Lincoln Rodeo Hosts Play Day

LINCOLN RIDING CLUB PLAY DAYS SERVE AS TRAINING GROUND

LINCOLN — Some of the most priceless moments in rodeo occur far out of the spotlight without a bull, bucking bronco or even mildmannered sheep for mutton busting.

Lincoln Riding Club Play Days serve as a valuable training ground so that rodeo fans can drink in the exhilaration as a barrel racer accelerates out of a turn or a bull stops on a dime with a cowboy hanging on for eight seconds.

Confidence begins in the local arena at informal competitions for all age levels.

“This right here is where it starts, these play days like this,” said Sherry Smith, Lincoln Riding Club Secretary/Reporter, during Sunday’s event at the LRC Arena.

When 10-year-old Jordan Valley crossed the finish line during the 8& under barrel racing competition the voice of Carroll Jetton, wife of long time LRC President Jimmy Jetton, announced her time as 52.93 over the loud speakers it thrilled the young cowgirl.

“I finally got a time,” Jordan proudly declared.

When the Play Day ended, Jordan found herself doing her first post competition interview.

“I was excited because my Grandma left and she said that I had to do good if I wanted Pa to stay to watch and I did. I got third place for speed and for barrels I believe,” Jordan said.

During the pole bending competition, Jordan’s horse, a mare dubbed “Maid Marian,” after the legendary beauty of Nottingham who married Robin Hood, didn’t feel inclined to follow the prescribed route. The mare circled three times before beginning the run, then did half the pattern before balking and breaking off.

Jordan kept on urging the mare despite her frustration, which the junior cowgirl vocalized.

When asked how important it is to finish the race even if her horse breaks the pattern and she’s got to make the mount behave, Jordan answered straight up.

“Yeah, pretty important,” Jordan said.

Satisfaction set in for this daughter of Anthony and Joann Karain, of Morrow, competing for only the third time at the Lincoln Riding Club Play Days. She was happy to finish the race although she realized she had broken the pattern and wouldn’t get a score.

Jordan received a ribbon for participating in poles and won a second place ribbon in the wild card event, a stakes race that involved the fastest time running her horse in a figure eight pattern. Her little sister, Astrid Freyja, 6, competed for the first time, and brought home ribbons for fifth place in poles and sixth place in barrels. Little brother, Ejorn Karian, competed in the leadline division.

Some kids needed encouragement to kick their horses to pick up the pace. Five-year-old Lennon Pitts overheard those conversations and had to be told to tone down her competitive instincts. She spurred her horse a little too much during the leadline speed race and the animal overtook her mother, Alyssa Pitts, who asked Lennon to back off.

“Don’t kick, I can’t keep up with the horse,” Alyssa Pitts said.

Lennon finished third in the event earning four points in the LRC Play Day standings. One thing was evident to everybody in the arena, this junior cowgirl’s ready to go. She modeled consistency even at her young age by finishing third in the barrels and third in the poles.

In between runs, Lennon cooled off from the triple digit heat by eating a Popsicle and later entertained herself by hanging upside down on the arena fence.

Lennon’s baby brother, Abbott, will celebrate his second birthday in August. He ran the barrels, poles and speed race with his dad, Seth Pitts, leading a small pony, Brownie, and cousin

Wylee Youngman helping make sure Abbott didn’t fall off.

Smith has national ties to the sport as a member of the Miss Rodeo America, Miss Rodeo USA and Miss Rodeo Arkansas committees, but even with all those irons in the fire in addition to her professional photography business and LRC duties, she sees the value in each LRC Play Day run no matter how insignificant those may appear.

“Having these things where the kids can actually get into the arena and see what it’s like to get in the dirt with their horse and be running the barrels, they realize they don’t have to be a world champion to participate,” Smith said. “So I think it starts right here and they get interested and you’ll see some of these kids running in the rodeo because we allow our local kids to run in the rodeo, too.”

Jimmy Jetton granted permission to Ozarks Electric last year, which is why the field got plowed and dirt turned up, and this year to a gas company working with Black Hills Energy to stage equipment in the LRC parking lot, .

“I just let them use the parking lot for winter … It’s benefiting everybody,” Jimmy Jetton said, while noting that’s got to end soon because the 68th annual Lincoln Rodeo is coming up on Aug. 12-14.

“This year we’ve done quite a few upgrades. We’ve spent $ 9,000 to put new lights in the arena. It’s a lot brighter in here. It will be like daylight out here in comparison to the way it has been,” Jimmy Jetton said.

“We’ve got a [ royalty] room for the girls to get ready. We try every year to make a few more improvements to keep us going.”

Advance tickets for the 68th annual Lincoln Riding Club Rodeo can be purchased from any of the royalty candidates.

Two of the hardest working guys keeping local rodeo in the forefront of the ACRA and IPRA circuit are the father and son tandem of Jimmy Jetton (left) and Josh Jetton, shown setting poles during Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day. Jimmy Jetton is the longtime president of LRC. The Jetton family does a lot of work behind the scenes to put on local events including the upcoming 68th annual Lincoln Riding Club Rodeo to be held Aug. 12-14.

Abbott Pitts didn’t wait for his second birthday to begin competing in the Lincoln Riding Club Play Day events. Abbot, who will turn 2 next month, was guided by his dad, Seth Pitts, with cousin Wylee Youngman, making sure he didn’t fall off. Abott’s pony is Brownie, which took the junior cowboy through the pole bending, barrel racing and speed courses at Sunday’s event.

PHOTOS BY MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Ally Jetton corners a barrel during the 8 & Under barrel race at the Lincoln Riding Club Play Day on Sunday, a showcase of local emerging rodeo talent.

PHOTOS BY MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Lennon Pitts, 5, a junior cowgirl who knows speed pays off. She spurred her horse a little too much causing the animal to overtake her mother, Alyssa Pitts, during the leadline speed race competition at Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day. Lennon took third in the event with a time of 14.065. Below, left, she dangles upside down by her boots from the Lincoln Riding Club Arena fence between events at Sunday’s Play Day. The junior cowgirl competed in three events.

Chloie Thomas rounds the pole at the far end during a pole bending race at Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day. Thomas, a candidate for LRC 2021 rodeo princess, won the event with a time of 28.310.

One competitor displaying tremendous improvement from her rookie season of rodeo last year, Maci Atchison, of Stilwell, OKla., won the barrel race in the 12-14 age division at Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day.

Reigning Lincoln Riding Club junior queen Shania Downing won first place in Sunday’s barrel racing competition for the 15-17 age division at the Lincoln Riding Club Play Day with a time of 17.836.

Competitors await the start of Sunday’s Play Day held at the Lincoln Riding Club Arena one mile west of Lincoln. Temperatures in the low 100s didn’t diminish their enthusiasm for rodeo.

Junior cowboy Ejorn Karain, has some instructions for his dad, Anthony Karain, during the leadline barrel race at Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day. Ejorn finished the course with a time of 83.313.

Astrid Freyja, 6, waves to rans while competing in the leadline division at Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day. Her father, Anthony Karain, led her through the pole bending course.

Cowgirl sisters, Astrid Freyja, 6 (left), and Jordan Valley, 10, competed during Sunday’s Lincoln Riding Club Play Day. Both took home ribbons.