PG . 46
AQHA FEATURE
Julie Breed and Ballistic Titan Q-76148 - Wlmington Rodeo 2020 Photo by : Kurt Walter Fine Art Images
“ As a young girl growing up in Nangana , Vic , I was totally obsessed with horses , and I still am today . I always loved being outdoors , and horses were my constant companion when exploring nature and playing games on the horses with my sisters . We rode them from sunrise to sunset on weekends , after school and holidays . They were involved with so much that we did around my parents ’ farm . We rode bareback a lot of the time , at home , in the bush , on the back roads and tracks . Sometimes we rode without bridles , with just a hayband around their withers ! We didn ' t have much formal training when we were young ; however , I was an avid reader , and I read a lot of horse books and a lot of books on reining as a teenager ,” recalls Julie .
“ We tried things with the horses we had read , but at that time , we just wanted to have fun ; we sure did have a lot of fun . We tried a lot of trick riding and had lots of accidents and just got back on ; falls didn ’ t matter that much when I was young . We also rode to Pony Club on occasions , which was about 5km from home , and I loved showjumping and cross country ,” Julie remembers .
Her parents rode horses , her mum only rode occasionally for pleasure , and her Dad began competing in Rodeos in the ' 70s . He broke in horses , worked horses for people , traded horses for Rodeo events , and the girls would assist with the workloads . “ I broke in ponies , and I remember Dad would give me $ 30 if I did a good job , which was rare ,” said Julie .
“ Dad attended most of the rodeos on his own while we were young , but when we did go , I always watched the Barrel Racing . I loved watching it and dreamt about being a Barrel Racer . I started barrel
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