It all started with a gift horse.
Within a year the Windmill family had six horses and the four daughters were competing in youth rodeo events around the province.
“It was pretty exciting to have the horse and to ride bareback,” said Celeste, 17, who was five at the time they got the first horse, Ginger.
A friend suggested they try Little Britches Rodeo for youth ages three to 15, where the events are modified versions of what takes place in adult rodeo.
Parents Paul and Elizabeth Windmill were comfortable with horses — he was a horse logger at the time and she was a riding instructor and they enjoyed introducing their girls to the horse world. They all learned about rodeo together and spent a lot of time training animals on their Lavington acreage and learning the necessary skills.
Rodeo is based on the skills used on working ranches and at a youth level includes events in barrel racing, pole bending, break-away roping, team roping and shooting. One of the events children start with is goat tying, which is jumping off a moving horse to catch and tie a goat’s legs in the shortest time possible. Eight seconds is a winning time now. They learn goat-tying by practising on goat tail tying, putting a ribbon on a goat’s tail. All the skills are learned safely in small steps. The kids practise the goat tying on their own feet at first. Learning roping is done with a dummy, a fake horned head on a bale of hay at first. The horses, goats and cows are also trained to work with young people.
The Windmill family now raises goats and horses for competition and has all the training facilities at home so the girls can get in as much training as possible.
Older sisters Betsy and Abigail are married now but retain their interest in horses while Evangeline, 21, won a scholarship to Lakeland College in Vermillion, Alta., to study agriculture this fall and she will be taking her horse and equipment to be part of the college rodeo team. She used other rodeo competition winnings to attend Bible college in Guatemala.
“Rodeo has taught me a lot. When you get off your horse and get a face full of dirt, you get up and compete anyway. It’s about persevering and keeping learning,” she said.
Celeste also kept competing through high school — all of the sisters were home schooled — fitting her training around her studies, often taking homework to rodeo competitions. She was BC High School Rodeo Miss Congeniality 2012-2013 and finished her rodeo year in Quesnel in June. There are north and south divisions of high school rodeo in the province with about 120 competitors. Twenty-four in each division make it to the finals, with the top four going on to nationals with competitors from Canada, the U.S. and Australia. Evangeline and Celeste made the 30-hour drive last year to the nationals in Wyoming.
“This a family thing. You can’t do it without your parents,” said Celeste, who wants to be an interior designer. She is going to teach English at a mission site in Germany in the fall and hopes to get in some riding there. “My older sisters always inspired me to do better. I always wanted to be like them. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it when you achieve your goals. I know there will always be horses in my life in some way.”
The sisters are also entrepreneurs as certified instructors, and Evangeline as a farrier and trainer and Celeste with Celestial Photography.
“Paul should be here to brag about his girls. He loves to brag about his girls,” said Elizabeth, who teaches in her business, Sunshine Riding. “We are happy that we chose this sport that we could all do together. The girls have learned a lot and they are so friendly and easy to get along with. We’re very proud of them. We’re going to keep involved with youth rodeo and do more horseback hunting and camping. Paul would like to get back to horse logging and we’ll keep raising horses. We love the lifestyle.”
The Windmills are volunteers with the Little Britches Rodeo taking place Aug. 10 and 11 at the IPE grounds in Armstrong. All events are free to spectators. For more information, call Elizabeth at 250-558-1083.
