Movies based on true stories usually take a lot of liberties. You know how it goes. They add a fake love interest or change the timeline to make it more "Hollywood." But the walk ride rodeo movie—officially titled Walk. Ride. Rodeo.—is a bit of a weird outlier because it stays surprisingly close to the actual dirt and grit of Amberley Snyder’s life. It hit Netflix back in 2019, and honestly, it’s still one of those films that pops up in your "recommended" feed whenever you’re feeling a bit stuck in your own head.
Amberley Snyder was a rising star in the rodeo world. She was a barrel racer with a future that looked pretty much set in stone. Then, in 2010, a truck accident changed everything. She was paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors told her the things doctors usually tell people in that situation: your life is going to look different now. They didn't necessarily mean she’d be back on a horse in eighteen months, but that's exactly what happened.
The Accident and the Real Stakes
Let's talk about the crash because the movie depicts it with a specific kind of raw intensity. It wasn't some dramatic, high-speed chase. It was a moment of human error. Amberley was looking down at a map—this was 2010, so GPS wasn't what it is now—and she unbuckled her seatbelt for just a second to adjust her position. She hit a soft shoulder, overcorrected, and was thrown from the vehicle. She hit a fence post.
That's the part that sticks with you. One tiny, mundane choice.
The film doesn't shy away from the hospital scenes, which are arguably the hardest to watch. Spencer Locke, who plays Amberley, does a decent job of capturing that specific brand of "rodeo girl" stubbornness. But what’s really cool—and something most people don't realize while watching—is that the riding stunts aren't all movie magic.
Since Amberley is paralyzed, the production needed someone who could actually ride a horse the way a paralyzed barrel racer does. So, they hired Amberley herself to do the post-accident riding stunts. Her sister, Autumn, did the pre-accident stunts. It gives the walk ride rodeo movie a level of physical authenticity that you just don't get in your standard inspirational biopic.
Why the Barrel Racing Scenes Feel Different
If you've ever been to a rodeo, you know it’s loud, smelly, and incredibly fast. Barrel racing is a sport of inches. If your turn is too wide, you lose. If you hit the barrel, you’re penalized. Now, imagine doing that without being able to use your legs to grip the horse or signal for speed.
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Amberley had to re-learn how to communicate with her horse, Power, using her hands and her voice. She uses a seatbelt on her saddle. Yeah, a literal seatbelt. Some people in the equestrian world were skeptical about it at first—mostly because of the safety risks of being strapped to a 1,200-pound animal if it falls—but for Amberley, it was the only way to stay centered.
The movie focuses heavily on this "balance" struggle. It’s not just about the legs; it’s about the core. It’s about the fear of falling off in front of a crowd that already feels sorry for you. Amberley has been very vocal in interviews about how much she hated the "pity" aspect of her return to the circuit. She didn't want to be the "paralyzed girl who rides." She wanted to be the girl who wins.
The Support System (And the Friction)
Missi Pyle plays Amberley’s mom, Tina, and she brings this frantic, protective energy that feels very real. It’s that classic tension: a parent who wants their child to be safe versus a child who only feels alive when they’re doing the thing that might kill them.
The film portrays the family dynamic without making it too sugary. There are moments of genuine frustration. Recovering from a spinal cord injury isn't just a montage of lifting weights and smiling. It's pressure sores. It's infections. It's the reality of a body that doesn't follow instructions anymore. The walk ride rodeo movie touches on these medical hurdles, though, being a PG-rated Netflix film, it definitely softens the edges of the more grueling physical therapy realities.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Timeline
The movie condenses things. That's just how cinema works. In the film, it feels like she’s back on the horse almost immediately. In reality, the mental hurdle was just as big as the physical one.
- The accident happened in January 2010.
- She was back in the saddle by April, but it wasn't "rodeo" riding. It was just sitting there, trying to feel the movement.
- It took a long time to figure out the saddle modifications. It wasn't a "eureka" moment; it was trial and error with straps, rubber bands, and velcro.
- She eventually competed at The American, which is one of the richest one-day rodeos in the world. This is the climax of the movie, and it actually happened in 2015.
