Trick rider at home around horses
Posted on Saturday, March 29, 2008
Austin Anderson has a knack for horsing around.
On Friday, he did it by standing on the backs of two horses as they galloped around the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Arena, part of the University of Arkansas on Garland Avenue in Fayetteville.
Observers admired his execution of what is called Roman riding on Ringo and Buckshot, two American white steeds that move in sync.
Anderson's is part of a group called The Texas Trick Riders, which is part of the bill for the ninth annual University of Arkansas Horse Festival this weekend.
He spent part of Friday preparing to do a clinic on trick riding before returning to the barn with his horses, which also include Charlie, a chestnut quarter horse, and Geza, a Hungarian Warmblood.
Anderson will perform parts of his Texas Trick Riders Show today. Also appearing in the show will be Pamela Roetschke. They both hail from Troup, Texas, and travel the country and Canada doing shows.
Anderson's life has been all about horses. He began performing with his parents when he was just 4.
"I'm third-generation doing this," he said. "Just about everything I've done has involved horses."
He has team-roped, a rodeo sport, and shoes his own horses. His performance skills include not only trick riding and Roman riding, but other interests such as jousting, mounted shooting and chariot riding.
He remembers coming home from school as a child and going straight to the barn to find a horse to ride. That was what he and his sister did when they were young. She now trains horses.
His parents met, appropriately, at the American Royal, a Kansas City notfor-profit organization that promotes "American Agricultural education and values. "His mother, who had been a cowgirl as a youth, had performed as a Rockette with Radio City Music Hall in New York City before getting back into horses.
His dad was working with Clydesdales. They eventually began their performing group, the Texas White Horse Troupe. Anderson took part of that show and condensed it when he was asked to perform at the Virginia State Fair in 2004. He pared a 90-minute show down to 20 minutes, and the Texas Trick Riders were born.
The group has performed at Equine Affaire in Springfield, Mass., and Columbus, Ohio, the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, among other venues, and are booked this year for the Minnesota State Fair. The group was named the Will Rogers Wild West Expo's Group Trick Riding champions last year in Claremore, Okla. Anderson also performs at the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show in Fort Worth, Texas, in the summer.
In planning to do the trick riding clinic at the local horse festival, Anderson said he wanted people to realize the horsemanship required: understanding horses and the decisions they make in the arena.
"Is he going to be a trustworthy horse ? "he said. "We have to understand their mentality."
The trick riders, he said, are not a bunch of daredevils.
"We have to have a very good arena presence. Our lives pretty much depend on our horses," he said. "It does take a lot of training and a lot of practice."
Judging whether a horse is a good trick-riding horse is part of the job. That includes looking at the horse's mental ability and physical attributes.
Anderson says he likes horses that wear big shoes and feature good bone structure. He said it all starts with the foundation.
"I like tall horses," he adds.
While he does not pamper his horse, he says," I take good care of him."
He said he likes them to have plenty of good hay and a nice, and a comfortable place to lay when they sleep. When they are home, he says, he lets them run and relax to just "be horses."
Treating them right, he says, is about partnership.
"They're our partners. We depend on those horses. I love my horses more than most people, but they're not my best friends," he says. "They are my partners. They have to do their jobs."
Anderson trains people to trick ride and says he hopes to get some people interested in trick riding via today's clinic.
Learning to trick and Roman ride is a step-bystep approach, he said, that involves specific exercises. Roman soldiers did the exercises to learn how to be better horsemen.
Anderson says there was not much thought put into going into the business of trick riding and shows.
"I do it because it's what I do and I know how to do it," he said.
His parents, he said, provided the chance to get involved.
"I had to be smart enough to take advantage of the opportunity."
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