Shaun Newman Podcast - #22 - Amber L'Heureux

Episode Date: June 26, 2019

Super excited for this one. History was made in June 2019 as Amber became the 1st women to ever drive pro for the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association. We dive into her upbringing, life on the road and her battle with depression. Amber has quite the story and you won't want to miss this one. Good luck to Amber as she chases her dreams!

Welcome to the podcast. You're probably wondering if I'm going to say that three more times. If you listen to last week's episode, you're probably sitting there going, why does he keep saying that over and over again? A little backstory is 97% of the time I don't get this on the first crack. And so last week, if you guys don't know, I work a full-time job. I got two kids and a third on the way. and so normally I get to this before Tuesday night,

but it happened last week that Tuesday night I was sitting there editing and put it together and it was about midnight and I said, ah, that's good enough, I got it. Normally I listen to the episode before I post it because I want to make sure, well, essentially that I don't miss any editing or anything doesn't sound horribly wrong and it's a learning curve for sure. Anyways, so I get up in the morning and about 5.30 and hop in the truck at 6 and I go, well, I miles to listen to it, see how it sounds.

And so I started literally as I'm backing out the driveway. And so I'm backing out the driveway and oh yeah, it sounds good. Pull around the corner and I get, what is it, 30 seconds from home. And I'm like, oh my God. And I just stop. In the middle of the street, I'm just sitting there listening to myself, repeat myself, and I'm going, what do I do? Like, what can I do?

So then I turn around and drive back home. And I sit in my driveway for probably three, four minutes, realizing there's nothing I can do, plus I have to get to work. I have to drive out to Miota for 8 a.m. So I'm sitting there staring going, well, that sucks. That's going to either people are going to laugh this off

or I'm going to lose 10 followers. So apologies for the screw-up, but screw-ups happen. You're on a journey with me right now as I continue to podcast here, and I just couldn't believe it. I think I was more shocked than any of you were. because most of the people that text me in the morning

were having a good old chuckle about me going through the motions, that's for sure. So, welcome to the podcast. I'm not screwing it up this time. I want to say thanks to Harland and the Weekly Bean. They continue to put my content in their newspaper, which you can find in Lloydminster, Kinnersley, and Moose Jaw. Next, I want to thank everybody who sent in questions

for Biking Canada. I did a biking Canada podcast on Friday night in Calgary. And along the way there, I sent out a bunch of stuff on social media, via text, that kind of thing. I got awesome questions back from all of you. So I'm really excited for you guys to hear that later on in July. Next, I want to give a shout out to Murray Mac. I'd had him on a few weeks ago. And if you haven't listened to that episode, I highly suggested.

He was fantastic. But he sent me a text this past week, and he just said, hi, Sean, just wanted to let you know how impressed it was with the podcast. I was, and in bold, big letter, capital letters, really, really in brackets. You can insert as many more reallys as you like here. It was professional, polished, and perfect. And I'm not saying this because it was me being interviewed. Thank you so much for the experience and the great job. Honestly, Murray, the pleasure was all mine sitting across from you. I've been getting tons of feedback from people who've listened to it and they thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I. Next, guys, I'm currently working on building an email list for the Sean Newman podcast.

If you sign up, you'll get exclusive content, be the first to know about upcoming guests and have first chance or first dibs at any SNP products that we get put together for you. If you're interested, you can contact me via social media, so Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or you can email me directly, Sean Newman Podcast, Sean with a you at gmail.com and just looking to have a direct line to all. all you guys out there listening and I think it'll be a really cool way to get you behind the scenes of what I'm currently doing and working on and what's coming up. So I'm excited for that. That should be coming out here in the next couple weeks and I look forward to hearing

you guys' feedback on it. Finally, we have Amber Leroux on the podcast this week. That's what you're all waiting for. She is the first pro-woman truck wagon driver of the CPCA. by when we did this episode, she just finished having her first race. And now since then, I mean, the weather isn't exactly doing her any favors, any of the driver's favors for that matter. But she's been racing since then now for a few weeks. She's a pretty cool chick.

She really opened up on the podcast. I really thank her for coming on, and I'm pulling for wishing her the best of luck. So I hope you guys enjoy. Without further ado. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast. Wait a second. Before I do this, I've been torturing your last name. What is, how do I pronounce your last name?

Okay, there's two ways. One's French. One is English, La Rue. Okay, I've been saying La Rue. Okay, or Lurie, which is like, if you're... Lurie? Yeah, so this is a weird thing. Like, E-Dem is a very French community,

but for like most people from E-DM, I'm Amber Lurie, which I don't know how that worked out. Hey, well, I'm glad I've been pronouncing it. I just like, go with the punches. I literally just did an Instagram thing, and I said, I said Amber Leroux. I'm torturing her name, but it's... No, it's close enough.

I'm close enough. I'm kind of in the ballpark. Yeah. Well, cool. Well, that was the intro, so welcome to the Shaw Newman podcast because I'm glad I got the name right. Close enough, yeah. The first ever pro-woman truck wagon driver of the CPCA.

Yes. And I want to know how your first race went, but I think you might as just educate me and the listeners on exactly what we're talking about. Chuck wagon racing, four horses hooked to a wagon, and, you know, and, you might as well, two crazy outriders chasing and pursuit. And most shows it's three wagons, and then we get up to four at the odd ones. Yeah, and a little bit dangerous.

Yeah, people have died racing in the last years, but it's been good for the last time. Highly entertaining. I've lost a lot of money on that. It's like one of the only times I gamble is when we go to the old chuck wagon races. Yeah, it's a good way to lose quarters or dollars. Or dollars, yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah.

I'm pretty sure we're kids betting quarters on the race, I don't know why that was cool, but at the time you did like the adults, I guess. Yeah, one of my favorite things is when you're sitting in the ground stand and people are betting with kids and they're losing all their money. Kids are just betting on looks, but usually like they caught that figured out pretty down pad. So how was your first race? Because your first race was two weekends ago, correct? Two weekends ago, yeah. In North Battleford.

Yep. Overwhelming sums up the weekend as a whole. It's, for me, I guess, it's what I've wanted to do my whole life. the amount of outpour of fans and support and people that came out was crazy to me because it's just what I've done my whole life. So for me it was just not that it was another day. It was a big moment for me because it was my first day racing pro, but there was a large outpour of the crowd. Like a lot of drivers were like, wow, like we've never seen, like especially in North Battle for at Granstein get that loud before. And it was the second time in my career of

actually heard a crowd driving. The first time was in Saskatoon at the end. in 2011 under the lights. We were racing down the home stretch, and I was closing on a guy. And yeah, you could hear every once in a while through it. You could hear the crowd just cheering. And when we pulled out in North Battleford, just pulled onto the track, and the announcer announced that we were coming. And, yeah, you heard him.

It was that loud. It was crazy. I try and put, I'm assuming there was some nerves, at least, before your first pro race. Yes. to say the least, I chew gum like a crazy person. Like, oh, when we were sanctioning last summer, I thought like I had everything packed up to like head out the next morning.

So you had to get up super early for track time. I had to haul the little pine. We get in the truck. And we had to wait for like 6 a.m. and E.D.m. for the like store to open because I was like sitting in the truck shaking ready. Like I start, I get dry mouth really bad pre-race. So if I'm not chewing gum, I start admittedly hurling.

