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 Goshen High School and played four years of varsity basketball. After graduation, he headed off to Ohio State University where he earned a bachelors degree in Education in 2002.

Two years later he married his high school sweetheart, Trisha, and in 2006 he started his own training operation out of his parents’ place outside Lakeview, Ohio. The facility includes two barns with a total of 14 stalls, two pastures, three additional turnouts, a 100-by70 indoor arena and a 150-by-200 outdoor arena, all conveniently situated on 24 acres in Logan County.

“I knew I had to try it,” Barnes explains, “and I have never turned back.”

Barnes never officially worked for another trainer but garnered knowledge from watching many and asking a lot of questions.

“I would go and ride with different trainers,” Barnes says. “some were Barrel trainers, Reining trainers and Pleasure trainers.  And when at the shows and I’m not riding I will sit and watch and ask questions.”

Barnes focuses on the training, preparation and presentation of Longe Line and Western Pleasure and futurity contenders.

Over the years he has had the opportunity to train and/or show such decorated show horses as Congress Champions Batt Man and Battabing Battaboom and Palomino Horse Breeders of America World Champions, Batt Mans Cruiser and Invest N Your Dreams.

“I trained and showed Batt Man,” Barnes explains. “He won the Limited Division of the GMC 3-Year-Old Snaffle Bit Western Pleasure Derby  at the Quarter Horse Congress in 2009.  He has his superior in Western Pleasure and was Reserve in the nation in Performance Halter.”

Battabing Battaboom, a 2011 brown mare sired by Batt Man was another favorite.

“I trained Battabing Battaboom and she went on to win the Congress Limited Open 2-Year-Old Stakes with Maggie Grandquist, and Ray Arnona rode her and was Reserve in the Open division of the 2-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure at the Congress as well.”

The 2014 PHBA World Show was a big event for Barnes.

“Batt Mans Cruiser and I won the 3-Year-Old  Western Pleasure Derby and I showed Invest N Your Dreams to a World Championship title in the Open/NSBA Longe Line,” he explains.

Barnes says his favorite part of the job is picking or raising babies and then training them.

“If they go on to be show horses even better,” he says.

When he is not training horses, Barnes likes to attend Ohio State football and basketball games and play golf.

But the thing he enjoys most is spending time with his wife and their 5-year-old son, Braden.

“We took Braden to his first Cincinnati Bengals game this year,” he says, “and took him to Detroit to watch the Buffalo Bills.”

For more information, you can contact Barnes at: 27129 Twp. Rd. 126, Lakeview, OH, 43331, You can also call him at (937) 603-2699.