Margarita Venegas
CNHI
WEATHERFORD —
Margarita Venegas
editor@weatherforddemocrat.com
Brain, butt, back, brain.
These four words sound silly strung together, but five girls who train at Mystic Plains LLC riding Arabian and half-Arabian horses swear these four words are helping them become better riders.
It starts in your brain, said Kirstie Headlee, 14. Her sister, Mackenzie, 15, and fellow riders Miranda Janucik, 15, and Jessica Slemmons, 16, pipe up and add their thoughts.
It goes something like this: What you’re thinking in your brain is communicated along your body and through your butt, it goes through you to the horse’s back and into the horse’s brain.
So, if the rider is unsure of himself or herself, that is communicated to the horse.
Their goals, therefore, are to learn not only how to ride but how to ride confidently.
And, it looks like it’s working for them.
The four girls, who attend Aledo High School, along with Chloey Prichard, 7, who goes to Vandagriff Elementary, are trained by Collett Macchio at Mystic Plains.
The group was crowned Regional Champions for Region 8 at the Arabian Horse Association’s Youth Regionals, held in Colorado in July. They took home a lot of awards, including two champions for working hunter, one reserve champion for hunter hack, one reserve for first level dressage, one reserve for training level dressage, three reserve champions for Region 8 halter, champion under saddle ATR, champion sport under saddle junior horse and reserve champion regular working hunter.
Not that it’s always easy for the girls.
Jumping is the hardest part for Miranda. And, the other girls nod in agreement.
“I overthink,” admitted Kirstie. And, again, the other girls nod and agree.
But, it all goes back to what Macchio trains them to do, they said. Keeping that right state of mind helps channel the right sort of energy through their bodies and to the horse.
They also help each other out when training. But, since most are in the same age bracket, they do compete against each other.
“Once you’re there, you just focus on what you’re doing. It’s a competition,” said Mackenzie.
The girls giggled at the thought of themselves as friends outside of the ring, and enemies within.
Really, though, they are a tight-knit group.
“They are very close,” observed Matt Macchio as the group of girls gathered together around horses and coaxed some younger girls on how to ride. Matt Macchio, along with his wife Collett, runs Mystic Plains.
The Macchios hope to add to that closeness by not only teaching them how to ride, but by helping them become better people, they said.
They don’t put an emphasis on winning ribbons, but try to nuture the girls’ goals and keep them focused on their training and schooling, said Matt Macchio.
Miranda, for example, is proud of the fact that she trained her horse Joker, which she’ll ride in competition for the first time in November.
And, Jessica dreams of one day becoming an Olympic rider.
Collett Macchio nods and smiles when told about the girls’ discussion of their goals.
It comes as no surprise to the couple, Matt Macchio said, because their goals, too, are to help these riders and all who train at Mystic Plains, become better at riding, stay in school and keep their focus.
