Just a few hints from Day two of the AQHA Educational Judging Seminar in Irving, Texas.

AQHA Judges Sam Rose and Bill Enk

Many people at the AQHA Educational Judging Seminar aren’t here in Irving, Texas, to become judges: They’re here to become better competitors.

It’s not a bad idea. Where better to get tips on success in the show ring than directly from the judges?

Here are a few hints from Tuesday and the judges who gave them.

Bill Enk: In working cow horse, I think about position and control, form, and degree of difficulty.

Russell McCord: In cutting, when riders receive extra credit for their cut, it’s because the rider is pushing the cow toward the judge’s stand.

Sam Rose: In roping, a zero score in the box is based on a horse doing what he’s supposed to do. He has to be still and ready.

Want to learn more? Look for more tips in the May Journal and start thinking about attending next year’s educational seminars.

Check out photos from the seminar. Click the images to read the captions.

The top-five reasons you should be at the 2010 Judging Educational Seminar in Irving, Texas.

AQHA Professional Horsemen, Charlie Cole, left, Michael Colvin and Leslie Lange were instructors at the Educational Judging Seminar in Irving, Texas.

The 2010 Judging Educational Seminar is going on right now in Irving, Texas. Here’s what you’re missing if you’re not here.

5. Learning the difference between a tick and a hit in trail.
4. Hearing western pleasure expert David Dellin, an AQHA Professional Horseman, talk about how much he enjoys western pleasure and how to find the best horse in a class.
3. Getting hints and tips from experts on how to succeed. Sample: In horsemanship, if your stirrups aren’t the right length, the judges can hardly watch your run because they’re busy watching your heels.
2. Learning how much rein to use in each class. Sample: In horsemanship, you need moderate contact with your horse.
1. And the No. 1 reason you should be here? Well, if you’ll think back to the January issue of the Journal, you’ll remember that Charlie Cole confessed an embarrassing moment from early in his showing career, when he was showing a stallion at the World Show in western riding that chose to leap the log rather than cross it gracefully. He mentioned that videos last forever, and he’s correct. If you were at the Educational Judging Seminar, you would have gotten to see that video.

When cowboys dress in drag for a good cause.

The March to the Arch charity AQHA horse show uses good fun to raise serious money for cancer research. (Journal photo)

There’s only one place in the AQHA horse show world where you’ll find cowboys dressed in drag and a live auction featuring things like “micro” piglets alongside the sobering reality of cancer.

But that’s the March to the Arch charity AQHA horse show in a nutshell.

Founded by trainer Doug Landon in 2006 and held every year since at the National Equestrian Center in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, the all-volunteer show has grown to be a big draw for top AQHA show competitors across the country.

The show has raised more than $120,000 total and has supported cancer research by the American Cancer Society and the University of Oklahoma Cancer Institute. This year’s funds go to the Children’s Hospital of St. Louis.

Why has it been so successful? “Because cancer affects everybody, it really does,” Doug told the The American Quarter Horse Journal on March 12. “We just had another lady here at the horse show; she just got diagnosed (with cancer) this week. People want to help where they can.

Check out the “ladies” western pleasure class and live auction photos from the 2010 March to the Arch. (click on each photo to see the caption).

“We tried to put even more into the show this year because it’s our fifth anniversary,” Doug added. Pink flowers, drapes and giant toys decorated every corner of the main show arena and grandstands.

“Last night, we served 100 pizzas from the Italian restaurant across the street – that’s just one of the parties the show sponsors,” he continued. “Yesterday, we had more than 1,300 entries; I think there were more than 200 in the trail and more than 90 western riders.”

Everyone associated with the show donates their time to be there, from the AQHA judges to the show management company, Mark Harrell Horse Shows. Sponsors and vendors fund exhibitors’ parties and items for the live and silent auctions.

“It was my idea,” Doug said, “but (show managers) Mark (Harrell) and David (Pardue) have been the key to its success, too. The judges have been great, the ring stewards, our sponsors; it’s a neat thing.

“We have sponsors like Rita Crundwell, she can’t ever come because she foals out so many mares, but she has been a big support. And all my customers have been a big part of the show, like Steve and Kathy Hedley. Sundowner Trailers, they’ve been with me for 5 years. And DAC products, we use them for our circuit awards. It’s hard to name them all.

“I never thought it would be like this (when we started).”

Held March 11-14, the show had stalls sold out early in February despite the economy. Doug said that some people bought stall space on eBay.

