Report for Labor Day weekend PBHA races.

 

Just when I think PBHA has reached its limits, the members and riders prove me wrong. The races this last weekend were the largest PBHA races ever. In fact, they were the largest races the Trails has seen in some time! With other races raining out, we saw riders fron Oregon, Idaho and Canada. There were 142 open entries on Saturday and 148 entries Sunday, not bad for a “backyard” association! I would like to ask our experienced PBHA members to help these new riders feel welcome and to explain the benefits of being a member. It isn’t just the jackpot, PBHA has outstanding awards, especially considering the low fees.

PBHA is still growing, and we are stepping up to the challenge to provide an efficient office, great ground, and the BEST VALUE for your barrel-racing dollars.

Personally, I want to thank Ellen Foscue and Brandon Amos for running the second tractor. With their help we ran 50 riders/Hour during our open class.

Brandon, Kathi, and Charity along with others kept the office functioning smoothly.  We had many people helping with the gate, arena, and other tasks that are needed to produce a race of this size, thank you each and every one of you!

Moving a large race on short notice is not an easy task. We had planned for the move a week before the race in case of rain and the planning paid off.

We had not raced at the Trails since June so it took some work to get it “race-ready”.  With help, PBHA delivered a great weekend of racing fun! Thanks again!

 

The first part of the weekend was owned by Kathi Dahlstrom and her horse Millie, They won the Friday evening cheepbarrelrace and came back Saturday to top the PBHA Open and Senior races. It has been fun watching Kathi progress with this horse. She is an original PBHA member and she is always working at the shows: the office, gate, arena set-up, wherever needed, she is there. Congrats Kathi!

 

The up and coming team of Emma Chase and Mojo won the Saturday Youth class with the fastest time of the weekend and followed that up with an Open class win on Sunday. The PBHA 1D riders are a tough bunch, in my opinion they are capable of doing well at any race.

 

One PBHA weekend left, here is how the Open Division saddles competition is shaping up.

1D Tami Bailey has a commanding lead with an impressive point total of 96.

 

2D Dana Ecklund         46 points.

      Cathy Grant            38 points.

       Bonnie Inman        38 points

 

3D Dana Morris           32 points.

      Rosemary Ayers     29 points.

      Ellen Foscue           28 points.

      Darlene Palmer       27 points.

      Ron Polacek           26 points.

 

 

 

4D Angela Polacek       38 points.

      Lottie Dyer 34 points.

      Mitzi Frick  28 points.

      Nevada Slusher      27 points.

      Brandy Jones          26 points

 

5D Brandy Jones          50 points.

      Cathie Ruff 31 points.

 

I only listed the top contenders, with 20 points possible the last weekend others may move into contention. WOW!!! Some divisions are really tight! It will make for an exciting final weekend.

 

The All-Around saddle is also close, here is where we stand:

 

1.         Dana Morris                 145 points.

2.         Debbie Haller               140 points.

3.         Mitzi Frick                    131 points.

4.         Kathi Dahlstrom           127 points.

5.         Trisha McMillian           123 points.

 

The FINAL PBHA weekend is scheduled for Elma, October 24th and 25th.

This is a bit later than we usually finish, but indoor arena dates are at a premium.

I will be out of state for this race, but the ground will be in the capable hands of Ellen Foscue and Kathi Dahlstrom; they have many years experience at Elma, both barrel racing and western games. Brandon Amos will fill-in as needed.

 

I want to thank Bailey’s IGA for their MAJOR sponsorships of PBHA this year. All our riders benefit from Bailey’s generosity. Please consider shopping local at their two stores, Rochester and Morton.

 

AWARDS BANQUET

Banquet details for the 2009 season are still on hold awaiting the Trails resolution.

By the end of October we will know the location, the date will be in December.

 

PBHA has never seen such late-season rider support, usually number drop off by this time. This bodes very well for our members who are in the points chase. They will see the largest pot of money for awards in PBHA’s 10 years of existence.

Remember, running points place you in a division. The final placing in a division determines the AWARD points. It is a rider’s responsibility to ensure their running points are correct. The deadline for points corrections is 7-days following the final race of the PBHA season.

 

 

Speaking of the Trails, nothing definite, and the auction is still on. As stated in July, negotiations may be finalized by auction sale time and the sale may be cancelled, or not. We can only wait and see.

 

NEXT SEASON, PBHA’s 10th YEAR!

We have dates booked, but they will not be final until the Trails situation resolves itself.

We have to assume that PBHA will hold membership numbers or continue to grow. The PBHA directors will brainstorm ideas to improve efficiency to handle increased ridership while not loosing our “local” flavor.

 

We are considering several revisions that we think will benefit PBHA. These need to be voted on and approved.

 

  1.  Next season we may offer a side-pot. Entry fee will be $30 and there will be $200 added to the pot. This gives an option of greater payout for those who want it. Those who don’t want it, just don’t enter.

           The side pot is ran concurrently with the open class.

           PBHA only charges one office fee per day regardless of the number of 

          classes entered. If a rider/horse combination enters BOTH the PBHA open

          and the side pot they still pay only one office fee.

          There are no awards for the side-pot, it is jackpot only.

 

  1. We are revising the rules for our medals class. Any horse/rider combination running a 1D or 2D time will “graduate” from the Medals class and will receive their medal. There will be no “rolling” a time into Medals, riders must run their run.

 

  1. Effective with the next Elma show, we are adding a “Futurity Exhibition” class. This class will immediately follow the OPEN class and is limited to Futurity type horses that are NOT entered in any other classes that day.

This is an exhibition run during race conditions with NO PAYOUT or AWARDS. For PBHA members, the fee is $5, for non-members, the fee is $10.

 

  1. Next year we are considering having an Open start time of 11am for all indoor races.

 

 

We actively seek comments and suggestions for improving PBHA. Please contact myself or any director with your suggestions. Thank you-all for a fantastic season!

 

G & M