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2024 Trainers Showdown - Legends Edition

The Trainers Showdown – Legends Edition at Horse Expo Canada is a distinguished event uniting renowned equestrian trainers. This exclusive edition honors legendary figures in horse training, celebrated for their outstanding achievements and enduring contributions to the equestrian community. During the event, these experts will engage the audience by demonstrating their distinctive training methods, notably by working with an unbroken Rocking Heart Ranch colt throughout three captivating days. It is a must-attend experience for horse enthusiasts, offering a unique opportunity to gain knowledge from these esteemed trainers who have left an indelible mark on the equestrian world.

Meet the Legends

Glenn Stewart
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Glenn Stewart

Winner - Trainers Showdown
Winner - People Choice Award

Glenn Stewart is and International Horsemanship Clinician who has been working with horses and their owners for over 40 years.  Glenn has personally started over 3000 horses throughout his career giving them the proper foundation to help ensure their success.

He travels extensively each year delivering his horsemanship clinics across Canada, United States, South America, and Europe.  Glenn leads camps, horse development and front row seating at his home, The Horse Ranch in Fort St John, BC.   He has developed his own complete Horsemanship Program that is studied by thousands of students globally.

Glenn offers online learning through his Academy where he shares in detail his blueprint for success with horses.  The Academy gives students the exact program he uses with all the horses he develops – from starting colts to multimillion-dollar FEI competition horses.

He also offers a Professional Pathway for people interested in making a career out of horses.

Some Awards include:

  • 2020 Champion Heart of the Horse Colt Starting Competition, Alberta, Canada
  • 2019 Champion Heart of the Horse Colt Starting Competition, Alberta, Canada
  • 2012 Canadian Representative World Championship Colt Starting, Tennessee USA
  • 2010 Champion Cowboy Up Challenge, Calgary Stampede, Alberta, Canada
  • Nominated for Western Horseman of the Year

Here are a few words from Glenn:

“Horsemanship is the way the humans interact with horses.  It is natural because it makes common sense and considers the horse’s point of view.  Regardless of the dream or discipline if you truly understand what is important to them and care what is important to them, the ability to read each as an individual and know the why, then the how of responding, the possibilities for what horse and human can achieve is endless.”

Pat Parelli
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Pat Parelli

In 1982, Pat Parelli began creating a natural horsemanship program to improve the relationship
between humans and horses. Pat promoted the concept of love, language, and leadership. Pat’s desire to spread this knowledge to the world rose up in him after watching his mentors, Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt, work with horses.

In 1984, Pat began teaching clinics, and in 1991, he coined the term Natural Horsemanship. Natural Horsemanship has become a viable and important aspect of the international horse industry, and continues to expand and influence the way in which horses are trained. Pat provides amazing talent for both training horses and teaching people.

Today, Parelli Natural Horsemanship and the Parelli Program has spread to 76 countries, over a million people, and has improved the lives of horses around the world. For more information about Pat Parelli and Parelli Natural Horsemanship, please visit Parelli.com or join the Parelli Network at community.parelli.com.

Doug Mills
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Doug Mills

Doug Mills and his Training Thru Trust method have helped thousands of horses and riders realize their full potential as horsemen and women.

Doug Mills has built his training program around horses and people.  Born and raised on a working cattle ranch in Price, Utah he started his first horse when he was eight years old under the guidance of his brother in law, George Fasselin.  That experience was invaluable as he learned how to safely get around the wild ones.  Although there was no violence we did use restraints and wet saddle blankets.  He also learned the value of giving a horse a job then leave him alone.

In his early teens Doug watched a round pen demo that would forever change how he thought about horses.  The trainer had a BLM Mustang that he rode in a couple hours with no restraints.  That was unheard of in those days.  That demo ignited a passion in Doug and set him out on his path to developing one of the most trusted and proven methods available.  More information became available via clinics, videos, books, and articles. Doug became a junkie.  Working horses at liberty he learned how to teach horses without restraints.

After experiencing the incredible results using his newly developed technique, Doug’s excitement turned into a passion of needing to share what he had learned with others through clinics and demos.  Most of the people at the first clinics were new to horses so he learned how to break down difficult tasks into simple steps.  He found a couple of common problems people were having, one was communication.  The commands were too fast with inconsistent angle, pressure, and timed release.  The other was a lack of leadership, horses were walking all over the owners.

