made it hard to be real nervous for someone to give you that courage to do well. But I was, you know, I was anticipating so exciting for Smith.
He was, and he’s a green coat. He’s a Colt that had, um, kissing spine surgery a little around the same time last year as right now. So he hadn’t been entered until March. So he’d only maybe made like seven competitive runs. And we were just hoping, you know, for the best. And when he ran, I think his first run was like a high, 17 to three horses out of making the bast 40 back to the finals. And we couldn’t have been prouder of him. And I was just glad I didn’t fall off. Oh, come on. Well, that’s actually kind of the nice thing is he said, you know, he’s only had like seven or so competitive runs. So I feel like the, just you and your expectations are going to be a bit lower because it’s like, you don’t know what to expect. Like you hope for the best. And obviously Janet had complete faith in you that you’re going to do your best and really showcase her horse. Well, and it’s just nice though. Cause yeah, like you didn’t fall off. So mission accomplished, like everything else is like a cherry on top. Like you didn’t really well considering everything that was going on. So it must have been such a cool experience. And it really wasn’t, you know, like, um, Janet, she made me cry like that day. Cause I’m an emotional person.
I walked him back to the stall after that first draft. And I was so proud of him. She came up from the stands in her golf cart. She wasnt walking very well, walked over to the, and she’s like, well, she’s like, you did a great job. And I was like, thank you. And she’s like, I hope that everyone has somebody in there that has that much faith in them. I truly believe that that encouragement and that faith that she has in me really has upped my mental game, ask a couple weeks, given me, you know, I’m not so dumb as to be completely invincible, but it’s giving me that feeling of invincibility, worried about anyone else. Because as long as Janet is happy and she knows I can do my job, that’s really all I care about. Exactly. But he came back in the constellation a time, a 17, Oh, I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it would have qualified in the first day we were out of it for the constellation round.
Cause that round is tough, but I couldn’t have been happier with him. It was such a unique, exciting, humbling experience. And you know, the biggest, I think the biggest win of the whole weekend was one just making Janet proud and to like all of the wonderful compliments I received from people who I’ve looked up to since I was a kid, that was pretty amazing. That is awesome. I’m so happy to hear that. And even like you said, like, you didn’t make it, but you improved and you can’t even be happier despite like, you know, the results might’ve not been like in the top or whatever, but still like your results were amazing, like all at the end of the day. And that’s such a cool experience that I’m glad, like you got to experience that I was a once in a lifetime kind of deal, but that’s how it’s kind of interesting.
Like just how the stars all aligned for that for you. Like if it sucks, but like if she didn’t hurt herself, all that wouldn’t have happened. Right. It’s like such a cool, unique like experience. So that actually brings me to something else. Like just you working in getting compliments and talking to people that you aspire to be like that is to me is such a big key to success is just, you know, obviously having mentors that are where you want to go and being connected with them and also just surrounding yourself with that level of competition, is it makes a huge difference on how you perform. And like when I was in the States going to the fizz bomb, it’s kind of interesting. It was a similar setup where the girl that was supposed to ride her Derby horse got hurt. And so I ran them all weekend and it was so cool.
We did, we placed like, I think 13th and the average, and it was just an insane experience because you’re competing against those people. And for me just being in Ontario, I’ve never competed against that level of competition, especially charity and Derby like that. So that in itself for me was just incredible to, you know, like have your standards so high because you’re competing against the best. So do you think that’s changed a lot for your writing? Just kind of comparing yourself to the best and knowing like it’s possible, you know, it’s funny. I think if you really break it down, you can’t so much compare yourself to the other trainers. Cause we all do it different that might have similar styles, but at the end of the day, we’re all unique. Just like the wishes are for sure. Yes. That being said, I think in anything you do in life, but especially like the futurity deal, if you’re not surrounded by peers who are also striving to improve their craft, striving to make better horses, to be better horseman, you know, to win more.
I think that you’re probably limiting yourself. I know for there was a time in my life when I was not as competitive when I was not really doing the horse deal and it was after my good mentor of mine passed away and I didn’t have anything, I got distanced myself and it definitely affected me and affected my ability as a competitor. And I would say even just because I loved it so much and I was so far away from it, it affected me just in general, you know, my level of happiness or what I love to do. So yes, like in all aspects, whether it’s, um, your competitiveness, your mental game, your actual writing ability. I think the more you can study the people who are better than you study with the winners, you’re doing ask some questions, talk with them, you know, sit with the winners.