So it's like, yeah, everyone's like. how bad are your nerves? I'm like, great. If I got a pack of gum, I'm good to go. If not, it is not pretty. Yeah. So yeah, a lot of nerves, but. As soon as like the, when do they dissipate? When do the nerves are, as soon as you're in the cart? As soon as I'm in the wagon box and we're leaving the trailer, I'm good. It's those moments leading up to that and the waiting and everything that slowly gets to you. And I think for me, the biggest thing is trying to, you've got to get over them, right? Because you're horses, you're hooking four horses to a wagon,

which a lot of people see that and they're like, oh, okay, it's just like driving a car, but it's not, those four horses have minds of their own and they're feeding off your energy. So if you're nervous, they're 100% feeding off of that. So you have to overcome that and stay cool, calm, and collected virtually or else you're going to have a disaster there. Yeah.

How big of a letdown was not being able to race the next weekend? because it got rained out right yeah we drove like it was close to six hours to macuasas Alberta which is just south of edmonton about an hour and we sat for four days in the rain and it wasn't bad it stopped every once in a while what a lot of people to understand is like it's not that you're just like sitting in the camper with the heater on it's your horses need cared for it's cold it's miserable they're cold and miserable like one of my favorite horses actually kicked chloe my outrider sunday morning doing chores I can like wrap this horse's legs and go under his belly to do the other leg and she walked

behind him and it was just like nope not today huh I felt for you when I saw that the next race was rained out I was like that's a tough way to start yeah I mean you got your first in and you got how many do you got through the summer uh we have 10 shows so we got eight more to go like mine is calgary my first year running we don't get to go to calgary so um as of right now we have eight more to go. Oh, really cool. Well, I want to know, I usually don't start there. I don't usually don't start right in the present.

I usually go right back to the beginning, but I thought with, you know, now you're, you know, the anticipation is over. You've done the first race. I thought maybe we'd start there, but now I really want to know. Like, is this something like, like, like, what was your childhood like?

Like, you grew up in Glasgow? No, so I was actually the last baby born in Edom, hospital. Really? Which my parents make jokes about to this day that like I was such a miserable child. They were like, no, no more babies here. Um, yeah, I was born in Edam and then when I was going to the third grade, um, moved. I'm laughing about a miserable child. Yeah, that would be a joke to hold over you. Yeah, right? It's just that like weight over you forever, right? Um, and then grade three to seven, I went to school in Paradise Hill. And then eight to 12, I went to school in Glaslan.

Okay. Bounce around a little bit. Yeah. My parents got divorced and I was nine. So I went and lived with my mom for five years and then I was 13. I moved in with my dad. So. Was that tough?

Oh, extremely. No child. That's a dumb question. Of course it's tough. Yeah. It was like, yeah. Your world is like torn apart when you're a kid, right? Because you just don't understand.

Like now that I'm older, I can process it and comprehend it. But as a kid, you wonder why. and then, yeah. Like, initially it wasn't that hard. It's the whole weekend thing, right? That I think a lot of people don't understand as a kid. Like, it's that guilt of like, oh, okay, just spent the weekend with dad. Now you got to go back to mom or vice versa.

Growing up as we're now there's no, there's no burden over that sort of thing, but that's definitely how it felt as a kid being in that position. Could you explain that a little bit more? So you mean... So, like, I, the way the custody agreement worked with my parents is I got to go see my dad. every second weekend. So, yeah, dad would pick you out from school on Friday. And then Sunday, it was like, oh, okay, now I got to go back to school and back to moms.

And you never really felt like you ever were getting enough time with each parent, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. Yeah. Well, that's tough. Yeah. So then, and then there was like a huge wedge. Like, I actually, yeah, when I was 13, I had to make the tough decision which

parent I wanted to live with. and I chose to go live with my dad, which was like a huge, huge uproar in the family because, well, like a 13-year-old girl going to live with her single father parent, right? Yeah. That was a lot for a lot of people to understand, but I knew it was a right decision for me. So I had to grow up real fast. Yeah, well, that's, I had Duane Perlet on here. He was a goaltender and got drafted to Portland Winterhawks.

And he talked about his parents' kids. getting divorced and it's a very similar thing him having to make a very grown-up decision at a very young age it's a tough position to put any kid in yeah and I'm sure your parents didn't mean to no totally not it's just life right and as an adult now it really makes a person think about a the partners you choose in life like in settling down and I think it's a large part of why I'm single to this day is because yeah it's a lot of commitment and a really big choice choosing to spend your life with somebody, especially when you see it from the perspective of, like, well, my parents were together for 10 years and it didn't work out because they were too similar

people. And that shows through a lot of times. And they're like, oh, wow, you have a temper like your mom. And it's like, no, no, you have a temper too. It's like all the bat, like, and yes, there's good qualities of both of them that have came through the older I get. But it's like, yeah, it was always like throw it back on the other parent. Like, oh, wow, you have your mom's temper, your dad's tamper. It's like, no, both of you do. And it was like two firecrackers getting thrown together. And that's what you got. So yeah.

So what age do you, are you always around truck wagons then? Yeah. So I was born in March. And when my parents were together, my mom was running pony chariots. And my dad was running pony chucks. So when I was three months old, I was on the road. We had a big 40-foot trailer with living quarters in the front. There was a little space between the bed and the, like, front of the goose neck on the trailer.

and that was like my like makeshift crib. Oh yeah. Yeah. Like you had an interesting childhood. Yeah, like there's pictures of me and like tote tubs, that's awesome. Yeah, like I've been on the road every summer. Like I don't know what a weekend of the lake is like.

Yeah. Have you ever wanted to just go hang at the lake or it's ingrained in you? When I was younger, yeah, I thought about it just because, well, it wasn't normal, right? Like I moved to Glasgow and horses were not a cool thing there. And you're kind of the, outcast and I didn't party much because any waking minute I had I spent in the barn. So for me, it was like, you know, are you making the right decision, right? Like outcasting yourself to pursue this, but I guess I knew deep down that this is what I wanted to do. So yeah, I always tell people

in the wintertime, they always talk about I play, I still play hockey, still play senior. And senior hockey is a big commitment through the wintertime, whatever, right? And I always say, my winter getaway is going to the rink i just enjoy it that much i don't need to don't give me wrong i love going to cabo or wherever else where it's hot and getting away from the well the Canadian winter as we all know this year was brutal but i get what you're saying about you know like it was it's what you wanted to do it's what you knew and and over time it kind of gets ingrained in you and what else do you know it's a lot of fun obviously you're enjoying it right like if you weren't you wouldn't be doing it no exactly the amount of work that a person puts in it you wouldn't be doing it you wouldn't be doing

unless you loved it. Yeah. And there's no other way of wording it. You said you grew up around your parents doing pony chucks. Yeah. Could you describe pony chucks? So pony chucks compared to big wagons what I'm doing now, all the horses have to be measured in until they're five years old and be under,

it's 58 and a half inches. So it works out to like 14.3. It's like, well, me, I'm 5'10. It's pretty much like nose level with me at the wither. Yeah. And the wagons are only 550 pounds. And originally when they started the same, sport they started out with like 40 inch ponies and 550 pound wagons and then it's excelled over the

years and the horses have got bigger and the pony wagons never have like when we were running ponies we were actually out running the big wagon times oh wow the wagons are that light like it's like they're pulling a paper what is a big wagon then weigh in it 1350 with the driver 1325 with the driver oh wow so essentially double yeah a little more than yeah and the horses are larger in stature for sure But at the same time, like the ponies have, well, they're not ponies anymore. Like a pony is 14-2 and under, and these horses are 14-3. So, yeah. It was crazy.

