Veltri assessing a horse’s range of motion. Stretching before a big show or a hard training session is very important to keep muscles flexible, strong and healthy. Many horse owners already stretch their horse’s neck side to side with treats before a ride, but did you know there are more stretches you
Clark and Lillys Vaquero From showing paint horses as a kid in Kansas to starting colts and fixing rope horses in Colorado, Clark Weaver has been a life long student of the horse. He graduated from Colorado State University with an equine science degree. Weaver then moved to Amarillo, TX selling ads
Total Earnings: $758,980 Shawn Hays worked for JD Yates, a team roper, where he met his wife Tammy. She was interested in reined cow horses and introduced Hays to the sport. Everyone started sending him cow horses after Tammy was doing so well in the non-pro. Hays then got more involved in the cow
Shane Steffen working buffalo out of a herd Is the expense and difficulty of sourcing cattle getting to be too much for you? Some reined cow horse trainers are branching out and working buffalo instead. Shane Steffen, 2021 World’s Greatest Horseman Champion based in Powell Butte, Oregon, started using buffalo out of
Amy and ASmidgeMoreDiamond Photo Credit: Stacy Judd Amy Ost rode jumping horses for years and was introduced to reined cow horses when she was in college. The people, culture and the event in general inspired her to make the switch. Although her jumper background has been helpful as
Total Earnings: $870,811 Ranching has been a way of life for Clayton Edsall and it is something he infuses into his performance horse program. He grew up in Montana and was interested in starting colts and ranch roping. He was around legendary horsemen like Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Joe Walter,
Legacy of Ranching Teaching Day While the pandemic saw schools shut down the world over, the challenge for educators who teach an equine curriculum with a largely hands-on practical- based component has been particularly tricky. But instead of going the usual route of books and zoom classes, some
Paul Bonnello has been training for the public off and on for 10 years. He has a history degree from Chico State and he even attended a farrier school. He started colts in college and worked on ranches where it was necessary to shoe your own horse. He still shoes
Total Earnings: $1,102,409 After watching the World’s Greatest Horseman in Stephenville, TX as a kid, Kelby Phillips learned what the reined cow horse discipline was all about. He showed in the ranch horse classes as a high schooler and wanted to explore the sport so he went to work for
Russel Dilday giving a boxing clinic You could say going down the fence in reined cow horses is the hero event of the sport. Like bull riding at a rodeo, it’s what the crowd most wants to see. But chasing down a cow at breakneck speed and turning
Photo By Nancy Loudon Photography Maria Bendixen started out reining and soon moved onto reined cow horse and ranch versatility. She went to a clinic with a reined cow horse trainer and she was hooked. She has been involved in the industry for the past 10 years, becoming a trainer herself six years ago.
Total Earnings: $773,339 Sarah Dawson’s father, renowned horseman Richard Winters, piqued her interest in showing reined cow horses competitively. She went to shows with him and started competing in the youth as a high schooler. Later, she worked for Sandy Collier who was the first woman to win the Snaffle Bit