Like people say, you’re definitely going to exponentially increase your ability to do well. Not for the long run. Totally. Yeah. Choosing your tribe and just having that group of people that are on the same mission, right? Like you’re on the same path, the same goal. And you’re like each other’s cheerleaders to some degree. And I liked that a lot. The one thing you said is just like, I’m like first just the learning aspect is like, it’s never ending. And also what you said is just the level of happiness. When your horse passed, then you’re just were like, unsure about what you’re doing. I feel that so much. And I think when you’re unhappy like that, or you just feel Discontentment because it’s life trying to nudge you in a direction, like it’s the discomfort that we’re able to move and train our lives. And like, I feel that sometimes, and obviously you felt that and you made a change because you’re like, you know, I’m not content with where I’m at.
And like, I’m sure if you asked yourself the same question back then, as you asked now about it, you’d have totally different answers because like you’re actually doing what you want giving it and going for it. I went back, even had a couple, like couple of years ago before I really started getting serious about studying under other people. I would have told you that there there’s no way I can’t make a living training horses. There’s no way I’m hoping I will be able to pay my bills at some point. I don’t expect to get rich by it by any means, but I don’t think that’s why any of us do it. Exactly. It’s not about the money. It’s about the horses and the awesome people that they bring into our lives. And that’s really, that’s really the biggest thing. I think if you think about it, that’s what I love.
Like, yeah. Like what you said about the comparing. I meant more like the state of like, like what’s possible for us. Like we see someone that we’re striving to be like, and we know they’re human, we’re human. If we really put our effort in, like, it is possible to do that. And for you, it is possible to do it. Like you don’t know when it’s exactly going to happen, but like you said, it’s like, we’re not there to make millions because it’s unrealistic. But like you said, like it’s the love and the passion and that’s where I think chorus people totally have it right. Is because they’re doing it. Not for the money they’re doing it to live the life that they actually want to. Then I just think that’s like a beautiful thing that people they’re okay with, that this is their mission. And it doesn’t matter.
The other thing too, like you mentioned, like the security girls and like watching them and, and aspiring to be like them, I’d really like to point out to, especially like for any like younger listeners, like all these young girls out there, these young girl racers and know, we all know that there’s always some kind of pettiness or drama going on. Typically it’s unavoidable. But the futurity girls, like when Janet got hurt this past week, so many people stepped up for us and helped. So many people stepped in and were like, what can I do for you? There was never any, you know, there was never any attitude or pettiness or anything like that, that sometimes today, unfortunately. And I think that not only are they excellent trainers and the horsemen on the back of scores, but a lot of them are excellent role models and just upstanding people with good hearts and they’re humble and they want to see each other when exactly that’s so important.
That’s what I was going to say. It’s like, they’re not thinking that the other person’s a com like their competition. It’s not like, Oh good. Like she hurt herself now. She’s not there. Like, that’s just so negative where it’s like, you, like there, they’re like on the same team to some degree. And that’s kind of one thing I thought about, it’s like, we’re all barrel racers. We all obviously love horses and love the sport and we’re here together. So it’s like, how can you be so negative towards someone that is literally in the same court as you? You know what I mean? Like it’s like, we’re all the same mission. So yeah. You and all your competition, like we’re all here. Like let’s have fun with our horses. Let’s enjoy it. And yeah, you do see the negative or the more sour people, but it’s like, no, one’s got time for that.
And I love that about the future. Do people, like you said, like they’re just stepping in to help each other, help each other get up. It’s important. Definitely. The whole, like choosing the people you’re around. And the one thing you said you do a lot is just the attending clinics and trying to extend your network. And like you, like, you got a job from joy because you went to a clinic, which I love that. Like, I just am like, I’m networker. Like if you network yourself and you just put yourself out there, like you opened so many opportunities that you have no idea even available or possible. So tell us a bit about like, just your experience going to some clinics that are completely irrelevant or like not barrel related, like you’re into like the horsemanship stuff. So how has that been in improving your writing?
Um, so two of my most favorite lines that I’ve been to probably recently, um, a couple of months ago, I got to go to fill how many horsemanship clinic that was a two day event. And that was awesome. Mainly because with bill, we were starting at square one with the building blocks that are all a part of the worst that we, most of us are probably used to riding after they’ve been put together. Right? So we took apart all those blocks and we said, this is what this one’s for. This is what this block does. This is how you manipulate this one to do this. And I won’t lie initially. Some of it I didn’t understand. And I think that’s because I had not broken it down to its simplest form. He would, you know, like we did a lot of them like yielding the hip.
