WALK RIDE RODEO
RIDING BARRELS WITH HER LONG PLATINUM-BLOND HAIR FLYING OUT FROM UNDER HER cowboy hat, Amberley Snyder looks like a cross between a California beach beauty and a rockin’ rodeo queen. Look closer through the dust she’s kicking up and you’ll see that she’s literally strapped onto her horse.
She needs those straps to stay in the saddle because she’s riding without the use of her legs. Amberley Snyder is the only paralyzed barrel racer in the country.
After a terrible accident with her pickup truck in 2010, she wasn’t supposed to be able to ride again. But with extraordinary fight and grit, she got back on the horse and eventually returned to competing.
Her inspirational story, which comes to Netflix in 2019, ends not in tears but in cheers. And it’s not nearly over.
IT WAS THE PHONE CALL EVERY parent fears. Your child in a horrible accident. A life-altering injury. A young athlete’s dreams seemingly dashed. Amberley Snyder and her mom, Tina, have related the story countless times. They gave one of the most moving accounts about what happened on January 10, 2010, on an episode of The Ride With Cord McCoy:
Amberley Snyder: I had been offered a job in Denver for the stock show. I was going to work there for the two and a half weeks. I got up at 4:30 in the morning to start my drive. And about 10 in the morning I stopped in Rawlins, Wyoming, at a gas station, and when I got back in my truck, I didn’t put my seat belt back on. And less than 10 miles down the road, my life completely changed.
Tina Snyder: At 10 o’clock I texted her and said, “How’s it goin’?” And I didn’t get a response back.
Amberley:
