We finally got to do an interview with the lady behind the RodeoClassifieds website! Michelle Davey and her horse Jet just won the Ladies Barrel Racing at the 2011 Manitoba Rodeo Finals that were held in Brandon, MB this past weekend. Michelle had three consistent runs to come out on top. Michelle and Jet ended up 7th in the 1st Round with a time of 13.78; they won the 2nd Round with a 13.63 and they placed 4th in the 3rd Round with a time of 13.60. Michelle ended up winning the average with a total time on three of 41.01 seconds making her total points equal 180 (Bailey McCannell came in second with a total of 160 points). For a complete look at the final results in barrels and the other events you can click here. Here’s what Michelle had to say:
-What is the name of your horse?
Jet's Pedigree - click to enlarge
Jetmeawave “Jet”
-How old is he?
13
-How long have you been running barrels on him?
I have owned Jet for 6 years. I started competing on him 5 years ago.
-What is the training background on this horse?
Jet was raced on the track and was actually started on barrels while he was still racing. When I bought him he was being used in high school rodeo for barrels and poles. I did some work on him at home showing him a way to turn I thought would be more efficient for him.
-What is your training and riding style with Jet?
Things are pretty simple with him now. I ride him up into the hole and let him turn. He’ll pull off the barrels if I get pulling on him so I try and stay off his face the best I can. As far as training I keep him soft in the face and moving freely around the barrels when I go slow. He likes to drop an anchor at first so I have to work to keep his feet moving. He looks really stiff in his videos, but he doesn’t feel the way he looks. He’s actually quite maneuverable.
-What is it you like best about Jet?
I like how he feels slow to run. It makes me feel brave and ride hard. Also – I’m really loving how consistent he has gotten. I like how he can place both inside and outside and I have to ride him the same way everywhere. He makes my job easy.
-How did you feel your runs were this past weekend?
I was really happy with my second and third runs. With the pattern being on an angle it made things a little tricky so we didn’t get a good line from 2 to 3 the first run. The second and third runs I set myself up better going into second so we could leave it better. Jet was rock solid and consistent all weekend. He did exactly what I told him. Any mistakes he made were because of me.
-How do you prepare for your runs (warm up etc)?
I warm up in a different bit than I run in and I usually wait to put his boots on until we are warmed up. I just walk, trot and lope. Straight lines and a few circles. He usually gets stronger with every run so at the finals I made sure he stayed soft and in my hands really well in the warm up. Right before I run I get him pumped up a bit by smooching and sometimes a love tap with the whip. I like it best when he has some spring in his step going in.
Here's Michelle with her Little Cowboy Grady testing out her new saddle.
-What kind of saddle do you use?
It’s a Cactus – Charmayne James record breaker. I used a different saddle halfway through the year but ended up going back to this one. My saddle is really too wide for him that’s why I tried something else, but he just works good in that saddle so I’m back using it.
-What kind of pad do you use?
I use two pads and some shims. I use a wool felt under pad, a 5 Star and some shims out of a corrector pad.
-What kind of bit do you use?
I warm Jet up in an Ed Wright 3 piece medium shank gag and run him in a twisted wire snaffle mouthpiece combination gag.
-How do you keep your horse in shape?
I try and ride him or pony him every day except Monday’s. Monday’s are his day off. I ride him in the trails down the ditch, out in a half section pasture with little hills and about once a week in the arena to fix anything that occurred on the weekend that could turn into a problem. If he starts to feel like a kids horse I’ll sprint him a little.
-Are there any specific goals you had set for yourself and your horse this season?
My goals were to make the CCA and MRCA Finals by only going to the rodeos I wanted to go to and that were best for my horse.
-What lead you to be a barrel racer?
I started doing it in 4-H, then I entered my first rodeo when I was 15 thanks to my Aunt Heather Davey. I rode her horses a lot when I was young.
-If you were to share a training/rodeo tip what would it be?
Really work on the mental aspect of your barrel racing. If you can’t control yourself (and your movements/actions/emotions etc.) you can’t expect to be in control of your horse and his actions. We barrel race for fun, so try and keep things in perspective. Always be considerate of your horse and his mental and physical well being.
*Michelle would like to thank the rodeo committees who put on MRCA rodeos throughout the year and the MRCA board of directors for coordinating the season and the finals at the Wheat City Stampede. She would also like to thank Irvine Tack and Trailer for generously sponsoring the barrel racing event at the MFR.
*Michelle would also like to give credit to the other girls that ran at the MFR. There were a lot of tough runs and the championship came down to the last run in the last round. A few tenths one way or the other and we would be interviewing someone else!
Here are a couple of Michelle’s runs from the finals:
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