Road to Rodeo with Rhonda Hartman: September 2023

The Comparison Game

Thursday, September 14, 2023

I am the worst at comparing myself to others, which is why social media can be so dangerous for my mental health.

I have to remind myself that people can definitely control what they put on social media for others to see, and they might not always be sharing the whole truth with all of the behind the scenes where they are crying after a run or where their horse goes off pattern. They can choose to only post the highlights if they want. And no shame to those that only share their wins.

I will often berate myself for not being as far as someone else with a younger horse than mine, in the case of Bash...but I have to remind myself that he was completely out of anything for a year while he healed from a pretty significant injury. And also that it's okay to work on my own timeline with what's best for my horses and myself.

There is a ton of hustle culture promoted online which makes it hard to slow down and enjoy the journey while working towards something as well. We are often made to feel inadequate if we are perceived as not working hard at something.

As someone who struggles with both mental and physical health issues I am sometimes limited by what I can handle. There are times when I am simply not physically strong enough to work my horse hard or push through. There are also times when mentally I am not in the game. And at those times I have learned that I need to listen to my body and my soul to take it slow. I can work on something else or spend time bonding with my horses instead. That's okay too.

So if you're feeling less than confident because you feel like you can't keep up with what everyone else is doing just remember that you might not be seeing their full picture and that you're finding a way that works for you and your horses. It doesn't have to be like everyone else and you can still find success.

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A Goal for Bash & A Lesson in Pivoting

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

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Upon purchasing Bash, my goal was to do some futurities, then derbies, and finally move him up to pro- rodeo horse as a stallion. However, ultimately I decided that all of the work that goes into keeping a stallion and marketing them was not for me. So we got him gelded and the plan was still to futurity, derby, then pro-rodeo horse.

Then in July of 2022, we went out to throw hay in the evening and Bash didn't meet us in the front of the paddock like he normally did. He was standing in a low part of the pen not moving. M went up to him and called me over. He had cut both of his hocks which were actively bleeding. I called the vet who had me send photos and video of the cuts. After seeing the pictures, she asked that we meet her at the clinic so they could be evaluated, cleaned, and we'd go from there.

At the clinic he was sedated, wounds were cleaned, and it was determined that on his right hock he had cut or torn the superior flexor tendon. It wasn't completely severed, and there was no synovial fluid leaking from either joint which was the good news. The bad news is that it was partially severed, and he had two deep lacerations on both hocks which required stall rest for a two year old.

We left with a plan to recheck in a few weeks, with tons of IM antibiotics, pain meds, and instructions for keeping everything wrapped and clean until the wounds had closed up.

After the first recheck he was cleared to do hand walking. This was super fun and not at all terrifying when he wanted to immediately RUN out of the stall. But we got through it and eventually he was allowed to be in a small turn out by himself for eight months. The vet said this injury takes about 6-9 months to heal and we gave him a year before we decided to resume training.

We only just started lunging again because I wanted to make absolutely certain that he is healed. The longevity and his health is far more important to me than any futurity. And now that he's a little over three I really thought my chances at any futurity would be futile since he's not even started under saddle yet (that's happening in the next few months, just waiting for it not to be over 100 degrees every single day). THEN I found TWO futurities in Arizona that happen in January.

This means he won't be five yet if we aim for the ones happening in 2025. He will still be four since his birthday is the end of March. And that gives me over a year to be ready. That's our goal. And honestly if we have to pivot from this goal for the health of the horse then we will like we did from our first goal of doing Old Fort Days in 2024.

It's okay to pivot from goals when you are faced with situations out of your control. And it's okay to not beat yourself up about that because it's horse first. Just make a new goal because there is always another jackpot or rodeo or event or show.

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research · road to rodeo

Introducing Me & My Mad Research Skills

Sunday, September 3, 2023

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Hi! I'm Rhonda.

Creator of this blog. Lover of horses. Researcher extraordinaire. Anxiety filled barrel racer.

And apparently blogger.

Honestly, no end to the list of the things that excel at to be completely real with y'all.

I wanted to do this blog to add a segment where I research all the horse hacks everyone sees online and gives you the real information based on science, veterinarians, and the recommendations of professionals. There is so so much misinformation going around, and I love research.

A bit about me, and why I'm qualified to do this research. I have four college degrees. A bachelors in Law & Criminology, a second bachelors in English Education, a masters in Intelligence Studies with an emphasis in Terrorism, and a masters in Literature with an emphasis in 20th & 21st Century Literature.

Now none of those are in equine science, but I do have a minor in biology from my first bachelors as well as just a ton of research experience and critical analysis of things. I have written multiple research papers as well as not one thesis but two. My thesis for Intel Studies was on whether individuals recruited to terrorist organizations should always be considered traitors or if some are more like human trafficking victims. My thesis in Lit was on the representation of mental illness in young adult literature and how that could be used in secondary education to help teachers screen for suicide prevention.

So come on in and hang out for awhile. This blog will feature the research article as well as my thoughts as I struggle with massive anxiety on my road to rodeo dreams...goals actually. Because they're going to happen.

And where else can you find me on the internet?