Rodeo dreams - Theresa Stannard earns spot in professional rodeo circuit

CHESTERTOWN — The Grayrider Ranch in Chestertown is a relatively new venture for Theresa Stannard and her husband, George. They are hopeful that when Theresa joins George in retirement from the New York State Police, the ranch will be in full swing. It's not the only recent challenge for Theresa to take on, as she quickly earned a spot in the Women's Professional Rodeo Association, just months after deciding to up her game from amateur status. Theresa, now 39, credits her path from an upbringing with strong values. "We grew up with responsibility," she said of her childhood with two younger brothers. "We knew what we had to do." There was ample influence from an uncle, as well, an inspiration she still feels today. Early days, ponies and Uncle Bill "I learned bareback. When the pony wasn't fast enough, I'd move up to a faster one," she said. They were her father's working ponies, short and strong, built for pulling. It wasn't long before she'd outgrown ponies. Her uncle Bill Ryder was a bachelor. She and her brothers, "were like his kids," she said. At age 12 or 13, she recalled, Ryder introduced her to something that would heavily influence and shape the direction of her life. "It was my first Gymkhana," she said of the event, consisting of patterned horse races. It was barrel racing that struck Theresa. "That was the beginning," she said. She made friends with girls competing in the Adirondack Gymkhana Association. It was then, she graduated from ponies to horses, as her friends allowed her to ride theirs. At age 14, her parents made a deal with her. "If I worked and saved my money, they'd match it," she said. By the end of the summer she'd earned $250. With $500 in her pocket she bought her first horse. She named her Satin Beauty and she had her for the next five years. "She taught me a lot, but I plateaued on her," she recalled. "She wasn't fast enough." She'd been working every job she could at Ridin' Hy Ranch, from lifeguard to housekeeping, waiting tables to wrangling in the barn. She was babysitting and taking on any odd job she could. At 17, Theresa sold Satin Beauty and borrowed money to buy 4-year-old Pete. Getting faster, Pete and a fateful week It was on Pete, now 26 and retired to Theresa's back field, that she began competing in barrel racing. "I never won money on Pete until the week my uncle Bill died," she stated, with silence to follow during an interview in her home this week. She doesn't need to say another word to explain the impact Ryder continues to have on her life. It's on her face and it's in her daily life, working on her horse three or four times a week, and a newly installed booth at her ranch overlooking the ring carries Bill's name. "He was a huge inspiration. He's a huge influence," she said, poring over photos of the day her husband and sons, Colton and Tristan, surprised her with the booth dedicated to Bill. The week he died unexpectedly in a car crash was the same week she was to leave for college in Brockport, having completed two years at SUNY Adirondack. It was there, her life took direction into law enforcement. The long gray line She took her state police test while still in college, earning a spot in the academy at age 24. "People are familiar with the 'thin blue line'," she said, but New York State Troopers know the term long gray line. "The uniforms haven't changed since they were started in 1917," she said, noting it was two women that took charge in the department's creation. The "Gray Rider" monument stands at the State Police Academy in Albany, and helped the Stannards arrive at the name Grayrider Ranch, now with a sprawling 200 acres off Igerna Road. Theresa said discipline is the common theme between her racing and police work. Both also require confidence, which seems odd that for, at least a brief moment, Theresa felt lacking in that category. Niks and the pro circuit Today, she races 8-year-old Niks, purchased six years ago as a "green" horse. "I think he had 30 days of riding," she recalled of her first days with him. She wasn't sure right away how he'd end up as a racer. "He needed to mature physically and mentally," she said. There came a time, though, when Niks was turning 5 and she was pregnant with her now- 3-year-old, she took him for training to have him ready for racing by the time she was ready to ride. With the baby in a stroller, she'd squeeze in workouts with Niks, in between her 12-hour shifts on duty. It's that kind of dedication that led her down the next successful path and had her in the running for Rookie of the Year with the Women's Professional Rodeo Association. "At first I thought, I can't compete with those girls," she said of the first idea at earning her pro card. To do so, she'd have to get a permit, renewing it every year until she'd earned $1,000 in winnings on the pro circuit. At that time, she could essentially "go pro." It took her just seven months. George says she's humble, but he knew all along she had it. Through the summer, her times placed her among the best in competition around the Northeast. She was looking like the woman to beat as she held the top-spot for Rookie of the Year. That dream was dashed when Niks had a temporary health issue, easily fixed once Theresa figured it out. "He's my partner. I have to listen to him," she said, but for a bit, she didn't understand why he would sometimes not cooperate, when others he was dead-on. "He had a little trickle of blood on his nose," she said. It tipped her off to an issue he was having when adrenaline would expand his capillaries, giving him the sensation in his lungs that he was drowning. A simple shot remedied that, though the races she lost in the meantime bumped her out of contention. She ended the 2015 year ranked 341 in the country and 19 in the First Frontier Division, comprised of competitors from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. Competing with other top ranked women has further raised Theresa's competitive spirit. The 2016 year began in October and she's off to a great start, placing second at the Adirondack Stampede Charity Rodeo in Glens Falls last month. The world championship for barrel racing is held each year in Las Vegas. When asked if she'd like to be there some day, she just smiles. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

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Rodeo dreams - Theresa Stannard earns spot in professional rodeo circuit

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