FIND YOUR CALLING

Helena, Mont. – July 17, 2023 – A special horse has found a new direction to go in her life.

When Big Bonnie, a buckskin mare, was young, she didn't fit anywhere. Because she was big at seventeen hands high, weighing 1,600 lbs., and smart, she could be intimidating, the people around here were unsure of her. There seemed to be nothing that the mare was willing to do.

When Big Bonnie was five years old, she was purchased by CR Kunesh, who had been her farrier. Her previous owner had called her "a handful," he said, but he had always admired her. "She was a well-built big mare," he said.

And when her owner wanted to sell her, nobody wanted her but Kunesh saw her potential. He didn't need any more horses, but the owner asked what he'd give for her. "Fifty dollars," he said, and for that price, she became his horse.

Kunesh, who guides elk hunts in the fall, rode her for three months on hunts, long days in the mountains. He knew she was good. "I really liked her. She was amazing," he said.

But Big Bonnie was about to get a new home and a new job.

The mare "had a whole lot of energy with no place to go with it, and she was super intelligent," he said. She needed a year-round job, not just three months a year guiding hunts.

In stepped Kunesh's neighbors, nationally known trick rider Madison MacDonald-Thomas and her husband, Keegan Thomas, who live in Helena.

Madison had admired the buckskin, but had no need for another horse, till several of her trick riding horses were on the injured list.

Trick riding horses have to be trustworthy. They're supposed to gallop around an arena, all while their rider is hanging off of them in precarious positions, without the reins in her hand.

But Madison had a sense that Bonnie could do it.

"She was big and beautiful," she said, "and her previous owner couldn't find a job for her. I asked if I could try her, because sometimes those horses work."

And Bonnie worked great. Now she's part of Madison's herd, one of the horses she trusts as she performs at rodeos across the country.

Madison read Bonnie's personality and came to understand that the big mare doesn't respond positively when a rider pulls on the bit.

"If you hang in her mouth, she doesn't take that very well.

"I can throw her the reins and she does her circle (in the trick riding). I stay out of her mouth," she said.

Keegan gave the horse to Madison as a Christmas gift in December of 2021, and the mare took to the trick riding almost immediately.

"She loves running the circle (in the arena)," Madison said. "When she learned the pattern, it took nothing to teach her the tricks. She was so happy to run her little circle and stop. She's tuned into one of my best horses."

Madison, who is 5'4", looks tiny when she's on Big Bonnie.

"Everybody laughs when I ride her because I look like a fly on her back."

Big Bonnie's gift is the trick riding; Madison said she's not well suited for anything else.

"Honestly, she's not fun to ride outside the arena. I wouldn't want to do any other discipline on her. She's broke, but she loves trick riding."

Bonnie loves to run, Madison said, and likes big rodeo arenas where there's plenty of space to go full speed. "She's so big, she stretches out and runs. She floats. It's amazing."

The horse, who seemed to have no purpose in life, now has a job.

"She was always a nice horse," Kunesh said. "She just needed a job.

"Trick riding was the last thing I thought she'd do. But she's found her calling."

Big Bonnie will be one of the horses Madison rides as she trick rides at the Last Chance Stampede & Fair in Helena July 26-29.

The Night Show on July 26 is Nelly, with three nights of rodeo July 27-29.

Tickets for Nelly are $60 in advance and $65 on July 26. Rodeo tickets vary in price from $21-$26.

Night Show and rodeo tickets are available online at LCCFairgrounds.com, at the gate, and at the fairgrounds ticket office. Fees apply.

For more information, visit the website or call 406.457.8516.