June 2008

They say that when you play golf you make three new friends every time you play.  We have discovered that when you host horses and riders, you can make a hundred at a time!!  It has been a fun month at Featherland.  The PSHA speed horse group came to Featherland on Memorial weekend, and despite a little rain, put on an amazing display of speed, skill, and horsemanship.  We look forward to seeing them again in late July.  If you have not seen these disciplines, come watch, it is cool.  On memorial Monday, we had a great barrel race and welcomed many new folks and their horses.  There were lots of great runs. 

On June 14 and 15th, we hosted two races sanctioned by Barrel Racers National 4D.  Barrel racing was our prime reason for building Featherland, and it was very rewarding to once again watch some of the top barrel racers in the Northwest compete at Featherland.  Judi MacDonald from Maple Valley won the saturday race with a  16.329 that placed her third on our all time fastest run list.  First time visitor Randy Rae Britt from Oregon was second with a 16.576 and there were dozens of other great runs.  On sunday, arena record holder Ariel Doughty from Richland, riding her great horse Leo, shredded the Featherland course with a 16.165 to set a new record and win the race.  There were once again many great runs.  It will take a little time to put our arena back together after these folks tore it up, but that's why we built it! 

The magic number at our track is 17.0.  It takes a special effort by horse and jockey to stop the clock under 17 seconds.  At this race we started a new incentive called "Speeding Tickets".  If you break the 17 second barrier, your name goes in for a drawing for two tickets to the final sunday at the PBR finals in Las Vegas in November.  Long time Featherland added money sponsors Gary & Nancy Long, who live just minutes from Featherland, are helping us make this happen.  The speeding ticket list will be added to until October, when we draw the winner.  We also encourage you to visit www.goose-me.com to see lots of action photos from our races. 

The summer is just getting started at Featherland, with lots more to come.  Please check our schedule page, and contact us with any questions.  Happy Riding.