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Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine
EHALmagazine.com|
February 2017
| ©
Everything Horses and Livestock
Our Featured Writer, Brandy Von Holten
The Making of “Country Tough”
I, Brandy Von Holten, am here to tell
you that the American Dream is alive
and well. Hard work pays off, the good guy still wins,
saying yes ma’am, and loving your mother are ALL
still concepts that are held near and dear in the heart
of good ‘ole country folk.
When my husband and I set out to chase our dreams
of owning his 110 year old family farm and develop it
into a one-of-kind trail riding facility, we did not know
what we had in store for us.
The saying “no pain, no gain” has an entirely new
meaning to us. In the end we are now wiser to the
world, but we are different. We are STRONGER.
We know exactly what we are made of - which is grit,
heart, hard work, and a tenacious spirit, all while being
humble.
It is what I like to call being “country tough”. One
thing for sure that strikes an emotional cord with me
is how much love and compassion we have received
from the country community. They have opened their
hearts to us and for that, I say thank you.
As we grew and hosted numerous events in different
organizations, I felt like we had not found our niche.
As a woman that has faced stereotypes my entire life,
with a diverse background that includes internationally
competing as a heavy weight fighter, winning a beauty
crown, and pie baking competitions. I knew what that
niche was oh so well.
I realized that in the equine world, people typically cat-
egorize equine owners into one genera, such as either
a barrel racer, a trail rider, a roper, a mule owner, an
English rider, or an obstacle competitor.
There were not any events that gave women the op-
portunity to show truly how diverse and amazing they
are! This idea led me to designing what would be-
come our first VHR Country Tough Cowgirl Challenge
in 2016.
It was a team competition that embraced equine
events and non-equine events. The ladies competed
in barrel racing, campfire cooking, obstacles, trailer
backing, roping, shooting, ranch pleasure, and a
cowgirl test.
When I introduced this competition to the world, I was
floored by the positive response and by how quickly
the event filled. I then developed a second Cowgirl
Challenge, a Cowgirl and Cowboy Challenge, and a
One Fly Cowgirl Challenge in 2016.
The four challenges are back in 2017 and are going
strong.
Continued on Page 24
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