Sierra Stoney's Blog

Made it across the 49th parallel

Sierra Stoney — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:37:48 +0000

I have been home for a couple weeks now and being away really makes you realize, there is know place quite like home. I am so happy to be back. Although I do love going south for the winter, it sure has been nice to be back in Canada. My horses on the other hand don’t really share the same enthusiasm. There wearing there winter blankets and standing in either mud or snow, so its a little bit different than what there used to. No more sun and sand……oh well. Other than the weather, it has been great to be up here, my horses have been working awesome. That winter of riding has really been good for them. They have really grown up a lot and are all running the barrels really good! The three that I am running right now are all super talented horses but all SOOOO different. One is a little 14’2 firecracker, that runs a little straighter through the turns and never slows down. The second one is beautiful long lean mare that is extremely talented, she wraps the barrels and goes through them effortlessly. Then the third is a clients horse that is one of those horses that every time you step on her you know your going to have a good ride. She has so much try and has tons of forward motion in the pattern, which I LOVE. They all are so different but there is one thing that they all have in common…….they love to barrel race!! So that makes my job a lot easier! I have very high hopes for all them. I am also excited to get Racer home!! He is still south with my mom enjoying the heat, but they are headed home on Friday. I can’t wait to get back on him, he was working so good when I left, I just love riding him.
One thing that goes hand in hand with being home in the spring is all the colts that need to go back to work. But after a long cold winter they seem pretty happy about getting back into there training regime. Just as long as they don’t feel tooooooo good. I’m not a big fan of bucking horses. I will just have to keep my fingers crossed!!

Take care,

Sierra

“Work hard and become a leader, be lazy and never succeed”

Sun or snow??????? Hmmmmm

Sierra Stoney — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:54:46 +0000

Its 25 degrees and I’m loving every minute of it. It doesn’t get much better than this, and this is why I come down here. These last few weeks have been fantastic. I’ve been busy riding, riding and more riding……..yes I have no life! But I really love it. I have seen such a huge improvement in the last couple weeks it has really made all this worth it. I have started taking my futurity colt to some jackpots and so far I love her!! She is so different than anything that I have ever rode, she is a tiny little thing with a big heart. I can’t wait until she comes into herself and really figures out how talented she is.

I just got back riding my favorite guy….Racer! He is so much fun……my mom has been riding him so I haven’t been able to run him anywhere but I took him the other day to another arena and I remembered how much I like running him, he is so easy…….point and kick! I can’t wait to take him in some big pens down here. He for sure stays true to his breeding, Docs Paradise+Jet of Honor= I WANT TO TURN BARRELS. Which is super fun. I’m keeping fingers crossed that he is just like his momma!

With all this excitement about my horses I am sad that there is one less horse I have to saddle now and I am really going to miss her, my Streak-a-licious is going on to take over the the north east! Shann and Streak are already a team to reckon with and they’ve only been to one jackpot. Nothing like winning your first jackpot on a new horse! They couldn’t have been a better match. I wish them all the luck in the world!
Take care,

Sierra

“A winner is someone who recognizes her God-given talents, works her tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish her goals”

Rodeo Reality Show makes it to TV!!!

Sierra Stoney — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:37:01 +0000

So the reality show that I was apart of two summers ago came to the history channel January 4th!! They have shown just two episodes and they have been very happy with the out come. It has been amazing all the positive feedback I have received since it started. But what is really neat is where alot of the feedback has been coming from! I knew viewers from around Alberta would watch it but most of the messages I have been getting from people are from eastern Canada, that was something I really did not expect. But I am so very happy that people are enjoying watching what I do, we all put a lot into rodeo and don’t get/or expect much back so when someone can showcase our sport in such a professional manner, I really feel lucky to be apart of it.