And at the time, the very first day, I’m like, why are we doing this? I don’t want to disengage my horses. Why are you telling me to kick my hip? But then we applied it and emotion and my teaching to disengage, it’s it. You can teach it to move forward and carry itself up underneath itself at the same time, for sure. So it might not have been what I wanted to accomplish, but it was something I needed to learn to do in order to get to that last point. So I had a lot of experiences like that at Phil’s clinic and he was phenomenal. So I definitely encourage anybody to attend. One of those. I also really enjoyed when I was working with joy, her and transcend me to a Ron rolls clinic. Yeah. He was fantastic. Ron is really great. Um, because he breaks down the mechanics for almost like anyone to be able to understand.
And that’s a skill, we simplify it so much. Yes, definitely. Um, but, but really the takeaway from all of those horsemanship clinics is that half of the barrel races, like before you even start going through the pattern, and there’s a lot of stuff that those horses need to know about being broken their body and respecting your hands and your legs, and you knowing how to ask them with those things that they need to be able to do before you go to the pattern. Um, and I think that’s probably one of the biggest pieces of advice I’d give anybody is just make sure that your horse really, really knows his stuff and you know how to ask it. So where are you going to the pattern? How you’re influencing your horse. I wrote that down after watching a few of my, maybe not so good run.
And I’m like, thinking like, how could I change what happened? And I was just thinking like, how am I literally my body, what I’m doing when I’m running? Like, how am I influencing my horse? And the one thing as well as just how much our horses, our teachers, if we let it happen, like how much we actually can learn just from like a lot of, I think a lot of people start from maybe more trial and error approach and they take a few clinics and then they experiment to make it work for you because you can watch those people. And like you said earlier, everyone has their own style and it needs to make sense to them, but it needs to work for them in order. Like, and I think Ashley Shaffer said something. I read an article where she just said, basically you might follow a style, but you’re going to go back to your roots.
Like basically, meaning like no matter what you try, or if you watch and learn from someone you’re eventually going to fall back to you, how it works for you. So it is a lot of just, she has her horse riding as much as you can in different horses to learn what you, what works for you and just knowing like your own body and how it’s really changing your horse. And that’s the one thing, like, I think you said a bit before is just like learning from your horses and just, you know, like how important that is to really be listening. So is there anything you’ve kind of say about that? Definitely. You know, you talking about like the body control thing, it really is so important. And I did not realize just how important until I started working for joy. So those first couple of weeks I rode with her, I wanted to cry because I couldn’t grasp what she was trying to tell me to do and get my legs, like get my mom half and my top half to run at the same time to do the things I needed to do to be mechanically correct on the back of the words.
So that was a learning curve for me, but it was so important because it’s truly, it really has stepped up my feel of the animals when you’re sitting on them and being able to get your timing when you’re on their backs, especially, you know, at high rates of speed, that stuff is so important. Um, and I think the only way you can really teach yourself to consistently spend hours in the saddle every day. And I know it’s hard for some girls, cause all of us to have access of 15 head a work. It was dried every day, but you joy always to ride your horse with intention every day. and soon as you step into the saddle, you need to have a game plan and ride with intention. We’d be aware of your body and the reactions you get. When you ask for something when you lay a leg, do they, or do they not move when you pick up a rein, do they pull on you or do they respect you and give you some kind of response? All those things are so important. And I think we can definitely all spend time, you know, being more mindful every time we get in a saddle or what exactly it is we ask for with our bodies because sometimes it’s as simple as a little bitty shift in your hips that will get a reaction out of one. You can learn those horses inside and out like that and what works for them, um, and be consistent with your writing. They will consistently improve and they will consistently perform in the arena.
Definitely. That’s so amazing. It’s so true. And so important that like you said, like all people just don’t even think of like a slight hip change or anything like that is going to make a difference and they don’t even feel themselves to it. So it’s like, if you don’t actually feel yourself, make that adjustment, how are you going to be consistent? And just the writing with intent is like mind blowing and so important. Like when you actually do that. And actually think when I put my foot in a stirrup, what are we going to do? And feeling yourself, yeah. Move your horse. Right. And it, yeah, like it takes a really long time, but just even with the whole like networking thing, I bet people, if they wanted 15 horses to ride or like just to get help it’s if you reached out to someone local and it’s like, they have lots of horses or they have training horses or whatever, be like, I’ll help you for a day. Like you don’t have to intern in relocate for life or for a year or half year. Like literally if they’re close, ask them and be like, I don’t mind coming your stalls, whatever.
