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Truckee Rodeo: Barrel racing |
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Written by Paul Raymore
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Monday, 30 July 2007 |
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My shutter fires away as Willie approaches the barrel with 2007 Truckee Rodeo Queen Clancy Delforge on his back.
He puts his nose down and wants to cut into the turn.
One thought passes through my mind … “ahh, crap.”
It’s a warm Thursday morning, but Willie saddles up and plays anyway. Barrel racing is a game for this horse.
I have the brilliant idea it would make an interesting shot if Delforge took Willie around the barrel while I got low inside the turn with my wide angle lens. I show Delforge what I’m looking for and she agrees the shot is doable.
 She takes Willie on a loping run the first time around as I set up and get my timing down for the shot.
OK, let’s do that again, but a little faster this time — maybe quarter speed of what she’d normally do in a barrel race.
Delforge yanks on the reins pulling Willie out of his turn and they fly by. I give a sigh of relief.
My staff won’t have to write the story about their numbskull editor getting trampled to death by a horse. And I don’t have to worry about my last words on this Earth being “wouldn’t it be great if …”
I learned exactly where one wants to be when watching all the action during Sunday’s Shelby Hagedorn-Joanette Memorial Barrel Race at McIver Arena — in the stands with the rest of the crowd.
 If I thought it was a thrill watching a 1,200 pound animal aim right for me, just think about the adrenaline rush for the rider who has to control the horse — launching into a full gallop, slowing it down to lean into the tightest of hairpin turns, then launching …
“It feels like you’re being shot out of a cannon,” says Vicki Charles, who’s organizing the Truckee Championship Rodeo with her husband Pete. “They have so much power.”
 Barrel racing is probably one of the best examples of communication between human and animal.
Riders give their horses verbal queues as well as physical queues, telling the animal to go fast, slow down, turn, turn tighter, go fast.
“I try to put as much slack in the reins as I possibly can,” Vicki says while pointing her fist foward. For those who don’t know (like me), this action tells the horse to hit the gas. “They respond to pressure, foot placement makes a difference…”
 A little earlier inside the arena before my conversation with Vicki, Delforge asks me if she should go around again.
“Nah, I’m done.”
Rodeo Events on Sunday, Aug. 5
Queen Horsemanship Competition
10 a.m.
Miss Truckee Rodeo Queen & Jr. Queen
Sponsor: Advanced Body & Frame
McIver Arena (rodeo grounds)
Shelby Hagedorn-Joanette (former Miss Truckee Rodeo 1989) Memorial Barrel Race
Exhibition time 11:30 a.m.
1 p.m. Start McIver Arena (rodeo grounds) 2007 Truckee Rodeo Royalty
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Last Updated ( Monday, 30 July 2007 )
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