BY TONYA RATLIFF-GARRISON, FIELD EDITOR
 |
| Out of 73 exhibitors, Wendie Brandenburg and Good Trace were one of 15 to return to the trail finals on September 1. They placed 10th. |
When Wendie Brandenburg retired a few years ago, her husband, Larry, asked what she wanted to do.
“He asked me what my passion was,” the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, resident said. “I said horses. I wanted to show horses. I’ve seen pictures of people doing it, and I wanted to try it. I just had no idea what I’d be getting myself into.”
Friends Tim and Lou Petty told Wendie and Larry if they wanted to get serious about showing, they needed to head to Oklahoma City to see the AQHA World Championship Show.
“So we went to the 2003 World Show, and we were totally blown away,” Wendie said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is great. This is going to be a piece of cake.’”
But it wasn’t.
“I didn’t have a clue,” Wendie said with a smile.
After their exposure to the World Show, Wendie and Larry purchased a 2-year-old mare.
“I was a complete novice, and didn’t know what I was doing,” Wendie recalled. “I didn’t know anything.”
Wendie became frustrated with the mare and her showing experiences. She decided to sell the mare and look for another horse. Unfortunately, that was about the time she became ill.
“They diagnosed me with cancer, but they couldn’t really sift it out,” she said. “They were going from one end to the other on what it could be and putting me through everything in the world. Finally, my husband said, ‘We’re not doing this.’ He packed me up and we went to the Mayo Clinic and found out it was like an autoimmune (disorder).”
Friends recommended a naturopathic in California, and Wendie started traveling to Beverly Hills.
“They did bloodwork like every 20 days and just built me back up,” she said. “Before I was like a little old woman, literally. I couldn’t get out of a chair. He built me back up and got my immune system going again.
“He has me on a program. I go to the gym. I’ve lost a little weight. I’m doing all the things I probably should have done not to get into the shape I was in.”
Feeling better, Wendie and Larry began looking for another horse. But their search was fruitless. No matter how many horses she rode, Wendie couldn’t find the one she wanted.
“We horse-shopped for, like, two years actually,” she said. “I think I probably rode every horse out there. I was thinking I wanted an all-around horse because I wanted to do everything.”
But instead it was Good Trace, an experienced trail horse, Wendie ended up with.
“I’d actually ridden ‘Teddy’ but passed on him because he didn’t do everything,” she said. “Then a friend said, ‘I don’t know why you don’t buy Teddy. He’s perfect for you.’
“So we were heading home from this Las Vegas show, and we just turned the car around and drove to David Busick’s. I rode Teddy again and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh. This horse is awesome. And maybe I should just learn one thing at a time.’ So that’s what we’re doing.”
Wendie and Teddy began showing in May. They qualified for the Bayer Select World Championship Show in two shows and put in two more shows before heading to Amarillo for the Bayer Select World.
“So this is really only my fifth show of the year,” she said. “And this is the first World Show of any kind for me. I’ve been a nervous wreck. My expectations coming into here was just to get through it, but I really wanted so much to come back to the finals.”
When Wendie walked into the Amarillo National Center and saw the Tim Kimura trail pattern, it was a little intimidating.
“I was like, ‘What are all these poles and why are there so many cones?’ And then I realized it was just an ‘L’ and he was trying to intimidate us,” she said.
With her mind focused, Wendie guided Teddy through the trail course. She came out thinking they’d done a good job.
“But when they announced the score, I thought I got a 202,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh man. What did I do wrong?’
“I came out, and my trainer, David, is like smiling, saying, ‘Good girl.’ I said, ‘Don’t give me that happy face. I don’t need that. What did I do wrong?’ He said, ‘You did great, and you got the half. That half point might get you in the finals.’
“I said, ‘I’m hearing all kind of 214s. There’s no way I’ll come back.’ Lou Petty was standing on the other side of me and goes, ‘Are you dyslexic? Do you not know how to do your math? A 220.5 is a lot better than a 214. I went, ‘I got a 220.5?’ I was just thrilled to death. I couldn’t believe it.”
The score put Wendie and Teddy in 10th place for the trail prelims, guaranteeing them a spot in the finals.
“I tried really hard and it paid off,” she said, holding back tears. “It was incredible. But I’ll tell you, that little horse underneath me, he’s the star. He’s been so kind to me.”
Wendie and Teddy returned to the trail finals September 1, placing 10th. She would have loved to take home a trophy, but even if she doesn’t, Wendie said, it has still been the thrill of a lifetime.
“I feel like everything is now a gift,” she said. “I’m just going to go ride in there and show that horse proud. I made the top 15 at least.
“This show has made it all worthwhile. Sometimes you think, 'What am I doing?' I was seriously ready to give up. After the 2-year-old, after being sick and then not being able to find a horse, I told Larry maybe this wasn’t meant to be. Maybe I should do something else. Inside, though, I was dying. I wanted to still do it. But as soon as I let go, it happened. It’s been work, though. A lot of blood, sweat and tears. But let me tell you, it’s starting to pay off, and it’s just awesome.”
