From reining freestyle runs at the all American Quarter Horse Congress to liberty performances at national equine expos, Luke Gingerich and CJ Rio Zan Bar Gun know what it takes to excel under pressure. While spotlights, crowds and the wide-open expanse of an expectant arena might once have strung the pair’s nerves tight as tripwires, the 24-year-old horseman and his American Quarter Horse have learned the trick to staying cool and confident. It’s not a special visualization technique, a carefully honed training method or even a good-luck charm.

Luke’s trick is trust.

For Luke, building trust means keeping his relationship with his horses as a top priority in his life. It’s something the Plain City, Ohio, horseman learned to do when he was still a horse-crazy pre-teen, spending time with his horses in the barn that his father built for him when Luke was just a boy. In high school, it meant being the one kid who never had time to hang out with his friends or play sports. As an adult, it means working long days at his family’s business, Gingway Products Inc., and then heading home to work with his horses and manage Luke Gingerich Horsemanship, his own training business.

Regardless of the sacrifices he makes, those precious moments Luke gets to spend with “Rio” – whether they’re playing in the pasture together or performing in a coliseum – make it all worthwhile.

“It has taken a while for me to be more present in my performances, because in the beginning, there’s so much pressure that it’s difficult to think straight,” Luke admits. “But I remember one night when I was out in an arena under the spotlights, I just stopped to think for a moment how fortunate I was to be with my horse in that environment. I’m really thankful because it’s an opportunity a lot of people don’t get.”

As a horse trainer, Luke travels across the country to give private lessons and teach clinics in liberty horsemanship. He also performs on Rio at equine expos and state fairs year-round, combining the in-hand liberty work they both love with bridleless reining maneuvers. The 2010 bay gelding by CH Zan Par Dee Bar and out of CR Docs Fancy Gun can do it all, from spins to sliding stops to rearing on command. For performances, Luke braids silver tinsel streamers into Rio’s black mane and tail, adding extra sparkle and shine to the flashy bay gelding with the distinctive white blaze and four white socks.

“Rio already has a lot of presence, but he knows when we’re getting ready for a performance,” Luke says. “We’ll be in the stall before a show, and my friends will be busy getting him ready while I wrap his legs. When we put the tinsel in his mane, he knows what’s coming.”

Luke always knows what’s coming, too, but he never takes a performance with Rio for granted – and he never forgets what it took to get there.

“When I bought Rio, I was not trying to get a great reining prospect or a perfect liberty prospect, because I wasn’t really doing either of those things when I got him,” Luke says. “Honestly, we would be out back in the pasture playing together and doing the liberty stuff because we loved it. We weren’t trying to get ready for any big performances. We just spent hours and hours together, hanging out. And I think a big part of the reason we’ve been able to be successful now is because we put the time and work into building our relationship before looking for fancy results and impressive maneuvers.”

Luke has come a long way from the 15-year-old boy who agreed to gentle a weanling for his uncle, James Gingerich. The deal between uncle and nephew was that Luke could have a share of the profits when the horse eventually sold as a 2-year-old.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Luke admits. “But I just said ‘Sure, I can do that.’ ”

The weanling turned out to be Rio. Almost from the start, Rio began teaching Luke what it really meant to train horses. Luke had only ridden finished horses before Rio came along, so the pair began learning everything together from the ground up.

“As a young horse, Rio did not put up with a lot of the things my older Quarter Horse mare before him had,” Luke remembers. “He made me work for everything.”

By the time Rio turned 2, Luke realized he had become too attached to the colt to let his uncle sell him.

“Rio was a pretty scrawny little 2-year-old, nothing special, but I loved him,” Luke says with a laugh. “He wasn’t even sound when I bought him, so that tells you how attached I was. He came in from the pasture lame one day, and no one knew what happened. It was definitely a risk. But looking back, I have to tell people I got myself a heck of a horse for $400.”

After Rio had a winter off and became sound again, Luke started work with his new partner in earnest.

“Rio was bred for reining, so I was interested in that. But I couldn’t afford to spend a lot on training, and I wanted to do the work myself,” Luke says. “I’d watch training DVDs and then go out with Rio until I figured out what worked for us.”

In addition to reining, Luke has always been fascinated by liberty performances. As a boy, he saw Australian horseman Guy McLean perform liberty work at Equine Affaire, a national equine exposition that takes place each year in Columbus, Ohio. Later, Luke met Road to the Horse Wild Card competitor and liberty horseman James Cooler of Ridgeland, South Carolina. In 2015, Luke and Rio spent a week training at James’ farm to learn more about liberty horsemanship from the trainer and his wife, Kate Cooler.

“Seeing James and Kate do liberty work in person was incredible,” Luke says. “When I saw the relationships they had with their horses, with softness and refinement and how much they were able to communicate with their body language, I was fascinated.”

The following year, Luke decided to compete with Rio at Congress in the freestyle reining – but with a twist. In addition to adding a short liberty performance at the end of their run, he wanted to push their limits by doing the run bridleless.

“I actually wasn’t sure we’d do the run bridleless until the rehearsal didn’t go well on the morning of,” Luke says. “I kept getting in my own way because I was nervous and not coping well with the pressure. Then we had a chance to rehearse one more time in the coliseum. My friends told me to go get Rio, take his bridle off and try again. Although I was hesitant about it, once the bridle came off, I stopped micromanaging him. It still wasn’t perfect, but we hit our stride.”

Later that day, Luke and Rio performed bridleless for the first time in front of a crowd. That run inspired Luke to try again the next year – this time, with the help and tutelage of Jesse Westfall of Loudonville, Ohio. With Jesse as his mentor, Luke’s run at the 2017 Congress went much more smoothly.

“It’s a lot of pressure to walk into an arena with thousands of people watching and then ride bridleless and do liberty work,” Jesse says. “But Luke stayed focused and achieved his goal. That’s because he invests time in his horses. There has to be a strong connection between you and your horse because you have to trust them, and they have to trust you.”

Luke’s second ride at Congress launched him on a path that has since included clinics and demonstrations with Jesse and Stacy Westfall, solo demonstrations at state fairs and featured performances at Equine Affaire and Horse World Expo.

According to Luke’s manager and friend, Wendy Johnson of Delaware, Ohio, Luke’s success is largely because of his dedication to his horses, as well as to his clients.

“One thing that stands out about Luke is that he was raised that nothing is just given to you,” Wendy says. “You have to work very hard for the things that you have and the things that you want to accomplish. There are no shortcuts in his mind.”

Another part of what drives Luke to succeed is the memory of his father, Mark Gingerich, who passed away in 2010. Although Mark wasn’t a horseman himself, he built a barn and bought a miniature horse for his son, ultimately encouraging Luke to pursue a lifelong love affair with horses.

“I don’t know that I’d be where I am today if my dad hadn’t taken the chance and given me that opportunity,” Luke says. “I wish my dad could see what I’m doing with all of this now, compared to way back when he built that barn.”

In addition to his work with Rio, Luke has also begun training Tinseltowns Whizard, a 2017 palomino filly bred by Greg Gessner of Strasburg, Ohio. Handpicked for Luke by Jesse Westfall, “Chloe” has become Luke’s second liberty horse, and he also plans to show her in reining in the future.

The young horseman is dedicated to giving the mare his all, just like he did for Rio.

“You have to be willing to put in all the really hard work and the time it takes to train a horse,” he says. “My favorite quote from John Assaraf is, ‘If you’re interested, you’ll do what’s convenient. But if you’re committed, you’ll do whatever it takes.’ ”