CHASING PASSION

A story about discovering a calling that forever impacts the lives of young women.

Tom Bateman, Creative Director

If you're anything like me, you dream about this type of thing. The sunrise, the ranch, all that hay, horses for acres, sounds that make you think you're in a different universe. We romanticize it, sure. But it's just such a beautiful lifestyle, and having a couple hundred acres and a small army of horses is totally realistic right?

For Angie Hilding at Bridle Path Quarter Horses in Hayden, North Idaho, this is her reality. The sunrise, ranch, hay, horses, sounds; all of it. This is her lifestyle, not some side passion we think looks nice. It’s not something she does in her spare time when she gets home from a day at the o ce. The acreage is her office, the saddle is her desk chair, and Angie has given her entire life to this industry and these young women.

Discovering an unrelenting passion in what she does from sunup to sundown isn’t convenience, it’s what gets her out of bed day after day.

My mom has a picture of me at 3-years-old in braided ponytails, and I’m barrel racing at a rodeo right here in Rathdrum at the old singer rodeo, and my shirt says, ‘First-Class Brat’.

Angie’s no stranger to this lifestyle — she’s has been riding since age 3. “My mother was never into horses but a big supporter, and my dad is a team roper, so I was always surrounded by it. I took it to the next level than anybody did in my family,” said Angie. “My mom has a picture of me at 3-years-old in braided ponytails, and I’m barrel racing at a rodeo right here in Rathdrum at the old singer rodeo, and my shirt says, ‘First-Class Brat’. Isn’t that funny that I have a business now called Brats!”

As an accomplished competitor who travels around the country, Angie thought she had found her passion, her career, and her legacy all in one. But just like it is for you and I, the fantasy of ranch-life absent of all responsibilities isn't reality. "Before I started this, I wanted to rodeo full time, but I couldn't afford it of course. So, I ended up going to work." With two careers before Bridle Path, Angie tried her best to do both - work hard and play hard — but like it is for anyone with a burning passion for something, you can’t just turn that o and settle for second best. Angie said it herself, there’s no silencing the “horse-crazy girl” inside.

With 18 years now as the owner and operator at Bridle Path, Angie provides trail rides, private lessons, and horse sales. This pays the bills and is a sure way to be around the 2,000lb creatures she loves more than anything. But does it scratch that itch?

"I'm a competitor, I love to compete," says Angie. It's true, and you can feel it when you're talking to her. Her eyes light up, the pace of the conversation increases to 160 words a minute, and she sits up like she's in the saddle. So how does someone who is an accomplished rodeo athlete with hundreds of acres and a team of performance horses translate her enthusiasm and expertise? After a full decade of daydreaming and of playing with an idea, Angie started preparing to raise the next generation of competitors in what she would find to be her life's passion: THE BRATS.

"After so many lessons, I wanted to teach these girls something. I could teach them to ride well, but then the competitor in me really wanted to do something else with them," explained Angie. "If anybody knows me, they know my type-A personality. So if I'm going to take these kids off-site and I’m going to show up with Bridle Path horses, and with my name on them, they were going to show up as a professional. That means collars cuffed, western shirts on, girls with their hair tied back. They have to get up at five o’clock in the morning and get those horses and themselves ready. It’s not for the faint of heart. If it’s cold, you suck it up because you’re a cowgirl. And the response I’ve had from these kids is just, amazing.”

It sounds a little less romantic when you put it like that. A little less frolicking in the pasture, and a lot more like early mornings and heaps of effort. But no one ever said doing something you love, something truly worth doing, would ever be easy. “That’s really what I love to instill in these girls. If this is your sport, you show up, and you do it.”

For Angie, this is her passion, her calling, her mission in life or whatever we call it. What we romanticize, Angie lives every day. The sunrise, the ranch, all that hay, the horses, and as she explained, “I’ll literally be standing, filling a water trough, and I’ll look over at that acreage and all those horses, and the sun’s just right — as it’s setting or rising — and I go, ‘wow; I am so lucky… I’ve got the best job in the world. I really do.’”