How It All Started
I owe all of my early horsemanship, and learning to my Great Uncle Clark. At the age of four he started teaching me about horses, how to get them from the stalls, how to tack them, and ride them. Every time we would visit him, he would immediately drop what he was doing, and come out to get the horses so we could ride. It wasn't even a question or hesitation. If I or someone needed boots, there was a bin filled with them in the tack room that we could root around in, and find ones that fit for the day.
As I got better at riding, Uncle Clark and I would go out further into the field, so I could feel the movement of going over different ground. When we'd do this it reminded me of the many horse movies I always watched, and just being out in the open. We'd also play games such as tag, as seen in these two pictures. I thought it was fun, but I later learned from my Great Aunt Joan that was his way of trying to get me bucked off. Getting bucked off would've been a good learning experience, but I never got bucked off when we played tag. After we played that, he'd told Aunt Joan that I was a good rider.
Throughout those early years under his guidance, I also slowly learned how to communicate with Chance, the horse I'd always ride. With observing his body language, his personality, his quirks, and behaviors, I felt that first connection with a horse. Uncle Clark also taught me that whatever I'm feeling, the horse also feels it, so I learned how to regulate my thoughts and emotions in order to be present.
Uncle Clark had many rodeo hours, and riding hours in general under his belt, as he was both a bronc rider, and bull rider, which earned him his gold card for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
At age 9 I joined a mounted drill team organization in Golden, Colorado called Westernaires which has a rental herd consisting of about 200 horses, and a little over 20 different teams. There were always about 1,000 riders in the organization at a time, as every year the oldest riders would graduate, and the new riders would get enrolled. Throughout the winter, spring, and summer, the teams would all practice their maneuvers, then in the late summer, and fall we'd compete against the other teams on the Westernaires fairgrounds. When we told Uncle Clark that I had joined Westernaires, and that I love it, he said "Of course she does, its in her blood!"
After a few years in the organization, I was able to join specialty teams on top of the normal base team I was on. I knew that I wanted to join Liberty, which is their bareback, bridle-less jumping team, because of the first bareback ride I had during my first year. I joined that team, and throughout the years I moved up to the point of doing the Specialty Shows, where all the specialty teams would compete for the best placement. Liberty ended up being my favorite team, granted my base team was a bit faster, but jumping was the most amazing, free feeling, similar to what I feel flying would be like.
Throughout the five years I was in the organization, I became a better, and more confident rider, since every time I rode as a renter, I'd be assigned a different horse. With that, I rarely rode the same horse twice, so I ended up riding about 150 of the horses. This exposed me to a wide range of horse temperaments, and I learned how to work with, and handle each one. I came to know the behaviors, quirks, and movements of each of those horses, which made me love and appreciate them in their own ways.
During my last year at Westernaires, I leased a Quarter Horse named, Sam. Once him and I got to know each other, we became such an amazing team in the arena. He really helped boost my confidence with both of my teams, my base team with the flags as well as my specialty team with bareback jumping, and I knew that I could trust him.
Since I began leasing, that allowed me to participate in parades that the Westernaires was apart of, and all of the "owners", whether they leased or owned, would show off their team colors in full uniforms with their flags. I was also allowed to participate in "Serpentine", at the beginning of each show, which consisted of the owners snaking their way through the arena back and forth to each point until every team was in the serpentine. At the end of the serpentine, there were usually about 100 riders in the arena. It sounds chaotic, but that's one of the things that all of us riders practiced and prided ourselves in, was precision. Without precision, we wouldn't have been able to do what we do, and perform.
Now
Throughout my life, every path has lead me back to horses in some way or another.