Blogging from A-Z - Arena

I wasn't sure what topic I was going to use for the first letter in this Blogging from A-Z series, but Friday night my daughter was in her first rodeo and the word arena just kept coming to my mind.

Mercie is 14 years old and loves her horses. Last year, our church youth group worked in the concession stand at the annual rodeo in our town. Mercie volunteered to help and got to watch part of the rodeo. When she saw the girls barrel racing, she was really interested! She came home that night and told me, "I want to barrel race!" 

I knew she was serious, so I called my oldest daughter's friend, Sarah, who does barrel race, and talked to her about Mercie. She was going to college in two months, but she agreed to help Mercie learn the basics of barrel racing over the summer. We had a few horses, but the kids didn't really ride them much. Domino is a gentle, stubborn, and 20-year old horse and the only horse we had that she could work with. 

saddling up Domino

The first thing Sarah did was teach Mercie the basics of horse care and how to catch and saddle her own horse. This was the best thing ever. Mercie is a really quick learner, surprising even Sarah! She worked with Domino for several weeks, learning how to saddle and ride. They tried to teach Domino how to run barrels, but he is too old and stubborn. Sarah started taking Mercie to her house to work with her horses. 

In the meantime, we were looking for a good barrel-racing horse for Mercie to use. Barrel-racing horses are expensive, like $10,000 as an average price for an average barrel horse around here. We had another horse in our pasture, Butterfinger, that is only a few years old. He was not broken yet, but Mercie separated him and put him in a different pasture. We also got him cut (made him a gelding) to help calm him down. She started working with him, and now she has him where she can put and tighten a saddle on him! She hasn't ridden him yet but I know she will soon. She plans to train him to be a barrel horse too!

working with Butterfinger

Anyway, Sarah went to college in August, and Mercie was on her own with her horses. She had learned how to take care of them and work with them, and she took the initiative every day with them. We took her to ride a horse some locals were selling that is an awesome barrel-racing horse and she fell in love with him. The owners wanted $10,000 for him and we were praying about it before we decided to buy him. Once we made the decision to go ahead and buy the horse, they had sold it to someone else. Mercie was really devastated, but I told her that the right horse was out there waiting for her!

Meanwhile my dad was talking to his friend who has roping horses about Mercie, and his friend told my dad to bring her over day. He wasn't trying to sell one his horses, but he had one that was a great 12-year-old paint horse he was willing to part with to the right person. Mercie went over and rode Lil Bit and knew that was the horse she wanted. Lil Bit wasn't a barrel horse, but she had been a roping horse so she knew rodeo and was trainable. 

riding in the Queen's Contest

We got a great deal on this roping horse (they can also be super expensive) because the owner was friends with my dad and also was impressed with Mercie. He didn't have time to ride and rope on her anymore, so he was willing to sell her to someone that he knew would use her. We brought Lil Bit home and she began training her to run barrels a month or so before Christmas. She works with Lil Bit every day - she never has to be reminded to do anything. Mercie has learned how to train her to barrel race by watching YouTube videos and talking to some friends about it.

Everyday Mercie works with Lil Bit and has trained her to run the barrels. We've been taking her to some Play Days at the arena in our town where Mercie has gotten some more practice in front of people and in an actual arena. She loves it so much! She even rode in her first rodeo last night. She had a 20.805 second run which is awesome for her first time! She was in 5th place. The winner ran an 18.2, so she wasn't too far behind. All of the girls running have been running barrels since they were young, and she literally just got started. She was very encouraged and is already looking for more rodeos to enter!

before the rodeo

running barrels in the rodeo

Owning and training a horse has been such a good outlet for Mercie. She spends hours with her horses each day and takes 100% care of them. She even called the vet and scheduled a Coggin's test (needed to bring your horse to arenas) on her own. She keeps her saddles cleaned and oiled. She is saving up for a barrel racing saddle she really wants. She used her own money to buy one of Sarah's old barrel saddles ($200), but she has her eyes on a really nice one right now! 

She has also met some great friends through barrel racing! Everyone in the rodeo circle around here really wants to help her and gives her plenty of good advice and tips. She is even going to a Rodeo Camp next week where she'll be learning more about barrel racing! She gets to take Lil Bit with her, too.

Kasidy (left) and Mercie (right) at a Play-Day

I am so proud of everything she has learned this past year and how far she has come. She has taken on so much responsibility and really lived up to it. I don't remind her to do a single thing! It's exciting to think about how far she is going to go with this. We're looking into more rodeos for her this summer. The word arena has such a positive connection in my mind and heart now. 

Feel free to link up your posts each week! We will be going one letter a week through the alphabet. I'm anxious to see what your letter A word is!

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