A lot of people thought I was, like, nuts for doing that because it was fast. And that's where I've learned how to barrel and drive so quickly, was running ponies. So do you always grow up then, like, racing, or were you doing other things when you're in Paradise Hill and Glasgow Hill in Glasgow? I was in 4-H and I was in Paradise Hill for three years, just doing light horse, which, was all right, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Like, it just, it was 4-H right. It was, I have a need for speed. Anyone who knows that's written in a vehicle with me, like Ricky Bobby, I guess.

Like, I just want to go fast all the time. It's quite an issue. So. You don't know the Avengers, but you're quoting Ricky Bobby. Yeah. I'm impressed. Mm-hmm. So I barrel race for quite a few years competitively and quite enjoyed that.

And there was a bit of overlap. I actually, like, jockeyed on bush tracks when I was 12 and 13, which I'm sure mom was not too pleased about, because that was when dad had me, right? Like, it was easy money to me. Like, we had horses in shape and was riding the running ponies, like bush racing 12 years old, which is like, extremely dangerous now looking back at it. But it was a good time.

Like I said, I liked going fast. So I burrow raised up until the point when I was 15, but when I was 14, I actually got drug off the side of one of my burl horses and continued to drive. through having like nerve damage in my back pretty bad. And then when I was 15, it was two weeks before the first show. And I was training another new barrel horse. And horse started bucking between barrels and was like, well, I really don't get drug again. So I supermanned off the side and came down on my wrist and just about put the bone right through the skin.

Like it was that badly broke. And still two weeks later, popped the cast off and drove with a brace on it for the season. Like that's how much I, like, it was. kind of that like decision-making point is like well maybe i feel like the burl racing career needs to be put on the back burner if like you want to drive that badly so i haven't yeah barrel race since i was 15 and pursued racing sense so i'm staring at her a little bit dumbed on right now because i'm going you ripped the cast off yeah and continued to drive well that's that's tough yeah yeah it was mostly healed like i got x-rayed and it was like yeah i was starting to calisill so

so I immediately wore a brace for the next like eight weeks straight to like protect it. I was just driving chariots at the time. So there's only two horses. It wasn't such a big deal. I can't really grab on with my arm, but it's fine, guys. It's fine. No, I was good. So when then like, okay, so you're doing pony chariots, right?

You're driving. Yep. You go to university at some point during this? Yes. So I started, I moved up into the wagon box at 16, which was the youngest age. you could. I couldn't wait to get there. Like even when I was 14, I think going into my 14 year old year, the age limit was actually 15. And thanks to dad, I think, made the motion at the meeting that they lowered the age to 14 that you could drive with our association, because the Alberta club

at the time had it where you could drive with 14. So we changed it so I could actually like, well, now everybody can. But so I started running carts at 14, did it for 15. And then when I was 16, I was old enough to drive wagons, so I actually did both for, well, up until last year. Yeah. And, yeah, I went to university at 18, drove home every weekend. So you were driving wagons at 16? Is that what you just said? Yeah.

So not in the pro circuit, obviously. No, just ponies. Just ponies. Oh, okay, I got you. Yeah, I got you. Yeah. So then you go to school. Yep.

So while you're at school, are you still doing this in the summers? Yeah. I drove home every weekend. It was funny because a lot of the people I went to school with actually thought I was from Alberta because I went to school in Vermillion. Right. And where I live, well, I was like one of those other things like need for speed. I would like clock myself every weekend.

I would leave Vermillion and be like, well, how fast can we make it home this weekend? How many speeding tickets? None. I have never got a speeding ticket a day in my life. Yes. You probably had to sweet talk your way out of a couple. A lot of smiling. Yeah, I have never got a speed.

As you can tell from my toothless grin, it never seems to work for me. No, I've never got a speedy. ticket a day in my life, which like knock on wood. I'll leave here. Absolutely. No kidding. In that rig that's all deceled up, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, you'll stick out. You might. Yeah. A lot of cops just smile and wave and, like, point downward, which, like, I shouldn't say this on the air. Yeah. Horseshoes up your ass is what you got. Yeah.

Yeah. I'd like to think so. So you're driving home getting your university degree. Yeah. I feel like that's got to be, like, trying to think here. So you're going through university, or college, college. I keep saying university. How many years?

Two. So my family. And you became a vet tech? Vet tech. My family really wanted me to go be a vet. Yeah. But for me, it just wasn't a realistic thing. Like I would just be finished.

I guess it would have been like a year or two ago. I would have just been finishing vet school. So for me, it just wasn't an option. Like I knew that this is going pro, is what I wanted to do. It just wasn't not going to work out. And then once you're a vet, That's your commitment for your life, right? So I, yeah, I went and took the tech program instead.

So when did you decide, like, either what age or what specific day or when are you just like, I wanted to go pro? Because I think I've been hearing mixed numbers. I've read online at the sports over 100 years old. I heard just the other day that it's 60 years old. I'm trying to figure out it's a long time with never having a woman driver. So when do you go, you know what? I want to do that.

it's all I've like ever wanted to do is cute so the whole like moving school thing when we were in third grade and per day sill the teachers got us all to like write down our little cute handwriting what we wanted to be when we grew up our likes and dislikes and actually I'm super thankful that the teachers there got me this in grade 12 because I had moved schools and graduated in glaslin and they gave it to my mom to give to me and on this little like piece of paper and like my chicken scratch handwriting is like my name is Amber loroo and I like horses I hate doing dishes, which is still true to this day. Just throwing that out there. And when I grew up, I want to be a chuck wagon driver. And I remember kids having on theirs that they wanted to be marine biologists or whatever, farmers. And yeah, my goal in life in the third grade was I wanted to be a check wagon driver. So I think from a young age, I knew it was what I wanted to do. And growing up watching all the guys, like, it was where I wanted to be. But it took a long time to realistically get things into place to put together. What a cool thing for teachers to do.

Yeah, yeah. I think it was Mrs. Just Cetis. Don't quote me on that. Did you Cetis Harlan? Just Cetis Harlan? No, a different one because she taught in, She said as Harlan taught in Lloyd. Yeah.

How old are you? 26. 26. You're a few years younger than me. Man, that's impressive. 26 and pro racing. Yeah, I'm the second youngest driver in the CPCA. Yeah, that's cool.

Yeah. So, okay, so you've wanted to do it all your life. Yeah. But realistically, when is it like, okay, this might be attainable in the next month, six months, year, two years? Like, what's the plan you put in place? Because it isn't like you just show up and you hop in a car, or I keep saying a wagon. Yeah. And then just go, right?

Like, you need a team. You need, like, I'm assuming, like, it isn't like you're, it costs nothing to do, right? Yeah. You're laughing at me because you know. Yeah. I started, I guess, like I graduated college in 2013 and went to work at the vet clinic in Turtelford. Actually, we had a super cool opportunity to go down to Texas and drive in 2014 at the Fort Worth Stock Show,

which was like the first girl to drive down there, which was really neat. And then I kind of had... And how did you do? Sorry to interrupt. It was just, it was like a stunt driving thing is the best way to describe it. You're just literally putting on a show, which... What's stunt driving? I call it stunt driving because you were racing pony chucks in a rodeo arena.

