Women's riding team shows love of horses and country

SALINA, Kan. -- As the 10 women who make up the horseback drill team "Quiet Thunder" practiced one of their routines, they smiled and chatted, every once and a while letting out hearty laughs.

They shouted out to each other from horseback about what was and wasn't working with the routine they were practicing.

They called each others' horses by name and casually asked each other about family, friends and work.

A truck full of boys who didn't look to be legal yet drove by and hollered and whistled at the team of women, most of them above age 30, but they just laughed it off.

"Nancy, he was calling for you," one member said to Nancy Paugh, who, it turns out, is the oldest member of the group at age 59.

Quiet Thunder, a drill team of local women, ages 12 to 59, uses American and Kansas flags along with other patriotic flags in their routines, which they perform at different rodeos across the state.

Members Pam Wasserman, Salina, and Joyce Gans, Bennington, usually come up with the routines, although group members joked that Gans is the only one who actually remembers the routines she and Wasserman come up with.

The group's season usually begins around April or May and can run to October.

"There were years that we had something every weekend, and we decided we didn't want to do that this year," Wasserman said.

"We didn't have time to even get the laundry done when we were doing that."

Balancing schedules

Not only do the women have laundry to do, and families to be with, they also have full-time and part-time jobs. In fact, some of the women work together, and a few of the women originally met through their work.

For example, Jeanine White of New Cambria, and Pat Burt of Bennington, work at the Farm Service Agency. Also, Carol Fritz, who worked for more than seven years for Philips Lighting before deciding to search for another job, first met Jody Munson, who is a customer service representative for Cox Communications, when Fritz went in to pay her cable bill.

"Then, when we started riding together, I thought, 'I hope I wasn't late on paying my bill,"' Fritz, Salina, said.

Quiet Thunder formed in 1996 when a woman who is no longer part of the group saw a drill team perform and wanted to form a local drill team to perform at the Bennington Rodeo.

"So, friends talked to friends and we ended up with 23 women," Wasserman said. "We really had so much fun practicing for that first rodeo that by the time we performed, we knew we weren't going to give up on it, so we were already calling other rodeos to see if we could perform."

Then, the team of 23 women split into two groups. Eleven of the women kept the Quiet Thunder name, which is a story in itself, and adopted a patriotic theme to go with their drill. Although Quiet Thunder is now down to 10 members, they are hanging fast to their original purpose and theme.

Wasserman, who was one of the original 23 members along with Munson, Culver, and Sandra Kinkelaar, Assaria, said the name Quiet Thunder resulted from a drive down the highway.

"One of the gals who was with the team that first year was driving down the road and saw a semi with Quiet Thunder written across it," Wasserman said. "We had all been brainstorming and we voted on ideas and that came up the winner."

And just as with everything, the other members joked with Wasserman about telling the story.

"Now that semi driver will probably read this and sue us," Fritz said.

After deciding to use their drill routines to encourage patriotism, the group had to raise some money to buy the outfits they would ride in, as well as the flags they'd use.

To come up with the money, during the first three or four years Quiet Thunder rode together, they took donations from businesses, who then became the group's sponsors.

Helping community

To say thank you to the businesses and communities who sponsored them, the group would then host a fund-raiser to benefit others, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 4-H and Post Rock Therapeutic Riding Center.

Now, because most of the equipment is paid for, the group no longer seeks sponsorship. However, members pay dues to buy a membership with the national Horseman's United club, which provides the group liability insurance.

The women practice every Monday evening at an outdoor arena north of Salina, and sometimes they throw in an extra practice before a performance.

"We enjoy it because it makes us ride," Kinkelaar said to the nods of the other members.

"And it gives us something to do with our horses," Paugh said, again with sounds of agreement from her fellow riders.

"And we're all horse lovers," Burt added.

In fact, most of the women said they had been riding since childhood, and they agreed they'd keep performing with Quiet Thunder for as long as they can.

The women said there are different things about their performance that keep them wanting more.

"For me, it's the feeling you get when you go into the arena," Fritz said. "And the feeling you get when you see the people standing with their hands on their hearts."

Wasserman likes hearing from people who see the show several times and are still affected by the patriotic performances.