In 2013 Disney’s Frozen hit the UK screens, When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.

Genius Equestrian caught up with Laura Sumrall Muntean from Texas who created a freestyle reining performance on Hilairy Gerrero’s Wimpys Top Model, also known as Tyra.   “I got a phone call invitation just two weeks before the performance.   My mom and I love to put together freestyles that are engaging and familiar to people.” Said Laura.  “I have long blonde hair and the movie Frozen was very popular at the time. Of course, nearly everyone knew the iconic song”.    Laura enhanced her own hair with a hair piece made from horse hair, “It was about 7 or 8 pounds of hair attached to my head underneath a French braid. We ended up sewing it to my shoulder so it would stay in place and not pull me backwards!”

Laura did not have her own horse to ride at the time and so had to borrow the horse, which was found through her trainer Randy Schaffhauser who had been involved with the horses training, and was able to check that she was comfortable with the long purple velvet cloak that Laura planned to wear as part of her costume.   “She was a bit tricky, and in prime shape” said Laura.   “The good news was my trainer trained both me and the mare, so we had similar cues of our own, And the match was perfect.   The first time I did the full routine on Tyra was during the competition!”   As Laura and Tyra were so far apart, she had practised her routine on both a small and larger horse as she was not sure how big Tyra would be and how her paces would fit to the music.   “We made the routine to the music and gave myself plenty of places to add or take away time if I needed to adjust the pattern”

Laura credits the idea and the costume making to her mum, who lives several states apart, but has made many costumes and now has it down to a fine art!

Laura told us “The best part is all the young girls who’s moms send me pictures and videos of them riding their horses and ponies in their Elsa costumes. That’s what it’s all about. Sharing the love of the horse through all avenues.”   We couldn’t agree more!