BRENDA JOYCE INTERVIEW BY TRACY WAGER
Q - You grew up in an apartment on the Upper East Side of
Brooklyn New York, wishing to live on a ranch out west with horses. That dream came true – how does that make you feel? A - It is amazing! I was a little girl living in an apartment playing with model horses. I loved horses from the start. Growing up on the East Coast I rode some English but it did not suit me. From an early age I wanted to go West. Many of the leading men in my books have a horse. The main male characters were heroes, very masculine types and often they had their fabulous horse. The way I would write it, was to make sure the horses always had cool names and helped the leading man get the job done. They were always a partner to the lead character. After writing 52 books, I was exhausted, yet they wanted more, and more. I told my Publisher that I was going on a vacation, which did not go over very well because they wanted more books. They said it’s not possible. How long will you be gone? When will you be back? Where are you going? My answer was I have no idea, I just need a break. That happened many years ago, and I never did go back. I feel so grateful for everything, never imaging that the dreams of a young girl would have become what they have today. Now, sharing these dreams and living them with a wonderful man, my husband Rick Christen (whom I met because of Reining) if so fulfilling as are the friendships with the great people I have met along the way and the ones I work with today. It has been amazing to say the least. I meet Rick, who is from Ohio originally, at the High Roller Show in Las Vegas! He had rode with Dan Huss forever. Rick asked me out, and that was just it! He is an unbelievable person to have in my life. We combined our passions which are basically the same thing – Reining and that is what started it all.
Q - You went all-in building the Five Bells Ranch resulting in
a state-of-the-art facility from the 42 stall barn and more all on 22-acres. What is your favorite part of the ranch? A - When I look out the window or walk outside of my house and see the mares and babies, especially when they are out on the grass pastures by the front gate! We put the new babies out there until they are older and can go out with the other mares with older babies. My house has a pretty good view, but walk out on the 22
porch - WOW! By far, that view is the best part of the experience. Building the ranch was an amazing dream that came true, and more amazing is my husband I did it together, it was our passion project. And now we live in a real-life dream. Bob Hamilton designed and built it all. He did an amazing job.
Q - When you dreamed of having a ranch in the West, and it grew
into this passion project - Why Reining? A - Taking a break from writing, the desire was to do something Western that would hold my interest, something that was challenging to do that would really have to be worked at. Looking into different type of Western competitions some people shared with me that Reining was very hard. That it was complicated and challenging to do. That drove my interest as an athlete and the challenge was inspiring so I chose Reining! Not one to do anything that is not 100%, I knew it would take a strong commitment of time and energy, exactly what I was looking for. Seven years ago, I started with Arabians. My first horse was so good to me, his name was Firestorm, which happened to be the title of my second book! So that was meant to be and I had to have him. I started riding and was terrible, but he really took care of me. After learning a lot from him, he was so kind and cared about me, I discovered he was shown by my trainer that he was a real Firestorm. He was really hot! It made me realize how he changed when I rode and showed him. It was amazing how he could turn it off and back on. He was so smart to know I was not good at this and needed his help, he was an amazing teacher. Then I decided it was time to take the leap of faith and step up into the real deal, the NRHA. In the NRHA the majority of horses are Quarter Horses, and that was a real game changer for me because they are so honest about doing their job. It was easier in some ways, to focus on my riding and showmanship when I transitioned up to the next level, because the horses were better suited to do it. The entire process has been hard work and continues to challenge me whenever I step it up. Reining continues to challenge you, and one never gets to the point where it’s easy. It may become easier as you grow and evolve into it, but it never loses the aspect of it being hard to do. I like that the challenge continues, especially with us now breeding more and the babies are doing well.
JUNE 2021
