Buckle Series horse show offers welcome return for riders and families
CASEY MCCARTHY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 4 months AGO
Rylie Vasquez walks her horse, Trapper, across G & C Arena Saturday morning in her first show ever.
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A young rider gets set for her event on Saturday Morning at the second show in the Buckle Series, sponsored by G & C Arena and the Stardust Cowgirls Drill Team.
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Numerous young cowgirls and their trusty horse companions came out to perform and compete at G & C Arena on Saturday morning.
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Jillian Linehan and her horse look out at their competition on Saturday during the morning events of the Buckle Series show at G & C Arena.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Julie Larsen makes her way around the arena on Saturday morning during the Buckle Series second show of the summer. Larsen, who helped found the sponsoring Stardust Cowgirls Drill Team, said she was just excited for people to have a chance to come back out.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Nine-year-old Addison Vasquez peaks out from underneath her horse on Saturday morning at G & C Arena. Addison and her sister, Rylie, competed for the very first time on Saturday.
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Mallory Bressette and Brady Linehan wait for their chance to enter the gate at the Stardust Cowgirls Drill Team and G & C Arena’s Buckle Series event Saturday morning.
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Pam Sortomme smiles as she makes her way around the inside of G & C Arena during an event on Saturday morning.
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Dani Lyman came all the way from Spokane to compete on Saturday morning at G & C Arena. Lyman woke up with excitement before her 3 a.m. alarm even went off as she headed up to Ephrata for the event.
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Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Owen Montgomery holds onto the reins of his horse as he waits for the judges’ decision on Saturday morning at the Buckle Series second event of the summer.
Julie Larsen rides near the fence as she makes her way around the ring at G & C Arena near Ephrata Saturday morning.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Many young riders came out to compete for the first time at the Stardust Cowgirls and G & C Arena’s Buckle Series event on Saturday. The event is the SCDT’s first in-person event of the year and G & C’s second.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Savanna Allen smiles next to her pony as they wait patiently for their turn during competition on Saturday morning at G & C Arena.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Lucia Clemetson rides beside the fence at G & C Arena on Saturday morning as horses and riders of all ages return for what will be the first event of the summer for many of them.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Cassidy Cox and her equestrian teammate in competition make their way out of the arena after an event on Saturday morning near Ephrata.
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Cassidy Cox, right, stands alongside her fellow competitors as they await the judges’ decision on a presentation event Saturday morning at G & C Arena.
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Rider Dani Lyman was excited for her first non-virtual competition on Saturday as she made her way to Ephrata for the second Buckle Series event of the summer.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Addison Vasquez, 9, makes her way into the arena in her first horse show ever on Saturday morning at G & C Arena.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
EPHRATA — Riders of all ages, and their horses, returned to competition for the second show in the Stardust Cowgirls Drill Team and G & C Arena’s Buckle Series.
Six-year-old Rylie Vasquez walked confidently out of the ring with her horse Trapper at G & C Arena near Ephrata Saturday morning. she said she wasn’t nervous at all for her first competition ever.
“It was really fun,” she said.
When asked if she thought she’d found something she’d want to keep doing, Vasquez grinned as she nodded up and down. Vasquez said she loved everything about the competition, especially winning a ribbon.
About 70 riders came out for the event on Saturday, with around 30 riders in the morning for presentation competitions, and 40 in the afternoon. Morning competitions, coordinated and hosted by the Stardust Cowgirls, included showmanship, equitation, bareback equitation, pleasure, and walk/trot.
The Stardust Cowgirls elected to hold their first Buckle Series show online earlier this summer, with riders submitting their performances virtually.
Stardust coach Tiffany Montgomery said it was a difficult decision moving to a virtual event.
“G & C Arena decided to do their show in person first, and it was really successful for them,” she said. “Seeing the success they had with the first one, we finally decided to just do it in person as well. People are tired of being cooped up; they want to get out. So that kind of led to the final decision of holding it in person.”
Seeing the riders and families back out again for shows on Saturday was amazing, Montgomery said. “We’ve been waiting for this a long time,” she said. “We had this planned over the wintertime, and it finally happened. The first one was a bit of a bummer because it was virtual, but it was still successful.”
Montgomery said it was great to see so many new faces out for the event on Saturday, with many coming out for the first time, others driving from far away for a chance to compete.
“I had a lot of parents say thanks for putting this on, everyone was waiting to get out and do something because there isn’t anything else really in the area,” she said. “We’re the first horse show, this joint thing between the Stardust Cowgirls and G & C Arena, we’re the first show in the long distance area. I had people from two, three hours away just to come to this show.”
Dani Lyman, who traveled from Spokane for the competition Saturday morning, said she only started riding “seriously” again about four years ago.
“We’ve had horses since I was 13, and that’s just kind of riding out on the trails,” Lyman said. “But this is just so different.”
Having returned to riding competition just a few years ago didn’t stop Lyman from being filled with excitement for her first competition of the year.
“I got up at three this morning to drive out here because I was too excited, because we don’t have any,” she said. “I woke up before my alarm at three. That’s how excited I was.”
Lyman said she believes it’s a refreshing time to be with everybody again, giving people a chance to forget everything going on for a moment. Knowing they hold a commonality in “horses,” she said, there’s already a connection between people there.
Julie Larsen began riding horses when she was a kid, and said she quit riding for a while after having kids of her own. Larsen helped start up the Stardust Cowgirls Drill Team with her niece, Tiffany Montgomery, about five years ago.
Larsen said it was great seeing how many people could come out for the event on Saturday, given how much has already been canceled this summer on the rodeo circuit.
“There’s no 4-H going on, there’s no fair stuff going on, so to see so many people out here is great,” she said.
Larsen said these events are just very family-oriented. Her own kids grew up showing livestock and riding in competitions, she said, keeping her family around rodeos all summer.
Because the Stardust Cowgirls Drill Team is a nonprofit organization, Larsen said, these fundraising opportunities are crucial in funding the team and organization’s events each year.
“The fairgrounds is shut down, so we’re thankful that Glenna has this place,” Larsen said. “We’re just enjoying it.”
Glenna Eilers and Chris Thompson have been hosting events at G & C Arena for about six years. Eilers said she grew up around horses her whole life.
“When we got together, he had horses, so we thought what the heck,” Eilers said. “He followed me around for a year when I ran WBRA barrels. Then we decided, let’s just do our own stuff here.”
With many of the rodeos in the area canceled or postponed, Thompson said it’s just nice to give everyone something to come do.
Tiffany Montgomery said it’s heartbreaking for her own team having so many rodeos lined up fall to the wayside.
“We don’t have any performances this year as a drill team, but we’re actually still practicing once a week, or every other week, to keep us in shape, and our horses in shape,” she said.
Montgomery said they’re holding out hopes of still performing sometime this year, but added that every rodeo they were scheduled for has been canceled. If one comes up, she said, they’ll be ready.
The third show in the Buckle Series is scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at G & C Arena.
