Summit resident Laura Sumrall won her third world title in April at the fifth annual World Reining Cup in Lexington, Ky.
That’s big news for the 22-year-old Parklane Academy graduate and senior at Texas A&M and for her parents, Hiram and Dawn Sumrall.
Even bigger is the explosive reaction to the video seen around the world of Laura’s performance that earned her the latest honor in the equestrian sport of reining.
Sumrall’s routine was set to the song “Let It Go” from the blockbuster Disney hit movie “Frozen.” The blonde Sumrall was dressed as Elsa in a costume put together by her mother.
The video has been seen more than 13 million times, and is creating a viral video stir. Sumrall will be interviewed today at 5:30 p.m. on Western Sports Roundup on Rural Radio, Channel 80 on Sirius XM.
The American Quarterhorse Association has a weekly segment and they will be interviewing Laura.
On her Mississippi Girl blog, Sumrall wrote, “I don’t even know where to start other than to say ‘thank you’ and ‘Wow’ to everyone who has been a part of this exceptional experience. I never knew that Elsa would become such a big part of my life, but she has, and she has left a lasting impression upon me. She has left an impression upon me that even I, as a 22-year-old college student, look up to.”
Sumrall said she and her mom, whom she calls “the creative genius behind all of my freestyles,” suggested the Elsa routine.
Since Sumrall’s show horse was retired, she was able to ride Wimpys Top Model (Tyra) in the freestyle reining event.
But working on choreography, costume and routine wasn’t easy — Laura was in Texas, her mother was in Pike County and the horse was in Arkansas.
Dawn Sumrall borrowed an Elsa costume and added a skirt to fit around the horse, and she threw in some sparkling embellishments. A hometown friend made the cloak that Laura wore at the beginning of the performance.
“As for choreography, it took an entire Sunday afternoon, two different horses, a good friend, her mother, my coach and her twin boys and listening to the song ‘Let It Go’ nearly 100 times to put my pattern together,” Laura said in her blog. “I rode two horses in order to get the timing down on different rides since I did not know my mare, and all of the extra eyes helped us piece together a performance that flowed well with the music as well as included all of my maneuvers.”
Before the big Lexington weekend, Laura had never ridden Tyra. But, the two bonded immediately and ran through the routine as best they could before they hit the arena spotlight.
“Tyra is nothing short of an athlete,” Sumrall said. “She is talented, honest and incredibly strong. I couldn’t believe how fancy of a horse I was going to be able to perform on. ... As for the performance itself, I could not have asked for a better run. She gave me everything she had and more. She was not bothered by the spotlights or the cloak or even my long flowing dress. She took it all in stride, literally, and did what she does so incredibly well-perform at the top of her game.”
Sumrall called the experience “a performance of a lifetime.”
This has been a banner year already for Sumrall. In January, she was named Miss Rodeo Mississippi, and in February she was named SEC Rider of the Month.
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Watch the performance online at https://youtube/JgzuyvFOLik.