Doug came up with the simplest manoeuvre he knew of that would address both problems, then tested them at clinics.  The goal was for the greenest rider to have success with the toughest horse.  This was the beginning of Training Thru Trust!

Doug has always had a passion for well broke, athletic horses so showing reining and working cow horse was the likely place for him to learn from the best in the business.  He took all he learned about training and showing performance horses and applied the Training Thru Trust philosophy and techniques.  Doug believes the key to willingness is choices without restraints.  However, he believes its important that all horses learn to yield to a restraint pressure.

Doug has had much success around the world, teaching both horse and rider, however he would probably tell you that his greatest achievements of late are watching his wife, Lynette and four kids all following his Training Thru Trust Program achieve their own success in the Equine Industry.

Judging the Trainers Showdown - Legends Edition

2024 Trainers Showdown - Legends Edition

Extra Time

  • Each Trainer has a pool of 20 minutes of extra time to draw from
  • No more than 10 minutes can be added to a single session
  • No time can be added to the finale on Sunday Afternoon
  • Extra time must be declared by the trainer in whole minutes before the end of regulation time in a session
  • If the trainer has 10 or more minutes left in the pool when the finals start, they will be awarded +1 point by each judge

Horse Safety

Horse Expo Canada takes the welfare of the horses as our top priority.  The trainers are chosen for their skills and professionalism and are the best in the industry.  While we don’t expect any unethical treatment of the horses, it needs to be said that if at any point we feel the animal is being treated unethically the session will be stopped.  This can be determined by the judges, announcers, other trainers, or the staff from Rocking Heart Ranch and Horse Expo Canada.

Judging Criteria

(Day Sheet)

  1. Change in the horse – did the horse leave the session ‘sour’?
    • Did the horse start out not paying attention or being nervous of the trainer, and finish with confidence?
    • Horse was pinning his ears, swishing tail, grumpy – when finished soft in the eye, accepting, licking, chewing, comfortable with the trainer?
  2. Did the trainer successfully work through the problems presented by the horse?
    • Accepting pressure, accepting tack & training aids?
    • Example: Was the trainer able to develop the horse’ confidence where the horse had fear?
  3. Does the trainer display clear communication to the horse?
    • Using pressure and release – did the trainer make it clear for the horse to understand what he was asking?
  4. Did the trainer leave the horse in a good place?
    • Has the horse been overworked?
    • Did the trainer end the session at a positive time in the session?
    • Did the horse leave the session in a trainable frame of mind?
    • Was time used effectively for the horse’ development?
  5. Crowd engagement
    • Did the trainer explain himself well to the audience?
    • Was the audience engaged?
  6. Was the trainer working effectively to prepare the horse for the finals?
    • Did the trainer introduce elements expected in the finals?
    • The actual activity doesn’t matter as long as they are working towards being able to succeed in the finals?
  • Extra minutes
    • Minutes used this session (max 10): _____
    • Minutes remaining in trainer’s pool: _____
  • Memorable Moment
    • Did the trainer make exceptional progress or have a breakthrough moment with the horse in this session?

Judging Criteria

(Finale)

    1. Mandatory Items

    (These items can be completed in any order before the Optional Items are started)

    • Jog Left Circle  /5
    • Jog Right Circle /5
    • Lope Left Circle /10
    • Lope Right Circle /10
    • Stop & Back Up /10
    • Swing Rope /10
    • Over Poles (Fan) /10
    • Jog Over Poles /10
    • Pick Up 4 Feet /10
    • Over The Bridge /10
    • Over Tarp /10
    • Stand To Be Saddled /10
    • Moves Off Pressure / 20
    • Soft In The Face /20
    • Load In Trailer /20

    Mandatory Items Total /170

    1. Optional Items

    (When Optional Items have been started, any Mandatory Items remaining receive no score and cannot be completed)

    • Freestyle /20
    • Open Gate /20
    • Car Wash /20
    • Open Mailbox /20

    Optional Items Total  /80

    10 or more minutes remain in trainer’s pool /1

    Finals Total /251

    Judging Example:

    • Over the Bridge: first attempt, horse walks up to the bridge and straight over it without hesitation or escape in mind – 10 / 10
    • Over the Bridge: horse refuses to cross or step on the bridge – 0 / 10

