FEATURE
Seatbelts sold separately The fearless, daredevil world of the trick rider is something to behold, writes CANDIDA BAKER
A
ll riders have a dream, don’t they? They may change over time, but I’m sure most of us can still remember what initiated our passion for horses. However, I have to say, that I’ve always been what you might call a saddle, or at least a bareback-bound rider. I’ve never really experienced a massive desire to stand on a galloping horse, or fling myself off my equine friend at high speed in the appropriately named suicide drag, but I sure do admire those that can trick-ride. It’s fast, furious and fun to watch, and those that do it love nothing better than the thrill of a well-practiced trick on a well-trained horse, as two of Australia’s best trick riders, Hollie Shiels and Becky (Beck) Klingenberg explain. Gold Coast-based Hollie Shiels is one of the original members of ‘Girls, Girls, Girls,’ the team put together by trainer Heath Harris that started the whole trick-riding craze in Australia. “I was 15 at the time,” she says, “and I’d actually gone there for a jumping lesson with Krissy Harris. I’d known Heath and Krissy since I was born, because my mum knew Heath as a teenager. Heath watched me ride, and asked me if I wanted to join the team. I’d never even heard of it, let alone seen it, but I went, ‘ok’. They were still new at training horses for trick riding then, but then over the next few years there we were – performing at Sydney Royal, at Equitana, at the Ekka in 20
Brisbane, we were in the Outriders TV series. It was all massive, and great fun.” But even though Hollie didn’t start her trick riding until she was a teenager – relatively late these days – she came from a perfect background to immerse herself in the world of horses. Her mother managed a large riding school at Ingleside in Sydney’s Northern Suburbs, and Hollie was riding from an early age. “Mum bought me a black Welsh Mountain pony when I was six,” she says. “He’s still going today. He went on to our neighbour, but he’s been in our extended family for 28 years, so he’s at least 31 now – and that’s if he was only three when we got him.” I get a wonderfully misty-eyed vision of a little girl and her black pony, but when I mention it Hollie laughs. “Actually, he was quite a little turd,” she says cheerfully. “He wasn’t very nice at all!” Back to the trick-riding, and it wasn’t long before Tony Jablonski, the Horse Master for the nightly dinner shows at Movie World on the Gold Coast, who knew Hollie’s mother well, asked if Hollie would be interested in doing the shows. At the time, Hollie wasn’t sure. “I didn’t want to leave where we were living, or leave my trick riding horse from Heath’s behind. I just couldn’t see myself doing it, but then he rang again a year later, and suggested that we just meet up. I agreed, along with a friend
HORSEVIBES MAGAZINE - NOVEMBER 2019
Becky Klingenberg riding out on Rose. (Photographer © Sarah Duguid.)
