Luke grew up in the small farm town of Allerton, IA. He’s always been a country boy, but he got really interested in horses around the age of twelve. He had always helped his dad, Jim, with the farm’s cow/calf operation so it just seemed natural that Luke would continue in that kind of  work.

Throughout high school Luke was a member of the Iowa State High School Rodeo Assn. He competed in cutting, calf roping and team roping. This enabled him to go to nationals all four years. From all of his success, people would gather that he had the best horses and a great trainer. The secret? Luke trained and broke all of his own horses. Then his junior year, he began training outside horses for other people.

Luke went onto to North Eastern Oklahoma Community College in Miami, OK for a year on a rodeo scholarship. He then transferred to Missouri Valley College in Marshall, MO to continue his education and rodeo. It was there he met Erin. After graduating in 2001, he moved back to Allerton and started training full time.

        Luke and Erin built the barn, which is now Trails End Arena, in the winter of 2001. Luke has trained numerous AQHA World Qualifiers in working cowhorse, reining, heading, heeling and calf roping. In 2007 he won the APHA World Championship in Jr. calf roping. He won the NCRCHA Open Futurity in 2008. Luke qualified for the Open finals at the Snaffle Bit Futurity in 2010.  He was the SRCHA Intermediate Open Futurity Champion, SDRCHA Open Futurity champion and NCRCHA Open Futurity and Derby in 2011.  He won the Intermediate AQHA World Championship in Jr Cow Horse, 6th and 11 in Jr Working Cow Horse, 9th in Sr Heading, and a finalist in Jr. Calf Roping.

        Erin grew up on a farm in southwest Missouri, in Mt. Vernon. She’s always gotten great joy out of riding and was blessed enough to have horses in her life. She was involved in AYRA and MJRC throughout middle school and then competed in the Missouri State High School Rodeo Assn where she was a barrel racer. She was the Missouri state barrel racing champion her sophomore and junior year, and then placed third her senior year, after her horse was hurt. She competed at nationals all of those years and went onto Missouri Valley on a rodeo scholarship.

She thoroughly enjoyed the college rodeo atmosphere, but decided to transfer after Luke graduated, to be closer to him. She moved to Iowa in the summer of 2001 and hasn’t ever wanted to leave, except maybe during those long winter months! She got her degree from Graceland University in teaching in the spring of 2004.

        Though Erin has her degree, she hasn’t pursued teaching as a full time occupation. She has substituted and is home schooling the boys, but her real pleasure lies in being a Mom and helping Luke at the barn. She still has her love for horses, and gives lessons to children in their community. But most of her time is spent chasing after their three sons, Will 14, Cort 11, and Lane 8. This in itself is a full time job, where she is on the go at all times.