Canada vs America – What Are They Doing, That We Are Not?

Get some salt. What I am going to write about, you will need to take with a grain of salt, heck maybe a whole block of salt. I am no Pro. I am just a girl, who likes to write about barrel racing, and interview my idols, and give the people of the barrel racing world what they like to see. Don’t take me too seriously..

When I went down to Texas in the Spring, I had an idea of what I was up against, but not totally. Texas was a WAKE UP CALL. Going there, No, I didn’t think I was hot shi*t, No, I didn’t think I was going go to win the Diamonds and Dirt, I mean I get it, you have to have a positive attitude and all that jazz, but you have to be realistic as well, and I was. I went on that trip for the experience, and I learnt a lot.

Main wake up call; Texas and the like, are a bunch of next level, badass, Wolfy barrel racers.

I’ve always wondered what they’re doing differently than the most of our Canadian girls. I’ve narrowed it down to a few things. I may be out to lunch and it could be something as simple as something in the water down there.

Winter plays a huge factor with us. OBVIOUSLY. I personally don’t like to be riding or running my horse in anything less than -20 Celcius {-4 Fahrenheit} And the amount of days that are much warmer than that are few and far inbetween. Down in Texas, yes, they can get crazy ice storms, and to them it might be cold, but they are still able to ride continuously through out the year. Weather does play a big part in it.

When I interviewed Lisa Lockhart last year before the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, I asked her how much time off she gives her horses. She told me they only get a few weeks off before it’s time to start over. They have some down time throughout the year, and she keeps her rodeo schedule to 50-60 a year. Winter comes around for us, and many give a few months off. Then taking how long to play catch up getting your horse in shape, and building up your own confidence in your runs. I know my first few runs in the spring time I felt like I was going to fall off. We need to keep riding year round, and you’ll notice the girls who are solid, and are on top up here, ride through out the year.

In Canada, we have a lot of indoor arenas that we can use when the snow starts blowing. Whether we head to the local Ag Building, or have our own arena, the majority of the arenas are the size of a small hockey rink, giving us 12-15 second patterns, which makes it difficult to teach our young horses to really run! Buildings down passed the border, are generally MASSIVE, and they have the room to get a horse running full out for more than two strides. I truly believe this is a big factor come spring time when we go from indoor to outdoor and horses aren’t running like they should be.

Numbers. With as many barrel racers as we have in Alberta, Texas has ten times as many as us. With more barrel racers, there are more jackpots to go to. When we are going to one a week,{maybe}, the American girls are going to a handful a week! Pretty sure the more you do something, the better you usually get? Trainer mode at home is different than jackpot or rodeo mode. Being able to run at more events, more often, definitely plays to their favour.

Ground makes a difference. A lot of these jackpots that they are going to, have big futurities and derby’s, meaning they generally have outstanding ground. Running your horse consistently on great ground, builds up their confidence, and makes a horse want to run harder, turn harder, and be faster in general. We have discussed ground  A LOT this year in Canada. Sometimes we have phenomenal ground, but the majority of the time, if you’re comparing our ground to theirs, its apples to oranges.

Maintenance. I am not here to tell you that your horse needs five needles in him right this second, but usually the horses from the states are well oiled machines. If the horse needs something, they get it done. They aren’t always the “Spring check up” type. If a horse isn’t performing as well, off to the vet, get it fixed, keep going. The States has a few different products that are not approved in Canada. Same with some of the top feeds; America sells them, but they might not be approved in Canada. With all that said, I am not saying that ALL of us Canadians only take our horses to the vet once a year for maintenance, or that we ALL don’t feed the best feeds available. I am just saying, our Southern Neighbours just have more options, and most times, better options.

You are who you hang around. When you are riding with mentally tough girls, or girls who have tough horses, you learn to get tough, mentally and in your riding. If you can’t take the heat, you may as well get out of the kitchen. Sure, some people are able to buy winning $50,000+ horses, but that’s not always the case. You still have to be able to jockey them.  When you are hanging out with girls who don’t take the game seriously, and don’t have the same goals as you, you’re not likely to get any better. You have to really want it. When a jackpot is as wolfy as it can get down there, you get your game face on and ride for your life.

First Barrel. I watched 700+ runs this past weekend. An eighth of the draw actually RAN to first barrel. I once heard a clinician say they thought it was something we just didn’t do, we wouldn’t run to first. {We being Canadians} WHY?!? Because we might run past first a stride or two? Well your horse still might run past at the high lope you’re doing, make up the time. “If you’re not scared, you’re not running fast enough.”

Once again, now that you have read what I think, please lick that salt block, and remember not to take me seriously. Just some random points to think about!

Do you have anything to add? Please leave a comment below! {No nasty negative rude comments will be approved}