Watching Michael and Justine Tidwell at a horse show is like attending an elaborately choreographed ballet.

Michael straps a helmet on their 7-year-old son, Ross, and supervises a bike ride behind the barn while Justine takes a lesson from their trainer, Jason English, on Cowboysainteasytoluv. When she’s finished, Michael saddles up his mare, Silk N Sudden (aka Callie) as Justine takes charge of Ross and heads to the wash rack.

There are tails to wash and entries to be made. But somehow, the cast all comes together for the big finale, inside the show pen.

Justine describes showing as “all I’ve ever known.” Born in Florida, Justine (then Willis)  got her first pony, Timmy, at the age of 4 and it grew from there. She has been competing since she was a kid and started working with Florida trainer Sandy Vaughn in 1993.

Michael grew up in Georgia. His father reluctantly gave him a pony when he was just 6. In 1996 he too started training under the guidance of Vaughn but didn’t meet Justine until 1999.

“I hauled his horse to the Gold Coast in 1997,” Justine says, “but he never came down to show – and he stiffed me for the hauling.”

They were married in 2001 in Cartersville, Georgia, where they live today. When not at a horse show Michael and Justine spend a lot of time entertaining and enjoy working around their home (featured in Better Homes & Gardens in May 2011) and in their yard.

Justine worked as a flight attendant before their son was born. Now she stays home with Ross and works part-time as a florist.

“I love to fly airplanes,” she admits. “ My family is full of pilots.  I love going down to Florida because there is always something going on with airplanes, sea planes, gliders, and anything else that will fly.  I love the water too.  I enjoy swimming, scuba diving, wake boarding and jet skis.”

But for the most part  Justine has always stayed involved in showing horses.

“I am still waiting for a big win,” she laughs. “The best I have ever done was at the (All American Quarter Horse) Congress in 1992, when I was fifth in the Novice Amateur  Hunter Under Saddle with Totally Dave.  It’s been 21 years since I’ve heard my name called at the Congress. I made it to the World Show in 1999 with What’s New With You, but he got hurt right before the class and couldn’t be shown.

In March 2012, English brought Cowboysainteasytoluv (Waylon), a 2010 Palomino by Willy Be Invited and out of Call Me Snuggles, back from Waymond and Suzy Roberts’ Chatsworth, Georgia farm for Justine to try. They have been a team ever since.

“Last summer with Waylon was the best year I’ve had in a very long time,” Justine says.  “I was fifth at the National Snaffle Bit Association’s  World Championship Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in both the Limited and Open divisions of the 2-Year-Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle.  I won both the Limited and Open divisions of the 2-Year-Old Color Hunter Under Saddle at the Reichert Celebration, in Fort Worth, Texas, and was Reserve in the Non-Pro 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle.

Michael’s involvement has been more sporadic. A graduate of Berry College, in Rome, Georgia, he is president of Bartow Precast, Inc., a company that manufactures precast concrete products for the underground water, electrical and wastewater industry. His job is demanding and requires a lot of travel.

But fate stepped in early last year and now Michael is back.

“We were retiring Justine’s horse, Leaguer’s Lyric, and I was beginning to miss showing, after hanging in the background for the past 10 years or so,” he says. “We were just toying with the idea of both of us showing again and I wasn’t 100 percent committed to buying a horse for myself.  Jason knew about Callie (a 2007 brown mare by RL Best Of Sudden and out of Gimmie Invester), and pushed for me to buy her from Brent Harrelson.  At the same time, we had an offer in on a horse (Cowboysainteasytoluv) for Justine, and we would have been satisfied to have just bought one and keep shopping for the other.  Both sellers accepted our offers within a week of one another and we were ‘in business.’”

The new team immediately clicked.

“I won at the Reichert last year and was third at the NSBA World, and both prizes are very important to me,” Michael says.  “It’s what I needed to renew some hope and faith in my efforts at horse showing.  This has been the first year I’ve been able to really commit to showing, so it felt like a long-awaited reward.”

This year Justine and Cowboysainteasytoluv are back in the show ring competing in 3-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle and Novice Amateur Hunter Under Saddle events. Waylon will also be shown in the 3-Year-Old Open and Green Hunter Under Saddle events.

“I have never shown the futurities before last year,” she says. “I have enjoyed it and would love to have another young horse to continue with.  My main goal right now is to do well on my yellow horse and start the all-around events with him.”

Michael and Silk N Sudden will continue to compete in Novice Amateur Western Pleasure this year.  They are off to a great start having already captured a Circuit Championship at the Alabama Summer Sizzler in Montgomery.

“My horse show goal is to compete in Trail,” Michael says. “I’ve never cared for the event, but I’ve learned so much this year that I would like to drill down and work on the ‘component level.’  I’m a big picture guy, so I see this detail work as a challenge.”

Justine says that until Ross was born her favorite show was the Congress because of all the shopping. But now they look for other  things to do.

“Ross’s favorite show is Venice, Florida, since we can go to the beach and collect shark teeth,” Justine says.

For Michael, it’s a toss-up between the Tom Powers Futurity in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and the Reichert Celebration.

“I love showing outdoors at the Power’s and the casual environment,” he explains. “Fort Worth is one of my favorite cities, however, and we enjoy the proximity of the Will Rogers Center to downtown Fort Worth.  We always try to  incorporate vacation activities into horse showing. We visit zoos and museums, beaches and parks, and try to eat at local establishments.  We make the most of our family time, and often choose our shows based on entertainment opportunities in the area.

The Tidwells also love traveling when they are not at a horse show.

“About nine years ago, Justine and I took a spontaneous trip up the California coast over Thanksgiving,” Michael says. “Since we had not planned the trip, we had no reservations, and therefore, no expectations.

The Tidwells drove from Los Angeles to Napa in a day, against recommendations from locals and friends. Once there, they took their time returning to LA

“We contacted hotels at the last minute and stayed in some really great places.  Driving the Pacific Coast Highway had been on my bucket list and the trip exceeded anything we imagined,”Michael says. “We spent time in Napa, San Francisco, Carmel and Monterey.  The entire trip was like a movie scene, everything just fell right into place.  It’s probably to our own demise, but we’ve both decided that ‘planning fun’ is an oxymoron; the best times are just lived, not choreographed.”