Riding two unfamiliar horses to victory in Canada’s top equitation finals is no small feat, but those who have witnessed Haley Stradling’s progression in the sport were hardly surprised. The 17-year-old native of Aldergrove, BC, has been training with Brent and Laura Balisky and Laura Jane Tidball of Thunderbird Show Stables since she was seven years old, but she also competes cutting horses on the world stage under the watchful eye of her parents and trainer Denton Moffat.
Haley, whose parents are heavily involved with cutting horses, spent her early years in the saddle dabbling in both the western and english disciplines. At a young age she showed in the pony hunters and pony club events, as well as local cutting competitions. By the age of 13 she was winning at the national level in both cutting and junior hunter classes.
In 2012, Haley won the gold medal in the cutting competition riding Wild at Dawn at the American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup in Kreuth, Germany. “I have never ridden exclusively in just one discipline,” she explains. “I just automatically fell in love with both sides of the sport. The one thing I have really learned from the combination of the disciplines is how to get on any horse and ride and show it. Riding hunters, jumpers, and cutting horses has taught me how to use my seat and my leg really effectively, and I think the combination has just helped me become a stronger rider. Having my parents so involved with horses has also really taught me the roots of the sport and the importance of horsemanship.”
Haley competed at the inaugural Royal West in the junior hunters on Altanero, a 12-year-old Argentine-bred owned by the Baliskys. She won the Running Fox CET Medal Finals aboard Stanley SM, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by her friend Jenna Powell that Haley had only ridden sporadically in preparation for the finals. At the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, she finished as reserve champion in the junior hunters with Altanero, and won the Jump Canada Medal Finals aboard Ceylon, an eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Toni Hickox – a horse she had ridden only three times before walking into the ring. “In both the finals, Haley rode the horses so well and adapted her ride to make decisions in the ring that suited the horses,” explains Laura Balisky. “Even though she didn’t know the horses that well, her instincts were right. Haley is a naturally-talented rider, a really good competitor, and just gets the job done.
“Because we’ve trained her from such a young age, there is a tremendous level of trust between us, which I think is an incredible thing to have between coach and rider. Haley has an aptitude for the horses, she’s a fantastic people person, and she’s kind, helpful, and a team player – all attributes that you need in this business.”
In addition to balancing a heavy school course load and training schedule, Haley finds the time to give back to the sport by teaching stable management and horsemanship to the Mt. Cheam Pony Club, where she has been a member since she was six. Her current mounts include her mother’s horse, Nurse Holly Rey, on which she was named the BC Cutting Horse Association’s amateur and senior youth champion in 2014, and her father’s horse, KRK Lucky Rey. She continues to ride for the Baliskys in the hunter and jumper rings, and in 2015 will make a bid for the US equitation finals. Of her recent successes, she admitted, “The fall circuit was a truly amazing experience and I definitely had to pinch myself a few times, because I thought I was dreaming!”
