April 09 midwest horse digest Page 11
Avoid making your horse “cinchy” by travels the United States, Canada, South
not tightening up your girth immediately. Chris America and Australia appearing at expos,
adjusts his girth at least three times, gradually conducting clinics and horsemanship demon-
tightening it, before mounting. strations. His “Come Ride the Journey’ tour
“One problem I see is that riders takes him to cities across the U.S. each year.
don’t check their equipment often enough,” Chris offers week-long intensive horsemanship
Chris cautions. “You should look over your tack clinics at his Diamond Double C Ranch in
every time you ride. A lot of wrecks could be Mineral Wells, Texas.
avoided if riders checked their equipment each In 2008, Western Horseman
time they saddle up.” released Ride the Journey, by Chris Cox with
Up Close with Chris Cox Cynthia McFarland, a 225-page, full color book
Born in Florida and ranch-raised in that details Chris’ practical methods and train-
Australia, Chris returned to the United States in ing techniques. Packed with step-by-step exer-
1986 to make a career of working with horses. cises and color photos, the book will help you
Years of working horseback on the ranch near improve your horsemanship skills, no matter
Queensland gave Chris a healthy respect for what discipline or breed you ride.
the horse's ability and intelligence, and helped Visit www.chris-cox.com or call
him develop his own methods of individualized Chris Cox Horsemanship Company at 1-888-
training. 81-HORSE for information about the Ride the
Active in the cutting horse world as Journey book, upcoming course dates and
both a trainer and competitor, Chris has trained appearances, equipment and training DVDs.
a variety of breeds for different disciplines. He
World Championship
Blacksmiths Begin 3rd
Competition Season
On April 17-19, black- Forging will consist of a work station set aside
smiths from all over the for any and all competitors and members who
country will gather at pay a fee to make a specified item – it could be
the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. for a specific type of horseshoe or another black-
the Midwest Horse Fair® and the chance to smithing feat. It is a timed event and the par-
compete in the first regional competition of the ticipant with the lowest time wins. All fees for
2009 season for the World Championship this event are returned to winning participants.
Blacksmiths (WCB). Through the ringing of the With approximately 45 competitors for the
driving hammers on steel and the heat of the first rounds, they will make horseshoes from a
coal forge, the enthusiasm and determination stock piece of metal to the judge's specifica-
of each competitor shines through. To watch tion. All events are timed. Each of the competi-
this age-old art being practiced is not only very tors will have approximately 60 minutes.
entertaining, but it is also very educational. Each round of competition will feature 10
World Championship Blacksmiths has pro- competitors, so there will be blacksmithing a
duced the first ever series of qualifying horse- minimum of four hours each day. On Sunday,
shoeing competitions that lead up to a there will be 10 horses for the final rounds, and
National Championship. Travis Koons of the competitors will be shoeing a horse. This
Romoland, California was the 2008 National round is 70 minutes. They will be judged on
Champion. Daniel Jones was named WCB hoof preparation, the actual shoe (which they
Striker of the Year. He was awarded a again make from a length of stock metal), the
Stonewell Truck Body. fit of the shoe on the horse's foot and they
The WCB Willcox Competition was held make a specimen. Only the top 40 competitors
January 29-31, with Billy Reed of Baytown, get to compete in the live shoeing.
Texas winning this competition. The interna- In addition to the World Championship
tional team for 2009 consists of the four top Blacksmiths competition, The Midwest Horse
highpoint winners and they include: Travis Fair® offers a full weekend of events for both
Koons, Billy Reed, Todd Walker of Johnson the professional and amateur horse owners,
City, TX and Chris Madrid of Santa Fe, NM. as well as those families and individuals who
Competitors in each class received cash just love horses. There are demonstrations,
prizes which in total exceeded $12,500. This speakers, shopping opportunities, and tons of
concluded the WCB's second full year of pro- entertainment. For more information on the
ducing educational advancement through Midwest Horse Fair® go to www.midwest-
competition. While any one of the competitions horsefair.com. Visit often as new events and
may look like a carnival atmosphere under the clinicians are added on a regular basis. The
yellow and white striped tent, everyone Midwest Horse Fair® is owned by the
involved is very organized and determined to Wisconsin State Horse Council, Inc. All pro-
make this competition world-class and instruc- ceeds from the Fair are returned to the WSHC
tive. and are used to represent and foster a unified
At the Midwest Horse Fair® WCB competi- equine industry in Wisconsin, promote the
tion, ten stations, complete with all equipment, equine through leadership, education, service
will be provided for the competitors. This and communication, and to take a proactive
allows flexibility and convenience for horse- role in the future growth and development of
shoers to travel to any of the qualifying compe- the equine industry.
titions to compete. The Fast and Furious
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