Barrel Racing

Speed and Endurance is Key to Winning the Race

We thought with all the excitement of bringing some rodeo action to the ranch this week, it would be an exciting time to take a closer look at one of the most elite women rodeo sports established in 1948!  Barrel Racing! The name says it all! It’s the thrill of racing against time around three barrels and the best time wins.

Barrell racing was a way for women to enter the professional rodeo atmosphere while the men were calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, and bronc riding in the rodeo circuit! The first barrel race event ever to be held was said to be hosted in Texas where a group of women got together and developed the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) to provide advancement opportunities for women to compete competitively in rodeo. Barrel Racing to this day is still considered the most popular sport among the WPRA. 

Now that you have heard a little about how barrel racing came to fruition, let me tell you more about the sport itself. Barrel Racing is an individual event where it’s one horse and one rider going against time once they cross the electric eye of the timer. The goal is to perform a cloverleaf pattern around the barrels avoiding any disqualifications (running past a barrel) or penalty from knocking over the barrels. It takes a lot of technique and skill by both horse and rider. Horses are trained professionally to take barrels properly, and every second counts. The closer the horse can shave off time by leaning their shoulder into the barrel the better their run-time.

Barrel Racing (Werner22brigitte) 2014

There's all sorts of competition for all levels of 

riders in barrel racing. I personally have competed at the local level while I was growing up and the thrill of chasing the cans, as they call it, still lives within me. The local level competitions are a great way to get started learning the sport prior to hitting up the nationally sanctioned shows by the National Barrel Horse Association and Better Barrel Races Association. Many barrel racers have competed at these levels before entering the rodeo circuit where the competition is stiff and extremely competitive. Barrel Racing at this level is co-sanctioned by both the WPRA and PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) which allows women to compete at any PRCA endorsed rodeos and the Wrangler National FinalRodeo, which is the season-ending championship held in Los Vegas.

 

With all this being said, make sure to check out some of the local PRCA  or WPRA Barrel Racing events to catch some rodeo or barrel racing action right here in Colorado while you're vacationing with us this summer.   

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_racing
http://prorodeo.com/prorodeo/wrangler-national-finals-rodeo

World Champion Barrel Racer (Wangler Network) 2017 Video
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJsYGkBQKtY

                                                                     

Circle Z Ranch's Barn Dance

Keeping the Music Alive Country Style 

This week we are getting out the musical instruments and riding fast to keep country music alive with our upcoming Circle Z’s Keeping the Music Alive Barn Dance. It’s happening this Saturday, March 17^th and is a fantastic opportunity to support Music in Our Schools Month in March. We are huge supporters of keeping music alive in our schools and there’s no better way to support it but by partnering up with one of our local school’s choir and band program for our 2018 barn dance.  

Fiddler (Keisner) 2017

This year’s chosen school was Colorado Springs School, and we specifically partnered up with their Upper Band and Choir Program to bring you all a very special treat. Each year, we choose a school either from the elementary or high school level to be recipients of our grant through our Circle Z Ranch Country Music Foundation. Our foundation was established because of our strong belief to support country music. The process to apply for the grant consists of an application completed by each of the school’s band and choir program indicating their needs for support. With the overwhelming support of our foundation from our investors, we have been encouraged to support country music even further in conjunction with Music in Our Schools Month through our social media efforts and this year’s barn dance. All of the proceeds from the dance will go to their choir and band program. Their program is in significant need to replace old instruments, purchase additional music, and cover transportation cost to both band and choir events. We were extremely excited to financially help them not only through our foundation but also through donating all our proceeds from this year’s barn dance to their programs. The timing was perfect with March being Music in Our School Month and it allowed us to combine the two efforts.

  

Cowboy Boots(Alexas_Fotos) 2015

Now that you have heard all about why we are supporting Music in Our Schools this week and our foundation, let us tell you a little bit more about the event. It will take place right here at Circle Z Ranch starting with a chuck wagon meal from 5-6 pm with all the great fixins. The dance will kick off at 7 and ends at 9. We encourage you all to come on out and kick up your boots a bit to support not only the country music that we all enjoy but also our local Colorado Springs School's Band and Choir Program. 

For full details on the event, check out our Facebook event page on either Facebook or Twitter. We look forward to seeing you all there this weekend and please make sure to bring the whole family. In the event you are unable to attend, but still want to support their local band and choir efforts, you may donate directly to them through our website event page. Thank you all in advance for your support. We are very humbled by your kind generosity to help such a great cause. 

As we say here at the ranch “happy trails”, but this time until March 29^th when we return from taking a little trail ride vacation ourselves the week of the 19^th to visit family and friends in Wisconsin. 

