Jake Takes His Girls For A Ride

Jake Takes His Girls For A Ride 

by Kelly Bowers

"Erin Cross-Nicholls is an 11 year old who goes to College Street Public school and has been riding horses for close to 6 years. She has been showing Jake for the last 2 years at OQHA Area 2 shows and has been high point walk jog and small fry showmanship for the both of these years. S he and Jake have widely shown from local saddle clubs to the Quarter Horse Congress in Ohio, though her favorite places to show are Ilderton and Summerama. Erin trusts Jake completely and calls him her buddy.

Alex Cross-Nicholls is 14 years old, attends Grimsby Secondary School and has been riding for 6 years. She has been training and showing Jake for the past three years.  Jake and Alex show in both English and Western classes and are the 2008 reserve high point winners for 18 and under Novice Youth in Area 2.  They excel at patterns and do very well in trail, horsemanship, equitation and showmanship.  Alex and Jake have already done so much for such a young team, participating in shows across Ontario and have even taken a couple trips to the All American Quarter horse Congress in Ohio.  Their new adventure together, though, is rather unique as they have begun competing in the challenging discipline of bridless riding, first showing him bridleless at Summerama 2007 in the first OQHA Bridless Western Pleasure class...And this before she even turned 13 years of age. She was the youngest person to compete in the bridless class with most competitors being more than three times her age.  Though Alex has taught herself bridleless riding, both girls take riding lessons from Pat and Patti Carter. They are proud parents of the two sisters and are very appreciative of everything they have done for their family.  Under the Carter's guidance, Alex is the only one who has trained Jake for the past three years.

Jake (Skipa Scorpion) is a 15.2 H, 17 year old QH with some health problems including severe allergies which, when they flare, require an immediate injection which Roy keeps with him. He is one of four horses at Willowlane Farm in Smithville and has become the best buddy of both Nicholls girls.  Their father considers Jake a member of the family. Roy describes Jake as "a God send who has looked after both girls for the last 3 years who gives his all every time."   He remembers one Quarter Horse show when "Jake won a class under both judges but when they went to leave the ring he was limping badly on one leg even though he performed the whole class flawlessly, without showing one sore step. That was the day we realized that Jake would do anything for these girls. He was scheduled to go to the All American Congress this year to be on the Ontario youth team but became every ill and was unable to go. Though feeling better now, at the time he was in such bad shape that he lost a considerable 200 lbs of his bulk.

Bridless is not to be confused with bitless or bareback. Bridless riding uses leg, seat and verbal cues rather than directing the horse by the neck and mouth, there is no bridle. Alex wears a western outfit and western tack along with western boots and spurs. A 1/2 inch wide leather strap goes around the horse's neck and is laid on his shoulders then over the horn of the saddle to prevent it from falling away. 

This is intended as an emergency brake of sorts but Alex doesn't use it and would prefer to show without it. Jake is back on his feet again and the team is back together working towards improving their bridless riding, To see Alex and Jake bridless, check them out on YouTube, under Bridleless Riding. You can even catch them in person at this year's March Canam show in London.  Come see Jake take Alex for a ride.  They have been invited to perform during extravaganza on Fri, Sat and Sun evenings, March 20th to 22nd.