Oh. Yeah, so like a little bigger than an ice surface, you're barreling and doing two laps in an arena. Oh, wow, that'd be cool to watch. Yeah. How was that to drive? Ah, you learned how to drive real. Like, not that I didn't know how to drive before I went down there, but I was 20 years old, like, went behind the ears and never left Canada and hopped in the truck.

And, yeah, I was just like, let's do this. It was loaded up the horses Nope it was You were contract So it wasn't even horses That I ever drove before So you never even drove No

No You got there And you hope Yeah you got there And really hope That like they were nice enough To give you good horses So was it in

Is it was it in like a It was in the Will Rogers Coliseum So it was a closed in venue? Yep How many people they were watching? Thousands because it was with the pro rodeo Yeah

Yeah And were they just going nuts Yeah It was crazy Like it was one of the neatest. Like, I'll remember that experience for the rest of my life. How did you just go do it for free? Did you actually get paid to do that?

Which is cool. Yeah, we were like contracted to go driving. Oh yeah, contract. Yeah. Did you win? Is there a winner? Yeah. So it was just like there was two people per heat.

And you were, your goal was was to be as close as possible, right? Because the like people that organized it sold off the tarps. So you were driving for that company. Company. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was a very much like a showboating thing. your goal was you had to do two passovers with you had to pass to the outside so that's what I call it stunt driving because there was a lot of like hairpin like quick decisions to it was very neat

and it really honed in a person's driving did you ever go back and do it afterwards no I didn't I have not been able to get back down there again so wow that's a very unique experience only to do once yeah well the guy that uh Dennis McGillery that organized it it was his last year and then another guy took over his contract to do it yeah yeah and they've brought in a different group of drivers so yeah fair enough that still sucks because I've been wanting to go back but hopefully one day it's just hard because I was always working full time and it was like a six week thing by the time we left Canada and came back I was gone for six weeks living down there so it's not like it was just weekend thing yeah very neat experience but it was before I went down

there like I had started buying horses in the fall of 2013 early 2014 to go pro And we can hop back to that. So that's when you really start becoming serious about this. First thing you did was started looking for horses then? Yeah. And I had bought my, I had ordered my harness in the fall of 2013. It kind of was that naive kid, right? Like had everything in place.

I had, I think, eight horses accumulated. My harness, a wagon, everything with plans of going in 2015. And my best friend from childhood was an... Hey, guys. guys apologize for interrupting we had mike's drop out roughly for five seconds while recording and i just thought it was really important uh the part that cuts out is as amber talking about her best friend passing away in 2014 uh from a car crash and it is just a huge chunk of of her story um and it carries on from there apologies once again i'm sorry to hear that yeah it kind of took my life for a

downward spiral for several years that like a person didn't realize it at the time because you were living day to day but I had got a lead horse from him in the fall and the deal was was come fall when you go big wagons we're going to get like trade back these horses whatever and I had a really successful season with that horse and I was like I just can't like I can't justify selling this horse to anyone else right now and I decided to just stay with ponies for a while because it like I didn't know the direction like I say I was a naive 20 year old had my life all planned out and yeah that kind of like took the window rocked your world yeah yeah yeah yep so I I kind of put it on the back burner and just went hard into racing ponies for quite a few

years and I actually see yeah that would have been 2015 around ponies again 2016 and then in the fall of 2016 I uh I had struggled with anxiety and depression pretty bad in high school but there was always an end date to high school like I was bullied pretty badly for the whole racing thing and just being different and outspoken and I don't mean bullied like oh ha ha ha I mean, like, my car was trashed at the one party I went to in high, like my grade 12 year, like $7,000 damage put to a car. I, yeah. So for me, I kind of went back into that slump because there was no end date. I was running ponies.

I was at a job that I was no longer getting satisfied from. And my anxiety and depression got so bad that I actually had to leave my job on medical leave because I was in such a. bad place of my life at the time. And that was in spring of 2017, I guess. I'm trying to, I never, I don't think, no, I know I've never had to deal with the pressure. Yeah.

I'm trying to figure out why kids are such dicks. I don't, like, what you're doing is really cool. Why the heck would they give you, be rude about it? I was a very outspoken person, still am to this day, like I've always been very opinionated and spoke of my opinion. And

coming from a small town, anything that's different, right? It's even like kids, you know, they pick on the kid that's like goth or emo or whatever or chubby, whatever. I was the chubby kid that liked horses and it was what it was. And like I say there was always that end date. It was like, oh, I can't wait to get out of here at graduation, right? It's all going to be over with.

And I didn't really ever deal with it, right? It just wasn't something when I was a kid that people talked about. Like, if you dealt with those issues, like I guess it was the only person in my class that openly had mental health issues and nobody talked about it. My dad is a very old school person. Yeah, like my dad to this day doesn't know the full, like I'm sure he assumes the full extent, but I haven't like sat down. I had a conversation with my father about the level of my depression and my anxiety

because he's that old school generation, right? Yeah. So you take medical leave. How do you come back from it then? I didn't. I had several bad boats that summer and took different jobs. I quit three jobs within a year. Like, I was searching for something to hold on to, I guess, is the best way to describe it.

I took a job working as a ranch hand that fall that was no good. It was the same poor situation I was working in a vet clinic. And I kind of quit without notice. And actually a good friend Dallas Wiley was heading down south to the racetrack in Arizona. And she was like, hey, do you want to come with for the road trip? And I got nothing to lose, right? Like broke, unemployed, like looking for a reason to like keep going kind of thing. And went down there with her and got a job off her within like a day or two of being there.

Because I just wanted to experience it all, right? Like I didn't have much to do with the racetrack. got a job offer and working down there I kind of found myself again I guess is the best way to describe it a horse came in our barn as dorky as that sounds and it just started to make sense again of where I wanted to be and I was like what are you doing with your life you know you're living 2,000 miles from home working in this questionable environment like you left everything you know to come down here and I was like you know what when you get home it's time to start putting one foot in front of the other and getting your life back together so just yeah it kind of clicked I guess

I found myself in Arizona more than anything it's cool that she reached out to yeah because it by the sounds of it altered the course of your life yeah totally totally and a horse walks in yeah which is yeah this big strapping gray horse and I'm not a gray horse person at all for anyone who know me but I will still hopefully own that horse one day. He's still running on the race track. So hopefully I will get him in my barn. Where is he? Or she? He. He, he's actually in Winnipeg now. You keep up to date with where he is? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Have not lost track of that horse since I left there. Can I ask when he walked in, was there anything he did? He actually was known. I was worn by quite a few other people. I'm like, I was the wet behind the ears kid from Canada, right? And quite a

few other grooms came up from here and like watch that horse he's hurt other people okay and i was like whatever right like everyone can say that like this horse is bad or whatever and i guess i always give people the same chance as i give a horse until i've seen it firsthand i truly don't believe that like horses are like people like everyone has a different impression on a person or a horse and that's the way i look at it i like to go on the clean slate and i just kind of clicked with this horse and he kind of turned into my baby and did it like 180 personality wise and like people that knew the horse couldn't believe that that was the same horse that was on somebody else's bar in a week before. Wow that's cool. That's crazy. Yeah. Appreciate you sharing that with you. That's a,

that's a tough thing to talk about. Yeah, it's not easy and I guess I've never, I've never openly talked about it because I find there's like such a stigma about it and absolutely being in the competitive field that I am, I don't ever want anyone to think of it as a disadvantage. Like, my anxiety is caused by overthinking, and my overthinking is what makes me such a meticulate person to have the eye for detail that I do with my horses. So over the years, I've kind of come to realize that it is an advantage in some sorts if you deal with it in a way that's healthy. I bet you riding is healthy for you, or like driving. Yes. Yeah. Driving is the one time. So with my anxiety, I always,

overthink. Driving is the one time during the day that, like, that minute on the racetrack, the wheel stops turning. Yeah, the brain stops. It stops, right? Because it can't be going in nine different directions at once, and that's what I love about it is. Have you ever tried, um, like yoga or anything like that? No. Yoga is like, when I tried yoga for the first time, it is maybe as close to God as I ever got. It's a weird thing to say because I didn't know what to expect. I had, The nice thing about it was I'd never done it before, so I had no idea what to expect. My wife took it when we were pregnant with Shea, our first son, our oldest boy. Only boy right now.