And I’d like to ride a few horses and ride with you. And I’m sure people, if they know you’re willing and wanting to learn, I don’t think people have any problem helping, you know what I mean? I had a lot of people ask me like, Oh, like, how did you get that? Or what should I do? And maybe sacrificing some things you have now to go learn more so you can do better later, but people hold themselves back. Because the biggest first thing you can do is just walk up to someone and introduce yourself and say hi, I really would love to come ride with you. I’d really love to spend a day learning. I’ll come clean, your stalls, I’ll come groom your horses. I’ll do whatever you want me to do. If you’ll ride with me for an hour, it’s just like that. And you would be surprised how many of these girls, especially the futurity girls, that’d be like, yeah, come on.
They’re so barrier. Like, they’d be happy to have someone come out to their place. And like, yeah, people are scared of it. But honestly I think those girls really look at it as almost a privilege and an honor that people want to work with them and learn from them. It’s not intimidating. Like it is kind of intimidating, but I think it is mostly in your head of you’re putting those people on such a pedestal where it’s like a person, like a person, like, you know, if you just be yourself, be eager and obviously you are eager. If you’re going to take that step and it’s not going to go unnoticed. Exactly. I’ve told people a lot. Like you, you just have to go ask for one and consistently show up for them and yourself. Like whoever it is that you’re willing to go ride with, you know, make that relationship.
Now you want to go ride with Jolene Montgomery. Maybe she doesn’t need an intern right now. You should still reach out and make that connection example, ride with joy, reach out and make that connection, you know, show them that true serious show them that your intent is truly to learn and want to be part of a program that will teach them that you spend that time building those relationships. Generally they will grow. And the people who are brave like that, who will reach out to someone and be like, Hey, I’d really love to come ride with you. People who are genuine about those things, those girls will remember you. Oh, for sure. Yeah, exactly. And like what you said about showing up and even after you get the job, like where you get the intern, like don’t like, just give it your all, because like you said, like those things don’t go unnoticed. And that’s what I learned a lot is when I was it. And I like,
I try and show up as my best self and optimistic, eager, and just kind of be like, yes, I’ll do that. Yep. Yep. Okay. What’s next? Like, you know, hustle kind of thing. Like get going and just being ahead of the laws and that’s important with the horse industry. Like that’s what trainers want is they don’t want someone that takes initiative because they see something, they see an empty water bucket and they’re on it. They see something and they’re just like, okay, like we’re here. We’re part of the program. Like you said, and you do have to adapt pretty easily to someone else’s program, which like, there is that window of, you know, the transition of learning the horses, learning how to do stuff. But at once you have it down, it’s up to you to kind of maintain that and just really show yourself like the best self. And that’s when you know that connection might introduce you to someone else and it just snowballs. And before you know it, you have a network of amazing people.
Yeah. And that network is what will get you everywhere. You need to go. And it’s very true. You have to have the initiative for these kinds of deals. The internships are hard. Like I said, they’re hard on you mentally. They’re hard on you physically. Sometimes you have to learn not to take things personally to be mentally strong because even if they love you, there’s probably still going to be gays here. And there were things maybe don’t go fire, right? And you just have to be prepared to be your best every single day that you have to be a self starter. If you’re willing to go into that deal. And someone has to, you know, wait on you hand and foot. And someone has to tell you what to do every second of the day, the internship deals, probably not for you to be motivated. Self-starting you have to, like you said, be able to think ahead and be prepared for all situations and be on top of stuff. Because you know, when there’s 10, 15, 20 head of horses in the barn, there’s no time for errors and there’s really no room for mistakes. You know, horses that belong to people that were supposed to be caring for intense, intense, but at the end of the day, very, very rewarding. So it was for networking.
So worth it. And that’s the one thing as well, like the whole taking things personally and feeling, you know, like it is a mental obstacle to intern because you know, like you’re here. And then all of a sudden you intern, you’re like bottom of the totem pole. Like that’s what interns are known for across the board. Like in any business or any, any thing, interns are the bottom and you are putting yourself willingly in that position. So you kind of have to remember that, like I’m not here to be the top trainer right now. Like I’m learning from them. So yeah, I am at the bottom and just accepting life. Isn’t going to be rainbows and butterflies for a while, you know? And that’s part of the deal. Like you’re signing literally signing up for that. But at the same time, I’d like to say for anyone listening, that they’re interested in it or they’re doing it.
