Mataura Rodeo success for Long
Champion barrel racer Rhondine Long has her sights set on the elusive 15 second run, and has managed it once so far on the country’s rodeo circuit this season.
Long, who won the barrel racing event at 50th Mataura Rodeo on Saturday, and is on track to claim another national title, said one of her goals was to keep chasing the 15 second barrier.
With her First Cross Quarter horse Roc, Long is having a successful season particularly claiming good times at the southern rodeos taking in Southland, Te Anau and Mataura.
‘‘He’s my best mate,’’ she said. Roc was bred in Wanaka, and Long said his best attribute was that he was an honest horse that got on with the job.
The pair consistently hit the low 16 second mark on their runs, and at Mataura came first with a time of 16.265 seconds.
Their best time of the 2018/19 season was at Omarama on December 28, 2018, when they blitzed a run and recorded 15.875 seconds.
The difference between 16 and 15 seconds depended on arenas, Long said.
A lot of the rodeo courses overseas were set up on smaller arenas, which helped to produce faster times.
While Long, a past national barrel racing champ, wouldn’t say she has the title in the bag this year, she did say ‘‘I feel like, I’m in a comfortable place.’’
The current national standings have Long at number one for barrel racing and she’s about $2000k in prize money ahead of her nearest competitor Alyce Perkins, of Southland.
Barrel racing is becoming one of the larger events at rodeos, and Long put that down to the people getting involved and holding ‘‘jackpot’’ events throughout the country to encourage competitors.
New Zealand also had well bred barrel racing ponies in the country.
But for now, Long who had just made it home last night to Oamaru after a haul from Southland, it’ll be a brief stop. She’ll pack up again and head to Waimate on Sunday and then off to the national finals in Canterbury in March.
‘‘I have the travelling, packing up, competing and loading up down to a fine art now,’’ she joked.
The national finals will be held in Canterbury in March.