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 his own horses as well as his client’s younger horses, giving him a great side business.
After working for a big ranch in Oregon, he moved to California to work for Monty Roberts. He was around people in the cow horse world and it rubbed off on him. He then got to ride on a bridle horse and started showing and learning more about competing.
Bonnello’s greatest moment in the sport was the first time he marked a 74 down the fence. “It made me feel like I could keep going,” he said.
His favorite thing about the sport of reined cow horse is that there is no monotony to it. “Every couple days you switch to another event and you don’t get too drained.”
Why Paul uses RCHTO:
“When I watch the video, I don’t always learn new things, but for me reaffirmation is really important. So if I just hear other people continue to do the same things that I know are right and work, that helps me stay on the straight and narrow and not get too far away from things that have helped me be successful in the past.”