This past February, Next Level Horsemanshipâ„¢ made a trip to Murfreesboro, TN to watch three well-known and well-established natural horsemanship trainers compete head to head in a colt starting challenge, with only a few hours over a two days to prepare colts to navigate an obstacle course in the final showdown of the competition.  This challenge, known as Road to the Horse, was created to bring the country’s top trainers together under one spotlight for the world to capture a piece of equine history. The show focuses on the trainers’ methods and natural abilities for training horses, and teaching people. Road to the Horse offers every horse enthusiast the opportunity to gain awareness of the horse industry’s new training methods, while also touching base on the traditional methods that have impacted horse trainers today.

This was my first trip to Road to the Horse, and I could not be more thrilled to witness Chris Cox, Clinton Anderson, and Pat Parelli battle to defend their individual training philosophies in front of their biggest critics, their fans!  As a trainer, this competition had more meaning to me than who would become the winner.  For me, it was about witnessing some of the industry’s finest trainers at work; not to mention I enjoyed watching those tough cowboys show such finesse in all of their techniques. It’s hard to say what was going through each trainer’s mind during the round pen training. It was however, clear that there was precise timing, feel and balance in their approach. Mastering those factors is crucial for the development of a horse throughout the training process.

Next Level Horsemanship™ has a broad based training program that incorporates both natural and classical training methods.  Being involved in a program that uses multidisciplinary techniques enhances our ability to meet each horse’s different needs during training.  Road to the Horse was a very inspiring competition for me personally. As I watched each trainer with their horses approach and overcome specific steps in the starting of their colts, I was able to predict their strategies for training, almost as if I were in the pen doing it myself.  This event exemplifies that there are no limits to what you can accomplish with your horse. Success in training is a matter of passion, commitment, and knowledge.  Each of the participants in this event are successful in today’s horse industry because they hold those qualities, as do we.

“Sit tall in the saddle, Hold your head up high

Keep your eyes fixed where the trail meets the sky

And live like you ain’t afraid to die

And don’t be scared, just enjoy the ride…â€