We’d like to collect some stories from the people who have been loyal RTTH attendees—we want to know more about you and what makes you love the event! We’ll use this in a press release and post the best stories on our web site—so pull out your keyboard and tell us your story!
Please post a reply and tell us:
1. Your full name:
2. Where you traveled from to get to Road to the Horse:
3. What made you decide to attend from so far?
4. What made your journey unique? Did you have an exciting journey?
5. What was the best part of the event weekend for you?
6. How did you use what you learned when you got home to your own horses?
7. Have you made plans to come to the event in 2008?
Thanks so much! We’re excited to see and post your stories!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
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9 comments:
My husband, Pete, and I ordered the CD of the first RTTH. We were hooked from then on. Have been to the last three events. They just keep getting better every year. We look forward to a break in our work schedules in February and March and this is a good way to do it.
We live in Albany, Ohio and it is an 8 hour drive to Murphreesboro. Spring starts earlier in Murphreesboro and the weather has been great!
We purchased our tickets for 2008 the first day they were available. Will be staying in our truck camper on the grounds for the second year in a row too.
We have been raising and training Missouri Fox Trotting horses for over 20 years. We first learned about natural horsemanship in 1988 from John Lyons. We have been advocates ever since. We are huge fans of Stacy Westfall, Clinton Anderson and Chris Cox. We look forward to this year's event to pick up some more handy tips. Chris' "Let them soak" has proven very valuable.
Linda Clark
We are Roy and Linda Mason.
We drove from Independence, Missouri because we felt we needed to see the whole event in person to really appreciate it.
We had heard about it from a friend and when we saw it advertised on RFD in January we called and it was all sold out.
So, we got on the waiting list and got wonderful sponsor seats! It was awesome and we enjoyed every minute! We couldn't even get up to get something to eat or go the the restroom!! You can't even miss a minute! The Demos. The Flag Ceremony. The Clinics. TheTraining. Meeting the Clinicians. All the neat stuff for sale. Being able to talk to people about their products. It was worth every penny.
We loved it! Yes, we would attend again!
On the "observation, judging" side, we did not agree with the judges and it looked bias to us. We would have been fine with whoever won fairly.
Reasons: Chris' horse spooked at the crowd, banners, obstacles, everything on the "test." The horse did not want to be with him, did not respect him and was not settled. When the horse would shy, Chris acted like he planned the "turn." To us, he hide the problems. Tried to cover them up.
When we saw it on tape, it was pretty obvious. We liked, respected and had watched Chris on RFD but now we have lost respect for him after seeing the tape. I wonder how many have changed their minds about the decision after seeing the tape??
We love the DVD's but would have liked to have seen more of the One Armed Bandit especially the "training" he did on Sunday. We will probably order the DVD's next year. It is nice to have.
We came home and it put a new energy into our training. I think that was the most important thing...the new energy! The Passion! What we gained...The calmness of Stacy. The thoroughness of Clinton.
No, we won't be going in 2008 but will see who you have at 2009. Yes, it does depend on who the Clinicians are.
We did enjoy this a lot and it is definately on our minds to consider every year. We tell everybody we can about this event.
It is a valuable tool to see three different trainers working at once and it goes without saying that noone could do a better job then Rick Lamb! We think he is great!!
It was well worth the trip and thank you for putting it on and letting us give you our feed back.
Roy and Linda Mason
1. Your full name: Jody Morris
2. Where you traveled from to get to Road to the Horse: Waynesville, OH
3. What made you decide to attend from so far? This was our second year and we will be back year after year.
4. What made your journey unique? Did you have an exciting journey? Met my parents there at Road to the Horse. My Dad, 2 weeks earlier, had just been diagnosed with esophageal Cancer. Nashville was a halfway point in his journey from Florida to Cincinnati, OH for treatment. We had an awesome weekend. My Dad hung in there for both days. A little extra note, one person in our caravan broke a tire rod and the other put regular gas in his powerstroke!!
5. What was the best part of the event weekend for you? Stacy Westfall’s freestyle performance to “Live Like You Were Dying”. We were all brought to tears, as we sat there watching in silence to her amazing story unfold on horseback. This song had special meaning to all of us given my Dad’s newly found cancer. Little did we know that 5 months later my Dad would loose his life during complications from surgery to remove the cancer. We will be back in 2008 with fond memories of one of the happier times in his final days. Thank you!
6. How did you use what you learned when you got home to your own horses? We have been using ‘natural methods for 4 years” I was introduced to the method by a local trainer by the name of Helge Buflod. We host clinics at the farm to introduce this fair but firm way of building a solid and trusting relationship with the horse.
7. Have you made plans to come to the event in 2008? Absolutely, bought 12 tickets the day they came on sale.
Hello,
My name is Lauren, and I traveled from NEW YORK CITY to attend RTTH 2007. I decided to make the journey as I have enjoyed learning about and using “Natural” type Horsemanship methods with my horse, and had watched Clinton Anderson’s Clinician's Cut DVD from RTTH 2005. I also went to a Wahl Walkabout Tour in Murfreesboro in 2006 when visiting friends there. I met Rick Lamb at the event and read his book with Dr. Miller, “The Revolution in Horsemanship”, and was further inspired to join the herd at RTTH.
