Here's what's right with America
By Gavin Ehringer

[Following is an article that appeared in the Paint Horse Journal this summer, reprinted with permission of Gavin Ehringer.. Read this and it will make you proud to be a Westernaire!!!!]

While I was attending the University of Texas as a graduate student, seldom a day passed when I did not look up at the University clock tower and think about the sweltering August day in 1966 when Charles Whitman, an ex-Marine sharpshooter, stood on the observation deck and shot and killed 14 innocent people with a high-powered rifle. It's strange that a single infamous event, the first mass-murder to shake America's sense of public safety, changed the symbol of a proud school into something darker, something evil.

I am certain that people will always have that same feeling when they hear the words "Columbine High School." But rather than see this school, and the community of Jefferson County that surrounds it, as symbolic of something terribly wrong with American society, I'd like to offer another picture.

My first impression of Jefferson County, nestled in the foothills of Colorado's Front Range, was formed while working on a story I did about a local youth riding group, the Westernaires. Formed 50 years ago, the Westernaires is made up of nearly 1,000 area youth who live within the borders of Jefferson County.

Supporting them is a volunteer army of parents and Westernaire alumni, numbering about 400, who sew costumes, design drill formations, teach equitation and responsible horse care, drive buses and haul trailers, schedule events, and do the thousands of other tasks necessary to enable these kids to perform at rodeos and shows throughout the year.

Among the high points of any Westernaire's experience is performing at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. This past year, members of the elite Red Team, made up mostly of high school-aged youth, performed in every rodeo performance there, as well as in the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza and the Wild West Show. This summer and fall, Westernaires will perform at rodeos from Estes Park to Vernal, Utah, in addition to a half-dozen or so horse show events and fund-raisers that support the Westernaire program.

Anyone who has ever seen the Westernaires perform can attest to the fact that these kids put on one heck of a show. Their drills are intricate, precise, fast-paced, and full of pageantry. That quality comes from each kid spending thousands of hours practicing and learning during as many as 10 years of organized riding.

Glen Keller, director of the Westernaires, says that the horses are just the hook. The real purpose of the program is to build self-respect, responsibility and leadership.

"When they leave us, they are focused on where they are going, how to work with others, and how to accomplish goals," said Keller. "They come here and learn responsibility. We are building good citizens, and are proud of that."

Jefferson County sheriffs have called the Westernaires the best juvenile delinquency prevention program around. Needless to say, Westernaires have little free time to get into trouble.

After leaving the group, many former members go on to work with the program as volunteers. Others have founded similar riding programs in new communities. Most find time to do volunteer work as adults.

Just as the Columbine tragedy touched many lives, it touched the Westernaires. According to Keller, about 30 Westernaires attended school at Columbine. One student's brother was killed; another had a family member shot and injured.

One of the Westernaire's adult volunteers worked as a secretary at Columbine. She hid under a desk for several hours, worrying if her daughter might be a victim. Fortunately, both she and her child were spared.

Shortly after the shootings, the young Westernaires met with the group's adult leaders to talk through the tragedy.

"We wanted to make certain that there weren't things that made our kids feel isolated like the kids who did the shooting at Columbine," said Keller.

Across America, people will look to Jefferson County, Colorado, and ask, "What's wrong with America?" I look at the Westernaires and think, "Here's what's right with America."

We just need more programs – and more people – like the Westernaires.