Road to the horse

Road to the Horse, (produced by Ride the Remuda Productions and owner/producer Tootie Bland), is the first documented competition where horse trainers compete to show their training skills.

Similar to "horse whispering", trainers use natural horsemanship techniques to "gentle" horses in one weekend. Horses selected for the annual competition are gathered from a ranch chosen for it's excellence in breeding quality horses. Before the competition, the horses do not have previous training experience, other than being halter-broke and sharing a common history of minimal handling for medical and management purposes. On the second day, trainers step into the saddle and demonstrate what they've taught their horses in an obstacle course challenge. A few challenges included in the course are getting the horses to cross over a tarp, go over a jump, pull a log, accept a rope swung overhead, and weave poles, to name a few.

During the event weekend, clinicians work with their horses in round pens for a limited time. Clinicians compete annually for the Charity Challenge in which the money won is presented to the charity of the winner's choice. The event is judged by 5 notable horsemen and participants are scored on their training, handling and final ride.

Event History

2002

The innaugural event took place in Ft. Worth, Texas and was originally named "In a Whisper Challenge". The competitors included Craig Cameron, Pat Parelli and event winner Josh Lyons.

2003

The event's name changed to "El Camino Del Caballo" which translates to "Road to the Horse". Also held in Ft. Worth, the 2003 competitors included Clinton Anderson, Curt Pate and Josh Lyons, in which Clinton Anderson was named champion.

2005

Moving to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Road to the Horse had two returning competitors, Craig Cameron and Clinton Anderson and competition newcomer Van Hargis. Anderson won the competition again, for two consecutive wins.

2006

This year brought a female competitor, Stacey Westfall, into the mix. She competed against Martin Black and Craig Cameron for the title of 2006 Road to the Horse champion.

2007

Returning champions Clinton Anderson and Stacey Westfall competed against event newcomer Chris Cox. Defeating both past champions, Cox won the 2007 competition.

2008

Defending his title as Road to the Horse champion, Chris Cox returned for the 2008 Road to the Horse competition. Going up against Tommy Garland, Ken McNabb and former event judge, Mike Kevil, Chris won his second consecutive championship.

2009

The event will be held on March 14 & 15 and the competition has been moved to Franklin, Tennessee. The 2009 competitors will include John Lyons, Tommy Garland, and Richard Winters.

External links

[http://www.roadtothehorse.com Road to the Horse]