The Westernaires, Jefferson County, Colorado

Rider at the Horsecapades

The vision of Elmer E. Wyland in 1949 launched one of the most innovative and successful youth precision horseback-riding organizations in the country. Through the reminiscences and words of the earliest participants, alumni and today’s parents, volunteers and riders, this DVD tells the story of its formation, its shaping of youthful citizens, its incredible workforce of volunteers, and its performances at rodeos, parades, the National Western Stock Show, and special events throughout the western United States and Canada. The Westernaires has performed for prominent audiences such as the President of the United States and the heads of state that were his guests at the Denver Summit of the Eight Conference in 1997 and they have reenacted western historical events such as the battle between the Indians and Gen. Custer at the Little Big Horn. Even Hollywood searched out its talent for authentic U.S. Cavalry troopers in the remake of the film Stagecoach.

Horsecapades Precision Drill

The director since 1983, Glen E. Keller, remarks how the facility has grown from a rental stable to the thriving Fort Westernaire, with classrooms, kitchen, shops, and indoor and outdoor arenas. It includes the showpiece 1.5-acre Equestrian Center and is home to a string of almost 200 horses, a thousand youthful riders, and hundreds of adult volunteers from the community. The result of all this activity is the enriching of lives, the teaching of responsibility and the formation of a future generation.

Challenge: Write a script documenting 58 years of history of the Westernaires organization, including the vast changes in the community, the growth of the resources of the organization itself, and the extraordinarily special loyalty and love that the many volunteers and riders have towards the organization. Include clips from old movies, recent performance events and hundreds of still shots. Make it entertaining and informative and suitable for showing in the organization's new museum.

The Solution: Full Duck visited the home of the organization with a camera four times on the busiest day of the week, Saturday, when the horses, riders, instructors, parents and volunteers converged to participate in training sessions that continued throughout the day. This provided information and rich cutaway material for the script. Full Duck then worked with Spotlight Media to interview individuals who have participated in the organization or are currently involved in very active capacities. Full Duck also collected DVDs of old movies and recent performances as well as hundreds of stills from the Westernaries' Director. Finally, Full Duck created a 43-minute story line from the interviews and matched all the interview material with specific cutaways from the Full Duck camera material, the DVDs and stills. Full Duck consulted with the editor, Spotlight Media, who completed the project. The video was approved and ready for the museum's opening date, May 6th, 2007.