RTTH - Road to the Horse - I spent an extended weekend in Lexington, at the Kentucky Horse Park, with saddle sisters Judy, Jan, Patty, Shirley, Deana, and Polly, to watch this four day event which strives to entertain and educate fans in the art of natural horsemanship as they start untouched three year old colts.
The main competition was between two returning champions, Vicki Wilson and Nick Dowers. There were also three wild cards, who competed against each other; Ben Baldus, Wade Black, and Booger Brown (whom I enjoy watching on the reality series Cowboy Way).
The main event (where we spent most of our time) occurred at the Alltech Arena and included the remuda (when all the untouched, three-year-old American quarter horse colts were driven in). Clinics by each competitor were given, followed by three days of round pen work with each trainer working the colts they chose. Vendors and exhibitors were present, and there were lots of other horse related activities such as wild west entertainment, rodeo riding, and the Percheron demonstrations.
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| Nick Dowers Vicki Wilson Ben Baldus Wade Black Booger Brown |
Thursday 3/21 - My adventure started at 6:30 am, loading into the car with Jan, Mike and Polly. Mike dropped us three ladies off at our meeting point and we climbed into Deana's truck and headed toward the eastern sunrise and Kentucky. (Patty, Shirley, and Judy joined us Friday.)
Just outside of Lexington we stopped at Horseshoes Kentucky Grill, for a late lunch. We really enjoyed the food and ambience of this little restaurant.
Then we went straight to the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. (A couple dozen of the photos I have included are from the RTTH Facebook page, no photographer's names available.)
The right photo was taken day two, of Deana and I by her truck.
The day wasn't very sunny and there was a cool nip in the air, but at least it wasn't raining.
Then Nick Dowers talked about how he trains and what he does on his ranch.
Nick explained the importance of giving your horse a job to break up the monotony of training and make it fun for you and your horse.
His son Crue was riding around on a little pony the whole hour and doing some roping on this dummy practice 'steer.' This little pony cantered around the arena during half the program.
There was an almost three hour break, so we went to the Clarion (10 minutes away) and got checked in. This is the lobby area where we met for a cowboy breakfast each morning. We grabbed a quick dinner at their bar and grill and were back at the arena just in time for the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and the running of the Remuda, to get a first look at the colts.
Two Percheron pulled the stage coach around the arena for a few laps and did figure eights.
Buffalo Bill had some impressive rope handling skills, but most of it was done from the ground. I'd rather watch people riding.
Other riders in costume also paraded around.
And then finally the Remuda. The colts were driven in by the 4-6's ranchers. These young horses eventually got relaxed enough, they decided to roll. It was fun to watch them just be horses, even though this setting was so different than the ranch in Texas they had come from.
We got back late and went right to bed.
Friday 3/22 - After our big (complimentary) breakfast, with second coffee and tea in hand, we hit the road.
Jan, Polly, and Deana parked at the arena.
Deana's truck was so comfortable and such a nice ride I had to get a photo of the whole vehicle.
We had plenty of extra time, so after putting coats and day bags at our seats, we went shopping. We kind of split up, some hitting different booths, the rest room, and walking around. It was so funny, when we got back, Deana and I had both, independently, bought these handy hair ties that the sales lady put in our hair for us.
This time there were four Percherons pulling the stage coach, instead of two.
They did the running of the Remuda (video) again and then the selection process began.
They picked numbers and Vicki got to choose first. She (as did the cowboys) went right in among the horses to look them over. Nick picked 2nd, 3rd and 5th and Vicki 4th and 6th. Then the three wild card competitors made their selection, only having one horse to work with.
There was a long break while round pens were set up. We each grabbed a bite to eat at one of the vendor food booths and the other car load of ladies (Shirley, Judy, and Patty) arrived. They were just in time for the wild card competition.
The three competitors were each in one of the three round pens. Booger Brown was nearest to us with Ben Baldus to the back left and Wade Black back right.
I was really cheering for Booger Brown because I enjoy his reality show, Cowboy Way. Unfortunately, he had a mishap with the tarp getting caught on his horse's head, scaring his buckskin.
Winning the horse's trust back was going to take a long time.
His buckskin got the nick-name Bucky, because when Booger first got the saddle on him, this (video) is what happened. The three wild card competitors trained for almost two hours.
Another long intermission occurred while the round pens were changed from three to two, but three 'holding pens' were also added to each. Then Vicki (my favorite) and Nick started working with their three colts. They had four hours, with a 15 minute break, in which to work with their three horses in any order and amount of time they chose to spend with each.
It was interesting to see how they worked with the different 'personalities' of these horses, some requiring more time than others. They would put one, two, or all three together to boost one's courage or let another watch and process what was happening.
Throughout the weekend, the horsemanship and good sportsmanship displayed by all five competitors was phenomenal, and I think amazed the fans, crew, and judges. You could tell their comradery for each other and their passion for the horses was extraordinary.