I'm expecting our third. Now I'm mixing it up. We have two. We have a boy and a girl. Everybody thinks right now we have two boys. We have a boy and a girl. She looks like a boy right now. She's an absolute cutie, but she looks like a boy.

I don't have to be. I'm sure that's that everybody said about me growing up to with the bull cut. Well, my wife did prenatal yoga. Yeah. So I went in a bunch of pregnant women. And so I can't remember how I got in there. But she's like, oh, come join me. I'm like, oh, yeah, all right, whatever.

So I went and did my own class, but for first timers. And the first time I did it, it was amazing. I wish I had more time for it. And like, A, you're getting a workout and you're getting more flexible and stuff like that. But it was like peaceful, literally peaceful. See, for me, I like running. That's my thing. You're a runner.

Man, I hate running. I'm a biker. I'd rather go on the bike. No, I like running because, yeah, you get to push yourself, and that's my silent time, too. Yeah, no, that's fair enough. Anytime you, uh, want work out and push your body to exhaustion, stuff like that, it's good for your, it's good for the brain.

Yeah, that it definitely is. Yeah, I notice myself, I, uh, I try and go in the mornings. I try and go work out, um, somewhere around five in the morning before the kids get up, before the wife gets up. and days that I do it, I'm just a happier guy. And days I don't, I'm a little bit on edge. And I can't put a finger on why that is. But I just, I'm grumpy and I can't shake it.

But I go work out, get my butt out of bed and go do what I'm supposed to do and go lift some weights. And sometimes run on the treadmill, sometimes it's bike, whatever, I'm feeling that morning. I come home and I'm just glowing. I'm happy. It's that dopamine release. Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Yep. So let's go back to you. So the first, unless you want to talk about it. No, that's good. No, all good. What, I'm curious. So you, now you've gone down south. Yeah.

You've had this experience you meet this horse. Yeah. Is that what sets you back on? And if that is what sets you back on, which I think we talked about. Yeah. Then what do you do next? You go back to purchasing horses? Yeah, which like, everyone's like, how is that possible?

You just said you didn't work for a year. I'm super thankful for my parents because like yeah I had a bit of money set aside but I actually when I first came back there was the opportunity to buy a lead team and thankfully for my mom and stepdad they stepped up and were like here if this is what you want to do and this is the path you want to be on pay us back here's the money let's get this rolling so I that's pretty cool yeah it definitely is so I bought a lead team I started buying horses here and there throughout the spring and yeah it was a whirlwind I bet yeah yeah it was just like oh wow so when did you buy your your horses um most of them last like

it's kind of all over the map so when I first started investing in 2014 I actually bought one off the racetrack in emminton and I still have that horse in my barn right now like I've owned them twice now yes sold them got a map It's, yeah, it's been crazy bringing horses in and out for the last few years, picking the ones, picking and choosing virtually. Yeah. What was right for me. Yeah. And so five years then?

Yeah. In total of prepping for this. Yes. And lots of, I bet, like, working with the team and, and, like, getting used to the horses and everything. So most years, I start, like, March 1st. And then this past year, I actually started December 1st. bringing everybody in the barn every day because the biggest thing for me when I was running ponies I kind of took over my dad's barn so yes I was investing in my own horses but you only ever brought in

one or two a year I went from having a barn a horse is like some of those horses that we ran running ponies I had saw being born in our barn like I had known them forever I knew their whole story and then to sell all them and I guess I still have a few at home like the horse I was talking about my best friends like I still have him turned out in the pasture but I went from having a barn a horse I knew everything about from the ground up to having 18 horses in my barn this winter that I knew nothing. Like not that I knew nothing,

but like I didn't know their quirks, I didn't know their personalities. And for me, that didn't sit well. So December 1st, I started bringing everybody in the barn and just working and working and working with them to figure out everything.

I'm a dummy. Yep. I'm really dumb when it comes to this. I was born around, or raised around cattle and one horse who, was okay. My mom will hate me saying that.

My mom loved that person. When you say you bring them in the barn and working with them, what do you mean working with them? Brushing them, figuring out old injuries. A lot of these horses that come off the racetrack either have, just like athletes, they have their little knicks and bumps and everything else.

Like ankles, knees, stuff like that that have been affected them at the racetrack when they're packing weight of a jockey, but still they're able to pursue a career as a wagon horse because the weight's different, if that makes sense. So there's not, I like to make this joke, there's not too many wagon horses on the track that have four good legs under them. If they do, there's something wrong upstairs. It's just as true.

If a horse has four sound legs, you're like, oh, he's quirky in some way. because it just doesn't work that way. So I, yeah, I set out to find out and pick apart virtually every horse and figure out what made them tick. So then how long does it take of taking them in the barn working with them before you feel comfortable? It's not that I ever didn't feel comfortable around them. It was just figuring out what set this one off or vice versa.

And they're just so much like people that like they have a buddy. and some get along well with others and some hate this horse and it was placing them in the barn like the one horse I have my like best right wheeler I had him in the middle of the barn so whenever other horses would come in they had to walk by him he was firing clear across the alleyway and just about getting you so I actually had to remodel my barn build more stalls on the other end and he actually stands like at the very end of the barn at the farthest way so no one ever walks behind him stuff like that how about yourself I think I saw a couple pictures.

You must have to work out quite a bit. Yeah. I've always been very physical and had a lot of upper body strength. But going into this season, I guess I never wanted anybody to ever have the doubt in the back of their mind that I wasn't strong enough to do this. So beginning of November last year, I started working out five out of seven days of the week, lifting weights. bit of cardio because it was a little hard in the wintertime all my gym and stuff is set up in the barn but just virtually packing on as much muscle as I could because I didn't want anyone to ever doubt my ability out there probably help though oh totally totally spring training was a breeze

this year yeah I'm curious so how like was there any like roadblocks to getting signed up as a pro No, I sanctioned last year and surprisingly passed with flying colors. So I had to do two tests. My first one I had to run against myself and just go out there to prove that you could stop, do your barrel turn, stop an outfit with two outriders. And then my second one, I had to run against somebody else. And, yeah, my stress level was through the roof about it because I was like, well, this is how it's, you know, if they don't want me to run pretty much, like this is how it's, I'm just not going to pass these tests, right?

