ROUND ONE WINNER
          CYNDI STERN
         ON HER PAINT MARE   

 
      ROUND TWO WINNER
      LeeAnn BUDINGER
      ON HER CHESTNUT MARE
                                         

A Trip to the World Finals

By Bonnie Brown

Thanks for the opportunity to share my experience at the Extreme Cowboy Race World Finals.  My trip to the finals was actually a direct result my desire to show foundation quarter horses and compete in versatility ranch horse competitions.  Training for versatility ranch horse competitions gave my mare the perfect foundation to transition over to the extreme cowboy races.  For the last two years, my husband has been badgering me to compete in the extreme cowboy races, but I didn’t do it because the Colorado races conflicted with my West Slope versatility shows.  Finally, in 2009, the races and my show schedule didn’t overlap so I decided to give the extreme cowboy races a try.  I competed on my FQH mare, Bagwell’s Lady Gray (Peso).  We had good runs at the Mid-Mountain Regional Finals and won both the novice and non-pro divisions, and qualified to compete at the world finals in Topeka, Kansas in November.

Peso hurt her leg right after the regional finals, so it was a frustrating time not knowing if we would even get to go to Topeka.  She only had a minor injury, but it happened at the worst time imaginable.  So, we lost over five weeks of practice time before the world finals.  We left for Topeka on a Wednesday morning, with a final stop to see our vet before we left town.  He told me to use my best judgment when we got there and decide whether Peso could go ahead and compete.  On the two day drive to Topeka, I decided to scratch from the non-pro division and just compete in the novice which would mean three runs for Peso instead of six, and eliminate half the stress for her.  Peso actually held steady the whole time and never took a lame step, although I was a nervous wreck.

For those of you not familiar with the extreme cowboy races, even though the events are called races, the emphasis is actually on horsemanship, but there are bonus points up for grabs for the fastest times.  We placed third in the first run, second place in the second run, and placed fourth overall in our division.  In retrospect, I got wrapped up in all the hype and excitement and focused more on speed than I should have.  I was really proud of my mare for doing such a great job, especially after losing so much practice time prior to the finals.  The only mistakes we had were pilot-error mistakes that I made (which I am still agonizing over).  My lack of judgment cost us the 2.75 points I needed to place as reserve world champion.

I am already anxious for the snow to melt so I can start practicing for 2010.  The extreme cowboy race finals were an unforgettable experience.  The audience was great.  There were a lot of really knowledgeable horse people there, as well as people who just enjoyed watching and appreciated all the effort the contestants made.  The crowd made every contestant feel like they really accomplished something after completing their runs.  Craig Cameron was awesome.  He really gets the crowd excited, and always complimented every rider on their run.  He was great about providing positive, constructive advice without criticizing the riders.  The extreme cowboy race was like the FQHR, everyone was easy-going and great to get along with.

There were some really terrific horses (and mules) competing at the world finals that were a lot of fun to watch.  For me, it was a really inspiring event to be a part of.  Watching top-notch horses compete fueled my determination to train harder and smarter at home.  Watching the contestants that had really tough runs (i.e.  their horses pulled out on them during the ground tie and sprinted to the other end of the arena or their horses outright refused to do obstacles) made me really appreciate the great breeding and sound mind that my foundation quarter mare has.   Additionally, these contestants were great sports, even when everything was going wrong for them. 

I highly recommend competing in the extreme cowboy race events.  If you focus on good horsemanship and don’t worry about the speed, it will make you a better horseman, and develop a better horse for you if you work at it.




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