I just got back a week ago from my second trip from home. I went back to go get some client horses and the rest of mine. So now I am really getting into the swing of things and I’m loving every minute of it! It is AMAZING how some consistent riding in nice weather can make a huge difference. With in the first couple of days of riding it already felt like we were gaining ground from there time off. So that is a really good feeling, I love it when a horse you have been riding starts to grow in there training. It makes it all worth while.
This week looks like it is shaping up to be really nice weather so I am excited to take these colts out to some different arenas. It is always interesting to see how they handle a new environment. I’m also excited to get out to some jackpots with my futurity colt and some other new up and comers!! I will keep you all posted on how it goes!!

Take care,

Sierra
“Do not wait; the time will never be “just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along”

Sunshine for Christmas??? I Hope!

Sierra Stoney — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:41:36 +0000

Hello Sunshine and good bye snow!
I have been down here for a couple weeks now and I am getting a lot done with my horses. The weather has been beautiful but, don’t get me wrong, there is the odd cold spell here too. Like the other night I went to a barrel race wishing I had my carhart coveralls! It was so cold I had to hand walk my horse around just so I could warm up a little bit. I’m sure I wont get any pity from all the Canadians when they tell me it is -20 up there. But there is one thing you can count on, it WILL warm up again, and once it does, the odd cold day doesn’t really seem to matter.

With all this nice weather I have been getting a lot done with my horses. My four year old is working awesome and I am so excited about her. I have never rode a colt that is so focused on barrel racing. Even when she is away from home or at a jackpot, she just loves to barrel race! I also have been riding my old horses Dashin Six Chics’ full sister, Nemo. She has also been a blast, she has so many of the same traits that her sister had. She has a little different style going around the barrel than Shasta as she likes to stay really flat and round. I am going to have a lot of fun with her this winter. I have a few more down here right now and I am coming home at the beginning of January to get another load with some more of my horses as well as some client horses, so I will be a busy lady!! I am super excited to get the rest down here so I can start up again on them all. I love seeing how the horses I ride mature and grow in the their training. Hopefully I have a few little superstars in the making!! But I guess only time and hard work will tell.

Take care,

Sierra
If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.

My 5th CFR over and done……

Sierra Stoney — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:16:52 +0000

Well another Canadian Finals Rodeo has passed and I couldn’t have been more happy about the out come. My main mount Flame, “Honor before Fame,” continues to amaze me. Flame only being six years old and competing at only 10 rodeos he qualifies for his first CFR, and going there I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. It is very different running there then at your normal rodeo. It is much more intense, you run in the same arena 6 times, and your competing against the best barrel racers Canada has seen! So no pressure at all!!! When I took him up there for my first run I really tired to keep him quiet because it gets really loud and some of the barrel horses are prancing around, flag girls are running in and out of the holding pen and it is so jam packed in there you barely have room to get up to the alley way. But apparently that didn’t bother Flame because he went out and won the first two go’s!!!! And held the new arena record for awhile until Saturday afternoon when Bennett passed it. We went on to tip a barrel which took us out of the average but he still continued to work like a champ. Never in a million years did I believe that the next horse I qualified on for the Canadian Finals Rodeo, would be a unseasoned six year old. But needless to say I feel truly blessed that Cheryl gave me the opportunity to ride such an amazing athlete, he will always have a special place in my heart.

Take care,

Sierra
Moving on, is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is hard

Canadian Finals Rodeo here I come!!