And I guess I should have never had that thought in the back of my mind, but I did a little bit. And then what's the feedback been like from, I don't know, everybody right now, like, within the CPCA drivers, everything? Like, has it been? It's been really good because I think everyone sees the bigger picture of it. Like, wagon racing and Western Heritage just in general. Like, I remember as a kid growing up, everyone chased cows on horseback and now everybody has a quad. Or a Jeep. Yeah.

Right? Everybody's gone automatic. It's a lot easier to put gas in a quad than it is to rely on a horse. So I find that I think a lot of people see the bigger picture of like, wow, we're bringing in some new fans because of this, which is great for the sport and association. Yeah, well, and if the first race you pack the place, that's pretty cool. Yeah. I mean, they've got to be pretty excited about that. You're like, happy Gilmore.

Hey. I hope I don't have the antics of Happy Gilmore. I hope that's not why I'm bringing people out, you know? For people who weren't, well, we weren't talking at the start on air, but I was asking her about Game of Thrones and Avengers, and she hasn't watched either, and I'm going on. But I throw it a Happy Gilmore reference, and you know that one. I have watched most Adam Sandler movies.

It's one of my favorite actors, so. I like comedies, you know. Happy Gilmer is pretty good. Yeah, that it is. How many people go on the road with you? So right now my mom and my stepdad breaks the camper and they pull the side by side behind to clean the barn. We have an older gentleman that is pulling the truck in the camper and we'll be pulling my wagon trailer behind it now. And then I have my one ton which I'm pulling a horse trailer with with feet in it.

And then my dad drives the semi in the liner. So there's like four units I guess right now. You're a convoy. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably standard I assume with everyone. A lot of guys are like up to like six rigs and I only have four. And who do you go for Outriders?

Basil Mosquito is holding leaders for me and Chloe Stooder is throwing stove. You better show him some love. Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty thankful for both of them. We were Team Pink, United. We always make jokes because, yeah, I'm pretty thankful that Basil. He's really experienced up there. I needed somebody that, A, knew what they were doing up there. And not saying none of the other guys do, I just get along really well with Basil.

And I was pretty thankful to get him as a lead man. And then Chloe is the only girl out there. So we really stick together because not that it's just being a female and a male dominated sport, you deal with a lot of things that people don't grasp, I guess. Like, it's, it's nice having someone in your corner at all times. And I'm glad we have each other to fall back on. We've become pretty good friends over the last year or so. Yeah.

Why pink? Is pink your favorite color? No, no, no. Purple and teal are my favorite colors. So why not purple and teal? Okay, so when I first started out racing, I was 14, and of course my dad was probably like, oh, it's just a fad, right? You know, like, this kid wants to race.

So I originally wanted, like, electric blue and lime green, I think it was. Like, I wanted, like, fancy harness, right? And I had my eye on these two black horses in our barn, like, wanted all this fancy stuff. And dad was like, hold the phone kid. Like, if you don't like this in a year, we're going to have all this. crap to try sell. So no, no, we're going to find you a second hand set of harness. So dad's buddy calls him in the middle of winter. He had picked up a set of pink harness. And I like cringed. I remember being 14 and just disgusted at this like how stereotypical, right? Like, girl driving has to have pink

stuff. And then we got there and it was like a really well made set of harness and it was pretty nice. So it was like, okay. Like whatever. The price was right. So at 14, that was just kind of my colors. And I kind of like went off of it but I had like orange wraps for the horse's legs or blue and kind of switched it up every once in a while but the older I got I kind of become known as like the girl with the pink wagon or whatever and nobody else had pink right like I was running against a bunch of guys for the most part so pink just be kind of it was one of those things that I just stuck with you know it just stuck and now it's like your signature yeah right like yeah it definitely is which everyone's like oh you must love pink it's like no

Oh, no. It's like, crap. Yeah. It's flashy. It looks good on bays and browns, so whatever. Hmm. What is your biggest venue this year you get to go to? Wainwright Stampede will be pretty big because they have the pro rodeo along with it,

and then Lloyd Finals, and we come to Lloyd is. What weekends, Lloyd Finals? Ah, good question. It is August. I can get it. I should know. I'm just thinking most people are going to be Lloyd area, right? Sure.

It is August 14th to 18th. 14th to 18th. 14th to 18th. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Just big cabaret on Saturday night. You just make sure you do good because I'm probably going to be losing or winning some tunis on you.

Yeah. We'll see how the season goes. I don't know. There will be a safe bet or not for my sponsor's sake. Who is your sponsor? We should probably give them a little bit of shut up. So I have different sponsors at most of my shows. Lloyd Finals.

I'll mention them because it was. like a huge shock. So I was pretty nerved up going into the tarp sale. They have a big auction here with Floyd Finals. Can we talk about the tarp sale a little bit? Because I kind of get it, but I kind of don't get it. So it's literally like being auctioned off is what you feel like.

You feel like you're going to the ring. So do they walk you up on stage? Yeah, on stage. Really? Oh yeah, they introduce you and everything and make you feel like you're going to throw up pretty much. That's how I felt. Like I was like going up there and like I had had, what did I have, two or three other people lined up to

bid, you know, up into certain prices. And we get on stage and everyone starts bidding and I'm like, whoa, that is way more than I had discussed with these guys. Okay. And then it just keeps going and going and going. And I was, I was the last one to sell on the sale. So that's either going to be great or or terrible. Yeah, right? Like you can go one way or the other. Everyone's either going to leave. But fortunately for me, it worked out really well. And FDB gravel, flying dust band gravel out of Meadow Lake ended up buying me great guy like Craig DeRoche or great guy is actually been keeping in touch a lot and I'm pumped to have them on board because it was it was shocking to me I guess that's like went in there with an expectation of how much I was going to sell for and it went right through the roof so

that was super neat that they came on board that must have been a confidence builder a little bit yeah it made me feel I was like okay okay so there might be a few people behind me and last fall I needed a new truck and my cousin Jeremy Ryder actually used to work at Boundary but then moved to Cold Lake Ford. It was funny. I got a phone call today from Boundary and they were like trying to sell me new truck and I was like, I'm sorry. Like my business went with Jeremy to Cold Lake and he was bugging me about it this afternoon. Anyway, so Cold Lake Ford came on board as a sponsor, something like the side of the track. Yeah. Iron Jet Promotions is actually why my truck is as fancy as it is. They also came on board last fall. Helped me with a lot with my marketing. Yeah. And yeah,

Yeah, Lar and Chris and Kate, they've just went above and beyond, like, the little details and stuff, like, while the truck that stands out, like a billboard, like, stuff like that. Looks awesome. They wrap my semi, like, it's just unbelievable and made everything look very professional. When you missed the turn today, and I was looking at the one, I went, oh, there she goes. Yeah, that, that can only be her. Yeah. It is very hard to go anywhere incognito anymore.

But, like, I was just pulling down the highway tonight and, like, this car comes. up to me just blaring the horn. I'm like, oh, no. Before that used to freak me out because I thought I was going to drive in like a jerk and now it's like, oh, okay, they're just like waving and smiling. Is that awesome? It's like awkward for me because I'm still like, I don't know. I'm still this like awkward kid from small town Saskatch and it's like, hi. It's weird that people like recognize stuff, I guess. But super cool. Yeah. You have a little celebrity, big celebrity. I don't even know. I don't get, I tell you what, I don't get honked at when I drive down the road. Your name's not on your truck, though.