I surprised another horse-crazy, road trip veteran pal with the tickets, I had bought them almost a year before the event when I saw how quickly they were selling out. We planned our drive to stop in Kentucky along the way, to see Ashford Stud and Three Chimneys Thoroughbred Breeding Farms, visiting some of our horses’ relatives (we’re both Thoroughbred fans) and enjoying the beautiful horse country. I took a guilty pleasure in mentioning my horse’s pedigree at the farms, he’s one of a million other ‘track babies’ who retired early with an injury and is pretty much a backyard horse now, but it was fun to see the surprised looks of the tour guides when I casually let it drop that the multimillion dollar stallion they’d just showed us is my horse’s uncle, grandfather, etc.
We had set out Wednesday evening and drove all night, our first stop in Kentucky was for breakfast at the Track Kitchen at Keeneland Racetrack, one of the few tracks where the public is allowed to walk around the shed rows. After schmoozing with some nice regulars, we bundled up to watch morning workouts in the rain.
A highlight was definitely staying at the Inn at "Old Friends" Equine B&B, a haven for retired Thoroughbred Champions in Georgetown, KY. We woke up at dawn looking out at beautiful paddocks and ponds stretching to the horizon, and headed straight to the barn to help with morning feeding. The horses were clearly healthy, showing a lot of playful friendliness to the people who take such good care of them.
From there it was on to Tennessee!
The best part of the event was coming in early on Friday night and seeing the Remuda running free in the arena for some exercise just as the doors were opening for the early bird booth shopping. My friend had picked Clinton’s horse out of the remuda even before the event as her favorite (she has an eye for these things, she also rooted for Chris Cox as the winner). I was too overwhelmed to pick just one horse, they were all so beautiful moving together.
Being able to watch the selection process when clinicians chose their horses was very informative. That none chose the same horse and each had a slightly different goal gave an interesting bit of variety to the event, Chris wanting a reliable horse to work cattle with, Stacy wanting a curious and willing partner to establish trust and a strong communication level above all, and Clinton wanting a kind-eyed and curious “kid proof” horse with good energy that most anyone could ride.
It was an entertaining learning experience, and a rare opportunity to see three talented clinicians at once, being able to observe the differences and similarities in their methods. The obvious factor that changed what they did was the time limit, a necessary thing for an event but also interesting to see how the horses were responding to the pressure, and how the clinicians adjusted accordingly for them.
Since coming home I’m more motivated to do groundwork and have added more patience from Stacy, soakin’ time and simplicity from Chris, and some new variations of desensitization from Clinton (no guns, but my horse is no longer a stranger to swimming noodles ☺). I liked Stacy’s integrity in not pushing her horse too quickly even with the time limit. Clinton gave a good example of how desensitizing can build a good foundation to keep a horse focused on you and thinking instead of reacting to ‘scary objects’, and Chris showed a subtle method of gaining the horses’ trust quickly and with plenty of “soakin’ time”.
It is remarkable to me that many people are still somewhat resistant to the “Revolution in Horsemanship”, I wonder if that is why few major clinics happen in my immediate area of the Northeast. I hope to help change that so that more horses can benefit from better communication with humans, and humans with them.
Due in part to budgeting considerations, I have not made definite plans for 2008, but you never know.
In any event, I will still recall images from 2007 that made me smile and took my breath away: Stacy’s “Me and My Shadow” ride, Clinton as the Mystery Cowboy Mounted Shooter, and Chris walking calmly and confidently across the arena at the end of his obstacle course ride with his horse following on its own.
Thanks for bringing us all together,
L
PS: Feel free to edit the following. This part might not be taken as a reflection on the loveliness of TN, so I leave it to your discretion: We hadn’t bothered to make hotel reservations beforehand, as we'd been sure there would still be plenty of nice, reasonably priced hotel rooms available in lil' ole Murfreesboro (not)...and ended up staying in a lil’ ole crack motel down the road, run by a very nice family. Seriously. The 'lobby' reception desk was behind a wall of bulletproof plexiglas, the only sign was a piece of paper that read "Lighters $1.00 each". I joked that being a cityslicker I felt right at home. I'm sure we got the best deal in town, it was only $40.00 a night.
Fortunately, it must have been right before government checks went out that month, as it was a quiet weekend, haha. I truly mean no disrespect by that, just a colorful part of our trip that did remind me of my downtown neighborhood back home. (Not to worry, my horse lives outside the city with his herd in a nice big pasture).
1. Karen and Brian Cooper
2. Drove from Clark, Missouri
3. For our first RTTH trip (2nd year), it was the mystery of something so different for us. My husband and I were newly married, I didn't know how much he actually loved the horses, so I mentioned it and he jumped on it! We loved it so much that we have made it an annual mini-vacation, and the minute tickets go on sale, we are there!
