Friday, Jul. 25, 2008

Suburban Cowgirls Saddle Up

By SARAH JUNEK

At the city-owned arena behind the railroad tracks in Old Town Keller, pink spurs and sparkling, turquoise-painted hooves kicked up dust as parents and their children signed up for the Keller Saddle Club’s rodeo-like "playday" earlier this month.

Playdays, held monthly, offer local riders chances to compete against each other in timed events. They are sponsored by the Keller Saddle Club, a budding nonprofit for equestrian enthusiasts, who often find the so-called horse culture of this area diminishing.

Intending the club to be for every age group, officers Nancy Overfield-Delmar, Ginny Worthington and Karen Suesens said they discovered a need for it when a similar club nearby hung up its spurs last year.

With the closing, they saw a Texas tradition slipping away locally. .

"We’re losing our heritage," Overfield-Delmar said.

But a strong horse culture still exists in increasingly suburbanized northeast Tarrant County, the club founders believe.

And as if to prove a point, as this month’s event got underway, trailers wheeled up from almost all nearby towns.Water bottles in hand, the crowd numbered about 40 — a solid turnout for the 2-month-old club, already with 150 members. Membership is not required to participate.

Some families with small children showed up just to watch. Some came without a horse. Some came as seasoned riders, and others came to compete in barrel races for the first time.

The youngest rider, 4-year-old Anai Ubanks, came out for her third pony-led event. Kate Phelan, 13, led Anai around the arena on a honey-colored pony named Gram.

Playday events are run according to rules of the American Association of Sheriff Posses and Riding Clubs, a nonprofit based in Bowie.

One benefit of the club, which practices every Thursday evening, is the bond between riders of all ages, its founders said. For example, Kate, the strawberry-blonde ninth-grader and handler of Gram, considers herself close friends with younger and older riders alike.

Amanda Galutzo, a repeated high-point winner in the club, chose it over the more competitive North Texas High School Rodeo Association because, she said, she likes the low stress of playdays.

Playdays are nice, Galutzo said, because they provide a place to take your horse and "have fun and not worry about it."

Standing far enough off in the corner to not be disturbed by the women, the men watched, commenting on each horse throughout the three-hour event. Some fathers, some grandfathers and others trainers who will never get enough of rodeo, they all looked on and talked about the chance the club provides for kids.

For more information, see www.kellersaddleclub.com.