There is a quartet of dedicated young female athletes who have spent the last couple of years getting ready for some prime time appearances.
The time is now right for the Calamity Cowgirls to make their first major public appearance at the Estevan Canadian Cowboys Association Rodeo Sept. 4 and 5.
Cassidy and Carlee Ross, Marci LeBlanc and Cashlyn Krecklau riding their horses Desert Gold, Zeus, Royal and Thumper (respectively) will be providing 15 to 20 minutes worth of fast-paced entertainment in front of the rodeo crowd, performing a series of tricky horse-riding stunts they hope the audience will appreciate.
“It’s a 50/50 partnership when it comes to trick riding,” said the girls’ coach, Laura Melle. “The first thing is to find a good horse, and that’s not always easy. Then you pretty well have to ride them every day. Some horses just don’t have the personality for it and, of course, not all young riders have the dedication and commitment to bring it to this level.”
Melle, who grew up in Strathmore, Alta., and currently lives and works in Estevan, has a couple of horses herself, but states her one older equine companion “is not a good trick riding horse and the three-year-old I have now, well, I just hope he can become a good one, but he’s still too young.”
Melle said she fell in love with the idea of riding horses as a little girl and carried it through to include trick riding. She attended the Jerri Duce Phillips Trick Riding School in Okotoks, Alta., for four years and honed her skills before finishing off her schooling in Wawota where her family moved to when she was 15.
Melle has performed at many rodeos, including the prestigious Calgary Stampede and many other CCA shows and MRCA Rodeo finals.
The foursome she is working with now, have convinced her they have the necessary dedication and commitment to move up the trick riding ladders of expertise.
“As they get older, stronger and the horses keep learning, they’ll be moving at an even faster pace. Right now most of the tricks are at a lope (canter). I’ll also be able to teach them quite a few more tricks. Right now though, they’re ready to provide some entertainment. These girls really want to do this and, of course, this includes supportive and committed parents. A lot of young kids think they’d like to be trick riders, but once they discover what it takes, most of them drop out or eventually drop off. These girls haven’t. They have the parents who support them, they have found the right horses and are willing to put some trust in these horses.”
Some of the tricks do require a lot of trust. To begin with, the horses need to be trained to run close to fences consistently and to not falter when they sense all the weight shifting and changes going on as they lope and gallop around the rings.
The riders are equipped with special saddles with stirrups and straps arranged to accommodate their trick riding needs and that includes a higher, thinner saddle horn.
Another rule is no cowboy boots.
“They wear the type of shoes boxers wear without heels. That way they have less chance of getting caught up,” said Melle.
“Next they (girls and horses) have to learn to put up with anything, like noisy crowds, loud music, sudden distractions and, if something is going wrong, these girls have been taught to keep smiling even if something is really hurting them,” she said. “Having a non-clumsy horse, really helps in those situations. So again, it’s about this partnership thing. These girls are pretty well strapped onto their saddles and the horse. That’s important to keep in mind, especially as they build up their speeds with experience. The girls and the horses are learning together.”
Melle said, for instance, Cassidy Ross had a good horse, but it was too small to allow her to perform all the tricks in the repertoire, so she picked up a palamino named Desert Gold from the family ranch, and started working with it. Cashlyn is also working with a new horse, but is sticking with her familiar steed Thumper at this stage of training.
“I figure quarter horses are traditionally one of the better breeds for this kind of training,” Melle said.
Melle said the training routines take a lot of commitment. For instance, Cashlyn hauls her horse across the border on a regular basis to participate in practice sessions at the Ross Ranch where they have an outdoor riding arena. When weather turns rougher, the girls have been offered the indoor riding arena at Frehlick Farms just north of the city, to they can provide continuity to their training schedule.
Marci noted of all the tricks she has learned, she probably finds the spin-the-horn vault, the toughest one to conquer.
“It helps if the horse has high withers for that trick,” said Melle.
“We don’t use any straps for that, so I have to make sure I’m in balance,” Marci explained.
Cashlyn, on the other hand, finds the side back bend one of the more challenging tricks, while Cassidy and Carlee have gained a sure measure of poise when they perform the one foot stand with a fly away.
“I thought one of them would say the stroud layout was one of the more difficult tricks,” said Melle with a laugh. It’s also one of the more eye-appealing tricks along with the dead man drag. Those are tricks where you really don’t relish ever having a “whoops” moment. And, of course, the well known hippodrome stand is a for sure crowd-pleaser.
“This is so much fun, especially for these girls who are probably a little like I was when when I was younger. I don’t think I ever sat properly in a saddle,” Melle said with another chuckle. “But in all seriousness, those are prime horses, with $3,000 saddles, young girls who are committed to the art and just have that ‘gotta do that’ spirit. It’s tough physically as well as mentally. It requires a lot of strength and agility to do what they do and make the difficult look easy while smiling. You can start learning to trick ride around age 10 or 11, but not before because you just won’t have that core body strength. This stuff is not easy. I’m pretty proud of them,” Melle said.
The Riders:
Cashlyn Krecklau, 12, is the daughter of Jamison and Holly Krecklau who ranch near Noonan, N.D. Besides riding Thumper, which she has done for a long time, she also enjoys basketball, volleyball, youth rodeos, team roping and playing guitar.
Carlee Ross, 13, is entering ECS this fall. She is involved in high school rodeo, and is a member of the Outram-Madigan 4-H Beef Club. She and Cassidy are the daughters of Chad and Crystal Ross who operate a ranch south of Estevan.
Cassidy Ross, 15, is a Grade 10 student at ECS and also a valued member of the Outram-Madican 4-H Beef Club. She will also be doing some high school rodeo work. She is now working with her horse Desert Gold.
Marci LeBlanc, 13, is the daughter of Jason and Sherrill LeBlanc who operate a family farm west of Estevan. She is a Grade 8 student in the French Immersion program at Sacred Heart/Sacre Coeur School. Her other interests include hockey, volleyball, basketball, guitar and singing. She is aboard Royal, the horse she has been working with for almost two years.
