Spirit Mountain 2

Wow! This season is just flying by! Literally! Another rodeo down...it was over to Grand Ronde for this one. Austin again had a very busy Saturday competing in bareback, bullriding, calf tying, barrel racing and pole bending. Woo! I get tired just going over the list. He had bullriding first thing in the morning and that kind of threw things off. It didn't take long for the squirreley critter to launch Austin...right out of the chute! Howell Rodeo Company brought bigger bulls this time and man, were they tough! We figured out what the problem was though, Austin has been worried to tie his hand in very tight for fear of getting hung up. He has witnessed several boys get drug around the arena and pounded as a result...one even had his femur bone cracked in half. Not something Austin is eager to experience. Dad explained to him that he won't get hung up if he single wraps tight as opposed to double wrapping. He is excited to tie in a little tighter next time and we think it will make the difference in his ability to hold on. Getting hung up on a 1000 lb. bull is serious business. Ok, just getting on the back of a 1000 lb bull is serious business!

He drew the same bay horse that he rode to a 76 in Clark County and he literally flew out of the chute. Austin held on as long as physically possible (5.87 seconds) before being launched, flipped and flopped in to the dirt. He got up fairly quickly but couldn't regain his balance and the paramedics rushed to see if he needed help. He's one tough cowboy though and soon was off to his next event.

Calf tying went better. As you can see from the pictures, the calves are nearly as big as Austin. He manged to get him over and did a perfect half hitch tie but was unfortunately over time. This is a learning experience for Austin and I fully expect that he will get better and better with each time.

Pole bending and barrel racing went great. Sure, he could have been faster but for the first time in several rodeos, Chazz and Austin did not break formation and Chazz did not have a fit at barrel 2. That was definitely improvement. I took Chazz out riding today and I don't know whether it is the rodeos or the alfalfa but he is getting hot! He is ready to roll! I told him he was sure acting young for his 18 years! He loves going to the rodeos and always has a great time whether he does good or not. Just getting out, having somewhere to go and seeing other horses does him a world of good.

Austin was going to ride in Molalla today (Sunday) but his right leg is battered from the middle of his thigh to the middle of his calf, including his knee, and with the rain decided he better just take some down time before Newport next Saturday. Next weekend, he will be doing just rough stock events at the coast (bareback, bulls and his first round of chute dogging) but Sunday he will be back in full form.

Oh, he also rode at the Linn County Wild & Wooley rodeo on Saturday, July 19 and scored a 73 on bareback. That was fantastic! It was a lot of fun and Austin is always happy for the opportunity to ride. It was his first ride in front of a standing room only crowd, but you know Austin, it didn't phase him a bit. I asked him if he liked the crowd cheering for him and he said he honestly didn't hear them. He just focused on his ride. That's my boy!

I will be out most of the week at the Santiam Canyon Stampede but will update when I return home after Austin competes in Newport (Saturday) and Molalla (Sunday).