Road to the Horse 2008

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

March 1, 2008, 8:00 a.m. CST

"Mystery Contestant" is Trainer Mike Kevil

	To hear audio interviews with each of the trainers, click above.

When producer Tootie Bland went looking for a fourth contestant to round out the 2008 Road to the Horse, she didn't need to look any further than her pool of loyal judges. Like most years, when the 2007 event wound down she started signing them on for next year.

According to Mike Kevil in an exclusive American Cowboy interview, she asked him if he'd ever considered competing himself. You can hear it in his own words, but long story short, after Bland talked him around every one of his possible objections, he couldn't do much else but agree.

"Mystery Contestant," Mike Kevil

It makes perfect sense; he's been training horses for over 35 years and wrote the book, "Starting Colts: Catching/Sacking Out/First Ride/First 30 Days/Loading." He's in the round pen at home, day in and day out, but it still took Bland a bit of talking to bring him around.

In the end, his reason for opting in was simple; he knew he'd have fun. Listen to the interview and you'll hear he sounds as excited as a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Rather than scrutinizing as a judge while one side of his brain is thinking about how he'd be doing things if he were the contestant, he gets to show us all.

You can click here to read more about Kevil, and click on his photo or the RTTH logo to go to the page with all the interviews and videos.

	Rick Lamb, left, host of The Horse Show on RFD TV and rodeo cowboy legend Larry Mahan, right, co-host this year's Road to the Horse. Click the photo to go to their video interview.

Watch a video of rodeo legend Larry Mahan and RFD TV and radio personality Rick Lamb as the co-hosts discuss what the Road to the Horse has to offer.

Check back later today to hear a little bit about the remuda in an interview with head wrangler Thomas Saunders. And hear what 2007 RTTH Champion Stacy Westfall has to say about how the Road to the Horse affects the horses.

And tonight look for a recap of what happened in the first round pen session.

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.

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February 27, 2008, 4:00 p.m. - What to Expect

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