Horseman needs little gear to control mount
By ANISSA CAMP / Abilene Reporter-News
A single, thin leather strap that hangs around the animal's
neck is all Chad Smith of Dickens needs to guide his horse, Fifteen,
to walk, gallop, turn, and back up.
Just a little tug one direction and the horse immediately turns;
a light pull back and without hesitation the horse takes a few
steps backward - all with no halter and no bit, just a half-inch-wide,
worn leather strap.
It seems like the horse can read Smith's mind.
"You've got to get the horses gentle and used to you,"
said Smith. "They have to trust you."
Smith, 18, explained that if the horse trusts you, then you
don't have to have a lot of gear to get him to where you want
to go.
Smith, who is in Abilene for his last Texas State 4-H Horse
Show, has been riding horses since he sat in the saddle with his
parents when he was a baby.
"I've been riding since before I can remember, I guess,"
Smith said with a toothy grin and a Texas drawl.
And he's been showing horses and participating in 4-H since
he was 9 years old.
Although he's required to use face gear on his horse in competition,
Smith's handling skills show while he rides Fifteen around the
Expo grounds - turning plenty of heads in the process.
Fifteen, whose name comes from a 15 branded on the horse's
hind quarter, isn't an ordinary horse either.
Out of the six events that Smith competed in, he used Fifteen
for five of them. This is unusual because different events usually
require that different horses with different skills be used.
Fifteen and Smith competed in team roping, breakaway roping,
team penning, reining and working cow horse. They placed second
in working cow horse and eighth in reining.
The only event Smith didn't ride Fifteen in was cutting, and
Smith took first in that event.
For that kind of control, one might think that training would
dominate his days, but it doesn't.
"He's my roping horse, and I catch him and rope on him
a little bit, and I fiddle with his handling a little, but not
much," said Smith, patting Fifteen on the neck. "You
don't need to aggravate him if he's doing a good job."
A good job is just what the tireless horse and rider team is
doing, and although this is Smith's last year at the 4-H Show
he will be doing some rodeoing at Vernon Junior College next year.
A rider who was featured Tuesday, Gina Helfrich, provided another
highlight to the competitions at the show by winning her fifth
state championship Wednesday, coming out on top of the Hunter
Hack event. On Monday, the Lubbock rider became the first person
to win three jumping events the same year.
Today's state show schedule at the Horse Barn shows halter
mares at 2 p.m. and pole bending prelims at 4 p.m.
In the Coliseum, the schedule shows showmanship at halter prelims
at 11 a.m., halter geldings at 2 p.m. and western pleasure prelims
at 4 p.m.
For Wednesday's results see page 3D.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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