Road to the Horse 2008

American Cowboy Magazine's Exclusive Online Coverage
by Lisa Rohner Schafer

March 1, 2008, 11:30 p.m. CST

Day One

	Click the logo to get to the interviews and videos page.

At the end of day one and a little over an hour of round pen training, the four 2008 Road to the Horse colts are off to good starts. It's what everyone comes to see — the highlight of a day full of non-stop entertainment.

But before the work gets underway, the running of the remuda sets the tone for the weekend. There's nothing like seeing those horses charge around the arena and eventually settle down to be looked over by the clinicians. There's a video clip on the interviews page, but for a real clear picture you'll have to wait for the Road to the Horse DVD to com out following the event. .

Many of the horse enthusiasts in the stands come in support of one or another of the trainers. It's always an eye-opener, then, when the clinicians do their demonstrations prior to the colt starting. The clinicians get a chance to show those who are unfamiliar with them, exactly what they can do on one of their trained horses.

Unfortunately, during the morning demos, I was fighting with my computer, so although I can report what happened based on interviews, I'd rather stick to what I saw. That leaves the short demos the trainers did as a part of the opening ceremonies. Although they were only a few minutes each, I know I saw plenty to let me know we have four extremely talented horseman here this year.

Tommy Garland rode Masquerade, a magnificent Arabian stallion. You can see why he's got numerous world championships under his belt when you see him ride this statuesque gray. Ken McNabb jumped his horse through a u-shaped obstacle of flames. Talk about trust. Mike Kevil, who has been catching a ribbing for being the oldest contestant, finished his demo by doing a shoulder stand on his horse while the horse stood with all four feet on an inverted washtub. (Try that, youngsters.) Chris Cox did a bridle-less routine of flying lead changes, stops, backing and spins.

After a series of acts that included the Cowgirl Chicks doing some high-speed fancy riding patterns, the Tennessee Mounted Sheriff Department, a demonstration of a few of the mustangs from this year's Extreme Mustang Challenge, the round pens finally went up. Once in the round pens, it didn't take long for some differences in training styles to emerge. Kevil, McNabb and Cox started similarly by driving their colts around the pens and getting them to join up. Garland approached his horse directly. He was slow and deliberate as he initiated contact without having achieved join up.

It's always hard to tell how much is the horse and how much is the training technique when it comes to the progress made. It's tempting to see the competition as a race, which I had to remind the lady standing next to me, it is not. (Her blond hair was doing her thinking.) Still, it's interesting to watch the pace with which progress appears to be made. Today especially, because Cox and Garland were virtually tied with a couple of key milestones. They both had their halters on at the same time and both were lying bareback on their colts at the 35-minute mark.

Once the halters were on, Cox worked on getting control by moving the horse's hind end around, getting the horse to face him. Garland used a halter that puts more pressure across the top of the nose, rather than the poll, and controlled his colt by pulling on the head — quite a different method than I'm used to seeing at this event. An hour and ten minutes into the session, Cox was mounting and dismounting his saddled horse. Garland was right there with him, using that head control to keep his horse bent toward him as he mounted.

Cox was first the get his horse cantering around the pen in both directions and again, Garland was close on his heels. Both their horses kicked out to the side a bit, but I didn't see any real bucking.

Kevil and McNabb both ended up roping their colts to get that first contact. They both appeared to have gotten their horses to join up, but McNabb's colt was especially shy around the head and it took the rope to allow eventual contact. While McNabb progressed to some desensitizing with his rope and blanket, Kevil worked on lateral flexion, bending his horse's nose to either side as he stood with one arm across the back.

I got interviews with Mike Kevil and Tommy Garland after the session. You can click on the photo to see what they had to say.

As I said earlier, this isn't a race. The eventual winner will be the person who shows the greatest display of horsemanship.

Two year's ago when Stacy Westfall won, she was the last to lay a hand on her horse. Same thing the two years Clinton Anderson won, and last year Cox was the last to get his horse to join up. At this point there's no telling what today holds in store, except for more great horsemanship.

HorseCity.com is doing a live Internet stream beginning at 2:45 p.m. CST.

Click here and you'll find all the information you'll need.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES:

March 1, 2008, 8:00 a.m. CST
February 27, 2008, 4:00 p.m. - What to Expect

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