Well, time keeps ticking and spring is nearly here. This time of year is exciting as it brings a rush of new events and happenings all around the country and locally. The show season is about to open for many associations, the equine expos are in full swing across the country, and NLHTM is packed with horses in for training in preparation for spring and summer riding.
In February, we took a small break from training to meet up with some cross-country friends and enjoy an extended weekend vacation at an event that I find extremely fun and fascinating, the Road to the Horse (RTTH) in Murfreesboro, TN. This event is a colt starting challenge in which the clinicians have just three hours among two days to start ranch bred and virtually untouched colts before competing in an obstacle course on the last day of the competition. The event is produced by a really cool lady, and star in her own right, Tootie Bland. Tootie does an excellent job with this event by including multiple clinics by the clinicians, entertaining acts by other equestrians, shopping with multiple vendors and thrilling video, music, and commentary throughout the venue. This year, she had invited Chris Cox, Clinton Anderson and Pat Parelli to compete, an awesome line-up without a doubt!
It was a great getaway for the NLHTM team because we enjoy training so much and love to shop too! As professional trainers, for us it was like members of one NFL team, on their off week, going to watch another pro team play! It seems we can never get enough of horse training – we’re either doing it or watching it! I like this event too because it is similar to the Mustang Challenges we have entered in terms of the challenge of starting green horses. Knowing how difficult and challenging some horses can be made this event very thrilling to watch.
The high stakes for the reputations of each high profile clinician made the event all the more exciting. Chris, Clinton, and Pat put on a good show but you could definitely sense the competitive spirit among them which for me at least, made things very interesting. Having been around Clinton a time or two, I could almost read his mind sometimes throughout the competition! I saw him at one point when I was leaving the VIP room after lunch and had wished him good luck. In true Clinton style he responded, “Thanks, Mate” !
In one of Chris’s clinics he talked about the importance of horses in the lives of children, doing a demonstration with his daughter and her pony. That certainly rang true to me as I am a big believer in how horses give children a great sense of accomplishment, camaraderie, confidence, and responsibility. Brooke is a great example of how easy it is for children to be successful with horses when given the opportunity to develop their skills. Chris had interviewed me once when he was emceeing the Mustang Magic competition in which I competed in Fort Worth in 2009. It was nice to see him again and have a chance to chat about this important topic.
Chris did win the competition but to the credit of each clinician they all did an excellent job with starting the colts and in my opinion, as is often the case for many competitions, it came down to the luck of the draw.
Though we viewed this event as a weekend getaway it was also very important for us because we had a chance to network and meet up with other friends and professionals in the industry. Patty Colbert and Kali Sublet were there from the Mustang Heritage Foundation and we had a chance to have dinner with them at our hotel to reminisce of Mustang Challenges of the past. And, as it turned out there were over 30 past Mustang Challenge competitors there, too, so we all met and had our picture taken together as part of a promotion for the Mustang Heritage Foundation. This May we will be gentling Mustangs and competing in another Mustang Challenge, but this time it will be for some of our clients who are adopting the horses! We’re looking forward to that upcoming event in September at Fort Worth, TX, and at Road to the Horse, we met others that will competing there as well.
The weekend was great from many respects. But as always, we were glad to return home to Pennsylvania to do what we do best – training horses!