The Cariboo Rockin’ Riders Equestrian Drill Team is celebrating autumn by hosting the first annual Harvest Festival at the Lone Butte Community Hall on Oct. 8.
The fundraising event runs from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and will feature food vendors, a Farmers’ Market, tack swap, photo booth, pony rides, a petting zoo and demonstrations by the drill team.
Drill team leader Ali Toews said the purpose of the festival is to showcase the various homesteading and equine community members located in the South Cariboo and to officially introduce the drill team to the community.
“The girls have been working really hard this year to really lay the foundation of their horsemanship and their teammanship and all the stuff that happens within the team,” she said. “But we really want to make sure that we’re also laying the foundation for our relationship with the community. We want to be known as the hometown cowgirls and we can’t do that if people don’t know who we are.”
The team wants to grow their presence in the community and be known for more than doing grand entries or half-time performances at rodeos. The team appeared at Lone Butte Rocks in July and was a hit with the crowd.
Toews said one of the ideas they have discussed for future events is providing team gear for people to try on and get a picture up on one of the horses.
“The whole culture surrounding drill is very glitz and glamour — it’s kind of like the pageant of the rodeo,” she said. “We cover the horses in glitter and the girls have big fringed breast collars and colourful leg wraps on the horses and tassels off the back of their hats and stuff like that.”
Like barrel racing, which is traditionally female, drill teams are composed primarily of women, though not exclusively.
“The Wild West riders in Williams Lake, they have a man on their team,” said Toews. “And they kind of make it a bit of a thing, to have a cowboy on an all-cowgirl team.”
New riders are always welcome to join the drill team. Currently, there are eight riders on the team with six core riders. That works well but Toews said more members would enable the team to have an A and B group. The core team of more experienced riders could perform the faster and more intricate patterns while the entire team could take part in the grand entries, parades and fundraisers.
While there are no age or skill requirements, novice riders need to be committed to improvement, she said. There is a basic foundation necessary to be safe and both horse and rider should be comfortable with a walk, trot, canter and gallop.
Part of the challenge involves matching the right horse to a specific position. In the pinwheel, for example, the horse and rider on the inside circle are moving one step at a time while the riders on the outside are running at full speed, she said.
“My job is figuring out where everybody thrives and then getting them into that position somehow before that specific move. It’s definitely a science,” she said.
Anybody interested in joining the drill team can message them on their Facebook page or email cariboorockinriders@gmail.com.