The show’s signature fund-raising event is always the Friday night of the show, featuring a live auction and the much anticipated “ladies” pleasure class. Each year, a handful of horsemen agree to dress in drag and compete in a western pleasure class calcutta.

Denny Mae Hassett (aka AQHA Professional Horseman Denny Hassett of Auburn, Kansas) had the dubious honor of winning this year’s class.

Total funds raised at this year’s show won’t be known for a few more days, but Doug is optimistic about the effort this year.

Doug is a six-year cancer survivor himself. It was the support he received from the horse community during his battle that led him to found the show.

“We can’t grow anymore,” he said with a laugh, thinking about the show’s future. “I don’t know, I just hope everybody keeps coming and supporting it and has fun. That’s the most I hope for.”

Christine Hamilton
Editor – general, rail & pattern, halter, health, breeding
American Quarter Horse Journal

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue.

Craig Cameron wins the 2010 Road to the Horse.

Craig Cameron's student figures out the obstacles all by himself.

“I always say, ‘Ride like a champion.’ Well, today I can finally say it and be it,” said trainer Craig Cameron after he was selected as the winner of the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting, Sunday, March 7, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

His third time at Road to the Horse was the charm for this Texas cowboy, who selected a scruffy palomino gelding from the Road to the Horse remuda of 10 untouched 3-year-old geldings. The geldings came off the Wood Ranch in Heber Springs, Arkansas.

By Shining King Cody, Craig’s colt is registered with AQHA as WR Shining Alamo. “He’s one I don’t think anyone else would have picked,” Craig told the crowd on Saturday.

A colt who was seemingly friendly, wasn’t so much so and ended up presenting Craig some challenges. But by the end of Saturday’s hour-and-a-half-long training session, Craig had haltered the youngster and taught him to yield his hindquarters.

Learn the proper way to use all the tools necessary to train your young horse. AQHA’s FREE How to Tie a Rope Halter report shows you the safe way to use this useful training aid.

On Sunday, Craig laid out a couple of PVC pipes and a blue tarp for the colt, who never flinched and traveled right over the obstacles as Craig had him work the perimeter of the round pen. The crowd was really wowed when Craig left the round pen for a mandatory break, and the colt went back to the obstacles and walked over them of his own accord multiple times.

But the real test – sometimes also called the deal-breaker – was the finale, a full-arena obstacle course that each clinician and their respective colt had 35 minutes to negotiate.

Craig and his shaggy charge, whom he nicknamed “Troubador,” came through the test with flying colors.

Now the colt is going to a new home, as it was announced early in Sunday’s two-hour training session that Donna Standard of Squaw Valley, California, had purchased the horse. Richard Winters and Ken McNabb, the other contestants in the 2010 Road to the Horse each purchased their colts.

WR Shining Alamo, aka Troubador, received the first-ever Traveler Award, which was given by AQHA to the horse who won the 2010 Road to the Horse. For his efforts, Craig toted home a new saddle, trophy belt buckle and a check for $10,000.

–By Becky Newell
Editor in Chief

Today, the clinicians picked their horses.

Ken McNabb builds trust with his colt.

There was a lot of “make the right thing easy, the wrong thing difficult” going on in all three round pens at the 2010 Road to the Horse today.

After the opening festivities, the 10-head remuda was brought into the Tennessee Miller Coliseum arena in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for clinicians Craig Cameron, Ken McNabb and Richard Winters to view.

Each clinician had three minutes to select his colt.

• Craig chose Hip No. 10, a smaller palomino who’s in bad need of a bath and a barber. By Shining King Cody, Craig’s colt is registered as WR Shining Alamo. “He’s one I don’t think anyone else would have picked,” Craig told the crowd.
• By Blue Diamond Hancock, Ken’s colt is Hip No. 9, a stout gray registered as WR Turning Diamonds. “He’s a good mover,” Ken said.
• Without a whole lot of hesitation, Richard declared that he was going with Hip No. 1, a sorrel named WR Shiner Flashback who is by Shining King Cody.

After three round pens were assembled in the arena, the three colts were escorted one at a time to their respective round pens. The clinicians were given one and a half hours, which included 20 minutes worth of breaks, in which to work with their colts.

All three started by asking their colts to trot or lope the perimeter of the round pen.

