Font ResizeA team of local spirited horses and their 18 riders, all clad in circa late-18th century Spanish soldier attire, will be getting their day to shine in front of an audience of millions in the upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade.
While the nationally televised event is an impressive venue for the equestrians to move through their choreographed paces, the honor comes after a lot of hard work and humble beginnings.
Kristen Wheeler, 18, recalls how she and her friends found their initial statewide riding competitions — including CAL Expo at the Cow Palace — a little daunting.
The military-inspired drill competitions test knowledge of equine care. Horses' coats need to pass the white glove test and riders are evaluated by the way they present the flags.
"We'd been ranch kids, mucking stalls," says the Alamo resident of the horse facility near the base of Mount Diablo, where she and countless others have learned to ride.
"I'm the feed lot for bringing kids to horses," says Nancy Dupont. "I feel like the old lady in the shoe who had so many kids and horses she didn't know what to do."
But, the owner of Castle Rock Arabians in Walnut Creek did know what to do, inspired by her father-like mentor and friend, George Cardinet, known as "Father of the California Trails," who set the stage for the Amigos de Anza Equestrian Drill Team to have their big day, including a re-enactment of the Anza expedition in 1775.
Arabians
"His dream became my dream," says Dupont, who grew up in Alameda with childhood dreams of learning "how to ride that horse as far as I could go."
She rode the entire Anza route from Mexico to San Francisco in 1996 — and with Cardinet founded Heritage Trails.
Dupont walked in the Tournament of Roses Parade in 2001, dressed in a Spanish riding outfit, with Cardinet traveling in a horse-drawn carriage.
The drill team of girls, 11 and older, from Concord, Pleasant Hill, Piedmont, Moraga and Alameda, is affiliated with the nonprofit organization Amigos de Anza, partnering with Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and the U.S. Park Service.
"We formed the drill team to provide a living history interpretation of the trail. George brought it to life and I'm bringing this to the kids. They are living this adventure "...
"I had the horses and the passion for the trail," adds Dupont, who over the years had donated horses to the cause for riders who didn't have one.
During a recent afternoon, three members of the local drill team saddle up their Arabians and practice a routine, with their horses trotting and cantering several inches from each other in the arena.
Anne Wheeler, Kristen's enthusiast mom, describes their artistry and skill.
"Riding has to be automatic. Everything has to be instinct. You're riding to music, to a pattern and working with and avoiding other horses at a high rate of speed."
"It's like synchronized swimming on horses without water," Pleasant Hill resident Sunshine Townsend, 19, explains.
Just as Dupont enthusiastically responded to Cardinet's rallying patriotic cry to promote public access to horse trails and to honor the trailblazing courage of de Anza, Dupont's students — members of the original drill team — are equally enthusiastic, says Sunshine.
After all, Kristen, who was 11 when she joined the debut drill team in 2002 and helps coach the new recruits, regarded Dupont's ranch as her second home.
And the team's commitment to the requisite early morning practices seemed to have a momentum of its own. Piedmont rider Lauran Kardel, 21, was ever buoyed by Dupont, whom she refers as her second mom. She describes participation in the drill team as a "rite of passage."
This summer, team members participated in another commemoration celebration for de Anza, serving as the color guard for San Francisco's 232nd birthday on June 27 at the Presidio.
