Lauren Underwood

A friend told me a quote once that I absolutely love. “Some things fall apart so that better things can fall together.” Last summer, my horse, TJ, tripped at a barrel race. After he tripped, he wouldn’t put any weight on his front leg, and it just kind of dangled there. I burst into tears. I was almost positive TJ had broken his leg. It turned out that his front leg was extremely sore from him over-reaching, but the major issue was that he knocked his pelvis out of alignment.

After this incident, I was extremely upset. He was my main mount at that time, and I wasn’t in sync with my horse, The Stone Master, yet. “Stoney” had done really well in college rodeos before I bought him, but I had always given TJ all my time instead of spending extra time with Stoney. Of course, I rode Stoney on a consistent basis, but my heart was in my work with TJ. With this fall happening, I thought I was done placing until TJ came back.

Instead, I started putting my heart into my work with Stoney, and the next thing I know, Stoney was placing. Then, we started winning a bunch of barrel races. We even set an arena record last fall in a local arena. After he started doing so well, PJ Burger wanted to take him to the Prairie Circuit Finals, then to the NFR!

If TJ wouldn’t have tripped, I would have never put my heart into working with Stoney. Stoney has turned out to be an extreme blessing. I personally believe that God puts things in our lives to challenge us, but at the same time, they help us. So whatever situation you are going through, remember this quote.

After a year and a half, I am proud to announce that I am running TJ this weekend at our NBHA District Finals. This will be his first run since his injury.

Lauren Underwood

Youth Blogger Liz Walsh

For many barrel racers on the East Coast, the NBHA Colonial National marks the last big barrel race before Labor Day and the subsequent end of summer. The allure of a final road trip seems to be stronger than ever this year, with 737 pre-entries in the Open, 231 in the Youth and 166 in the Senior—an 18 percent increase in Open pre-entries from last year. With 36 wild cards, 12 saddles and a payout sure to match or better last year’s $91,833 up for grabs, it is no wonder that contestants, who will begin arriving today, are traveling from 19 different states, some from as far away as Florida and Maine.

The Colonial National has been a regular stop on the NBHA’s seven-city National Tour since the show’s inception in 1997 and has retained the informal epithet of “Crown Jewel” of the tour over the past several years due to its historically high attendance rates. The grandeur of the Virginia Horse Center and a spot on the calendar that coincides with the wind-down of many Northeastern districts’ barrel racing seasons both play a part in the show’s success.

Last year’s Open 1D winner, then 16-year-old Katelyn White, ran the only sub-15 second time of that show, a 14.793. Back again on her horse, Miss Panama Perks, it will be interesting to see if Katelyn—or anyone else—will be able to replicate or beat that time this year. Many of the best barrel racers in the Northeast will be in attendance, and no doubt will be trying to do just that!