Extra Time

  • Each Trainer has a pool of 20 minutes of extra time to draw from
  • No more than 10 minutes can be added to a single session
  • No time can be added to the finale on Sunday Afternoon
  • Extra time must be declared by the trainer in whole minutes before the end of regulation time in a session
  • If the trainer has 10 or more minutes left in the pool when the finals start, they will be awarded +1 point by each judge

Horse Safety

Horse Expo Canada takes the welfare of the horses as our top priority.  The trainers are chosen for their skills and professionalism and are the best in the industry.  While we don’t expect any unethical treatment of the horses, it needs to be said that if at any point we feel the animal is being treated unethically the session will be stopped.  This can be determined by the judges, announcers, other trainers, or the staff from Rocking Heart Ranch and Horse Expo Canada.

Meet the Colts of the Trainers Showdown

Horse Expo is happy to continue our partnership with Rocking Heart Ranch!

Rocking Heart Ranch provides the perfect horses for us each year that are well suited to the Trainers Showdown.

Visit their website at RideWaterton.com to see what they have for sale, and what they can offer you!

Meet the sassy and classy three year old fillies that are going to be at the 2024 Horse Expo! These girls are like the drinks they are named after and you know they are going to leave an impression on the “legends” that are going to be working with them in the ring! They have solid bone, strong pedigrees, and will be so much fun to watch. All of these 3 year olds have been through our weanling challenge so they have been taught how to pick up feet, load in the trailer, and lead at all gaits.  If one catches your eye during the sessions, stop by the booth and speak to Melody and she can talk to you about taking them home.  We wish all of the trainers the best of luck and look forward to seeing how they work with these girls!

RHR French Valentine – “Sangria”

This richly colored three year old bay filly is a smooth mix of sass and class with the bloodlines of Cowboys Frenchman (son of Frenchmans Guy- leading barrel sire and performance sire) on the dam’s side as well as Fanta San (daughter of Peppy San Leo (earnings in cutting) bringing that spunk. Paired with the foundation of Blu Quachita Hancock on the sire side which is an all around ranch horse with a good mind and roping background, this little filly is going to take someone to the pay window in the future. Add to that her pops of chrome and this horse will turn heads as she gets the job done at the ranch or in the arena.

RHR Greygooseberry – “Daquiri”

Check out this beautiful grey three year old filly that personifies grit, good mind, with a fun and sweet attitude. With Hancock running on both dam (Walking X Hancock- sire of the 2009 world champion amateur heel horse) and sire sides (Rowdy Blue Man- used for steer jerking), this filly will be set up to eat cows either in the cutting world or swing a rope off her on the ranch or in the pen as she is going to have stopping power! We bought the dam from the Warren Boles program as a young filly and she continues to deliver us great horses like this gal. Daquiri is going to make that all around friendly versatile horse for the family.

RHR Poco With Mojo – “Mojita”

Just like the drink that has a refreshing edge to it, this black three year old filly is no different. Her foundation starts with her sire, King Docs Hill- “Maverick”(solid old line breeding of Doc and Otoe) and then you add the edge of her dam, Jaz Frost Girl, where you see bloodlines like (Little Steel Dust – penning, trail, reining roping) and this is what will give this super friendly filly her tremendous start in the arena or on the ranch. This filly has the ability to set someone up to go in multiple directions and have a lot of fun while doing it.

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About Rocking Heart Ranch

Rocking Heart Ranch is located in the Southwest corner of Alberta adjacent to Waterton Lakes National Park. Started generations ago in Saskatchewan, the ranch has evolved over the years from having a team of horses to deliver rural mail and some horses to round up cattle on the mixed operation to the ranch of today that focuses on raising and breeding all around versatile American Quarter Horses. We breed the type of horses that we used regularly out on the cattle ranch that could also be fun on a trail ride or head to the arena for some extra action.

In addition to raising foundational bloodlines like Blue Valentine, the ranch is an equine center that hosts clinicians from all avenues of horsemanship as well as a “Ride N’ Relax” where you can dry camp and explore Waterton Lakes National Park with your horse. We have also branched into providing an outdoor venue for weddings with Rocking Heart Romance where you can say your vows overlooking the Rocky Mountains. Please stop by our booth and talk to us about how we can have you and your partner (equine or human) out for a grand adventure.

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