The “right thing easy, wrong thing difficult” philosophy is all about building trust between the trainer and the horse. The horses were asked to work – moving at a fast trot or even a lope – around the round pen until they showed interest in joining or getting closer to their respective clinician. The right, or easy, thing involved standing quietly while the clinician got closer or even touched the horse – it signaled that the horse was beginning to trust his handler. If the horse refused those advances, he was sent back to work moving around the pen.

As time ticked off the clock, the clinicians advanced in varying stages toward having halters on their colts, getting their colts to yield their hindquarters and allow their handlers to touch and rub them on the face, neck, sides and back. The building blocks of trust were starting to fall into place.

Get more horse training tips with AQHA’s Horse Training Techniques with Martin Black report. Download your copy today!

“The method (of breaking a colt) is the same every time,” Ken told the crowd. “It just depends on the horse – and the level of trust he has in you – as to how much time it takes you to move from A to B to C to D.”

But that doesn’t mean that the horse doesn’t sometimes make the handler work for that trust. For example, every time Ken’s horse faced Ken, he would shake his head up and down. So what was up with that?

“That’s a seventh-grader standing on the street corner giving you the finger. That’s what that was,” Ken said, shaking his head and laughing.

Richard was the first to have a halter on his horse, Ken was last. But Ken, who roped his horse around the neck, had the horse yielding his hindquarters just by working him from the end of that rope. Once he haltered his colt, Craig had his horse yielding his hindquarters from both sides and was able to scratch the horse along his back, neck and head.

One bit of trivia that was shared with the crowd: At past Road to the Horse events, the clinician in the lead at the end of the first day has never won the competition. Based on applause, it seemed like the crowd was split on whether it thought that the lead today belonged to Craig or Richard.

So how did the clinicians leave their horses at the end of their time on Saturday? They hope in a good place. All three said they expect they’ll find a more willing horse when they get back in the pen with them for another 2-hour training session Sunday morning.

“I’ll be able to tell right away when I walk in the pen with him in the morning,” Ken told a group gathered at his booth. “If he doesn’t want me to touch him, we’re going to go back to work, trotting around that pen.”

As mentioned previously, the remuda of 10 3-year-old geldings came off the Wood Ranch in Heber Springs, Arkansas. This is the second time the ranch has donated horses for Road to the Horse. The Wood family also has bragging rights to daughter and sister Dr. Gigi Wood Davis. At the 2009 AQHA World Championship Show, Gigi and husband Greg took home the reserve leading exhibitor trophy. Greg and Gigi show halter horses.

–  By Becky Newell
Editor in Chief

Meet the two-legged and four-legged stars of the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting.

Colts in training at Road to the Horse

Friday night, the media got to meet the human and equine stars of the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting.

None of the three trainers competing in the 2010 Road to the Horse Championship of Colt Starting – Craig Cameron, Ken McNabb and Richard Winters – are new to the event. However, Richard is the only one who has won it (2009).

So what strategies did they bring for competing in this year’s event?

The Journal talked to Ken McNabb, who says it’s hard to compete against your friends in an event like Road to the Horse.

“This is like rodeo,” he said Friday night, “you’re competing against your buddies, but you’re also helping one another.

“I told Craig and Richard I’d even pick their colts for them!” Ken said. “But they turned me down.”

Ken said that this being his second time to compete in the event, he thinks he has a better grasp of time management.

“I know the mistakes I made last time, and I’m not going to make them again,” he said. “I have more of a plan this time. The pressure really isn’t on Craig and me. We figure the pressure is on Richard because he’s the one defending a title.”

Saturday morning, Ken, Craig and Richard will draw numbers to see who gets first pick of the colts.

Get back to the reined cow horse basics with AQHA’s Vaquero Horse Training Tips report. The late Bill Van Norman gives his timeless tips for training your horse to be a winner.

Speaking of the colts, there are 10 3-year-old American Quarter Horse geldings off the Wood Ranch in Heber Springs, Arkansas, that make up the “remuda.” The colts, who trace to Shining Spark, Mito Commander, Docs Solano, Blue Diamond Hancock, Tanquery Gin and Paddys Irish Whiskey, were selected for Road to the Horse nearly a year ago.

So, will the trainers pick the flashy sorrel with the big blaze; the shaggy, but friendly palomino; the bossy bay or one of the four gray geldings? Check back tomorrow for details on the horses that Ken, Craig and Richard each pick.

– Becky Newell
AQHA Editor in Chief

Results from the National Reined Cow Horse Association open bridle world finals.

