Maddie Gaynor and her horse, Harley, at Monterey Sheriff’s Posse Grounds Gymkhana. Courtesy of Maddie Gaynor.
Salinas FFA member Maddie Gaynor began riding horses before she was in Kindergarten, and began competitive riding at the age of 11. The California FFA member now has a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) project focused in equine management, which helps her build upon the skills she has learned since she was little.
At 11, Gaynor began riding Gymkhana; at 12, she got her own horse and began training him in barrel racing. Western Gymkhana is an event which challenges the horse and rider to make fast, precise movements around poles, barrels and other obstacles. The event requires a great amount of talent and trust between the horse and rider.
In barrel racing, barrels are arranged in a triangle, and the horse and rider must ride around them in a clover pattern. To quickly get around the barrels, the rider must have good control of the horse. In both events, the team is judged on time and performance (points are deducted for knocking over barrels, running into poles, etc.).
Gaynor and Harley compete at a National Barrel Horse Association event. Courtesy of Maddie Gaynor.
The horse Gaynor got was Harley, a spotless Appaloosa with a spunky attitude. Named after the Harley-Davidson motor brand, Harley learned to trust Gaynor after hours of training (and many treats). The team worked on conditioning to build stamina, flexing and counterflexing to build muscle and lots of practice learning the pattern of barrels. They trained in barrel racing, gymkhana and pole bending.
Their first official race was Gymkhana in 2020. Unfortunately, the team struggled. Harley got nervous, and Gaynor says, “He wouldn’t listen and bucked and reared multiple times during the event.” Despite their struggle, this was a pivotal moment for the team, and Gaynor continued to train with Harley.
In their second Gymkhana race, a Division-A Quad, Gaynor says, “It was like it clicked in his brain, and he was no longer just racing — he was having fun.” The team won reserve grand champion, and from then on placed in the top five in nearly all of its races.
Currently, Gaynor and Harley race every weekend and usually once during the week. They are part of the National Barrel Horse Association and the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association. They train at Connections Riding School in Salinas, Calif. She is a senior rider, and helps the younger riders with coaching and care for their horses.
During the off-season, Gaynor and her teammates practice together to condition their horses and strengthen their skills as riders. The team spends a lot of time together, and she says, “It’s like a family.” She also paints custom signs for livestock and horse events, bringing together her love for animals and art.
Gaynor and her fellow riders at the Monterey Sheriff’s Posse Grounds. Courtesy of Maddie Gaynor.
For her SAE, Gaynor cares for her horse and prepares him for races every weekend. This project began her freshman year, and has continued it through sophomore year. She diligently tracks of Harley’s supplements, medications and equipment in the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET). Through her equine management SAE, Gaynor has learned how to keep precise records about her spending and her hours working with her horse at Connections Riding School.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of horse you have,” Gaynor says. “It doesn’t matter if you are choosing to take things slow, if your horse isn’t a purebred, if you don’t have an expensive trailer and if you don’t have a pro barrel horse. All that matters is you are out there trying to do better than you did before. Improving yourself and your horse will get you places, but comparing yourself to others will just set you back.”
Special thank you to Maddie Gaynor for her contributions to this article!
