Serenity Acres kicks off the NBHA 06 Season

May 11th would be the kick off to the NBHA Ohio 06 barrel season at Serenity Acres in Canal Winchester Ohio.

The day before would take me to the dentist and Clea writing a post on FB ” If anyone hears Dawn Shirey screaming it is because she didn’t take the advise of mine and her dentist to get knocked out while putting her implant in!”  Yep that is right,  I am finally getting that tooth from last February – The  Hangover Part 3 – Dawn and Clea style,  fixed.  I didn’t get knocked out to get the implant drilled  into my jaw WHY YOU ASK – YOU FOOL  because I am tough, really I am cheap it was $300 bucks and that my friend is a lot of money so I Got a Grip and a couple of Percocet’s.  We would not leave til late Saturday morning until I could see if I was willing to go away from the pain meds for the day….  Yep sure was.
We would leave the doggers behind for the day and load up Sparks and Shawn.  I am not real sure I would be ready to ride… well I was but with the swelling in my mouth was not ready to let my fake toother stay put so that was the deciding factor.   Clea said just take it out and run …………ummmmmmmmmm NO THANK YOU!  That would be a pic for Facebook that I would have no control over.  So Peyton rode Sparks.

You all know Peyton the kid that has worked her ass off to get from the 3D to the 1D and has the want to like no other, that Peyton.  You know Peyton the gal that qualified for the Best of the Best at Henderson out of 176 head of horses finished 3rd.  Clea and I missed that and we are so sad we did but we have been smiling ever since she called us that night, that Peyton. You know Peyton the one who rides that Yellow horse so well that she ended up 4th in the youth at Serenity, 2nd on her horse Tucker (she was kicking so hard her boot flew right off – seriously) and would have been right in there for the open but a bad angle to the 1st caused a downed barrel.  Yep that is the Peyton Theado we are talking about.

The day would bring out a lot of people that would have been at outside shows but with the rain the outside arena’s just couldn’t handle the water and most were canceled.  The Warm up and the Open would have over 120 head in each and bring out some for their first run of the season.

Clea would ride Shawn like a pro despite the events that happened right before our eyes at the shoot and immediately before her run.  To take you back a week.  When we were in Cloverdale last week Clea would jockey Shawn for the first time since last September when she would run at the BOTB as part bronc rider and part barrel racer.  So needless to say she was a little nervous, I believe her words were ” I messed in my pants”  Anne and Leigh Walkup would find themselves at Cloverdale giggling at her and the thought of the mess.  She would knock a couple barrels at Cloverdale “butt” was not yard darted as she had feared.   Brad Shirey would offer up some advise at Cloverdale and would tell her to “Look past those barrels” Clea sat and waited for him to be done said “Brad” – slight pause- “I know what I need to do but after I came out of the 1st barrel my legs were shaking so bad and I messed in my pants that all I could do is hold on”  Brad at that point stopped the lesson and laughed hysterically.  She would certainly recover from Cloverdale by having 2 great runs at Serenity.  Brad was proud of her and said “Now that is how you jockey a horse”  Little did he know that right before her run Taylor Turner came out of the 3rd barrel headed for home at a high rate of speed when her horse decided it wanted to be a bronc.  With Clea perched high on Shawn banded in and me on Sparks it was a rucus coming at us at a high rate of speed.  Taylor hit the fence then the ground with a might thud.  Her horse stood there like a statue.  Clea and I both jumped to get off our horses and I hit the ground and Clea, well she was still banded in.  She was like a bungy jump in the opposite way.  She took hold of Sparks and I went to help Taylor. Her first question was “What was my time” Spoken like a true barrel racer.   Taylor  gathered herself off the ground to a cheer from the crowd and I headed back to Sparks.  As I take the reins from Clea she had this look on her face  I said “You OK?” She says “great I just messed in my pants BEFORE I ran”  Blahahahah we laughed and she went in and had a great run.  Taylor rode in the open despite being sore.  Way to cowgirl up!

We would get the open over with and as Clea was cooling out Shawn I was getting water before we loaded up and as I come out of the barn I see Cathy Geary getting ready to leave I waive good bye and then I see she is not going anywhere.  The ground was a little wet and she was a little stuck.  After assessing the situation we determined if she stayed the entire way to the right she could make the turn at the end of the grass in front of the arena.  Ticket was stay all the way to the right …….well the truck and trailer started to slide and it was not to the right……1 hour later and 17 men trying to get it unhooked, unstuck, rehooked and on her way SUCCESS!   Needless to say the truck, trailer. another truck and the arena wall needed a bath.

We saw some pretty runs this Saturday and some that were not so pretty.

Brandi Whitesel would show off her new little horse, Sami and she would show that there is a horse for every person.  She ran 8th out of 138 horses. Way to go Brandi and we hope to see you at the BOTB.   Brooke Miceli ran a 15.3 on her young horse and was as happy as a could be but an arena issue would cause the time not to count and like any great horse person- she would not rerun as her horse did its job and did it well.  The Pee Wee class was tough and we got a little glimps of the ones that would be running at the BOTB in September  WOW wait til they hit the Champion Center to run in that Slot Race – it will be a great race.

The Shirey’s were atop the leader board again.  Maddy Shirey would lay down 2 smokin runs that left her Dad and Jenna all smiles.  Look out another Shirey is movin on up!  Brad won the warm up and was 2nd in the open.  We text Brad on the way home to see who won and he told us Penny Baker and said “She had an amazing run!”   Well there you have it.  Penny Baker, Brad Shirey and Kelly Bowser was 3rd!  The 2 newest to qualify for the BOTB.  Brad was already qualified on Shrek from earlier in the year.  Congrats to all and thank you Laura, Ben  and 06 Crew for a great start to the season.

We are off to Circle G to the 03 money maker which is also 06 approved.  You can find all the 06 dates and showbills at http://nbhaoh06.homestead.com/showdates.html  Hopefully we make some of that money :).  Good Luck to all wherever you may end up.  Safe travels and great safe runs to all.

Oh and Dr. Crack A Lot will be in the house at Circle G!  Stop by and say hi!

Enjoy every minute of everyday.  Life goes by so fast please enjoy it.

Dawn and Clea