4. Every single one of our journey's to RTTH was eventful. The first year we went, our car broke down - on Saturday NIGHT! ACK! That was also the year we thought it would be a good idea to drive home Sunday night. (We don't do that any more)
Thanks to the help of one of the site volunteers, we got a rental from Wal-Mart (who knew?) and we got a mechanic that worked on Sunday for us. Oh gosh, that was the year we had to stay in Nashville because no rooms were left in Murfreesboro. (We don't make that mistake any more either) :-) All of the other trips have been fantastic because something new and different is going on. This past year was the Friday night opening to shop. I normally don't like to shop, but I LOVE to shop for horse stuff!
5. Oh gosh, best part of the weekend? So hard to say because there was so much. Each clinician brought something special to the event (even tho this year Clinton turned it into a circus). Chris is the one who fascinated me the most with his simple and to the point ways. He was working with a young scared horse, and yes, when the horse would "turn" the wrong direction, Chris just went with it. He explains why at his clinic. I had not been around the horse training world for quite some time, and the past few years I have learned so much from all of them. And let's not forget the One Armed Bandit! Wow! What a horseman and entertainer! I sure hope he comes back!
6. I am kind of a pushover when it comes to my horses, and being assertive is something that I brought with me. I didn't say I was good at it, but it is something that I have been improving on. Ground work, ground work, ground work!
7. You bet! We got our tickets the minute they went on sale! We even picked the same seats as last year.
My husband and I were at the Extreme Mustang Makeover when Tootie made a visit! It was very generous of her to donate tickets to RTTH 2008. We did not win the VIP tickets - but the great thing is we feel like we are VIP's when we are there.
I really don't know what else to say about it except keep up the good work!
Thanks!
My name is Jill Hill and I am not a returning visitor. 2007 was my
first year. We did not have too travel far. We live about 25 South of Chattanooga, TN in Georgia. The chance to go was a gift for my husband. He saw the ad on RFD-TV. In 23 years of marriage he has never asked me for anything for his birthday. This year he asked me for tickets to Road to the Horse. His birthday is March 3 and the date was just right. He wanted to see Chris Cox. He had seen a little bit on Chris, listened to him and now wanted to see him in action. Told me he believed that Chris had a sound, solid approach to horse training that was both radical and old fashion. Body language. Boy did he get it right. Forget horse wispering. Chris "talks" to a horse with his body and the horse understands the language.As for the entire experience, fantastic!!! I have since had a chance to see Stacy Westfall again and she is something to see too. She has a practical sense of a horses mind set. Clinton, well everyone already knows he is accomplished so he puts on a good "show" for ya mate. But you have to look past the show to see that his methods are solid and to the point. Repetition, repitition, repition. Just handling a horse is training. My family has trained many colts over the years. We have not finished them for any particular event. We try to sell the colts to people who don't want to start a colt but will finish them for a particular decipline. Much of what we saw we knew about however seeing all the clinician we learned some mistakes we were making and better ways to do colt training. My husband has been putting into practice some of the methods he witnessed at the Road to the Horse competition with a colt he is currently training and having the family come to the barn and learn these new methods. It is amazing to see better results through better methods within our own program. The highlight of the entire weekend was Chris Cox winning the competition. We traveled with some other friends and upon arriving Friday evening everyone in our group was polled as to who they thought would win the competition. I wasn't too familiar with any of the clinicians so I abstained from voting. All the other said Stacy
Westfall hands down. My husband said "Oh no, Chris Cox will win." The others scoffed at him a bit. On Sunday when Chris was announced the winner my husband was nearly as proud as Chris Cox himself. And I was a bit proud for my husband too. The entire experience was awesome. A person is made to feel a part of the entire event. I believe everyone should experience Road to the Horse at least once in his or her life.
Hi from Alpena Michigan.We came to watch Stacey as she was comming all the way up to northeren Michigan to be in our expo with Ken Mcnabb! It is a long trip 13 hours but with a car load of goofs it went by fast.There were two bunches of us.Can you beleive Ken is picked for this year and we are all comming back in force.He will also be at our expo again as we realy loved him and his family.Our trip started with a race to miss a bad ice storm infact some didn't start as early and couldn't make it.When we got down there it was still a bit green and seemed like spring.We liked all of the show and the halftime break was
fantastic! We were all in agreement on the winner with his quiet assured ways.Everything is well run and friendly.We have a great expo planned with Ken and other riders and trainers up here in Alpena and would love for all to come in May and hopefully no snow. Bonnie
Vikki and Rich Fear, we flew from the UK to watch RTTH2007.Wow what an
experience!!We had bought the DVDS of the previous two and when we heard Stacy and Clinton would be back we felt we just had to see it in the flesh. So we bought the tickets, then realised that 6,000 miles is a long way to travel for a weekend, so made it into a holiday.We even got to meet the 2008 mystery competitor in Outback's!!!
Yes , we are definately coming to the 2008 we wouldn't miss it.
we come from central Wisconsin and the weather is still winter here when we go so that shortens the winter months..
This will be out 3rd year coming to the the road to the horse. It is addicting. We would travel anywhere to see the great trainers that we see at RTTH.
The best part is there are 6 of us and the whole trip is great some fly some drive but we all get there. The eating out is good too.
we have had clinics and training and showed others the things we have learned.
We had a chance to ride with Chris COX and Craig Cameron and they are truly good friends to us.
2008 Here we COME
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