Trick riding is something the Calamity Cowgirls have been interested in for some time, and they continued that Monday night at the Estevan Fair.
Marci LeBlanc and Cassidy Ross, both from Estevan, are joined by Cashlyn Krecklau from Noonan. North Dakota for the team's performances. The team has been together for four years, with Marci joining three years ago.
Wind isn't a huge factor most afternoons or nights they perform, even if it did get a bit breezy in the area in the afternoon before their show.
“Sometimes you have to modify what you're going to be doing a little bit depending on the amount of wind, and obviously you'll have to pull your hair back now or you won't see anything,” said Marci LeBlanc. “All in all, you can still do it all.”
The team does a lot of shows in the United States, mostly in North Dakota.
“We do lots in Canada as well,” LeBlanc said.
“It depends on who calls us, really,” Krecklau said. “It's kind of cool to have people from both sides of the border.”
They've been attempting trick riders since they were little.
“I was hanging off my horse since I was little and I decided safety is definitely a factor,” Krecklau said. “They got a coach and just kind of pulled me into it. I loved it ever since I started.”
LeBlanc said the girls pulled her into it when they took her to a Niki Flundra trick riding clinic. Flundra is an Alberta-based horse trainer.
“I did a clinic there for two days, and I loved it so I joined them,” LeBlanc said.
Ross said her and her family would be moving cattle in the pasture and she'd have trouble staying on her horse.
“We'd be standing up or we'd be leaning off the side,” Ross said. “My mom thought it's be a good idea to get an actual trick riding coach to teach us how to do it the right way and the safe way.”
Krecklau said that the team will practice once a week from March to late November. They are all active in sports in the offseason as well, between hockey and basketball.
“We don't practice every day because that would wear the horses out but we definitely ride every day,” Krecklau said. “It keeps them in shape.”
Krecklau has the same horse that she started with four years ago but has a backup horse. LeBlanc said the first horse she tried didn't end up liking the sport due to soreness. For the last two years she's had her current horse.
“Whenever I was little I always dreamed of doing this,” LeBlanc said. “I'd dream of a big palomino in the arena, but I got a black one.”
Keeping interested in trick riding isn't a problem for Ross.
“It's fun when you're in the area,” Ross said. “There's really no other feeling like it.”
“When you're in those trucks, you can't really hear anything and the whole world just stops,” LeBlanc said. “It's really fun.”
“And there's definitely a lot of friendly competition in practice to keep you motivated and keep you working harder and learning new tricks,” Krecklau said.
