DENVER — There is one week left of the National Western Stock Show, with plenty still in store for the Westernaires.
The Golden-based nonprofit, which started in 1949, aims to teach life lessons through horsemanship. It focuses on kids ages 9 to 19.
“I started coming and watching Stock Show when I was really little, and so I have grown up watching Red Team and admiring them,” said Kendall Johnson, a high school senior and a major in Westernaires.
For Johnson, Westernaires runs in the family. Her mom was also in the group.
Westernaires has taught Johnson lessons both in the arena and out.
“A huge thing I have learned is how to work with a team and how to communicate,” Johnson said. “I have learned how to deal with huge teams of different people. And you’re not only learning how to work with different kinds of people, you’re also working with animals that can’t speak, and you’re learning how to communicate between the people and the animals.”
Westernaires travel all over Colorado, and across state lines.
“We practice year-round and then we perform in multiple different locations, but Stock Show is probably our biggest performance of the year,” said Gretchen Partch, the chief instructor of Red Division and instructor of Red Team. “It's part of our home and we get to spend so many weeks and days down here, that it makes it just a really long team builder, basically.”
Partch was a Westernaire for 10 years, and an instructor for the past 27 years.
“It’s really special. I enjoy getting to watch them grow up and get better and better at it every year,” Partch said. “And when they do really well, it brings a tear to your eye knowing they got to have those same experiences that you got.”
Hours of practice every week, year-round, have led up to these performances.
“I can hear the music and the crowd and it's just crazy and it feels like all your hard work has paid off for that moment,” Johnson said.
Running around the arena in circles also brought Johnson's experience with Westernaires full circle.
“To be able to watch that as a little kid and then work so hard to like achieve that now, it's super cool," she said. "It's a super cool feeling and it's super cool to know that like, I am creating that energy for an audience. It's a super sweet moment to come out after a great drill and know we just ran an awesome drill.”
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