Twenty-one year old Courtney Grider of Conifer and her American Paint horse, Seemy Sacred Style aka “Vegas” (by Sacred Indian), have risen to the top 100 out of thousands of finalists across the United States to be featured in America’s Favorite Trail Horse competition program put on by the American Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA).  Read on to see how we can all help Courtney and Vegas reach that title!

About seven years ago while showing in Colorado Hunter Jumper Association (CHJA) shows, Courtney realized that her “ranch type” Quarter Horse mare, Jazzy, had hit a plateau that Courtney wanted to go beyond.  Local family friend, Laurie Quercioli, (see The Colorado Corral article titled “Blue Ribbon Heart” from 2010 - @ blog.coloradocorral.com), helped Courtney find Vegas to move up the ranks with. 

But when Courtney bought Vegas seven years ago as a jumper, he was far from being a good trail horse.  Up until then, his first nine years consisted of going between his paddock and the arena.  He was an excellent jumper and perfect for what she bought him for, but had no experience outside of that.  Courtney recalls, “He was crazy when we got him.  He was high strung and spooky – He didn’t know what to do with himself - he was scared of his shadow.  If he was outside of the arena, he was out of his comfort zone.”

So Courtney started taking him on trail rides and exposing him to the outdoors.  With Courtney’s persistence and patience, Vegas went from the scared and spooky horse on the trail to the horse he is today - confident, comfortable and now one of the finalists for America’s Favorite Trail Horse!  So how did she end up in a trail horse competition?  Facebook!  Late one night a friend on Facebook had posted information about the competition; Courtney told her mom about it and they decided it would be something different to experience. 

She sent in her entry fee and became one of over two thousand horse and rider teams across the country that were divided into 25 locations.  Leading up to the audition, Courtney watched videos on YouTube.com of other ACTHA rides to learn the kinds of obstacles they would need to complete and then worked on those skills with Vegas.  Courtney was assigned to take Vegas to Keenesburg in April for the first stage of the competition.  From there they were chosen to be one of the 100 national finalists!  Courtney and her mom hauled Vegas nearly 30 hours to meet the 99 other finalists at the Franklin Family Ranch near Austin, Texas May 8-12^th.   

During the three days at the Franklin Family ranch, finalists were coached by national horse training celebrities like Aaron Ralston, Lynn Palm and Linda Parelli.  For the America’s Favorite Trail Horse program, the finalists competed over a six mile trail course with six obstacles.  Three of the obstacles were filmed and the trainers were there to coach each team to show their best for the viewers and voters.  The three obstacles filmed were a crossing water, jumping a log and crossing a rock slab. 

The “America’s Favorite Trail Horse” program will be aired weekly starting Tuesday September 13^th at 6pm MST for 13 episodes on HRTV (Dish channel 404) or it will be available online at www.ACTHA.TV/www.HRTVLive.com during the complete airtime.  Episodes 2-11 are the voting episodes each showcasing 10 of the competitors – Courtney and Vegas are in the 8^th episode on November 1st.  The team with the most votes from each episode will receive $5,000.  In the 12^th episode November 29th, the top ten finalists will be shown again and viewer votes will determine the top 3 teams who then receive $10,000, $15,000 and $25,000!  Go to www.actha.us for all of the details. 

 By putting on this “American Idol” for horses, ACTHA is hoping to bring attention to America’s trail horses and as a result inspire people to get back in the saddle and rescue horses in need of a home.    The cause of ACTHA is “full equine employment to help ease the suffering of horses in need.”  They accomplish this through sponsored rides, donations, fundraising, and supporting organizations like the Mustang Heritage Foundation – anything that benefits horses.  

So mark your calendars and VOTE to help our own Courtney and Vegas become the “America’s Favorite Trail Horse” winner.  If you cannot watch on DishNetwork, fire up your computer and head to the link given above.  Be inspired to get out there on the trails and ride! 

Questions or Comments?  Let me hear from you!  Do you know someone or something in our horse community you want to know more about?  Give me your suggestions at heather@coloradocorral.com.  To learn more about our local horse community go to www.coloradocorral.com.  Looking for a way to commemorate an accomplishment or share a horse moment?  Send me your pictures to be featured on the website! Copyright 2011 Heather McWilliams.