How to Help Prepare Your Horse for Colorado’s High-Altitude!

As our summer trail riding excursions are swinging into full force in the next couple of months, it’s time for us to think about our summer trail rides into the mountains. Most importantly, we need to think about what we should do to prepare our trail buddy for the altitude change in the mountains.  Altitude can have a vast effect on our horses. As we prepare our equine friends for the high-altitude change, it’s important to consider these tips when riding the highlands to help make our trail ride adventurous, and not the health concerns of our four-legged friends.

Vet Health Checks

It is important to let your vet know you are traveling and they can take the time to evaluate your horse’s health prior to venturing out to the mountain trails. This evaluation will give you peace of mind that your horse seems to be healthy enough to endure the physical activity. Most U.S. states also require CVI, health certificates and Coggins for your traveling companions. For specific requirements by state, check out the individual state health requirements prior to loading up and heading out to the trails across state lines.  

   

Allow for Additional Travel Time for Your Horse to Acclimate to The Altitude Change

Doing this will allow for downtime and more time to acclimate to the altitude before starting your excursion into the mountains on your trail ride. Altitude can have similar affects on them as it does to us as humans and allowing for additional time to acclimate, can help reduce the effects of the high-altitude. Some of these affects can include increase blood pressure and Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). In an Equus magazine article (The Effects of Altitude, 2002), their study recommended at least an overnight stay and indicated that most acclimation has stabilized within three days based on the physiological measurements that were evaluated.

Trail Riding(PublicDomainPictures) 2013

Gradually Increase Your Trail Riding Activity

Most trail rides have multiple trails with a variety of levels. Start off with the easiest level and as the week progresses, increase the intensity of your trail riding to the more difficult trails if possible. This will help allow your horse to adjust to the increase level of altitude change.

Keep Your Horse/s Hydrated

Providing your horse with water is important to help reduce the effects of dehydration due to the high altitude. When possible, check with your trail guide or lodging manager to map out clean water sources along the trail to ensure that your equine friend stays alert and hydrated throughout the ride. Staying hydrated isn’t only important for your equine friend, but for you as the rider too. It can help avoid potential onset of symptoms of AMS, such as headaches, fatigue, and nausea which can make it such a challenge to enjoy your trail riding trip.

We hope these helpful tips guide you in preparing your horse for the highlands. We look forward to riding in the mountains with you and your equine companion when you come and visit our wonderful state of Colorado. 

Vacation Planning Success

Tips for Planning Your Summer Vacations!

With summer just around the corner, y’all know what that means! Yes, that’s right, planning for those summer vacations.  We thought with all our talk about being at our favorite summer event, Country Jam CO, it would be a great time to discuss some of those need to knows for planning your personal vacations to planning those yearly trail ride excursions which we will discuss in a later blog.

Personal vacations are an exciting way to get away either by plane, car, train, or even bus. With all of these options, it gives you some flexibility on how you want to travel. You also have the advantages of taking a shorter vacation too, with having so many travel options available to you.  Some additional tips to consider while planning your personal vacations include the following:

Travel/Vacation (Kirk Fisher) 2017

Determine Your Length of Stay First
This can make a difference in what travel method is best to get the most out of your vacation time.


Pack Appropriately for Your Method of Travel
Many times, when traveling by car, you can bring those little extras, but traveling lightly is important when going by bus or plane. With many airlines increasing their baggage fees, you want to make sure to visit the airline's website to know their baggage policies and pricing.  Here are some links to the most traveled airlines, including United, Frontier, and Spirit airlines, to check out their baggage policy before booking your summer flights.

Check Out Your Lodging Options
A lot of times, you can save time and money by spending a little more on your stay by making sure that it includes a good continental breakfast. It’s a time saver in the fact that you don’t have to plan to eat out for three meals and can grab your food and go in the morning.

Confirm if Your Personal Auto Insurance Agency Covers Car Rentals
When renting a car, you can also save some cash by checking with your personal auto insurance company to see if your rental car is covered by them instead of taking out the extra plan offered by most car rental agencies.  It is also important to make sure that your insurance company will cover any downtime that rental agencies may charge for in the event the rental car needs repair.

Make Sure to Pack Appropriate Clothing
Some vacation hot spots or activities require specific attire. With our many years of being in the lodging and trail riding industry, we have noticed guests miss packing appropriate riding attire including pants and boots for trail riding.

We hope these tips are helpful for planning your next vacation, and to see more tips on travel planning, feel free to visit a few more of our valued travel resources at sheknows.com, vaction-list.com and realsimple.com.  We look forward to seeing you this summer and happy trails until next week, when we discuss how to prepare your horse for Colorado's high altitude.