This girl riding the horse is in her 20's - her dad just died 24 days before this performance.
You can hear the announcer read her dedication to him just before her performance so turn up your speakers a bit. (Also Tim McGraw is singing "Live like you were dying".)
Notice that it is just her and the horse - no bit, no saddle. She just uses signals and verbal cues, she's mute. Oh yeah, this isn't even her horse. She is training it for someone else, although she obviously has a relationship with this one. It should be her horse, because she is definitely one with this animal.
If you know anything about riding horses, you will know that to stay on a horse bareback is in itself a feat, never mind how hard it is to train a horse without a bit or bridle, or to do the things that she has trained this horse to do...amazing....what a woman...
This young woman is an excellent rider. Notice that her bum never leaves the horse, even when it's running and making those sudden stops. All I can say is WOW!