Sierra Stoney — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:42:48 +0000

Well alot has changed since my last blog. Ok well not alot, but one thing has really been set in stone. I have qualified for my 5th CFR!!! I am sooooo excited and pleased with my year. Since my last post I went to the Tour Finals with a new horse and did that ever go differently than I had expected! I ran a mare that I had been riding for a client, it was our 2nd rodeo run and we WON IT! We won the first go of Pool B and was then 4th in the second go. It was unbeliveable! She worked so nice and I couldn’t have been more happy with her. So after that she proved to me that she should be one of the horses I run at the CFR. The other horse I’m going to run up there is the horse that I won the majority of my money on, “Honor Before Fame” aka. Flame. I just picked him back up the other day and I am so excited to have him back in my yard. He is truly an amazing horse, he is just one of those horses that you can look at and tell he is full of talent. So my plan for the two of them is to start jackpoting them a little bit and get them working as good as I can get for the finals. Moving from my rodeo horses to my colts, I took my futurity colt and an old rope horse to a jackpot this last weekend and they both worked fantastic!! My colt Gee Gee, is so much fun to ride, nothing bothers her and she loves her job! And then the rope horse, Tucker, he worked really nice for his first outing at a jackpot! He still is zig zaging a little bit but but he is catching on really fast! I’m pretty sure he has already for got about his roping career. Actually I am starting to think he is my little diamond in the rough! I am having so much fun with my horses and they are all working so nice……thats probably why I’m having so much fun!!

Take care,

Sierra

“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.”

Where did the summer go???

Sierra Stoney — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:32:56 +0000

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as the rodeo season is starting to come to a close. We only have two more weekends of rodeos left, and this coming weekend will be that last big one. I am going to the Tour Finals in Armstrong in pool B….which is Friday and Saturday, I also go to Merritt slack Saturday morning. If I don’t make the short go at the Tour Finals, then I will head back over the rocks and run at Okotoks Pro Rodeo. Even though I would love to make it back for my home town rodeo….I would love to make the short go even more. Last weekend was Lethbridge and I was there in the slack Wednesday and it actually went really well!! I was two spots out of the money, and it was my first rodeo on this horse. I was really happy that we came so close. She worked good and tried really hard…even though she is still a little chubby. So, with my rodeo done before the weekend even started I thought I would spend my free Sunday going to a jackpot…….but that didn’t happen, well I still went to a jackpot, but it was not the kind of jackpot I’m used to at all. Instead of women and colorful leg wraps there were men and ropes everywhere!!! I went to my very first team roping jackpot EVER…….I was diffiently out of my element….and yes I was just watching. I stick to things I’m good at and I’m pretty sure roping isn’t one of them. I ended up really enjoying myself visiting with a new crowd, watching Travis, and admiring some of the talented horses. But, Wednesday night I’ll be back at a barrel racing jackpot-it is the last one of our series at our place before the finals, which takes place September 11th @1:00 pm-the finals are for anyone. Anyone that hasn’t come to enough jackpots you still can come and run but, only the people that had qualified can get prizes. So hopefully the weather gets a little nicer!!

I am also starting to book horses to take south this winter, if you are interested please email me for more information.

Take care,

Sierra
“Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad”

So much for my quiet summer

Sierra Stoney — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:05:12 +0000

My plan for this summer was originally to stay at home, go to the futurities and jackpots and take in some outside horses. Well that definitely has not been the case. After Innisfail I went to Wainwright on Flame and placed good in the first go and won the average and the short go!! That was an extremely exciting weekend!! I was so proud of Flame because in the first go we had to run under the lights and stand beside the midway! It was so loud, poor Flame could hardly think, but he did his job and tried hard, and when he does that we always get a good cheque. From there I was so excited to get to Ponoka. It is the largest rodeo of the year in Canada (other than the CFR). We went in there, and Flame went to work awesome but the ground didn’t hold us and we wiped out hard on the first barrel. So our Ponoka Championship dreams came to a halt. And all we left with was a mad jockey, a No Time, slightly muscle sore horse, and a empty winnings purse. But we did do really well at the next two tour rodeos, Airdrie and Williams Lake. Since all of our wins have been at Tour Rodeos, it jumped me right to the top of the Tour Standings. Then from there I got to go home for a little bit then got packed back up to go south. Our first stop was Casper Wyoming. I couldn’t wait to run because it is a really nice big pen, and the horse that I ran had only been to one other previous rodeo and I had never ran her before. I wasn’t really sure what to expect….but it worked perfectly because we ran a 17.1 and made the short go!!!! Then we also made money in the average! It was a total shock. She is such a cool little horse and she just tries her heart out. At Sheridan I made two really nice runs in the MUDD!!! Then it dried up for the next group of girls. The other place I made some money at was back up in Canada at Morris Manitoba! What a drive that was. Every time I stopped I had to clean all the mosquitoes off the front of my poor truck. But the horse I ran there worked really nice too, he wasn’t too happy about the hard ground but he still tried and that was good enough to get me a cheque and a few tour points. I am home now and ready to get back on my colts and see if we can pick right back up…..I hope!!!! Even though my summer didn’t go at all the way I had expected, it has been so much fun. The best part has been all of the amazing horses I have been able to get on and run. I feel that is the best way to learn, and when you run four extremely nice and different horses……you really learn a lot! Thanks to everyone that helped me I really appreciate it and will never forget it.

