Horeseback drill team takes a 1st place

The Thunderbird Arena Country Cuties Drill Team took first place in the “Best Bling” category in Saturday’s Wild West Days Parade in Cave Creek.

The team was started by three high school students in June.

“The three founders are Skye, CC and Bridgette. They wanted something to do other than gymkhana and barrel racing,” said Tanya Graeb, mother to Bridgette, the team’s youth captain.

The team has grown to 10 members and meets at least two evenings a week, practicing group formations and patterns with their own horses to perform in monthly gymkhanas at the arena.

Coached by Dave Sather, Candace Terrio and Bobbie Johnson, the Cuties promote horsemanship, teamwork and community pride. Team members range in age from 11 to adult.

“Most of the girls have trained their own horses,” Johnson said. “It’s cool to see the girls learn how to train a winning horse.”

Scoring in gymkhanas is done in progressive format, Johnson said. “Everyone’s against the same time bracket.”

Most drill team members are individually scored in additional events such as barrels and pole bending. After seeing the girls performing at their best in barrel racing during one October gymkhana, head coach Dave Sather said, “Our goal is to get 20 girls to ride like that in the gymkhana.”