It's totally different. If you put your name on your track, you might happen. Yeah, they're probably going, is that Sean Newman yet? That's probably what they'd think if I had my logo on my truck. Yeah, I don't think that would do me any good. Sponsor-wise, also, Glasgowan merchant group bought me in North Battleford, which was pretty cool, like coming from small town Saskatchewan. It was a group of businessmen and women and farmers that all came together.

I got to ask. Yep. So does that mean you went to multiple, tarp sales? No, so the only tarp sale we have is in Lloyd and then the other nine shows or your own responsibility is a driver to sell. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, you really have to market

yourself and get out there and wow, okay, okay. So I still have three shows left for the second half of the season, actually. That you're looking for sponsors? Yeah, definitely. It's not as easy as everybody thinks, put it that way because the economy's down, right? Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Oh, wow, okay, well people are going to hear this At some point in July. No, no, no. It's not July. Oh, okay. Two seconds. Okay.

Of course, I leave my schedule outside. People are going to hear this on Wednesday, June 26. Oh, very neat. Okay. So that is a couple weeks away. Okay. Yeah, I still have the second half of the season. I have Little Pine, Pound Maker, and Frog Lake.

Well, if you're listening to this and you like what you hear, how do they get a hold of you? I don't really want to put my phone number on here. You can message me on social media. That's fair enough. LaRue check wagon racing on social media is how you get a hold of me and everything's on there. So, yeah, I have, yeah, I sold Turtleford to McGowan accounting. They came on board.

And Wainwright is rocking 2D landing cattle, which is most of my sponsors are first-time sponsors to the wagons, which was pretty neat as well to bring in new people and not overlap. Oh, that's cool. Yep. You had written about mindset while you race. Yes. Why is mindset to you so important? Because as a driver, like I say, everyone's like, oh, you're really controlling those horses with four lines, but those four horses still have minds their own.

And if you're in a bad, like, and for me as a driver, I think my biggest advantage has always been getting to know my horses that well. And having them feed off of me, like, if I want to go out there and have a good run, we're going to go out there and have a really good run. And that really showed in North Battle for the first two days I was driving really cautiously. Horses were feeding off of that. The last night I went to the one barrel and I'm like, no, like, we ain't getting beat tonight. Like, I was like, I'm going to go out there. I'm still going to run clean, but I want to win this race.

So I went out there with that mindset and it just totally, like, it was the same outfit I drove the first night off of two and just completely had a different outcome because of how I went in out there driving. So. That's a cool. little statement, thought is negativity is infectious. Positiveity is infectious. Totally. Energy is infectious.

And it's cool that horses can feed off that. Yeah. Because I can, that's a workplace, right? You come in, everybody's negative. It's going to be a negative. We've all been at that place before where you're sitting there and everybody's negative and you just don't even want to show up. But you go and you're shoveling crap in the barn and everybody jokes and has a good time.

somehow shoveling crap doesn't seem like such a brutal job, right? No, no, it just not. It's, um, we've talked about a lot on this podcast, actually, about the people you work with, because you work so much, as long as you're surrounded them with the right group. And I've talked, uh, about the, I work at Baker Hughes currently. Yeah. And the group of guys I work with are awesome, right? Like, they're an awesome group of guys.

And it's so fun to go and work and BS with them and. Well, you never feel like you're working when you're around people that are positive and get it, kind of like just you can banter with or have a good time with or they make the mundane seem fun and a lot of work these days seems mundane right there's there's very few rocket scientists out there or uh marine biologists or CPCA truck wagon drivers I can't say I've ever done that and I assume your days are a little more interesting than mine but uh positivity is definitely infectious yeah yeah you like and it's really hard because you are around a lot of different people, I'm going to say.

And the older I've gotten, the more I've come to realize that different people have different energy. And just some people are just negative people. And that's how they live their lives. And that's totally fine. But for me, and I feed off a people. So I'm one of those people that I, like my environment affects my mood. So for me being surrounded by positive people. And that's why I am so ecstatic that I have basil and Chloe working with me because we just work well together.

So what do you try, what type of mindset do you try and get into before you or moving into your race? Like are you trying to be like Lucy Goosey? Are you like all business? Don't talk to me. Are you? I'm very much the don't talk to me leading up to it. And I like to be very quiet. It's funny. I've been asked this question a lot like like what's going through your mind sitting in the wagon box waiting because I'm like very stone faced in a lot of these pictures. And I was like, honestly, we were driving down the road the other day, me and Chloe. and there was just like, I like techno. I listened to a lot of different ranges of music from country to techno to rap. And a song came on and it was just like bass.

And I told me, I was like, you know what? Honestly, sitting in the wagon box, that's all I hear. Just waiting to go out there. I'm just like, that is all that's going on in the back of my mind is that like bass pretty much. What's your best pump up tune right now? What gets you going? What gets me going right now? bad guy by Billy Ellis actually

Oh yeah I just heard that song like two weeks ago That's not bad It's got a nice little beat to it That it does I have no idea what she's talking about I don't really listen to the words

Half the time anyways No it's like it's all about the bass Right so yeah I always like so I got two kids under Well she just turned three in April April 7 And so he's a little over three My girl turns two here in July

And when they're driving with me I like listen to loud music My wife hates it You turn it down. I like loud, whatever. But when you get a good song on, kids get it at that age even. And you'll look back and they're bobbing their head and you're like, yeah, that's a good beat, isn't it? That's a good beat.

And if you turn it down, they're like, no, dad, turn it back up, right? Like, I get it. I get it. Billy Ellis. Yeah, yeah, all right, fair enough. You've written something that I like. This is how I look at people. I'd asked if there was any cool people who influenced your life.

And you'd said that you truly believe there's something to be learned. from every person we cross paths with. So my influence's life has come from a lot of different directions. I was wondering we can just expand on that for a little bit. I find that literally, like I said, every person that you cross path with is for a reason. And I really like to hold on to people that bring positivity into my life to say the least. And even the people that aren't meant to be in your life for a long time,

there's still something to be learned from them. Like every, whether like person, horse, everything comes into your life and you need to adapt and understand that you got to take something from everyone to grow as a person. I truly believe you're not living life to your fullest unless you're growing every day. So for me, it's very important. I like meeting new people. I like picking up on people's quirks and their personality and their habits, which I pointed out to both my outriders in the weekend when we had a lot of time on our hands. I was like, you realize when you're lying, you get this like awkward shrug to you and smile. mile. The one of them has a really bad telling them. Like the other one gets really red in the face

when they're like trying to bluff off about something. And they both just sat and like stared at me and like shook their head like how dare you call us out on this? Do you play poker then? Uh, no, I do not play poker. You probably enjoy it because that's most likely learning people's tells right? Yeah. Yeah. So what is your plans when you, well, basically, maybe the first question is, What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to do this rest of your life? That is a very good question. So for me being a female, I'm 26 years old.

Right. And it's funny, I remember watching this show that it was called Jockeys growing up. And there was an old, I want to say he was a bookie talking about mares running on the racetrack. Okay. And he said the reason why mares quit running is because the like mama instinct kicks in about four or five years old. And I find, like, I remember, like, think about that. And I don't know that definitely hasn't kicked in for me yet, because kids terrify me. I find it funny because, yeah, I can, like, handle most horses and someone hands me a child and children sense fear.

I know it. I know it. You hand me a baby. And within 20 seconds, it's crying. I'm like, no, take it back. Take it back. Like, once they're about five, six years old, I'm cool to them. But until then, that, like, sense of fear that I could, like, break it.

