Trail Riding “American Idol” Style by Bridget McCullough
Bridget McCullough of West Friendship retired from the U.S. Army after 23 years of service both here in the U.S. and abroad. She learned to ride just seven years ago when she purchased her fi rst horse, Four Socks Riley. T is past summer, Bridget and Riley were selected to participate in HRTV’s reality trail competition called “America’s Favorite Trail Horse,” which aired from September 13 to October 13. Here is an account of her journey from pleasure trail riding to television.
Starting With a Dream
T is story began in the summer of 2004, as I was a recently retired soldier looking to fulfi ll a lifelong dream of learning to ride and owning a horse. It didn’t matter to me that the horse I found was only three years old and had only 30 days of training. Nor did it matter that at the time, I couldn’t ride. I was sure that I would enjoy many long trail rides with my new four- legged companion, Four Socks Riley. As you can probably predict, it was a very rough start but with perseverance and help from many, my dream did can come true, and in a way I could never have anticipated!
Who is America’s Favorite Trail Horse? Fast forward to March 2011 when the Amer-
ican Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA) fi lled my email inbox with notions that one of us trail riders might own “America’s Favorite Trail Horse.” Auditions were to be held at numerous sites across the U.S. Horse and rider contestants were asked to perform the same four trail obstacles, with the horse be- ing judged on style and time. I thought… How hard could this be? And… Wouldn’t this be a good way to assess where Riley and I were in our riding? With no real expectations, Riley and I reg-
istered to participate. My only goal was not to look like American Idol’s William Hung to the horse world. In mid-April we headed to Vir- ginia in the midst of thunderstorms and the threat of tornadoes to attend a regional audi- tion. Despite the weather, arriving with only enough time to tack up, a 5-minute warm-up (in the rain) and my nerves, Riley managed to shine. He trotted through irregularly spaced cavalettis (representing deadfall), stopped from a trot over a rail, side passed off that rail, again picked up the trot, stopped between two cones, and completed a backwards fi gure 8. Riley was clearly more talented than his rider, but that was already a given! From the nearly 1,000 horses that auditioned, 100 fi nalists were notifi ed of their selection and invited to ride at a ranch near Austin, Texas. I was notifi ed that Riley was one of those select few. He was the only horse from Maryland and one of only six to use an English saddle instead of a Western one. Having never trailered more than four hours in one day, I was overwhelmed with the
24 | THE EQUIERY | NOVEMBER 2011
thought of taking a horse to Texas with an es- timated driving time of 32 hours one way. My trail riding buddy, Linda Polzin, agreed to help with the drive. In addition, we were able to pair up with another fi nalist from the Roanoke, Virginia area. T e Virginia rider made arrange- ments to stay with a family living on a 50-acre ranch located six miles from the competition site. After servicing truck, trailer and horse, we were ready for the trip. T e drive was an adventure in itself. We
traveled through tornado-ravaged southern Virginia, detoured through Louisiana because the interstate was fl ooded in Arkansas–adding two hours to our trip–and arrived in drought stricken southern Texas two and a half days after we began our journey, and a day and a half prior to the start of the compe- tition. We used the time to give our horses a much-needed rest, to check in at the competition site and to enjoy the company of our Texan hosts.
The Competition Begins On the fi rst day of the event,
we covered a six-mile, obstacle Competitive six- Trail
Challenge. I was disappointed to fi nd that after our 32-hour drive, Riley had become buddy sour with his new trailermate. T e obstacles were not the true challenge for me, but rather keeping Riley calm and focused in 96-degree heat (still wearing his winter coat) and on rocky terrain waiting in line for up to an hour to com- plete the fi rst obstacle.
Bridget and Riley trot through the “deadfall” on day two of the com- petition.
a foreboding of what the next two days might hold if Riley’s infatuation with his trailermate remained. Lynn commented at one point that I just needed to relax and that Riley seemed more confi dent than I did. With no time to deal with Riley’s buddy sour- ness in traditional ways, that night and for the next two nights, I let Riley loose with our hosts’ horses in a 30-acre rocky (rocky is being kind to the condition of the ground) unknown fi eld. It gave Riley time to just be a horse. It didn’t completely solve the problem but it did help. T e next two days of the competition were
fi lmed at the “Obstacle Garden,” an approxi- mately 20 × 80 area with multiple types of ter- rain and obstacles. T e second day, Riley and I followed a prescribed course of obstacles while the cameras rolled, fi nishing with a quick cri- tique from a celebrity coach. Simultaneously, a small group of recognized horse celebrities gave a running critique as we executed the ob- stacles. Competitors had 30 seconds to begin the fi rst obstacle and four minutes to complete the entire course. T e biggest issue for Riley and me arose at the fi rst obstacle: cross a creek by walking over a horse- sized stepping-stone bridge.
Riley was hesitant
and because of the time limit, I decided to walk him through the creek. Riley was again hesitant. T e clock was ticking. I dismounted and tried
Keeping with the concept of the event that
America would serve as the fi nal judge by public vote, there weren’t “judges” at the ob- stacles but rather “coaches.” T e coaches were well-known celebrity horse clinicians such as Monty Roberts and Lynn Palm. Celebrity coaches were located at the fi rst three obstacles along with the fi lm crew. Although it should have been an exciting day in which to improve one’s relationship with his or her horse, meet new friends, and enjoy the Texan countryside, for Riley and me it was an exhausting, frustrat- ing day. Riley and I were the team that no one wanted to be near. I was hoping this was not
to lead Riley through the creek with no such luck. I took Riley back to the stones and tried to lead him across, this time with success! We continued on the course after remounting, which was an obstacle in itself: short rider, tall horse syndrome. But I succeeded even though it wasn’t pretty. We got better with each of the fi ve remaining obstacles. It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad and Riley’s obsession with his trail- ermate was put on hold while we went through the obstacle garden. T e third and fi nal day was “freestyle.” Riders
were given the boundaries of the obstacle gar- den and three minutes to show off their horse’s stuff . Although Riley doesn’t always get it right the fi rst time, I believe his strength is that he can learn to do anything. To highlight this strength, I decided to take Riley back over the horse-size stepping stones. It was a risk because the last time Riley saw the stepping stones was the day continued...
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88