And like you said, at the beginning, which I can totally relate to is just knowing your worth still. And to be treated respectfully, no matter what, like, yeah, there might be hard days, but there’s still like, you’re still a human. And if you’re treated in dehumanize in your experience, that’s not okay. And it’s not. So like just knowing, knowing your own worth and your value, like you’re here to learn from people, but at the same time, like it can be a tough situation. And if you feel completely undervalued, it’s effecting your mental health a lot. And if you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel from it, then maybe it is time it’s okay to move on and maybe try somewhere else.
Yes. I think it’s almost an unspoken thing in the horse industry. Just how draining internship deals can be sometimes. Cause I sure we have all heard there’s horror stories about how people get treated, you know? Um, I’ve been really fortunate. I’ve been really fortunate to always be treated, you know, pretty darn well. And um, but yes, like there’s absolutely no reason to stay somewhere that is unhealthy for your mental wellbeing or otherwise. Um, there are so many other opportunities out there, even if you think, even if you think where you’re at is where you need to be to learn the most, you know, don’t ever be afraid to leave and go to the next thing because it’s definitely not worth, you know, stressing over being heartbroken over because there are certain people you’re never, ever going to be able to make happy no matter what you do. Um, and that’s it life in general, I think you don’t have to, you don’t have to let it consume you. You can go on to the next thing for sure. Like you said,
Yeah, know your worth and if it’s not what you thinking are not there and you give it the time it deserves, but if it’s still is not changing, then yeah, just it’s okay to change and it might be scary and the unknown might not, might be scary, but it’s like relationships and all that. Like, is it better to be with something that, and how unhealthy or something different, right. Different is scary, but it’s just like, it is. I find interning. It changes a lot of your perspective just in life in general. So with that being said is why I think they’re amazing. And like, I salute you for sticking with it and staying with it for a really long time. And it’s been years that you’ve been doing it. So I just think that already in itself is like such an accomplishment. And just really like, it’s putting you down the path that you ultimately want to go down. So I gave you credit for that. Like it’s quite an accomplishment and yeah, people actually like have questions and stuff. I’m sure you’re happy to answer them.
Oh yeah. You know, it’s funny that you say that like Janet and I had a conversation last night, coming home from the jackpot, which was, I have to throw, I have to throw a plug for Janet. We were so excited. Her four year old, the one I ran for Smith, he won the jackpot last night. I saw that. I feel like he’s my little baby and he’s just being so good anyways. But you know, you mentioned this earlier, too. She went back to, you know, Sarah. Um, I was like, Janet, thank you so much for letting me enjoy him and ride him. You know? Like you don’t, you didn’t have to thank you for believing in me. And she’s like, well, she’s like, of course she said, you know, I told you, you she’s like, I knew you already knew it all. You just needed a chance to shine and look now you’ve gotten it.
I’m like, I know, but I didn’t want you to get hurt for it to happen. And she’s like, Oh Sarah. She’s like, everything happens for a reason. Satan is a phenomenal human being. And I’m very, very lucky to have her as a friend and mentor. Very, very blessed. But yes, hit me up on Facebook, Instagram country, all which the story behind that is it’s a mix of two marriage names that are no longer with me today. So I’ve just always a Marshall and country bullion or at control on, on Facebook, you know, message me or wherever, trying to think of that’s all. But I’ll like add all your details in the show notes. So when people look they’ll have like a quick link, if they have any questions or anything, they would ask you and follow your journey because it is quite remarkable. So I just want to say thanks again for joining me and talking about this. Cause it was a good one. I feel like we got lots out there that needs to be shared. So I thank you so much for doing this and accepting and thank you so much for letting me get on here and talk. And it’s so exciting, you know, to be on a podcast I’ve never been on one before and been great so far. And I know a lot of people are enjoying it. So I hope that everyone will get something valuable out of this to help them. Thanks again. Awesome things, lady.
And thank you all loyal listeners to our listening to another episode of this week’s podcast with another amazing barrel racer. If you enjoy this episode, as much as I did, please, I would appreciate it if you can subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to my channel and all social media to get more of this type of stuff. I would completely appreciate and love you forever, If you want to give me a rating on Apple podcast, it will go a long way and means so much to me. So you better do it. Just kidding, but for real, any ways, that’s all for now. We’ll talk next week. Bye guys.
