Julie MacGillis | Dedicated Rider | May 2025
Published: May 18, 2025
Author: Amy Prechter
We are so excited to introduce our May 2025 CRE dedicated rider - Julie MacGillis!
"Hi! I am Julie MacGillis and somehow, I am one of Amy's Dedicated Riders!?! On top of that life's surprise, I bought a horse named Suits in January! Honestly, I am still trying to figure out how all this happened, but as I know those at CRE would understand, a horse journey takes unexpected twists and turns and often starts young. For me, I was horse crazy as a kid - I BEGGED for a horse as a toddler. We lived in Miami, so this was not in the cards. But at the end of our urban block, there was a commercial pony ring. I have no idea why it was there in the middle of the city, but the foreign exchange students who lived with us at the time would walk my younger sister and me down the block to ride the ponies. It was the best.
Later, when we moved to a rural part of Tallahassee, my mom signed us up for riding lessons. We did English Dressage and jumping. I always made third place, while my sister would finish first or completely bomb. I suspect I ride similarly now - always shooting for steady progress and just having fun. In our "neighborhood,” we met our two closest childhood friends, whose family owned 4 horses. The four of us would ride bareback for hours through fields and forests, stopping for picnics and swimming in lakes atop our horses until we floated off. I always rode Savannah, and she liked nothing better than to slowly push me off her back by going under a low limb on the way back home. I would ride double on another horse going home and we would find her waiting at the barn when we got back. Savannah was definitely the boss of me! (These are not the approved horsemanship skills that Amy & Justin teach!) Later, my parents bought Savannah but by then, I had my own car and spent all my time in town with my high school friends, so she was my sister's horse. Before I realized it, almost 45 years passed without any horses or riding in my life.
Then, when my husband, daughter and I moved here from Seattle in 2017, I vaguely thought this may be the time to get back into horses. The only problem was that as an adult, horses were terrifying! My neighbor's daughter did CRE Youth camps and asked if I wanted to try the Adult Horsemanship class. I was not sure, but I said yes anyway. We rode in a private lesson with Amy on a very cold, windy day in the Indoor arena. I think it was 2018. The horses were muddy, shedding like crazy, and the Western saddle was SO HEAVY with a zillion random straps to tie or buckle. The horse I rode seemed about 10 feet tall and I did not like the view from up there. But the smell of the horses and the barn were such a comfort. I was excited to start riding again; however my neighbor soon tweaked her back, I had foot surgery and then along came the Pandemic. My neighbor and I never went riding together at CRE again even though we'd both paid for a 10-ride punch card.
Fast forward to 2023, the Pilates studio that my neighbor and I joined closed. My neighbor decided to try a gym. I am not a gym person. What to do instead? Horses had been tugging at me, but I did not feel brave enough to do it alone. My daughter, Polly was going through a very difficult time with her mental and physical health. For the New Year, Polly made some very courageous resolutions and inspired, I promised to try horses again. It took a couple months, but I finally sent Amy a text to set up a private lesson. I rode Olie. She asked if I wanted her to use a lead rope as I rode. I was thinking, "YES, of course, are you crazy!??" but I said no. I kept coming back. Before every lesson, I would convince myself that I was getting a cold and should not go. I never let myself cancel, despite Olie's penchant for biting when you saddle him up. Amy talked me into joining the Adult class. It took a lot of courage to join. Everyone seemed far more experienced. Yet, I learned so much by watching them and found the most supportive community I have ever known. I signed up for Cowboy Dressage and then added the Groundwork/Trail class to my week. My daughter's health got worse, and I found myself asking if I could join the beginner Youth classes just to be able to ride on days when I didn't have a regular class. The little kids' love of horses was infectious. Riding had become my therapy.
For the next year, I rode whoever Amy put me on. Last fall, she put me on Suits. She said he was "noddle-ly" because he was a young horse. Huh? This was intriguing to me. Shortly afterward, I signed a lease for Suits with no plan other than to grow along with him. I missed grumpy Olie though. Being an OTTB (Off the Track Thoroughbred), Suits "never had a person, only trainers" as Amy said. He was even more aloof and hard to connect with than Olie. He pushed carrots and other treats away. He hated being groomed. He spooked easily and went a lot faster than I liked. Viv taught me not to put my lower legs on him as I did with Olie, or Suits would be off to the races again. Amy and Justin taught me that I needed to ride with a loose rein. Yikes!! But it was exactly the challenge I needed - like my daughter's health, I needed to trust that the path that we were on would take us to a better place, and it has: Suits and I have learned so much together!
Though he still has his days of spooking at his own tail, Suits tries very hard, and stops whatever he is doing to greet me when I arrive. It is so fun to see his personality now that he is feeling more comfortable - he is quite a goofball! He just had his 8th birthday, and we are signed up to do all the summer Cowboy Dressage tests. It is wonderful to be back in the horse world again. I could not have done it without the incredible mentoring and support from Amy, Justin, and the amazing riders at CRE, all of whom I now call friends. This experience has been a tremendous gift that I am so grateful I found the courage to accept."
