More Than Just The Best In The Game

When talking hockey, a game Canadians know well, it has been said: “For a generation of fans, Sidney Crosby is more than just the best in the game right now, he’s the best they’ve ever seen and maybe the best they’ll ever see”.

When talking barrel racing a similar line could be written about the Canadian barrel racing team of Lindsay Sears and her horse Martha. Both Lindsay and Martha have had their share of injuries but have come out on top of the world after the 2011 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Canadian barrel racing fans are proud of this duo and their success since their first NFR qualification in 2006. This years WPRA World Championship is the second for the pair. Lindsay was the first Canadian to win a barrel racing world championship and she now holds two of them!  This was the first year they won the average title as well. Facebook lit up with congrats and excitement as news spread of the big win.    Not just Canadians, and not just the younger generation either.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Lindsay over the phone and had the opportunity to ask her some questions. She has been interviewed a lot lately so with the help of some members on our round pen forum and facebook page we came up with some unique questions for Lindsay.

This year Sears started the year off on her back up horse Moe. Moe ran at about 80% of the rodeos while Martha recovered from a serious stifle injury sustained during round 9 of the 2010 NFR. The injury was so severe it was unknown whether Martha would ever run at the same level again.

I asked Lindsay what Martha’s recovery was like and what they had done to get her back and running so tough again.
LS: It took a long time and a lot of patience. I had complete faith in my vet who did soft tissue treatments on her. The type of therapy is not something that has been done a lot but the results were amazing. 90% of her recovery regime was walking. She did a lot of walking.

Jessica on our Facebook page asked what Lindsays daily exercise/training program was.  We assumed she meant Martha 😉
LS: Martha gets ridden out in the pasture about 2-3 miles every day.  I will do a certain amount of time of walking, trotting and loping over the 2 or 3 miles.  Some days I will add some circles and rollbacks, just general riding.

Jody, Cheryl and cisco wanted to know what her feed and maintenance program was.  (We zeroed in on the NFR since its an intense 10 rounds)
LS: Martha gets Trimax feed and a supplement called Morinda Care along with alfalfa grass hay.
At the NFR Martha gets a massage and chiropractic adjustment before and after each run.  Her legs get iced before and after each run and she also gets an infrared treatment before and after.  Martha likes to be warm so we have the blanket on her while she’s in her ice boots.   Basically we’re using hot/cold therapy on her to keep her sound.

Carol wanted to know: How does she deal with the stress/pressure? How does she unwind? And one more…besides winning…what is her favorite part of Vegas?
LS:  Under pressure I really just keep trying to stay calm, I visualize a lot and work on positive thinking. How do I deal with stress? This may seem weird, but I sleep.  I am a quiet person and I keep to myself but when I’m really stressed I sleep.  Others may pace the floor, but I sleep.   I also love to shop so sometimes that works too.   Shopping can be a luck changer for me too.  I like to go shopping with a friend.
My favorite part about Vegas is at night.  There is no better place to be than Vegas at midnight.  All the lights are just really cool.

Both Shayna and I wanted to know if Lindsay felt any extra pressure being the only Canadian competing at the NFR this year.
LS: It was different this year, usually there is a fight to see who carries the Canadian flag!  There is usually a group of us down there so it spreads the responsibility out a bit.  Yeah, I did feel more pressure, I just really wanted to represent Canada well.  I always want to represent well whether there is 1 or 20 of us but this year it was definitely different being the only one.

I had to ask about Lindsay’s shirts.  They have to be custom….who makes them?
LS:  I am sponsored by Rock and Roll Cowgirl and they design and make them all for me

Moe and Martha look to be 2 completely different styles.  How do you adjust from one to the other?
LS: I do a lot of mental preparation and visualize my runs so I adjust how I visualize for each horse.  Moe is more of a push the gas pedal to the floor horse and Martha is more of a 3/4 throttle horse.  I spent a lot more time on Moe this year, he went to probably 80% of the rodeos so that made it easier (by not switching back and forth) but I still just spend a lot of time visualizing and doing mental prep.

Who did you have behind the scenes helping you out at the NFR? Was Moe there too?
LS: Moe was there.  My mom did a lot of the work with the horses and we had some girls there exercising the horses and cleaning stalls.  I had my vet there and chiropractor there.  Its really a team effort.  Its just not physically possible to do all that myself with the other obligations we have at the NFR

In one of the interviews I heard you say you switched things up with Martha before your 7th round win.  What did you do?
LS: I did a few things.  One thing I did was I switched back to my old Gary Wad pad.  Gary had given me a new one before the NFR and maybe I was just being superstitious but sometimes you have to do whatever your head needs so I went back to our regular old Wade pad.  I also tuned on Martha in the morning.   I rarely do that.  The ground was so much better than previous years and I think maybe she was trying to run a certain way from previous years. Martha had made 40+ runs in the same arena on the same pattern (over the past years there) and it was just time we got back on the same page.
I do all my tuning at a walk, but we just went back to basics so we got together.   I asked if she visualizes going fast while she is walking LS: Yes and I show her exactly where I want her to go at a walk and I practice perfect.  I will walk an identical pattern that I want in a run.  We worked on our timing.

Edited Dec 20th to add this question.  I must have deleted it somehow before I posted it originally.  I thought it was really great info and worth adding late!

This was from whisperer in the forum:  I would love to know how she keeps Martha positive in the alley way some horses start treating it as a negative experience, how does she keep her consistent and ready to race in?
LS:  We will never compete on Martha unless she is 100%.  I think this is the main reason she enjoys her job. She always feels good when she’s doing it.  Martha gets a lameness exam every day during the NFR and we won’t run her if she isn’t right.   I think its also important to stay calm as a rider.  Our horses will think everything we are thinking so its important we keep really positive thoughts.  Whatever we think transmits to our horses.

And the question many of you are wondering….. What were you saying to Martha as you were coming down the alley?
LS: (laughing)  I try to get that done before the camera comes on but I was late and they caught me on the last round!  Its nothing big, its just something I’ve said since the first run I made on Martha.  Its just part of our routine and if I told you, you guys would just laugh.  Really, its nothing special, just a sweet nothing (laughing).

Team mates have to keep some things to themselves I guess, and it sure seems like those sweet nothings are working.  Congratulations Lindsay on this huge achievement, thank you for the visit and we look forward to seeing you in the winners circle again. Enjoy your Christmas at home with your family at Nanton, AB.

Canadians of this generation will surely remember Lindsay Sears and Sugar Moon Express as a team hard to beat and fun to watch. Martha and Lindsay finish the year healthy and strong, looking forward to a fantastic future.   We look forward to watching them too.

Check out the videos below.

For all the rounds click back to previous posts and you can see all the NFR runs

Here is a video of Lindsay’s 7th round win that I took on my camera from my seat at the Thomas & Mack

Here is a video someone on Youtube put together of the same run with different footage. I thought it was great too.

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