By Claire Elliot

A FORMER lorry driver has given up years on the road - and become a real-life cowgirl.

Leaf Sutherland was more used to being at the wheel of a 400hp truck than in a horse’s saddle.
 

But after falling in love with the romance of the American wild west, the 40-year-old is living the dream of a real-life Clint Eastwood, at her ranch near Tullynessle, Aberdeenshire.
 

She now spends her days on horseback, riding western style, in what is becoming one of the country’s fastest growing sports.
 

Mrs Sutherland, who runs the only dedicated licensed western riding school in Scotland, teaches pupils techniques through rodeo games including barrel and flag racing as well as lassoing and trail riding.
 

She is also setting up a club to promote the riding style. Her aim is to continue to maintain a high standard at the same time as allowing members to have fun and explore all aspects of western riding, including horse training and being a cowboy.
 

“It is becoming very popular,” she said.
 

“A lot of people are interested in western riding. It’s a growing sport.
 

“It’s just like some people want to be Indians and some people are into being goths.
 

“There’s a fantasy for all. It’s getting people to admit it."

 Mrs Sutherland, who runs Gilwaun Ranch with husband Bill, 57, set up the school after giving up her life on the road due to ill health.
 

She now owns three western trained horses and five up-and-coming youngsters at the ranch, which is complete with a riding arena and round pen.
 

“I was a lorry driver for years and I do miss it,” she said. “But getting on a horse and taking off for the afternoon is the next best thing.
 

“I love it. Secretly I just want to be a cowgirl.”
 

Her interest in horses stems from her childhood, when she rode her first pony bare-back while growing up in Wales.
 

So when she decided to get back into the riding scene she opted for something a bit different from traditional English riding.
 

“I always had a slight leaning to the wild west ethos and the romance of it,” she added.
 

“There are still cowboys in America and it’s damn hard work. I wouldn’t last five seconds but we play at it and bit and have fun.

“I had a lesson and it took me 20 minutes to figure out to steer the horse without reaching for the reins and I was hooked.
 

“The thing I like about it most is that the horse that I’m sitting on is something I’m working with and I get a good sense of freedom with it.”
 

Mrs Sutherland even helps her farmer husband to separate beasts out in the fields.
 

The ranch's ideals support the western show disciplines as well as teaching about the working ranch horse, cowboy traditions and the western training methodology.
 

One of the most popular techniques in western riding is called reining, which is likened to high speed dressage, where the horse performs fast or slow circles and spins on a loose rein.
 

Mrs Sutherland said: “People who have done English riding find it quite hard, but people who have never ridden before find it quite easy.
 

“It’s because we don’t rely on the reins as much.
 

“It’s a different mind-set. You have to meditate through it more, where as with English riding there’s much more tension to it.

“We teach the riders to ride with more feeling”
 

Western riding evolved from the cattle-working and warfare traditions brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors. Both equipment and riding style evolved to meet the working needs of the cowboy on ranches in the American West.