Saddle Cecil Phillips – Craig Stritzke
Bit Depends on the day, usually a snaffle mouth piece with very little gag and a medium shank
Headgear German Martingale
Protective Boots Classic Equine
Hay Grass / Alfalfa mix
Grain Renew Gold
Supplements 707
Additional care Back on Track and Equistim Leg Saver

What horse(s) are you going to run at the finals? I am planning on running Sparkin Jetolena aka Sparky. My breakaway horse, Dashing French Charm aka Hershey, will be tagging along as a backup.

Do you have a specific warm-up before you run? I just want to make sure that they are listening. Every horse is different and I try to really warm up their weak points. With Sparky I work him a lot more to the right because he is stiffer on that side. I also do a lot of stopping and rolling back. Hershey needs worked more to the left n she doesn’t usually take as long to get warmed up. Every time I take Sparky somewhere it’s like a grand adventure for him and he takes a while to get settled down and paying attention to me.

What makes your horse special? Sparky is out of my good barrel racing mare Sunshine, who I pretty much learned to run barrels on. The cool thing about him is that I got to see him born and have been a part of making him what he is every step of the way. Me and my mom, Nicki, have done all of the training and definitely a lot of learning along the way. We’ve had Hershey since she was a weanling. She was pretty mean when we were getting her started, but I think that fighter attitude is what makes her tough today.

What quirk(s) does your horse have? Sparky has a ton of personality. One of his biggest quirks is his knack for untying himself. If I don’t tie him good, he will immediately untie himself the second I turn my back. He also really enjoys being loved on and pampered. Definitely takes after his mom that way.

What are the 3 most important things you do to keep your horse sound and working all year long? 1. Feed is a huge part of keeping horses feeling good, I think figuring out what they need nutritionally is extremely important. 2. Making sure they are in shape to do what I am going to ask them to do is a big deal. Also, just riding them and working them helps me to figure out what makes them tick and the more I know my horse, the better things are going to go. 3. The Back on Track products and the Legsaver have been major players in keeping my horses from being sore and healing up any injuries.

If you could run any other horse in the MT Circuit, what horse would you choose and why? I don’t think I would trade my horse for any of them, but Sweetheart, Carmel’s horse is pretty cool. I got the privilege to haul with Carmel this summer and that little horse has a lot of heart. It will be exciting to see where they go.

What is your occupation (how do you fund your barrel racing/horsey habit)? Well, currently my parents have been the ones to make it possible. However, I am almost finished with school to be an accountant.

What is your favorite brand of jeans? Cowgirl tuff

What kind of boots do you wear? Lagrange