Taking a much needed break

There's something to be said for clicking the pics... I just don't know what it is.

Barrel racer striking a haughty, and arrogantly superior pose showing everyone that she is one with the horse, and cannot be beaten... And they both go to the same hair salon.

I had my empty propane tank filled up here at the fairgrounds at $3.45 a gallon this morning, then went to Walmart, and got some red beans and rice at Popeye's for lunch on the way home, and I think that was the high point of my day.

All the walking around and standing in one place I've been doing for the last two days has got me all tuckered out so I've been relaxing and resting up so I'll be able to do it again next weekend.

Fortunately my main expertise in life is my ability to relax, so in no time at all I should be in fine fettle.... Depending of course on what a fettle is, I've only heard of fine ones, but there must be some really awful fettles I've just never had any experience with them.

From what I remember next weekends barrel racing event actually is a three-day event. I remember there were lots of vendors here selling tons of stuff and I believe some of the racing will go on at night.

The way this multi-day barrel racing thing works is, all of the competitors will race several times and each competitors times will be added together and the competitor with the lowest overall time at the end of the weekend is the winner.

That accomplishes several things. If you have a bad run you've still got a chance at winning, and it keeps everyone around till the end because the competitor that's in the lead may screw up on any race.

In these normal barrel races if you knock over a barrel they penalize you by adding some time to your run, but in this championship thing next weekend the rule is, if you knock over a barrel you get no time for the run. But you still have to stick around because the competition leader may also knock over a barrel on their last run.

For the friends and family that are here watching these events its pretty stressful because there's probably a couple of dozen people that could conceivably win based on a good last run, so it keeps the competitors family on the edge of their seats, and the competitor trying her hardest especially on the last run, on the last day.

Since I don't know anyone, I don't have a dog in this fight and don't care who wins. I just enjoy watching the skills it takes to do what they do, to be able to take some action pictures, and enjoy the ambience of being at an event like this.

Theboondork

Dad, looking much like the mystic Russian Rasputin, imparts some last-minute instructions to his tiny son on how to dominate this giant horse, by letting the horse know he has a scary spiky helmet which horses fear.

This little girl was incredible! You look on the horse and see this tiny little girl sitting up there, but she rode like a grown-up. She galloped that horse from one barrel to the next, laughing all the way, and ended up with a time that was only a couple of seconds slower than the teenage girls... In a few years she will be a force to be reckoned with in the world of barrel racing.

Dad waits stoically, as his barrel racing daughter rides into the arena.

This barrel racer likes to tie ribbons all over everything.

Sunset last night.