South African Vet, Dr. Cheryl McCrindle, Will Show in Amateur Western Pleasure For First Time at AQHA World Show
By: Brittany Bevis
For 70-year-old, veterinarian, Dr. Cheryl McCrindle, her journey to the AQHA World Championship Show has taken longer than most. That’s because she’s made the trip all the way from South Africa. The 19-hour plane ride was one thing; but, in actuality, this journey began many years ago.
“2008 was the first time I qualified for the World,” she says. “I was so excited. I came here to the United States, and I got the cap, and I got the jacket, and I got the t-shirt, and I got the belt buckle. Then, I said I would love the possibility to ride here.”
After qualifying for the World Show nearly every year since, McCrindle began exploring the possibility of leasing a horse to compete with here in the States. In 2013 and 2014, McCrindle traveled to Oklahoma City as the International Representative for South Africa. That’s when she came into contact with multi-breed judge, Ruth Ellen. “She’s judged in our country, and she promised to show me around the World Show. She’s seen me ride, so she knew I wouldn’t fall off a horse!”
This year, along with her qualification paperwork, McCrindle received a note that she would be permitted to lease a horse to compete at the AQHA World Show. However, she received the paperwork on August 23rd and entries were due on September 15th, so the clock was ticking to find a horse in time. “I had to find a horse, and a trainer, and enter the show by the 15th of September from the other end of the world!” she says. “They gave me a list of trainers who were prepared to lease horses, but most didn’t want to answer my emails, because they come from South Africa [where spam emails typically come from]. I got desperate around the 5th of September.”
Luckily, she was able to connect with Greg Wheat on Facebook, and he quickly put a plan into motion that would allow her to lease his son’s newly crowned Congress Champion, Suddenly Charming. “Somewhere along the line, Greg sent me a friend request on Facebook, and I sent him a message back. He was still at the Congress at that time.”
Once the paperwork was signed and the plane ticket was purchased, McCrindle was on her way to the United States to compete at her first AQHA World Show. “I started riding Charm on the sixth of September. I came out of the airport, I hadn’t slept for 24 hours, and he put me on the horse. It was just heaven. I rode at Greg’s place for several days and then we came up by trailer on the 12th.”
“I’m incredibly grateful to be here. I just hope I don’t look too out of place! It’s been a learning curve… In our country, Western Pleasure is a warm-up class for Reining. My pleasure horses have an extended jog and an extended lope, so it’s a totally different kind of riding.”
Thankfully, McCrindle had an excellent Western Pleasure trainer at her disposal, who was able to teach her the ropes in a short period of time. Interestingly enough, throughout this process, McCrindle has come to see a few similarities between Western Pleasure and her background in Dressage. “I’ve been analyzing Western Pleasure. What’s very interesting about it is that it’s very close to the original idea of collection with Lipizzaner stallions. You use your inner things to collect the horses, and that’s the same kind of impulsion that’s used on these horses. It’s that real classic kind of Haute Ecole used in Classical Dressage.”
“You have to build their slow twitch muscles, which is very different from fast twitch muscles, like race horses use. It’s almost like doing Tai Chi in horses. It’s a way to get very fit without a lot of cardiac exertion. That’s what you’re doing here is Tai Chi with horses in Western Pleasure.”
In addition to learning the finer points of Western Pleasure, McCrindle had to learn how to accomplish the prefect show ring look. “First, Greg’s wife had to find me the right shade of lipstick. That was very important! Then, they found me the correct hat, because the hats we have aren’t up to scratch. Also, I’m wearing fitted jeans and leather chaps. I actually did the measurements and sent them to Greg, and he had his leather maker make them custom. We measure in centimeters, so I had to convert that into inches, but they fit! Finally, he went through all of his client’s jackets, lined them all up, and we picked this one. It’s black and red, which is very much my colors.”
We would like to wish Dr. McCrindle and Suddenly Charming the very best of luck in the L2 Amateur Western Pleasure on Thursday here at the AQHA World Show!
