FEATURE
Taking it to extremes JANE CAMENS, never one to turn down the chance to try something new, has a go at being a cowgirl, and discovers it’s a whole lot of fun.
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ention the name Bianca Gillanders to someone, and they’re very likely to say, ‘Isn’t she the person who was the first Australian female horse trainer to take part in Equitana’s The Way of The Horse?’ The answer, of course, is yes, she was, in 2014, coming second overall in the competition, and striking a connection with the audience due to her gentle handling of the sensitive filly she chose to work with. These days, in amongst various other hats, Bianca is also President of the Australian Extreme Cowgirls, and I must say that when I first heard those words, I’d never heard of such a thing. When I first spoke to her about it Bianca was enthusiastic about its positive attributes, for both horse and rider. She likens the sport to sporting horse trail courses with more intensity.
Extreme Cowgirl was all about. I attended a training day when speed wasn’t on the agenda. We practiced a series of obstacles, including a bridge crossing, gate opening, flag bearing, dragging a tarp, going through a ‘cowboy curtain’, bending, a water feature, an L-shaped back-up, a sidepass pole, a small jump, throwing a ball into a hoop while mounted, ground tying your horse while you run around it carrying a flag, remounting, all eventually done at speed. Although we didn’t practice with speed on this first training day, watch out when we do. Woo-hoo! The club is all about building confidence before speed, supporting each other and having fun. You can join at any level of skill, starting from Youth and Novice levels.
“You really need to have a trusting relationship with your horse as you manoeuvre through each obstacle and to do so with smoothness and style,” she tells me. “The calmer the horse and the looser the rein the better.”
To date, there are only five Australian Extreme Cowgirl (AEC) branches, in Gippsland, the Victorian High Country, Macedon Ranges, the Yarra Valley, and the Northern Rivers in New South Wales. But the Cowgirls welcome the establishment of new branch locations.
When I heard there was a new club in my area, I decided to go along to one of the first sessions with my stockhorse Beauty, to find out what being an
Bianca predicts that this ‘girl’ sport is set to take off, literally. Have you ever seen video of the Calgary Stampede in Canada? Go online and check it out.
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HORSEVIBES MAGAZINE - OC TOBER 2019
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