‘Hit or miss’, Dilkon barrel racer wins Navajo Ag Expo with new horse

WINDOW ROCK

In retrospect, Tara Seaton wasn’t sure what to expect when she rode her new barrel racing horse at the Navajo Ag Expo on Sunday.

A few days earlier, Wag slipped at every barrel during a run at the Muskogee Nation Festival INFR Tour Rodeo in Oklahoma.

“Lately, 50 percent of our runs have been good, and the other 50 percent have been bad,” Seaton said. “This is his first year rodeoing and he’s just naughty as heck. It’s like trying to run a two-year old in rodeo, but when he’s on, he’s on.”

At the Dean C. Jackson Memorial Arena, Wag displayed his true potential in helping Seaton to a first-place finish with a blazing time of 16.931 seconds in the Navajo Nation-hosted INFR Qualifier event.

“With this horse I don’t think he wins it with his turns,” Seaton said. “I think he wins it in the straightway when he comes home. He’s just freakishly fast.”
The Dilkon, Arizona barrel racer said she had to watch her knees and the horses’ hip while going around every barrel on Sunday.

“Oh my gosh, he almost hit every barrel,” she said. “I had to let him finish his turns before he took off. He pulls out of those barrels so hard and he’s just like a racehorse leaving the chutes when the bell rings.”

Seaton said she bought Wag in January from Michelle Fox, one of her dear friends.

“I put the pattern on him two years ago and in November they wanted to sell him,” she said. “I told them I would help them broker a deal to sell him. I decided to just buy him because he’s so quirky and so naughty. I don’t think anyone else would take that kind of stuff from him, but with me we’re doing OK.”

The recent purchase of Wag adds to the personnel of horses Seaton has in her stable, which includes blue-chipper Gypsy Rez-Rocket.

“She’s been Mrs. Consistency,” Seaton said of her trusted mare. “She placed at three rodeos this weekend and she placed here with Raynell Holgate.”

Holgate took sixth overall with a 17.398 run.

“They did an awesome job,” Seaton said.

She chose to ride Wag over her trusted mare due to the conditions at the Window Rock arena.

“He’s likes the open gates and not the close gates,” she said. “And the ground is really good here, but like I said it’s a hit or miss with him.”

The winning pair completed their run after Oregon cowgirl Brinley Mae Holyan reset the bar at 17.079 seconds.

“Back in the day, I used to think ‘this is what we have to beat,’” Seaton said. “I don’t really think about that anymore because I know what my horse can do. I know my horse is capable of doing great things. I just got to do my part and just let the chips fall where they may.”

Nonetheless, Seaton credited Holyan for a job well done.

“She made a smoking run,” she said of the 14 year-old Diné/Paiute cowgirl. “I was like ‘whoa that girl can boogie.’”

Like Seaton, Holyan was stunned with how her horse, Katrina, did on Sunday.

“I’m very proud of her,” Holyan said. “I wasn’t expecting this, but I came out and did my best and it worked out perfect.”

The teenage cowgirl said she’s been working with her horse for two years now, and she like the progress she’s seeing.

“She’s still young and she’s still learning,” Holyan said. “I trained her myself and finishing second here is a big accomplishment, so this was a good one. I feel really happy with where’s she at.”

With Seaton already earning an INFR qualification at San Carlos earlier this year, Holyan was next in line to get the automatic qualification for the Navajo Ag Expo rodeo.

“This is very exciting,” Holyan said. “I’m looking forward to competing at the INFR.”

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