much time pass
and then I would chicken out
because I would not be prepared. I needed a team of horsemen. I thought long and hard about what this should look like. It came to me in an instant; I should form a drill team. With my husband and I owning a trail riding facility, my weekends are swamped, which means that I needed to practice during the week.
I posted on Facebook that I wanted to start a drill team and PEOPLE SHOWED UP!
To make things even better, the women that showed up were almost all former rodeo queens! I couldn’t believe the line up! We formed the Country Tough Drill Team! Our first practice was absolutely wonderful except for JoJo. We couldn’t trot in a straight line, couldn’t trot all the way around the arena, couldn’t canter around the arena, and our stop took around 15’ to accomplish. Plus, the horses did not know what he was and why he was beside them!
If you are looking for a step by step answer for how to find motivation, there’s not a “catch all” answer. I am a people person and enjoy being on a team. In addition to improving my basic horse/mulemanship skills with the use of the drill team, I also took private lessons, competed in a few obstacle challenges, and even went cattle sorting. The way to feel more confident is to believe in your training. In order to persuade myself to train, I set a goal. It is sometimes easy to set a goal, but not easy to keep yourself from backing out later on. By having the team, I felt like I would be letting them down if I did not show up. Whatever you have to do to keep yourself from backing out; do it. You could prepay for a bundle of lessons, write your training time down in ink on your calendar, and make a promise to yourself to not cancel.
I am now the 2017 Benton County Rodeo Queen. Did I compete on him bridleless? Heck no! But I did ride him bridleless for two laps in the arena the night of the rodeo with one of my drill team teammates by my side and another one guarding the gate.
CONTINUED >
Brandy is a ranch owner, horsewoman, instructor, competitor, judge, equestrian event host, a wedding host, a black belt in martial arts as well as a former biology teacher ranging from college to middle school for 11 years. She is
driven, ambitious and confident. Operating
out of her family ranch in Mora, MO, Brandy
and her husband David are in the business
of hosting a wide variety of equine events.
Visit the Ranch website at www.vonholtenranch.com
As previously mentioned, there is great value in continuing to host events riders have come to enjoy, such as competitive trail rides, obstacle courses and the like. But it is also advantageous for the facility owner to branch out and try new things which might be unexpected and lure in a new crowd to enjoy your facilities.
One final piece of advice: Don't expect the first new event to heave optimal success. Persevere. Learn from mistakes and discover what worked well and what can be improved upon. Once you work out the kinks, you can feel confident your events will continue to grow and prove increasingly successful
and profitable.
In the photo right, Ricky Couch of St. Joseph, Missouri participates in the "Country Tough All-Around Cowboy Challenge" held at the Von Holten Ranch in September. This event was geared towards working men and served as a fun way of honoring the men who perform these honorable jobs daily.
Pictured are all the participants for the 2017 Country Tough All Around Cowboy Challenge. They ranged from 18-57 years of age.