It is not at all unusual for Shelly Boyle to return to the stalls at a show to fetch her partner, Put Your Spurs On, for a class only to find the 2006 brown gelding, sired by Potential Investment out of All In Chocolate, sprawled out taking a nap. “He frequently lies down at horse […]
The new year brought about some big changes for 17-year-old Cydney Benes, of Boca Raton, Florida. After sharing a partnership with the AQHA mare Rockin Raisinette for almost all of her show career, her family decided to retire the 2003 bay mare by Rocked And Steady out of Zippos Golden Raisin. This year Cydney, the daughter […]
After taking 27 years away from the horse industry, Massachusetts native Janae Walker Bronson is back in the pen with her new show partner The Roan Bone. Growing up in Indiana, Bronson was just eight when she won her first walk-trot class aboard her pony named Poco. From then on she was hooked. At 15 […]
To Ohio trainer Brian Cox, Western Pleasure is an ever-evolving discipline, especially when you are talking about futurity horses. “I believe in a solid foundation,” he explains. “If you do your job correctly in the beginning your job will be easier in the long run.” Cox says the first 90 days in a horse’s training […]
When she’s not soaring over a jump on her hunter-jumper gelding, Golden Opportunity, or to the top of a Horsemanship class with her All-Around partner, Chex Is The Choice, Natalia DeVencenty is likely still flying high, in a plane at Travelaire, her family’s private air-ambulance service in Pueblo, Colorado. “Because airplanes are a part of […]
As the proud owner of AQHA stallion Hot N Blazing, breeding is the cornerstone of Courtney Battison’s horse program. From her 180-acre ranch in Purcell, Oklahoma Battison has developed one of the top Hunter Under Saddle breeding operations in the country. Each year she breeds about 10 of her own mares to the AQHA World […]
Showing horses is a family affair for the Flowers family of Ocala, Florida. Both Makayla, 18, and 14-year-old brother, Ryan, show under the guidance of Kim and Curtis Reynolds of Final Four Performance Horses, in Fairfield, Florida. The family has lived all over the country from the Northeast to the Midwest before finally putting down […]
Jackson, Tennessee veterinarian Brenda Looney and her husband, Lee, made an important decision a while back. “We didn’t want to look back on our lives when we are older and say ‘what if…,’” she explains. “He’s been the biggest influence in my horse show career because he pushes me to achieve what I had previously […]
For Colorado based trainer Kelly McDowall the best part about being a horse trainer is finding a horse that best fits the rider. One of the most important things to him is to surround himself with great horses. “A horse trainer can make a bad horse great, but a horse trainer can also make a […]
It took a long while for 17-year-old Emma Edwards of Issaquah, Washington, to get over the unexpected death of her beloved show partner, Its Only Natural, last June. The 1996 chestnut gelding by Play Rush and out of Par Zans Keno played an important role in her life – both in the arena and outside […]
Amateur competitor Cheryl Mullikin took 25 years off from showing. But when she returned to the show pen in 2007 she did it with a vengence. As a youngster growing up in Ohio, Mullikin showed 4-H and local Open Show Circuits. When she got married she sold her horse and 25 years went by before […]
Trevor Barnes says he’s been training horses owned by his parents, Rick and Debra Barnes, since he was 16 years old. Since his mother has owned horses all her life, it seemed natural that he share her passion. Barnes was born in Lima, Ohio and grew up in nearby Waynesfield. He went to school there at Waynesfield […]