ProRodeo Sports News - April 6, 2018

Jandreau stares into the distance of the South Dakota sky during a scene in “The Rider.”

of practice. As someone who broke his first colt at the age of 7, Jandreau’s had plenty of time to master his attentiveness. “I started breaking little miniature ponies by the time I was 5 to 6 years old,” Jandreau said. “My mom and dad taught me just about everything I know. There was a lot of learning along the way, with different trainers and just teaching myself. By the time I turned 8, I was training horses.” Much to do with the film following the parallel of Jandreau’s life, the movie captures Jandreau’s horse-training prowess. The 22-year-old owns a business, Jandreau Performance Horses, where he trains horses for a variety of purposes. “We train them for everything in and out of the arena,” he said. “All events of rodeo, from cutting, to reining, to mounted shooting, to hunting, ranch horses, pleasure riding horses and trail horses. Everything you can think of.” Jandreau is a modern-day symbol of America’s

young cowboys in South Dakota,” she said. “It’s different everything. Socially, culturally, politically, everything is different. What I loved was how much people felt for Brady and how much they can relate to him. This French woman stood up, and by the way she dressed and the way she spoke, I knew she really had nothing in common with Brady. “She was just bawling. She said, ‘I wish you and your friends good lives.’ I just loved that.” Now married, with an 8-month-old daughter, Jandreau, at times, still can’t fathom where he is. Once on the verge of death, he is now the owner of a growing business, the star of a critically acclaimed film, a husband and a father. But rodeo still has his heart. “I want to compete,” Jandreau said. “The Rider” is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 13.

Heartland. In his way, his perseverance typifies what cowboys are and always have been. Zhao was immediately in awe of the way cowboys like Jandreau continue to push limits, and she learned plenty about a way of life that continues to pique her interest. “First of all, I think the stereotype of what a cowboy is, is not true,” Zhao said. “Most of them are big softies with huge hearts. They embrace you very quickly. I think that’s a Heartland quality. Us people in cities, we don’t speak to each other. I have been to so many ranchers’ and cowboys’ homes and their families are like, ‘Oh, here’s a Chinese woman, let’s feed her and tell her about our lives.’ “It’s a culture with a community that’s really strong.” MAKINGTHE FILM-FESTIVAL ROUNDS Thus far, the Sony Pictures Classics film has been nominated for four Film Independent Spirit Awards and has been screened at prolific film festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, Toronto and New York. Jandreau was awarded the Silver Spike Award for Best Actor at the Valladolid International Film Festival, while Zhao has been named Best Director at numerous film festivals. At Cannes, Zhao found out first-hand how inspiring her work has become. “That audience is probably as far different as

Director Chloe Zhao works behind the scenes while filming her award-winning movie, “The Rider.”

ProRodeo Sports News 4/6/18

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