RODEO PROFILE
DAREDEVILS OF THE HORSE WORLD WALL FAMILY OF THE FAITHFUL W RANCH f rodeo is your thing, and you’ve been to one somewhere in the Sunshine State and witnessed trickriding or Roman riding, then chances are that you’ve watched the Wall family of St. Cloud.
Mom Caitlyn grew up in a rodeo family. Being a rodeo competitor “in the old days,” her father competed in rough-stock events, as well as roping and steer-wrestling events. She started her trick-riding career at age 8, grew up performing in circuses in New York City. She was taught the trade from Helen Panzella of the Bronx, who spent her winters in the Sunshine State. Panzella performed in such famous venues as Madison Square Garden. Caitlyn as a teen purchased the registered paint horse Seemore Simon, and this bonded pair performed together for the next 18 years. She started traveling with her father
to provide entertainment in rodeos in New York, north to Canada, south to Florida, and as she quips, “virtually all the states in-between.”
‘30-PLUS YEARS LATER’
And Caitlyn still gets out in the arena on horseback to this day, some “30-plus years later,” as she puts it. But the majority of the performing she has passed along to her children. She loves her job as the Horses & Heroes manager south of Orlando at McCormick Research Institute in St. Cloud, where she works with horses and veterans in equine-assisted therapies. Her husband, Steve Wall, was the original Roman rider in the family, having learned it from his father and grandfather. But he is now fully retired from performing. However, he continues to be involved in the sport of rodeo
Tyler Wall
Roman riding is one of the older forms of horseback riding. It is generational in the Wall family of St. Cloud, Florida.
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PHOTO BY TRACEY STEEPER
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Written by: Kathy Ann Gregg