More equine Guests
Avatar’s Jazzman, a Morgan pony that has been champion or reserve at the highest levels of dressage, as well as the high-score Morgan multiple times at the FEI National Dressage Pony Cup. He has also done eventing, fox hunting, trail riding, and hunter paces with rider Lauren Chumley.
MP Meter My Hay, aka “Stingray,” has carried her rider Sherry Cervi into barrel racing history as the first cowgirl to bring in over $2 million in earnings. This American Quarter Horse won the world championship title in 2010 and 2013, while setting records.
Lil’ Ricky Rocker, a 1992 leopard Appaloosa, is a reserve world champion in junior reining. Owned by Ron and Donna Georgyi, he has several national and world championships in Appaloosa Heritage, where Ron and Ricky show in 1850-70s Plains Native American costume.
Sir Rugged Chex, bred and trained by Mark Bolender of the International Mountain Trail Challenge Association, is a Rugged Lark grandson and the first horse depicting the sport of mountain trail to be made into a Breyer model.
More models and guests will be announced.
Davidson Jr., Reggie is the United States Eventing Association’s (USEA) highest-scoring horse of all time! He represented the U.S. at the 2010 and 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky and France, and was the USEA Horse of the Year for 2011. Reggie was named “Best Conditioned
Horse” at the Rolex Kentucky ThreeDay Event in 2014, meaning he was deemed the fittest horse there.
Two ponies that compete in combined driving events with owner Mary Phelps of Columbia, Ky., are representing the Shetland and Welsh breeds. This pair truly showcases how athletic these small equines can be. Bugsy Maloney, a classic American Shetland, and Tony Da Pony, a Shetland/Welsh cross, have also become famous for their notorious “gangster” names, as well as their skill around obstacles.
You couldn’t have a Celtic equine event without a Gypsy Vanner! FaughA-Ballagh, affectionately known as “Cheesecake,” is a silver cremello tobiano Gypsy stallion at WillowWind Stable in Charlotte, Mich., and the only one to be rated a 5-star stallion by the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society (GVHS). A star rating is given to horses that attain qualifying scores in conformation and movement. In 2018, Cheesecake was a reserve champion in the United States Dressage Federation All Breeds Awards program.
Another store special is Benelli, a blue roan Clydesdale gelding owned by Cheryl and Tony Hawkes of Hawkes Ranch in southwest Missouri. Although this Scottish breed is typically bay or brown, Cheryl and Tony have a team of beautiful black or blue roans.
Freestylers of Piping will entertain with bagpipe music. Bluegrass Ceili Academy will awe with Irish traditional dancing. Highland games demonstrations will leave you mesmerized. The Tempel Lipizzans from Illinois will dazzle with classical dressage displays. And the Knights of Valour will give you a taste of history.
The Equus Film and Arts Fest is still being hosted on Sunday, like usual. All other virtual workshops and seminars will be announced soon, as will more information on the live auction and contests, including best custom model and the everpopular diorama.
Every student’s reaction to having to take a course on a boring subject is: Why do I have to learn this? When will I ever need this knowledge in my life or career? There’s a little truth to that. I haven’t used trigonometry since high school. And you may feel certain that a career as a horse trainer is your destiny, and so all that classroom learning is pretty much a waste of time. Before you ditch the books, whoa for a second. Some aspiring trainers learn the hard way that horsemanship skills alone aren’t enough to make a successful business. Because that’s what most horse trainers actually are—small-business owners—and it takes a lot more than equine know-how to be able to run a successful training business.
Recognizing that an equestrian career requires a broad skill set, some equine organizations offer continuing education to fledgling pros. We sat in on one such event, called the Young Rider Graduate Program, run by the U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) and U.S.
Equestrian.
Here’s an overview of the kinds of things you’ll need to learn if you’re serious about making a living as a horse trainer.
Marketing is a must. Develop a niche within the industry—what Florida-based equine marketer Johnny Robb calls your unique selling proposition, or USP: “Are you good at teaching kids? Do you have the skills to retrain difficult horses or to bring young horses along?”