Sam Smith – Snyder College Rodeo Barrel Champ
Reading my blog interviews you might think, “Cassie just interviews all her friends.” And though many of the fine folks I have interviewed are in fact friends of mine, I can’t help that I know a lot of wicked awesome ladies and gents, and that I want to share them with the world!
As you know, I recently went to Texas to run at Diamonds and Dirt. We didn’t have the best run at that jackpot, and it was a huge wake up call. Attention Barrel Racers; Texas is TOUGH, I mean REALLY TOUGH! So when I heard my girlfriend Sam Smith won the Snyder College Rodeo, I thought “Hot damn! Sam is kicking ass and taking names down there! #CanadasGotGame I have to interview her.” So here we are.
I met Sam last year at a Lyle Norm Memorial Series jackpot last summer in Ponoka Alberta. Kathy Butkovic introduced us, and so a legendary friendship was born. Well, those are Sams words.. Since then, we became FB friends, and have been in numerous group chats together. We also got to spend New Years Eve together which was a blast. She didn’t even judge me for putting Vicks Vapour up my nose and drinking water all night, thankfully! {I was really sick, but couldn’t stay home on New Years Eve} If you know Sam, you know she’s a riot and is guaranteed to make you laugh.
Tell me all about your win at Snyder
“At Snyder I was 3rd in the long round with a 13.82. Going into the short round I knew as long as I could keep my barrels up I had a pretty good chance in that small pen. In the short go we ran a 13.55 which was the fastest time of the weekend and won us the average… Best feeling ever!” {Sam being modest here, failed to mention she ended up winning the average by 4 tenths! She was 27.37 on two runs and the next girl was 27.75}
Tell me about Max! Where did you find him, and how is he bred?
“I bought Max in the fall of 2011 as a pole bending horse out of Indiana. When I got him he had only been lightly patterned on barrels and I was only using him in the poles at the high school rodeos. At the second rodeo I took him to, my barrel horse came up lame and I had nothing else to run so I jumped on him and ended up winning the round that day.. Needless to say he is now my good horse and I’ve been running him ever since. His papered name is “Sir Max Mo Jet” and he is 11 this year.” {Click Max’s Reg. name and it will take you to his All Breed Pedigree link}
Where are you down south school wise, and what are you taking?
“I’m currently attending school at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico on a rodeo scholarship. At this time, my major is under-water basket weaving but I plan on getting some sort of business degree by the end of my 4 years.” {Please note she is joking about the basket weaving}
How have you been doing at the other college rodeos?
“Last fall I made the short round at the first rodeo in Portales and hit a barrel the next weekend in Alpine. At Vernon, my horse hurt himself and I ended up having to borrow my little sister’s horse at Amarillo the next weekend which didn’t go all too well. At Lubbock I was just short of coming back to the short go! This spring, we have had two rodeos: Odessa and Snyder. At Odessa I caught the first barrel coming out to make the short round so my game plan was to keep them all standing at Snyder and it worked!”
What exercises do you do to keep your horse working so nice?
“Most times I just work on trying to get him more supple and do a lot of walking around getting him to collect or respond to leg movements. When it comes to barrel work, I could walk, trot or lope a pattern all day but if there’s something specific I need to fix, I haul somewhere and fix it at a fast speed. I like to do a lot of backing up (though Max does not!) to build muscle and I do A LOT of long trotting to keep him in shape.”
What tack do you use; Saddle, pad, bit, support boots?
“I just got a Tami Semas barrel saddle this spring and I am IN LOVE with it! I use a 3/4 inch relentless pad under it with a Back on Track liner underneath. I’ve been using Iconoclast boots on Max since the day I bought him and will never look back again! When it comes to bits I’ve been experimenting. Last summer Max got pretty strong so I put the “Oscar” bit made my Dave Elliot in him to get him back where I wanted him. I used it all fall and this spring I decided it was no longer necessary so I put a short shank cervi bit in him. I also started using a tie down on him again because he seems to use it quite a bit for balance!”
What are your fave shirts and jeans to ride in? (I need new jeans. Ill bet you say 7’s Dojo jeans..)
“To be honest, I am yet to find a pair of 7 jeans that fit me Right now I am loving my Cowgirl Tuff jeans because they’re super comfortable and available in every size and length you could imagine! Obviously my favorite shirts are made by the talented Paige Callaway of Pursue Victory! I got one for christmas and now I plan on selling the rest of my shirts on facebook so I can buy some more of them.”
What are your favourite pair of Cowboy Boots and Lipstick?
“Oooh! My favorite question! I just bought a new pair of Justins and I’m loving them! Before that I had a pair of Luchesse’s that I wore forever and it was hard to retire them As for lipstick, right now I’m using a nude Mac lipstick with Hoola lip gloss over it on the daily.. However a classy red lip will always be my lip colour of choice!”
Keep on keepin’ on Sam!