It just does not work for me. anyway um i intend to race for quite a few more years i guess i want to settle down get married have a family kind of thing but like i say i'm 26 years old so you have plenty of time yeah i do have plenty of time but there is that in the back of my mind eventually that one day that's going to happen right but one thing first you had to get married first so how how uh how old can you drive like You can drive them to your 65. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Yeah, you age out at 65, but I... At age out, you mean like 65? They're like, you probably shouldn't do this anymore? Yeah, we have to pass a medical every year. Oh, okay. So if you're not fit to compete before then, you, of course, can't race. But yeah, it's... So you've got essentially 40 years of driving left, if you want?

If I wanted to, yeah. But that's not my... I've seen my dad for 50 years. race and go through marriages and relationships and it take a toll on life because it is something where you are constantly putting horses first. And it's hard for me too because on the same hand, that's the kind of people that I get along with when it comes to significant others or people that are competing at a very high level. So it's taken a long time for me to adapt and learn that, you know, a lot of people aren't okay with coming second to a horse.

And there's a lot of trust between when you're running on different circuits and everything. It's a weird mix, I guess is the best way to describe it. So why do you race that? Because I love my horses. I love taking a horse that, not that I'm ever fixing them because I don't think that many horses need fixed. It's a matter of finding out what makes them tick and working around it. And most of my horses that are standing in my barn right now, other guys have given up on. And that's the reason why I have them.

They're like, oh, they'll be a good rookie horse. But there's a reason why they, like, in quotation marks, label them as a good rookie horse is because they're trying to drop them to you at a cheap price and are like, ha-ha, silly little girl, whatever. Like my good wheel team that I got, I bought off a very good friend, but they were admittedly both balking on them. And I knew both horses and I knew the capability that they had. But it was a matter of like switching up their bits, putting open bridles on them and just letting them work and adapting. So yeah, I love my horses. There's so much to be learned from them.

And yeah. So what's your goal then? What do you want to accomplish in the CPCA? This season I want to win rookie of the year. That's my biggest thing. I don't like, you can only win that once, right? So I definitely want to win that. Long term-wise, I want to be the first girl to race at Calgary.

And not so much just the first girl, I want to compete there. Like, growing up, that was my goal, right? Like, when I was barrel racing, I was like, that's everybody's goal is to get there. And now I want to compete there and race at the highest level. I think that's the best of the best, pretty much. So this will get released on July 26th. No, yes, July 26th.

I'm looking at this, trying to read it. And that means July 28th, the 30th will be the first time, people will hear this on the 26th. Yeah. Where are you at the 28th, 30th? Bonneville. Bonneville.

Yeah. Okay. Okay, so if you're listening to this and we want to see her, the first place you can go is Bonneville. Yeah. And hopefully by then, you're in full gear and rolling.

Hopefully that is the plan. Hopefully that's how this weekend plays out. Because right now we're, we had a good Battleford, but I played it safe. And we ended up, like I'm sitting second last in the driver standings right now. So I'm in the first point heat of the night. I really need to get out of there and move up in the standings. I should ask when you said you want to win rookie of the year. How many people are you competing against?

One slash two others. So there is another fellow that is medical down. now that his brother is driving for him okay uh gordy mccullum and his brother mervyn and then randall stanley is the other rookie right now so cool yeah she got a good shot you just got to do what you got to do yeah i got to go out there and drive like i know i can yeah yeah and how many years you think he'll take you to get to calgary if you're if you're a goal-setting person which by looking at you are yeah and what you've been saying how many you think how many years you think you got to get there I'd like to say two, but realistically five.

Five, but I mean five, I mean, shoot. Five always sounds like a long time, but it'll blow by. Yeah, it's definitely a next year sport, right? Like, I got five horses turned out at home right now for next year. Like, it's, you're constantly building your barn for your next year, whether you realize it or not. It takes a lot of vision then to see where you're going. Yeah, exactly, right? That's cool.

Well, I got a couple, I always do a couple fun questions. at the end. And if I've missed anything, by all means. Is there anything else that I should be, we've covered a lot. Think of up at the top of my head, no. Okay, cool. So I always do, I do always do a couple of little fun questions, right? I got, I had a listener talk about a time machine question. So now I've asked it to everybody. Yeah. If you had a time machine, you can go anywhere. Where are you going? Late 1800s, actually.

Late 1800s, okay. I would definitely go back. terrible as this sounds, I would be like a female outlaw. I would be like the female version of Jesse James because I like to go fast, shoot things, it would be a good time. Until you get a bullet in the side and you don't know what you'd be. You know what? It would be like, I would be living the dream up until that point, okay? Oh, God. Okay. Final one for you then. Okay. Tomorrow, and I like just giving, I wish I had this like easy button. You could beam anywhere on the air. earth, where in the world would you go?

And why there? Where in the world would I go? Is there a place you've never been? Or is there a place that's like your sweet spot? You always love going there. Is, I don't know, somewhere where horses roam wild and free and you just want to go see the wild mustangs? Honestly, if I could beam anywhere, it would be to the point, like, hopefully one

day when I'm walking across the stage at Calgary, because it's another moment of my life I've, like, dreamed about for years. and like visualize that'd be pretty neat. That's cool. Well, the day when that happens, right, when the day that happens

that you're going to get accepted in there, well, hopefully we do this before that, right? But that year, for sure, we make sure we do this again. And it'll be a lot of fun

because by then you'll have wild stories about being the rookie of the year and I'm sure five other things. Yeah. Well, I really appreciate you coming. I hope you've enjoyed it. I've really enjoyed it.

That I have. I appreciate. you opening up and telling your story. It's a really cool one. I look forward to watching you. I am back around this part of the world in August, which means I get to come bet on you in Lloyd. Perfect. And I hope a lot of people show up because that'll be exciting. That it will.

Okay. Well, cool. Well, good luck this year. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Yes. Hey, guys. Just wanted to say thanks to Amber for coming on. I really appreciate her coming and talking about her career and what she's looking for in the future and letting her open up and have the opportunity to explain where she's come from.

It was really cool. I really appreciate it, and I wish her the best of luck here through this summer and into the future as she continues to chase her dream. Next week I'm joined in studio by Brandy Hofer. When I initially started the podcast, I've said it probably a few times. I had a short list of about 40 names, and Brandy Hofer was on it. She didn't fit the categories like most of them. She isn't a hockey player.

She isn't, I mean, she does play volleyball, but she's not a college athlete or anything. What she's made her name, and actually she's more than just made her name. She's a local celebrity, for that matter, is she's a painter. She's an artist. And I've sat and watched her career from afar, and I've always wanted to sit down with her and chat about what it takes to do what she does and how much hard work, time, effort, everything's put into that, or if it's just, you know, a natural gift. And so next week we're going to have Brandy Hofer in. Just a little bit about her. She is born and raised in Lloyd Minster.

She's a mother of soon to be three. She's expecting her and Carly are expecting their third. She works at night. So after the kids go to bed, that's when she's painting. So she's up late at night, tirelessly working on her business, which has been running now for 10 years. She's painted different hockey stars such as Scott Hartnell, Brayden, Wade Redden.

And even a piece of her art has been featured on House of Brian on HGTV Canada. So I look forward to digging into that with her next week. So I'll see you guys then.