Road to the Horse

Road to the Horse and Ride the Remuda Productions, Inc., are proud to announce that the 2009 event will be held March 14-15 at a new location in Franklin, Tennessee. The event, previously held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will be held at the Williamson County Ag EXPO Park where top competitors John Lyons, Tommy Garland and newly announced competitor Richard Winters will vie to be the 2009 Road to the Horse champion.

Returning competitor Tommy Garland will compete against Road to the Horse newcomers John Lyons and Richard Winters. Although they are both newcomers to the competition, they are by no means newcomers to the worlds of horsemanship and training. Lyons, who is known as “America’s Most Trusted Horseman” is a sought after trainer and clinician and has a professional trainer certification program in Colorado. The newly announced competitor, Winters, has dedicated himself to teaching his horsemanship knowledge and experience to others for nearly three decades. All three competitors have hosted their own horsemanship television shows and there is no doubt that the 2009 event will not only be dynamic and action-packed but full of excitement and emotion.

Franklin is known as the “Hollywood of country music” and promises to be an excellent home for the competition. Williamson County Mayor, Rogers Anderson, welcomes Road to the Horse, its competitors and audience with open arms. Franklin is only ten minutes from downtown Nashville, so entertainment and activity possibilities are endless.

Making return appearances in 2009 will be the amazing Cowgirl Chicks, trick riding team out of Ft. Worth, Texas, the Extreme Mustang Makeover, and Tommy Garland with his colt Spirit from the 2008 Road to the Horse competition.

Although the competition does not start until Saturday the doors will open on Friday for the shopping extravaganza.

“We’ll be having the shopping extravaganza again this year from 3-7 pm and it will be open to the public. We’re expecting it to be bigger than ever with around 150 vendors. People will also get to meet the clinicians and get autographs and photos,” said Tootie Bailey-Bland, Ride the Remuda Productions Producer.

Tickets for the groundbreaking event, in its new location, will go on sale Monday, May 12 at 9 am CDT. Seating is based on ticket purchase and will sell fast, so please purchase tickets early to ensure your attendance for this amazing event. For more information and to purchase tickets for the 2009 Road to the Horse competition, please visit the website at www.roadtothehorse.com, or call (325)736-5000.

Tommy and Spirit update - Tommy wanted to share the progress of Spirit, the colt from the Wood Ranch that he worked with at Road to the Horse 2008.

Video 1: The day after Road to the Horse
Tommy and Spirit in the Wash Rack
Tommy and Spirit update - one month of training

Road to the Horse was blown away after a fan sent us this YouTube video, filmed just 1 day after the competition, of the colt Tommy Garland rode at Road to the Horse!

Tommy Garland purchased the colt that he worked with at Road to the Horse from the Wood Ranch — the YouTube video posted shows his colt being ridden bareback just a day after Road to the Horse with no training other than the time at Road to the Horse!

The Youtube video is posted with the following comment:
“Tommy’s horse that he bought we got of the trailer at 5 am the day after and he rode him nothing has been done with him here it is 6 45 at night the same day… he hadn’t trained on him any before this video except for his 3 hours at road to the horse 2008!!!”

Extreme Mustang Makeover
ENTRY DEADLINE April 15, 2008!

Extreme Mustang Makeover Top Ten Finalists Bill Lopez and Dwight Bilyk displayed the incredible talents of the American Mustang at Road to the Horse 2008. If you were lucky enough to be one of the 6,000 spectators at the event, you no-doubt took home some new training techniques and inspiration from Bill, Dwight and the competing clinicians. Why not throw your hat into the ring and use what you learned at this year’s Road to the Horse and become a competitor in the Extreme Mustang Makeover? Over $50,000 in cash and prizes are up for grabs at the event which will be held September 18-21, 2008 in Fort Worth, Texas.

This year the Mustang Heritage Foundation, managers of the Extreme Mustang Makeover is looking for 200 trainers. You must be able to train a 3-4 year old wild Mustang. Selected trainers may pick up Mustangs in Reno, Nevada or in Pauls Valley, OK (just south of OK City) on June 11-14. There may also be a pick up in east of the Mississippi. Trainers work with the Mustangs for approximately 100 days and bring them to Fort Worth to compete. The trained Mustangs are then up for adoption through a public auction on September 21.

Trainers are reimbursed $500 in expenses and receive 20% of the adoption fee if over $200, and of course shoot for $50,000 in prize money. For details on the competition and application go to www.extrememustangmakeover.com and you can enter online - or call 512-355-3225 for more information.

Remember, the entry deadline is April 15th

It’s official, Stacy and Roxy are going to be guests on the Ellen DeGeneres show this Friday, March 14.

Like millions of other people throughout the world, DeGeneres first became aware of Stacy through the e-mail that circulated (eventually going “viral”) that showed Stacy’s 2006 winning bareback, bridleless run in the Quarter Horse Congress Freestyle Reining competition.

“This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” DeGeneres said before airing the clip on her February 28 show. “This is an amazing horse. An amazing thing to watch. It’s just beautiful.”

Stacy’ dedicated the performance to her father, who had passed away only 24 days earlier.

After airing the clip for her audience, DeGeneres reacted with a single word, “Wow!” She went on to say, “I need to meet her . . . and the horse she rode in on.”

Check Stacy’s website for any updates or if you haven’t seen the clip that’s making all the waves.

Watch as Stacy Westfall went from unknown mystery contestant to shining star when named the 2006 Road to the Horse winner in the Limited Edition Boxed Set that includes the 2003, 2005 and 2006 Road to the Horse.