Carol Rose and Jay McLaughlin at the NRCHA world finals.

The dirt was flying and cattle were neatly handled this weekend during the National Reined Cow Horse Association world finals, and some riders were wearing purple.

On February 6, the last finals were contested, including the highly anticipated open bridle championship. The winner might – or might not – have been determined by who was wearing purple. At least that’s the story for Carol Rose, owner of Lil Miss Shiney Chex, and Jay McLaughlin, her trainer.

During the week of the finals, Jay had done well every time he wore a dark purple shirt and had drawn poor cattle every time he wore a light purple shirt with flowers on it.

So February 6, Jay showed up for the finals wearing his light purple shirt. When Carol asked about it, Jay said he hadn’t had time to get his dark purple shirt cleaned. He let superstitious Carol fret about it all morning until time came to ride “Sarah” into the pen – wearing the dark purple shirt.

“I’m superstitious, too,” he confessed later.

Either the shirt or the training paid off, because – well, look at the shirt and smiles and guess who won.

For more on the NRCHA World Finals, see the April issue of The American Quarter Horse Journal. For more on the World’s Greatest Horseman contest, stay tuned to America’s Horse Daily.

The National Reined Cow Horse Association crowns a non-pro two-rein world champion.

Amy Bailey adjusts her hat after winning the non-pro two-rein world championship at the NRCHA world finals February 5, 2010, in San Angelo, Texas.

Amy Bailey of Sparta, Tennessee, had one thought on her mind.

In the cow work, she needed to make it past the middle marker during her non-pro two-rein finals run at the National Reined Cow Horse Association world finals.

Patience had been a problem for her in the preliminaries, and she was determined to overcome that problem February 5 on SS Scat Cat.

“The other day in the prelims, I was having trouble making it past that middle marker, and today my goal was to make it past my middle marker and not get penalties,” Amy said. “The cow pulled us, and I just – and once we hit the cow, ‘Cat’ turned.”

The cow squirted out, and Amy looped her back to the fence on the blaze-faced sorrel gelding.

“Then when I went back down the fence, normally, I would have set too soon, but I waited. I went down there, and that cow was right in my leg the second time. I like it like that!”

The judges did, too, and Amy is headed back to Sparta, Tennessee, with a world championship saddle.

It won’t be the only world championship title in the family. Amy’s husband, Paul, is a former NRCHA world champion, and her daughter, Korry, was the champion in working cow horse at the 2009 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show. Read Korry’s story!

Larri Jo Starkey
AQHA managing editor of publications

Get back to the reined cow horse basics with AQHA’s Vaquero Horse Training Tips report. The late Bill Van Norman gives his timeless tips for training your horse to be a winner.

The Sun Country Circuit in Scottsdale, Arizona, is one of the biggest winter AQHA show circuits (Journal photo).

The state of the show

.It’s been fickle weather for the Arizona Quarter Horse Association’s Sun Country Circuit – a few days of odd downpours followed by days of bright sunshine. But the show has been a blast.

Mark Harrell and his crew are keeping the rings running smoothly. Circle S Ranch sponsored an Italian feast for all competitors. Longtime exhibitor Joni Hegel has covered half the cost of a daily hot lunch for everyone at the show, from exhibitors to spectators.

And like the weather, so goes the average horseman’s opinion here as to the state of our horse show industry these days. President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on January 26 certainly made fodder for thought in the minds of those showing in Scottsdale.

Sometimes it’s important to remember the obvious: People are still showing their horses and enjoying it. The crowd outside the arenas has been the same: familiar faces and new ones, old campaigners and youngsters needing schooling, retired folk and parents and kids come to watch the pretty horses.

Check out photos from the 2010 Arizona Quarter Horse Association Sun Country Circuit in Scottsdale. (click on each photo to see the caption).

When you hear the horse show folk talk, many people aren’t changing a thing in where and how they show; but some people are bringing one horse where they used to bring two. Or they are aiming for bigger shows with more points to offer the national competitor. But they are here; and there are new faces here.

Did you read Brad Ettleman’s opinion piece in the February issue of the Journal? It ran as a “Quarter’s Worth” column in the back of the book. One of the observations Brad makes from the shows his company, Horse Power Inc., managed in 2009 is that, while show entries were level, stall numbers tended to be down – an indication to him that trainers were only bringing horses that needed to show.

