Tucson Rodeo Underway – Mud takes its toll on contestants.

I am officially a blog slacker. I was on such a real roll before I left the country. I’ve been hanging out in Arizona for a few weeks now and for some reason I haven’t had much inspiration for blogging. I have been on dial up here which makes everything a little more difficult. I feel for all of you who are still stuck on dial up all the time. You guys are real troopers! I do want to share some information with you on scammers, but that will have to wait until next time. Please accept my apologies and please keep checking back.


Today I thought I would fill you in on some fun I had on Monday. On Monday we took the day off from riding and went down to Tucson to watch the slack. This is no ordinary slack. You get to watch the best of the best compete from 8 in the morning till late in the afternoon if you are up for it. We were slowed up by a couple accidents getting into Tucson but were able to watch a handful of barrel racers bog through the mud. I didn’t get to watch any Canadian girls go, but there is no question the times would be outrun the next day. Several hours later the ground was much better. The desert sun can turn ground around in a hurry. A lot of the girls were running their back up horses and just breezing through. Results from the first round show Linz Sears winning the first go. Running in Tuesday’s slack would have been a big advantage ground wise. I watched Janna Jarreau run on Monday in the muck. She ran a 17.87 for 6th. A great run considering the conditions.

Exciting update since writing this...Canadian Barrel Racers are first and second in the second go that started Wednesday – Traci Dawson leads the second round with a 17.30, Lindsay Sears, second with a 17.37 (and is leading the average on 2 runs)

Following the barrel racing was the steer wrestling. Many of the doggers looked like contortionists at times as part of their bodies were going in different directions. A very long score line with steers that could cover ground quickly left most of the cowboys getting down at full throttle. Once hitting the dirt, there was no give. Legs heading everywhere, summersaults and face plants unfortunately the round would have made for a bang up bloopers video. Hit wasn’t long before the ground ended up hurting one of the Cowboys. Canadian cowboy Lee Graves was carried out of the arena in much pain. Before being carried from the arena it was clear it was his right knee that was hurt. I’m not sure the extent of his injury but do know he was taken to the hospital. Hopefully it won’t keep him down for long.

Several Canadian Tie Down Ropers were up Monday morning, but none of them made a move into the money. Before my trip down I purchased a new camera. The nicest camera I have ever purchased (but far from top of the line). I was impressed with some of the action shots I was able to capture. By the time the team roping ran the ground was improved. It’s too bad they didn’t run the barrel racing last, it would have been a lot better.


I’m not sure who the calf roper is as I wasn’t writing them down, but the team ropers are Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith.



If you are in to watching timed events and you happen to be in Arizona during the Tucson rodeo I highly recommend taking in the slack. It is great watching.

Here is a link to the results

Dash For Cash - a Legend

I found this great video on Dash For Cash. He really is a legend in the barrel racing and race horse world. So many great horses go back to Dash For Cash. His sons, daughters, and now grand get are becoming legends themselves.

Sit back and watch this great footage of the big ole guy.

Resizing your horse for sale pictures

Have you ever wondered how to easily crop and re size your barrel horses pictures? Or how about take the silly looking guy holding your prospect out of your picture. Maybe you were too far away when you took your picture and you want to crop it closer. Scanners and digital cameras these days take pictures at really large file sizes. This can make sending your pictures and viewing them a real pain in the butt.

Here is a link to some free software I use every day here at RodeoClassifieds.com. It is called Irfanview (click the word when you are ready to go to the site). It really is free, it is small and quick to download and install. It doesn't come with much for instructions so I made this quick video on how to crop and how to re size pictures.

I hope that this will help you out when you are sending ads in to RodeoClassifieds or when you are sending a bunch of pictures of your horses or trailers for sale to potential customers. You should crop all the extra stuff out of your pictures and also send them at a nice size for viewing, but also a size that will send and download quickly.

Here is the video, you'll see just how easy it is. It is me, on my computer, just for you! It has volume with me speaking, so you might have to adjust your volume....you really don't want to hear my voice blaring :o)



Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, our next newsletter will talk about buying and selling in the winter. We have so many nice horses for sale right now, check out the classifieds. If you are looking for a new trailer this season, the selection has never been better.

Get Mentally Tough For Rodeo and Barrel Racing

A couple years ago I purchased some old barrel racing magazines off ebay ("Turn" maganzine I believe they are called...or possibly the other but that's beside my point).

In each issue there was a short article by
Dr. Patrick Cohn a "Master Mental Game Coach". " I thought the short articles were fantastic and tracked him down online. His website and training tools are excellent.

The topics are not rodeo or barrel racing specific but it isn't hard to think in those terms and relate his tips to your situation.

If you long to improve your times this year I highly recommend spending some time to improve your mental game. I am so glad I did. I was really a puddle before I started to get control of my emotions. lol... Something I like to remind myself is: If you can't control yourself, how do you expect to control your horse?

If you are a parent of an up and coming rodeo star, I highly recommend the section for parents and how to help your kids be the best they can.

The products are excellent and the members area offers piles or audio and articles.

If nothing else, sign up for Dr. Cohn's free newsletter and get the free e-book. The newsletters are full of tips and give you lots to think about.

Click Here to go to the peak sports website

We shall remember 2007 a year of broken records! Record earnings, record championships and of course...the record loonie!

2008 is upon us and it is time to make plans for the season. What are your goals, your dreams and aspirations? You can only achieve what you think is possible, so don't hold back.

Here is a link to an interview with the 2007 World Champion Heeler Walt Woodard.

Podcast from TalkRodeo

Good for Walt for giving credit to his wife and for telling the world how he takes naps to stay primed.