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Drill team invited to Mane Event

This Saturday, Oct. 20, the Cariboo Cowgirls Drill Team will perform its Shot in the Dark performance in front of a provincial audience.
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The Cariboo Cowgirls Drill Team will perform its Shot in the Dark performance this Saturday

This Saturday, Oct. 20, the Cariboo Cowgirls Drill Team will perform its Shot in the Dark performance in front of a provincial audience in Chilliwack at the Mane Event Equine Education Trade Fair.

For those unfamiliar with the routine, the Cariboo Cowgirls Drill Team adorn themselves and their horses in bright green glow sticks and ride in a series of patterns and choreographed maneuvers. And, they do it in complete darkness.

Chantale Ducharme, a Cariboo Cowgirls Drill Team member, said the group is excited about this weekend’s performance. The Chilliwack Mane Event is a three-day event featuring a trade show, clinicians, a trainer’s challenge, exhibitors, clinics and horse demonstrations.

“It will be sort of like the performance we do at the [Williams Lake] Indoor Rodeo but it’s much darker there,” Ducharme said. “It’s pretty much pitch black. Then, after our routine we pass our glow sticks out to the crowd.”

The team of 10 performing Saturday, who range in age from 14 to 60, have been practicing twice a week in preparation for the event.

Ducharme said the team’s current routine has come together over the years as they’ve experimented with different maneuvers.

They were invited by the Mane Event organizers to perform.

“The routine itself has pretty much stayed the same but we’ve changed moves here and there,” she said. “We added a new move this year, and the funny thing is the way we came up with it was actually by swimming. Or, we just play around and try new things and see how it works.”

Riders taking part in this weekend’s Mane Event include: Tammy Ward, Mel Wintjes, Nadina Klassen, Skyla Fairhurst, Ashley Palesch, Brittney Palesch, Shaelynn Wintjes, Jen Wintjes, Wendy Pinchin and Anna Martin.

Ducharme said thanks to the team’s many sponsors, they’re able to attend events like these.

She added it wouldn’t be possible without the team’s dedicated ground crew and coach, John Young.

For more on the Cariboo Cowgirls Drill Team visit www.cowgirlsdrillteam.com.



Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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