“Every motion you make, you and that horse have to be a team.”
By the time you factor in entry fees, travel and the cost of maintaining the horse, most barrel racers are hoping to break even. “There’s a lot of work going on at home. We have to spend a lot of money to win money,” she says. “These horses are athletes just like people. They have to be legged up, they have to be in shape, they have to have enough wind to make that pattern.” The horse and rider run a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels. The horses go from a sprint to a virtual stop in order to make the turns. It is a breathtaking show of speed, power and agility. “There is so much that goes on between this 1,500-pound animal and that 120-pound girl in the 13 cary welcome_jf 12/9/11 1:58:06 PM or 14 seconds,” Watson says. “People have no idea. It’s caryjust welcome_jf 12/9/11and 1:58:06 PM not sitting there hanging on.”
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Watson runs the barrel pattern in a recent competition.
Watson’s top competition horse is Dreamer. Together, they have formed the right chemistry. “They know when we change our center of gravity,” she says. “They know the difference when we’re sitting in the saddle or we lean forward a bit. Every motion you make, you and that horse have to be a team.”
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