That five-year gap is where the real work happened. The movie makes it look like a sprint, but for Amberley, it was a half-decade marathon of proving she belonged in the arena.
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The Impact on the Rodeo Community
Before this movie, barrel racing was a niche sport for most of the general public. Walk. Ride. Rodeo. brought it to a mainstream audience, but more importantly, it changed how the rodeo world viewed adaptive athletes.
Amberley became a bridge. She started giving motivational speeches, sure, but she also stayed a competitor. That distinction matters. If she had just become a speaker, the story would have been different. By continuing to compete against able-bodied riders, she forced the industry to look at accessibility in the dirt.
Honestly, the film is kind of a "vibe" movie. You don't watch it for complex cinematography or Oscar-winning dialogue. You watch it because you want to see someone get told "no" and then do it anyway. It’s a specific genre of American storytelling that leans hard into the "bootstrap" mentality, but because it’s backed by Amberley’s actual life, it feels less like a cliché and more like a blueprint.
The Role of the Horse
We can't talk about this movie without talking about Power. In the film, the bond between the rider and the horse is portrayed as almost psychic. In the real world, horses are incredibly sensitive to their rider's weight and balance. When Amberley lost the use of her legs, her horses had to learn a completely new language.
Power, her main horse, had to adjust to the "seatbelt" and the fact that his rider’s weight didn't shift the way it used to during a turn. There’s a scene in the movie where she almost gives up because she feels she’s "ruining" the horse. That’s a sentiment Amberley has expressed in real life. It’s the guilt of wondering if you’re asking too much of an animal because of your own desires.
Technical Details: How They Filmed the Riding
For the nerds who care about how movies are actually made, the production had to get creative. They used a "buck" (a mechanical horse) for some close-ups, but for the actual barrel patterns, they really needed that dirt-flying, tight-turning realism.
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Having Amberley do her own stunts wasn't just a marketing gimmick. It was a necessity. No able-bodied stunt double could perfectly replicate the way a paralyzed rider moves in the saddle. The way her upper body absorbs the shock while her lower body remains still is unique. If you watch the riding scenes closely, you can see the difference between the "pre-accident" shots and the "post-accident" ones. The center of gravity is totally different.
Where is Amberley Snyder Now?
The movie ends on a high note, but the story didn't stop in 2019. Amberley is still competing. She’s still traveling the country with her horses. She’s turned her experience into a platform for advocacy, but if you ask her, she’s a cowgirl first.
She’s also faced further health complications—something the movie doesn't get to see. Life with a spinal cord injury is an ongoing battle with the body. She’s dealt with surgeries and setbacks that would make most people retire to a couch, yet she’s still out there.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Fans and Riders
If you've watched the movie and felt inspired, or if you’re a rider looking to understand the mechanics of what Amberley did, here are a few ways to engage further:
- Check out Amberley’s "Wheelchair Wednesday" videos. She’s been posting these on social media for years. They show the day-to-day reality of life in a chair, from how she gets gas to how she tacks up her horse alone. It’s the "missing footage" from the movie.
- Look into the Amberley Snyder Freedom Foundation. This is her actual nonprofit that provides scholarships and support for riders with disabilities. It’s a great way to see how the movie’s success turned into real-world help.
- Watch the "making of" clips. If you can find the behind-the-scenes footage of Amberley on set, it’s fascinating to see her coaching Spencer Locke on how to sit and move.
- Don't ignore the safety message. Amberley is the first to tell you: buckle your seatbelt. The entire trajectory of her life changed in the three seconds she had it off. It’s the most boring but vital lesson of the film.
The walk ride rodeo movie isn't going to win any "Best Picture" awards for its script, but that’s not really the point. It’s a document of a woman who refused to let a fence post be the end of her story. Whether you’re into horses or not, that’s a hard narrative to ignore.
Next time you see it on your streaming list, watch it with the knowledge that the girl on the horse in the final scenes isn't an actress—it's the woman who actually lived it, strapped into the saddle and chasing the clock.