Triple Trouble: The Roller Coaster Ride of Seasoning Hot Sauce

“…just like a roller coaster, the first few rides are wild and disorienting. Your heart races, your hands grip a little too tightly, and you’re not sure if you’re exhilarated or terrified. But over time … your brain adjusts … And slowly, you can think in the middle of the speed. “

If you’ve ever seasoned a young horse, you know it’s not just training. It’s a test of patience, resilience, and love for the horse. One weekend, everything clicks and you’re floating on cloud nine, check in hand and pride swelling in your chest. The next, it feels like the arena dirt’s been swept out from under you, and you’re wondering if you even belong in there.

That’s been my reality with Hot Sauce. One moment, we’re earning not one, but two Reserve Cowgirl titles. The next weekend, we don’t even make the first page of results. It’s humbling.

Here’s the truth behind the photos and the wins and the highlight reels on social media: seasoning a young horse isn’t a straight climb up. It’s a roller coaster. Full of breathtaking highs, stomach-dropping lows, and moments where the only thing holding you together is your love for the horse beneath you.

Photo by DeAnn Long Sloan

Lately, the biggest shift in our journey has been introducing more speed into our mounted shooting patterns.  Speed doesn’t just turn up the volume, it changes the entire rhythm. Patterns that once felt smooth at a lope now feel questionable and rushed. The timing is harder, the decisions are faster, and the window for error is much smaller. It’s now about reacting, adjusting, and anticipating at a much quicker pace. And when you’re not fully in sync yet, speed magnifies every tiny disconnect.

At times, it’s terrifying. It shakes my confidence. Makes me question if I’m taking things too fast, or not taking them fast enough. I’m missing balloons, sloppy in patterns, and can feel Hot Sauce getting tense and confused. It’s easy for the previous weekend’s joy to get clouded by frustration.

But here’s what I’ve learned about speed: just like a roller coaster, the first few rides are wild and disorienting. Your heart races, your hands grip a little too tightly, and you’re not sure if you’re exhilarated or terrified. But over time, if you ride it multiple times, your brain adjusts. Your hands soften. Your seat deepens. And slowly, you can think in the middle of the speed. You breathe and you learn to ride the momentum instead of fearing it. That’s the turning point I’m chasing. We’re not there yet, but that’s the direction we’re heading.

Photo by Cindy Newcomer

Hot Sauce and I are a bit of a paradox right now. She needs the slow work, the circles, the resets, the gentle reminders that she doesn’t have to rush. That’s where her confidence grows. Her mind stays clear and her body stays soft. It’s in the quiet work where she finds her balance.

Me? I need the speed. I need to feel her fast gaits, to understand her timing and flow at full throttle. I need repetition, because my confidence only grows when I’ve ridden something messy a hundred times and finally find the rhythm.

Here’s the dilemma: for every one pattern I get at speed, she needs 10 slow work exercises. So my progress is slower than I want. My learning curve feels stretched. I watch others zip ahead and wonder why it’s taking us so long. But when I step back and look at her 200% try and her little wins, I remember that this isn’t about catching up to anyone else. It’s about building a bond that lasts longer than any pattern.

Photo by Valerie Ray Kunes

Seasoning a horse isn’t a checklist, it’s a relationship. And relationships are messy. They take more grace than grit some days. There are no shortcuts. No secret hacks. Just time and patience. Understanding that the slow days matter and the speed will come. Hot Sauce, and this journey with her, is worth every loop of the roller coaster. Some weekends, we’ll shine. Others, we’ll struggle. But I’ll always show up with love, humility, and the desire to keep getting better. Every time Hot Sauce walks in the gate, she reminds me that progress isn’t measured by titles, it’s measured by trust.

So no, we’re not cruising at the top just yet. We’re not polished or perfect. We’re in the thick of learning to trust each other and trying not to let the bad runs drown out the good ones. We’re showing up, we’re putting in the work, and I’m learning what it means to build a partnership.

This isn’t the pretty part of the story. There’s no buckle photos or the clean runs. We’re in the part where the real growth happens. For now, we’ll keep working the slow stuff. I’ll keep riding the ride until the speed doesn’t rattle me and I enjoy the thrill of it.