Crystal is no ordinary barrel horse, standing at only 14 hands, she is petite to say the least, but powerful, speedy and agile. On her, I have won the State Championship in barrel racing, pole bending and the All-Around title for three consecutive years in a row. In 2006, we had the fastest time at the National High School Finals Rodeo, ended up third in the average and reserve in the All-Around ranks. In 2007, she was my horsemanship horse for the queen contest, my barrel and pole horse AND my break-away roping horse. We ended up 13th in the barrel racing, 17th in the pole bending and 9th in the All-Around ranks. We found out at the end of the week that she had a mild cold and had trouble breathing. Overall, this little mare has heart and speed making her my ideal horse.
Rodeo is a tough sport, but my brave little mare had not been highly stressed since 2005. In fact, Crystal thrives in the rodeo atmosphere as long as she has another “rodeo buddy” with her. She enters the arena rather calmly (I say rather because in the world of high powered barrel horses, “calm” is relative) and appears stoic compared to other mares, she rarely has mood swings, and she hasn't kicked while under my care (and my family has owned her since she was a yearling and she is now 13)
She has superior bloodlines, and goes back to Jetalito, Leo, Three Bars, Joe Reed, Man O War and other prominent bloodlines of the foundation quarter horse, thoroughbred racing lines, and champion paint horses.
Jays Crystal Lite is the best horse I own, she is smart, friendly (to some...like many mares, she has her preferences), consistent in the rodeo arena, competitive like me, and yet gentle to small children. Over Thanksgiving break last fall, she started acting colicky after we had just arrived home from a break-away roping clinic, she had not gone along, it was her weekend vacation, which is rare for a high school rodeo horse. After about 2 days of alternately walking her about the barn, and watching her stall, her symptoms went from sporadic to severe, and my mother called the vet. After treating her with mineral oil, and drawing blood, the vet told us that Crystal could have ulcers. We changed her diet, and included corn oil in her daily oats, and after another vet visit we had her stabilized and treated the ulcers the “poor man's way” just by giving her 3 doses of Ulcerguard, and switching her from sweet feed to oats. We started to compete again, but only at a few small jackpot ropings and the high school rodeo at the PA Farm Show Complex.
