Breeding Confidence Through Horsemanship

Story by Katlyn Sanden

Traveling around the United States together is just what the Hochstatter family of Wyanet does. Usually with a horse trailer in tow, the trio consisting of Travis, Heather, and their daughter, Quincy, can be found following the Jr. High Rodeo Circuit.

As challenging as it can get working with unpredictable animals and teenagers, the trio agrees there’s nothing better than the memories made together in the show barn.

“Honestly, we weren’t sure if Quincy was ever going to get involved with horses,” Heather said. “I think she didn’t show any interest because when horses are there all the time, it’s not really that exciting.”

She’s referring to the days Quincy was young and when they started their own business breeding horses. It wasn’t just a hobby. It was, and still is, their livelihood. The young family lived in Texas for a bit, but it wasn’t until they moved back to Illinois that Quincy started to get excited about what was right in front of her.

“That’s when Quincy said, ‘I want to show at the 4-H fair,’” Heather said. “She was eight, and we were both like, ‘Awesome, let’s do it!’ At that point, we literally spent more time saddling the horse and getting the horse ready, and she’d ride for five minutes. It was a ton of work at that time, but anytime she wanted to ride, we’d let her ride. We didn’t push her. It was fun for us to get back into it at that

“I really just wanted to start riding to see what it would be like. I saw my cousin riding horses and thought it was amazing. I really wanted to do it.”

Quincy Hochstatter

See HOCHSTATTER page 11

Quincy, and her mom, Heather Hochstatter, take a break to talk strategy.

FROM PAGE 9 level when it wasn’t work all the time, and we could actually enjoy the horses again.”

Quincy, 13, said it wasn’t until she was watching her cousin ride and witnessed firsthand how much fun she was having that she thought horses might actually be for her too.

“I really just wanted to start riding to see what it would be like,” Quincy recalled. “I saw my cousin riding horses and thought it was amazing. I really wanted to do it.”

Quincy has come a long way since that realization. She now competes in the Jr. High Rodeo Association, as well as a travel team that does horsemanship. Barrel racing and pole bending are among her top rodeo classes, and on her horsemanship team, she learns how to ride and communicate with horses she’s never met before.

“It’s (horsemanship) been awesome for confidence and the ability to ride anything,” Heather said. “She can climb on anything and I don’t have to worry about her.”

“Over the past year, I have definitely been getting more confident with getting on other horses I really don’t know. That has been helping with my control of horses, and my perspective of how many different kinds of horses there can be,” Quincy added.

Along with self-confidence, both Heather and Quincy have a strong appreciation for all the other life lessons horsemanship and rodeo are teaching.

“It teaches so much,” said Heather. “It teaches responsibility. Another big thing it teaches is that Quincy works really, really hard and doesn’t always get what she wants. That’s huge for today’s youth and even some adults. We’re working really hard every day, but there’s a lot of people working really hard every day.”

“So much has to come together,” Heather said. “She’s showing against other 13-yearolds on animals, so some days somebody has a really good day and some days somebody has a really bad day. There’s a lot of work put in, but that doesn’t guarantee you anything. It has to be that hard work put in, the consistency, and God-willing it all comes together and works out the way you want it.”

And some days, Heather struggles with finding the line between coach and mom.

“It’s hard to be a mom and a coach,” Heather said. “There’s a lot of drama. I have to work really hard to separate those things because I want to prepare her, but I also want to support her. It’s hard when she comes out of the pen and you want to be like you did this, this, and this wrong, or you did this, this, and this right. It’s challenging to balance that. Do you coach? Do you hug? What do you do at that spot?”

Despite those struggles, working so closely together towards a goal, has a way of working out for the best.

Quincy has big dreams of making it to nationals in either barrel racing or pole bending someday, but realizes how far she’s come since her early days.

“I’ve been practicing a lot with my horse to make it to the point I’m at,” Quincy said.

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