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"Extreme Cowboy Race" features Loveland woman |
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Written by Dan England for NEXTnc
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Friday, 25 May 2007 |
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Peter Heacox | For NEXTnc
Cintia Armstrong works to get her horse Banjo in shape as they ride through the open field at her home near Johnson's Corner on Tuesday. Armstrong and Banjo will be competing against 34 other cowboys and cowgirls in the Extreme Coyboy Race held at the Vail Valley Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in June, which will be broadcast on RFD-TV.
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When Cintia Armstrong got divorced and became a single mother to her two sons, she had to give up horses. But she refused to sell her saddle, even when she had offers.
She knew she'd be back in it someday.
Sure enough, as soon as her youngest turned 18, Armstrong, 45, of Loveland got a pair of horses and rented a place near Johnson's Corner, where she's worked as accounting manager for 10 years. Her father, Delton Meyer, called her and said he was 70, he was done with horses, and if she wanted them she needed to get them.
She did. One of the horses was Banjo. And that began a partnership that led to a TV show.
Armstrong and Banjo will appear on "The Extreme Cowboy Race," a reality show on RFD-TV, a cable station that features programs aimed at the rural lifestyle, including agriculture, country music and horsemanship.
That last topic is what drew Armstrong to the channel, and when she saw an ad for the new TV series, she knew she could do it. She'll be one of 35 cowboys and cowgirls who will compete in the timed race held June 1-3 held at the Eagle County Fairgrounds River Center.
She's a little amazed, and a little nervous, to be on TV.
"I'm not that fancy," Armstrong said. "I'm just a little country girl who loves her horses."
That's what she's been since she was growing up in the country near Fort Morgan. Her father worked at a gas plant, but he loved to raise and train horses, and when they were all ready to go, he would sell them for a good profit and start over.
"I don't ever remember our parents asking us about our homework," Armstrong said. "It was always how many horses we rode that day. It was just something we had to do."
She went through 4-H and the Little Britches and high school rodeos, and she competed for the first time last year at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. She did well in the sorting competition, when judges number 12 steers and tell a rider to put them in the pens in a specific order.
Of course, the competition on TV will be different. So different that she taught Banjo how to jump for the first time just the other night. They jumped barrels.
"Once he figured out what I wanted him to do, he was fine," she said. "My poor horse. He just handles whatever I throw at him."
But that's the way Banjo's always done things. He knows he has a good deal. The two are so close, they take a vacation every year together by riding on a trail through Wyoming for 150 miles. She sleeps in a tent the whole week and shares her sandwiches and apples with him (they do not share a tent). Banjo also drinks out of his own water bottle.
"We spend a lot of time together," she said. "He's totally my buddy."
She has four other horses, including a mare that her granddaughters can crawl all over without any fear of getting bucked off. She swears to stop at five. They are her family now. She remains close to Jay, who lives in Nebraska, and her oldest, Shawn, who lives in Greeley and along with his wife, Summer, was the March of Dimes family in Weld County this year.
It took her more than a decade to get back into horses. Now her favorite thing in the world is to go to her ranch after work and ride Banjo a few times around her place. That's her serenity and a time to reward herself for all of the hard work in the past and be thankful for what she has now.
"I love a challenge," she said, "And I have an awesome horse who just does everything."
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ABOUT THE SHOW
"Extreme Cowboy" spans 15 30-minute episodes featuring horse-and-rider teams competing in timed races with obstacles that test the limits of horse and rider. Judges award points based on horsemanship, cadence, control, horse's attitude and overall execution. Contestants move through three rounds. Cintia Armstrong will perform at a race June 1-3 at the Vail Valley Rocky Mountain Horse Expo at the Eagle County Fairgrounds River Center.
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