It was quite late by the time we left the arena. We went to Cracker Barrel on our way back to the hotel. And it was even later (after 10pm) by the time we got to bed.
Saturday 3/23 - We all made our way to breakfast at different times, sitting and lingering over conversation and hot caffeinated brew. And then we were off to the stadium for the opening ceremonies.
The trick rider made three passes around the stadium, at a run, and I was able to get a photo of each of her poses.
The rope trick guy did the same stuff, but the Percheron were in a team of six this time, pulling the stage coach.
Round pens were then set up like they had been the day before and the wild card competition soon got underway. During down time, we ladies (especially me) got up to walk around and/or shop (not so much me, although I bought a new cowboy hat).
The training included introduction to more obstacles and the competitors could take their colt out of the round pen into the arena space for a total of only 20 mins.
Booger again might have been pushing Bucky too hard, but he was running out of time. And Bucky, true to his name, put on a big bucking display and Booger was eventually sent flying. It took awhile for Booger to catch him, and once back in the saddle, he couldn't get Bucky to go back into the round pen.
Meanwhile, in a second round pen, Wade (pictured here) was making great progress with his colt, as was Ben (pictured below) in the third round pen.
I thought this was a family of ducks on a near by pond because there was a lot of quacking, but once I enlarged the photo, I saw the turtles.
All of the security in the horse park and around the arena were on horseback. This would be a cool job to have, if I didn't have to carry a gun or deal with any confrontations. 🤠
When the second training session was ready to begin, Nick's three horses were herded in, and then Vicki's. Her round pen was right in front of us.
First, Nick and Vicki were allowed to eliminate one horse from the competition. They would be riding two through the obstacle course the following day. They were given three hours to work with their two horses.
Oh, this photo from Facebook must have been taken on Friday, when Nick was working all three of his colts in unison. It was an amazing display of horsemanship!
He eliminated the palomino and Vicki one of her better horses because she said he was still too herd bound. It took the wranglers a long time to split him up from the other two horses to take him away.
We got back to the hotel much earlier than the previous two nights and all met down in the lobby to enjoy a drink together.
While sitting and chatting with snacks and drinks, one of the announcers, Craig Cameron, his wife, and their son, all dropped in and said hi. We shared the wine and chatted with them for several minutes. So cool!
We got back to our room much earlier than the two previous nights, so had some fun just hangin' out. Girls will be girls. Jan took this photo of Polly and I brushing our teeth at the same time. We three eventually did succumb to sleep.
Sunday 3/24 - We packed up and checked out of the hotel and were at the arena for Cowboy Church by 9:30. This was our first look at the day's obstacle course.
They started the opening ceremonies an hour early, so there was not much of a crowd.
I had been walking around, so took photos from the opposite side of the arena from where our seats were.
After the singing of both national anthems, the competition got underway, by first walking through the obstacle course with Craig Cameron, Vicki Wilson, Nick Dowers, Booger Brown, Wade Blake and Ben Baldus.
The three wild cards went first, starting with the last place contestant, Booger Brown. He had incurred over an 18 minute penalty the day before when he couldn't get Bucky to go back into the round pen. Which means he had less than two minutes to catch Bucky and get him out of the round pen. Booger made the decision to not put the horse through the obstacles because the horse was not mentally able to handle it, so he just used the time to continue to work slowly with this horse.
Booger caught Bucky and led him out of the round pen, saddled him, and rode him around out in our end of the arena, working on trust, courage, and confidence in young Bucky's mind. This would help to get this horse off to a good start. I was so happy that Booger was more than fair to Bucky. It wasn’t about winning the money... it was about treating his horse with respect. His explanation about why he didn’t try the obstacle course was a HUGE lesson to audience members!
The race for the titles were very tightly contested in both the main competition and the wild card competition. Ben Baldus did get his horse to push on the white roll bar to move the wagon towards the fort. But Wade Black scored higher and won the wild card competition.
For the main event, Vicki went first with her two horses. After 20 minutes of round pen work, contestants then had 35 minutes to do the rail work and then the obstacle course with each horse.
Vicki did a great job with both of her horses. And then it was Nick's turn.
Vicki sat to watch Nick and Booger soon joined her.
Nick worked his magic with both his horses.
The tarp was very difficult for all five horses, and was skipped by most after three tries.
The teeter totter was also a very difficult challenge, but pushing the wagon into the fort was basically impossible because it was too heavy.
The water pit with floating balls was extra credit and only accomplished by Nick on his second horse.
After all competitors had finished, it was hard to know who had won each contest. We decided to wait for the results and for the crowd to clear. Wade Black won the Wild Card event and Nick Dowers won the main event.
Since we had been snacking all day, we didn't stop for a late dinner, gained a time zone hour, had an uneventful drive, and still didn't get home until after 10:00.
What a fun weekend watching horses, great training, and skillful riding with my saddle sisters!
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