Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo Kicks Off With Chisolm Challenge – And Arena Full Of Smiles

Fort Worth, Texas. The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo kicks off this week with the promise that there’s always something for everyone. The events of the first two days and the smile of 12-year-old Eliza Doyle are convincing proof of this.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday marked the return of the Chisolm Challenge to the John Justin Arena. Children and adults competed in competitions specifically for people with disabilities.

Activities included English riding, Western riding, ranch riding, showmanship, kegs, pole bending, practice team, and driving and trail riding.

And the 2023 event also featured Eliza Doyle for the first time. We found her patiently waiting in the arena stands with her mother, Carla Contreras.

“It just gives her something of a purpose,” Contreras said of his daughter.

Eliza has epilepsy – her life is complicated by seizures. But when they found therapeutic riding programs, first at Special Olympics and now at Dallas’ Equest Equestrian Therapy Program, Contreras said her daughter blossomed.

“She is looking forward to the whole week. “Mom, I want to see my horse.” “Mom, I want to go see my horse,” Carla Contreras said.

Eliza is one of dozens of students working for the Equest hippotherapy organization. The event featured hundreds of riders from several Therapeutic Riding programs.

Chisolm Challenge is their chance to prove themselves. And when Eliza mounted her horse with the help of equestrian instructor Sarina Dalton, she couldn’t hide her big smile.

“That smile you saw sticks somehow,” her mom said. “It’s kind of her happy place. Definitely her happy place.”

“And to see even just a smile on their faces when they get on a horse for the first time is amazing,” Dalton said. “And to see the bond they create with horses is just incredible.”

The smile is even wider than usual at the event on Tuesday. Because the 12-year-old, smiling broadly in the saddle as she galloped and raced her horse across the arena floor, took first place in her heat.

“She always impresses me,” her mother said, also smiling broadly. “I’m so proud of you,” she told Elise.

“When she gets on the horse, everything else just disappears and that smile returns to her face,” Dalton said. “They learn to overcome any obstacles they may encounter. As well as chasing dreams and achieving new goals.”

For her efforts, the efforts of her mother and the instructors, Eliza received a blue ribbon and a championship belt buckle engraved with the Chisolm Challenge logo.

This created another beaming smile.

What can be argued may be the biggest prize of all.