I was on a career panel at the 2010 American Collegiate Horseman’s Association’s convention with a veterinarian from a leading university veterinary hospital. He was asked what he’s seen different in his business in this economy, and he said that, while they are processing the same number of invoices, the number of billable items on those invoices is down.

It all points to the same simple thing – people are tightening their belts. But one thing’s equally certain – they are still enjoying and caring for their horses.

It’s a fact that tightening belts often means getting better in shape. As Brad said in his Journal article – down times are good times to rethink how you do things and make sure you don’t take anything for granted.

And this sporadic, rainy winter will sure make for a beautiful, blooming desert landscape this spring.

Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue.

Mike Major and Smart Whiskey Doc are the 2010 open versatility ranch horse world champions. (Journal photo)

Back-to-back champs.

Read the entire story and all the show coverage online, brought to you by The American Quarter Horse Journal.

Mike will be a featured clinician at QuarterFest April 30-May 10, 2010 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Check out the photos from the 2010 Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show (click on each photo to see the caption).

Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue.

It came down to a tie.

The amateur competition at the 2010 Fort Dodge AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show wrapped up on January 14.

When Colton Daniel’s gray stallion Circle Bar Pistol was called to the head of the lineup in amateur ranch horse conformation – the final amateur class at the 2010 Fort Dodge AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show – it seemed like he had the amateur title sewn up. The two had already won amateur ranch cutting and amateur working ranch horse.

But the word spread that it was a tie, and show officials – including Charlie Hemphill, AQHA senior director of shows, and Alex Ross, AQHA executive director of judges – were running the numbers. But the tie was not with Laurie Shelton of Brenham, Texas, and Areal Chic Magnet, who won both the amateur ranch riding and amateur ranch trail, but with Betty Lou Valdez of La Junta, Colorado, and Smart Tic Tack. They had placed consistently high enough in every class to earn enough credits for the title.

Check out the photos from the 2010 Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show (click on each photo to see the caption).

So it came down to the tie-breaker: According to the rules, the title goes to the winner of the working ranch horse, which was Colton. Read the entire story at the Fort Dodge Versatility World coverage home.

Be sure to catch the entire show coverage online, brought to you by The American Quarter Horse Journal. For the first time, the live show competition was broadcast via Fort Dodge Web cam.

Do you love ranch history and horses? Then Jim Jennings’ “Best Remudas” book belongs on your shelf! AQHA’s former executive director of publications and Journal editor, Jim was in Denver taking photos for the show.

Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue.

The titles are still up for grabs at the AQHA Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show.

The 2010 AQHA Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show continues. (Journal photo)

By the end of day Wednesday, January 13, at the 2010 AQHA Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show, Laurie Shelton and Areal Chic Magnet had taken a strong lead in the amateur with wins in amateur ranch trail and amateur ranch riding.

Mike Major and Smart Whiskey Doc had the lead in the open, with a win in ranch riding and a second in ranch trail. But, as any follower of this sport knows, with each class the top spot is up for grabs.

The individual class winners were:

• Amateur ranch trail: Laurie Shelton and Areal Chic Magnet
• Amateur ranch riding: Laurie Shelton and Areal Chic Magnet
• Open ranch trail: Jimbo Humphreys and Josephs Catchum All
• Open ranch riding: Mike Major and Smart Whiskey Doc
• Amateur ranch cutting: Colton Daniel and Circle Bar Pistol

Check out more photos from the 2010 Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show (click on each photo to see the caption).

The highlight of the day? Colton Daniel and Circle Bar Pistol’s performance to win the amateur cutting was definitely the biggest crowd pleaser. With open competitors Chance O’Neal and Kris Wilson helping, Colton and the big gray cut their cow, and then drove it down the pen. But two more leaked out to join the lonely critter.

With his helpers keeping back the herd, Colton sifted off the two strays and sent them on their way, then drove his cow back down the line, past the cone and into the pen. For those few minutes the crowd disappeared, and it was a show of three natural-born cattlemen at work. But when the judges whistled all done, the crowd showed its appreciation. The audience was right; it would be the winning go.

Be sure to follow the show coverage online, brought to you by The American Quarter Horse Journal. For the first time, you can watch the show live via the Fort Dodge Web cam.

Do you love ranch history and horses? Then Jim Jennings’ “Best Remudas” book belongs on your shelf! AQHA’s former executive director of publications and Journal editor, Jim is in Denver taking photos for the show.

Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue.