BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, FIELD EDITOR
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Betty Dyer and Under The Bar, "Billy." Every year they battle limited shows and winter weather to make it to the World Show. |
“The weather and no shows to go to!” Betty Dyer listed as two challenges she faces every year, to get to the AQHA World Championship Show.
Betty and her gelding, Under The Bar, aka “Billy,” know what it’s like to deal with winter: They hail from far northeast Perry, Maine.
“You can count on the snow coming in November and lasting into late April,” Betty said. Although she has an indoor arena, it’s small, and the dirt freezes at the edges making practice difficult.
“When we do start showing, you go really hard and attend a lot of shows in a short time,” she added. Their show season runs from Memorial Day through September, and that’s it.
“You don’t have much of a chance to practice,” she said. “I think it takes a lot longer to develop a horse.”
On top of that, there are simply not many shows near her where she can earn enough points to qualify. The closest AQHA show is 150 miles away in Canada.
“We don’t have as many barrel horses (up there),” she added. “We’re lucky to get a 2-point class. That means you have to make every one and make every one count.”
According to Betty, that adds an extra element of stress.
“It’s a different way of thinking,” she explained. “I have to think, no matter what, there’s still another run. No matter what happens today, there will be another one. It might not be this year; you might have to wait six months. You just do the best you can on that run.”
In spite of the challenges, Betty has made the drive to the World Show three times. She and Billy qualified this year in senior barrel racing and senior pole bending, making it back to the finals in the poles. They finished 10th in senior poles last year.
“It’s just a thrill to be here with all these people that you read about,” Betty said. “I work part-time at a community college, and they were good enough to give me time off (to come) when I qualified.”
Betty made the trip with her husband, Brent. They left home on October 15, showed in southern Maine and at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, staying with friends along the way.
“(Brent) keeps the equipment in good repair, thank goodness,” Betty said. “I wouldn’t be very good at that.”
According to Brent, they’ve always had “road trip good luck.” Their only calamity was on the way to the 1994 World Show when Betty’s horse, Rocky Otter Wynn, colicked in Missouri. He had eaten acorns somewhere on the trip. The pair ended up knocking a pole in the finals.
Billy is a 1997 bay gelding by Undertaker Billy and out of Howies Bartender by Howie Bars. Betty bought him as an unbroken 2-year-old from Chuck Givens of Richmond, Kentucky. Givens won the 2005 junior pole bending world championship on Sugar Rullah.
“It’s a big thrill to see how the horse measures up and goes with everyone,” Betty said. “It’s such a great experience.”
