Horsemanship
The crowd roared with laughter as he mimicked dressage riders. His act culminated in three of his horses laying side by side as he straddled them with the fourth. Both Australians made liberal use of their stock whips, often while standing atop one of their horses. At one point McClean opened a leather case and pulled out a pair. ‘These are very special whips,’ he explained. ‘I only bring them out when I perform for the Queen or, in this case, because I’m representing my country.’ As the round pen sessions progressed it was interesting to note that members of each team had somehow chosen colts with similar temperaments. The Canadian colts were a difficult combination of extremely sensitive and pushy. The Americans both worked with calm, lower energy horses and the colts the Australians chose each lost their forward motion when mounted. At then end of the first day of training
Team USA led with 691 points, Canada was second with 609 (including the 40 bonus points for swapping horses) and Australia was in last place with 599.
Day two brought a couple of unforeseen twists. First off, Parelli’s horse was ailing and, according to the event vet, it wasn’t a good idea for the colt to continue. So when it came time to do his second session, Parelli started afresh with a stout palomino with the same gentle disposition as the first horse he had chosen.
Maybe more troubling was the fact that James had taken ill following a demanding performance in which he cracked flaming whips and navigated his horse along an alley of flames. He headed to the hospital for treatment. The judges allowed McClean to go first, giving James an opportunity to recover. By the end of day two in the round pens, all six trainers could walk, jog and
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lope their horses in each direction. They had introduced a number of items such as tarps, jumps and platforms in anticipation of the challenge that was yet to come. Sunday morning came early for those who wanted to watch Parelli’s second session with the yellow horse. It began at 5.30am followed by Cowboy Church and then the much anticipated finale. After the contestants drew to see who would ride first, the final twist was revealed - any team that agreed to switch horses for the obstacle course would get a total of 60 bonus points. Teams USA and Canada declined. The Aussies, though, surprised the crowd by taking the challenge, and the points. ‘We can’t go back home if we don’t,’ McClean announced. ‘Even if we were ahead they’d want us to do it just to see if we can stay on!’ The bonus put Australia only 16 points behind Team USA when the finale began. The challenge included rail work (walk, jog and lope in each direction, mount and dismount, turns, stop, back, and pick up all four feet) and a series of obstacles including dragging a post, walking over a tarp, jumps, swinging a rope and opening and closing a gate - all in 40 minutes. First up, Canada’s Field lost points when he failed to exit back through a gate. Going second, Cameron’s previously cooperative
colt proved resistant and balky. Stewart’s lengthy warm up paid off with a smooth performance.
Then it was McClean’s turn. As a part of the rules, contestants were required to declare each element of the rail work for the judges. This aspect proved pretty comical for McClean, who had himself a handful riding James’ colt. No sooner would he declare, ‘Walk to the right,’ and the colt would turn and go left. While in a nice canter he announced, ‘This is my canter to the left for judging,’ and the colt pulled back to a trot as he spoke.
But when it came to the obstacles, McClean and the colt were unstoppable. With time left to spare, McClean stood on his horse, then recited a patriotic poem he had only recently written.
James got along nicely with McClean’s horse, completing the rail work with smoothness. He chose to skip the tarp after a few failed attempts, and dismounted to try to coax his horse into the water-filled box. Last up, Parelli earned the high score for the day even though his gate-sour colt made him do much of his rail work at or going toward the gate. His obstacle work was patient and effective.
Whether it was the spectacular entertainment, their fine senses of humor, the gutsy move to switch horses or simply their keen horsemanship skills, the two Aussies managed to win the hearts of the crowd - and the votes of the judges. When points were tallied, Team Australia won and they didn’t even need those 60 bonus points to do so. The response was deafening when
Team Australia was announced as the winner of the 2012 Road to the Horse. ‘Both Dan and I represent the Australian stockman,’ McClean said. ‘We’re showing how we do it back home.’ And what a show it was.
May/June 2012
GUS REYES/RTTH
LISA ROHNER SCHAFER
PLISA ROHNER SCHAFER
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