Take care,

Sierra
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”

2010 Innisfail Champions…..might I add that it was our first RODEO!

Sierra Stoney — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:18:35 +0000

This past weekend is one that I will not forget any time soon!! It really couldn’t have gone any better. The horse that I am riding, his name is Flame, is another horse that is from the Daines Ranch and is extremely talented. For those who remeber one of the horses that I won on last year at the Pro Rodeos, Reba, that is actually Flames mom!! But anyways back to Flame, he is probably the coolest horse I have ever swung a leg over. To win Innisfail Pro Rodeo is amazing by it self but to win it on a six year old, and it was also our FIRST RODEO!!! All of it was just perfect. I was so excited! Those who were there, would describe Flame and I entering the arena to get our flowers anything but perfect! Jack Daines called the two of us back in so we could pick up our roses for winning the go around. Which was fine I thought, because for our first rodeo he was being really good. So in I went and we trotted down the arena to the other side all cool and calm and I picked up our roses. Everything was just wonderfull untill we spun around to leave. And let me tell you there are two things Flame hates; chuckwagons and flags. I looked back and thanked everyone up at the announcer stand and smiled and looked back towards the out gate and here they came! All the flag girls came in at a run. Oh great! Poor Flame flipped out, he didn’t know what way to run because they were everywhere. He just started to spin and jump around, and keep in mind I had a hold of a bouquet of long stem roses, thorns and all diggin into my hands!! Finally Flame had enough and just took off! We went down the side of the arena straight for the brand new Dodge pick up, I barely got him around there, and lifted my leg so I wouldn’t take the mirror off on the way by, and ran straight to the pick up horses at the end of the arena. We had quite the experience at our first rodeo, and what a way to start off our year! I just feel so lucky that I get to ride such an amazing horse and I am even happier Cheryl did such a great job training him!!
So everyone is going to have to start looking for Team Flame this year, and wish us good luck!!

Take care,

Sierra

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

2 for 2!!! No RAIN

Sierra Stoney — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:44:03 +0000

We had our second jackpot last night and it went really good! I can’t believe we never got any rain, I guess it was pouring buckets eveywhere else. But we really could of used some though it was pretty dry and super dusty!! By the end of the night everyone was covered in dust!! But a a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone, sooo away we went, and there were some great runs and alot of nice horses!! And again I would like to thank ALL of our volunteers….expecially to those husbands and boyfriends that have been helping because first of all they get dragged to a barrel race then they also have to work!! SO THANKS A BUNCH!! We couldn’t do it with out all of our helpers.

Results:
Open 1D
Lana Sproule 16.789
Crystal Wilkinson 16.994
Kathy Gillis 17.026
Scott Meston 17.062
Open 2D
Kim Poole 17.510
Jerri Phillips 17.532
Scott Meston 17.740
Holly Myers 17.839
Open 3D
Carol Duxbury 18.151
Carla Kuicala 18.212
Tris Brown 18.505
Roxanne Wensromel 18.629

Youth
1D Madison McDonald 16.685
2D Jordan Cornet 17.979
3D Shelby Poole 19.747