Even though Saturday morning was cold, the competition was hot at the Natural Horse Vet Natural Horsemanship Trainer's Challenge held at Stoner Ridge Farm. Clinton Jones, Tim Scarberry, and Chris Tipton were all charged with the task of starting three Merry Go Blue two year old geldings. The challenging part, was that they only had a total of three hours to start their horse and build enough foundation that would allow their horse to be ridden successfully through a trail obstacle course. It was amazing what all three trainers were able to accomplish! When time was up, it was unbelievable what these horses could do. The trainers had to ride their horse at a walk, intermediate gait, and canter, pick up all four feet, back, weave through cones, walk over ground poles, step over an elevated pole, and drag a bag. For additional points their horse had to push a 6' ball out of a circle. An additional element was the free style where trainers choose skills to show what their horse had learned. Chris played polo with Rainy Day Blues while Tim Scarberry had Singing the Blues up on a six foot wooden box - then he turned a leaf-blower on his new equine friend with no resistance. Clinton Jones, however, had the most extensive free style. He began with a spray bottle and moved on to cracking a whip while standing on his horse's back. He also used a chain saw (with the chain removed) to demonstrate his horse's trust. Finally, he rode Maximum Blue bareback with an 8' x 10' tarp spread over him - he rode with only one lead rope as a rein. Wow! It was too cool. We really appreciate the great turn out and all our sponsors! Yee Haw - if you weren't here you really missed out on a great opportunity to learn about different colt starting styles and seeing these excellent trainers in action. The point spread was within 14 out of about 700 points possible. The guys were totally awesome! Be sure to check out the newsletter that will be posted on the web site on April 1st for additional photos and more detail about this great competition.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Road to the Horse 2009
Our congratulations to Richard Winters for winning the Road to the Horse competition in Franklin, TN today! He did an oustanding job working his horse in the round pen yesterday and continued what he started today. He had the right combination of sensitivity and control that helped his horse learn. The trail obstacle part of the program was the most challenging we've seen. Horses had to walk, trot, canter, back, turn a 180, and the riders had to mount and dismount. Then they had to go through the obstacles which included serpentines, spiraling raised poles, regular ground poles, elevated poles, lasso, drag, jump, and the patience box (horses had to stand calmly as long as possible). Finally, there was an optional obstacle where the horse had to approach a cage of live chickens. All the competitors, Richard Winters, John Lyons, and Tommy Garland did a fantastic job with their quarter horses. We had a blast!
Be sure to make room in your calender - next Saturday, March 21st, Stoner Ridge Farm will be hosting the Natural Horse Vet (R) Natural Horsemanship Trainer's Challenge. Three Merry Go Blue geldings will be started in round pens by trainers Chris Tipton, Tim Scarberry, and Clinton Jones. Our judges will be Laurie Quincey, Charlie DeAtley, and Erin DeAtley. We are excited about the competition. It is an opportunity to see Mountain Horse training at it's best!
Be sure to make room in your calender - next Saturday, March 21st, Stoner Ridge Farm will be hosting the Natural Horse Vet (R) Natural Horsemanship Trainer's Challenge. Three Merry Go Blue geldings will be started in round pens by trainers Chris Tipton, Tim Scarberry, and Clinton Jones. Our judges will be Laurie Quincey, Charlie DeAtley, and Erin DeAtley. We are excited about the competition. It is an opportunity to see Mountain Horse training at it's best!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Lot of Learnin' Going on

Sunday, March 8, 2009
We Have 3 Extra Road to the Horse Tickets

Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)