The 2011 Equine Extravaganza Trainer’s Challenge competitors are some of the best. This star studded cast includes Tommy Garland, Brock Griffith and Chase Dodd, who are no strangers to colt starting competitions.
Tennessee native, Chase Dodd is new to Equine Extravaganza, but certainly not new to training competitions. This Tennessee cowboy has is a two-time Extreme Mustang Makeover winner. The Extreme Mustang Makeover is an incredible challenge that has trainers work with wild mustangs to gentle them and get them ready for adoption. It is a great accomplishment to have won this prestigious competition just once, but to win it twice certainly makes Chase stand out among trainers. Chase and his wife operate his SOS Horsemanship business from their home on Dodd’s Ranch in the Flattop Mountains, near Chattanooga, where their model for training is: “soft, obedient, supple.”
Chase Dodd will be competing against Virginia native, Tommy Garland and North Carolina trainer, Brock Griffith. In 2006 Tommy Garland won Equine Extravaganza’s Trainer Challenge. Just over a year later in 2008, Tommy went on to compete in Road to the Horse, the prestigious competition in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After an incredible performance there, Tommy came away with a crowd of followers.
In 2008 Brock Griffith competed in and won Equine Extravaganza’s North Carolina Trainer Challenge. He competed later that year in the Virginia competition against other finalists from other challenges and again he was named the winner. Brock is certainly a crowd favorite among Equine Extravaganza fans and becoming well known in North Carolina, where his family lives, and surrounding areas. For the first time in 2011, Brock will be competing in the Extreme Mustang Makeover in Tennessee, which will conclude October 23, just before this year’s Equine Extravaganza.
This year’s Equine Extravaganza will kick off on Friday November 4 at 9:30 a.m. The horses will be selected at random and assigned the morning of the Challenge. After meeting their horses, the trainers will have an uninterrupted hour to work with their horses for the first time. The competition continues Saturday, November 5 at 9:30 a.m. when the trainers will meet their horses for the second time. The goal of this competition is to work with each horse based on the horses’ unique personality and capabilities. It is not about who gets the farthest the fastest, but who demonstrates the most effective, natural horsemanship, training methods to help their horse advance to the best of his abilities. The culmination of the event comes on Sunday when after their last hour of training each trainer will demonstrate what their horse has learned by taking it through an obstacle course.
Joining these three trainers at Equine Extravaganza this year will be John Lyons, Kenny Harlow, Colleen Kelly, Larry Whitesell, Leisha Griffith, Lizzy Traband, Mike Branch, Scott Purdum and more. Throughout the weekend there will be over 100 clinics in disciplines from dressage to gaited to jumping to ground work. The United States Equine Rescue League and Days End Horse Farm will be joining the expo again this year with horses for adoption, showcasing them on Saturday. The Bureau of Land Management will be sponsoring the 10 mustangs that clinician Mike Branch will be working with all weekend to get them ready for adoption. On Friday the Competitive Trail Challenge takes place with a course designed by Kenny Harlow. Throughout the weekend the Virginia Draft Horse and Mule Association will have their annual Old Dominion show. There is certainly something for everyone at this horse expo, including hundreds of vendors for shopping. So come early, stay late!
Tennessee native, Chase Dodd is new to Equine Extravaganza, but certainly not new to training competitions. This Tennessee cowboy has is a two-time Extreme Mustang Makeover winner. The Extreme Mustang Makeover is an incredible challenge that has trainers work with wild mustangs to gentle them and get them ready for adoption. It is a great accomplishment to have won this prestigious competition just once, but to win it twice certainly makes Chase stand out among trainers. Chase and his wife operate his SOS Horsemanship business from their home on Dodd’s Ranch in the Flattop Mountains, near Chattanooga, where their model for training is: “soft, obedient, supple.”
Chase Dodd will be competing against Virginia native, Tommy Garland and North Carolina trainer, Brock Griffith. In 2006 Tommy Garland won Equine Extravaganza’s Trainer Challenge. Just over a year later in 2008, Tommy went on to compete in Road to the Horse, the prestigious competition in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After an incredible performance there, Tommy came away with a crowd of followers.
In 2008 Brock Griffith competed in and won Equine Extravaganza’s North Carolina Trainer Challenge. He competed later that year in the Virginia competition against other finalists from other challenges and again he was named the winner. Brock is certainly a crowd favorite among Equine Extravaganza fans and becoming well known in North Carolina, where his family lives, and surrounding areas. For the first time in 2011, Brock will be competing in the Extreme Mustang Makeover in Tennessee, which will conclude October 23, just before this year’s Equine Extravaganza.
This year’s Equine Extravaganza will kick off on Friday November 4 at 9:30 a.m. The horses will be selected at random and assigned the morning of the Challenge. After meeting their horses, the trainers will have an uninterrupted hour to work with their horses for the first time. The competition continues Saturday, November 5 at 9:30 a.m. when the trainers will meet their horses for the second time. The goal of this competition is to work with each horse based on the horses’ unique personality and capabilities. It is not about who gets the farthest the fastest, but who demonstrates the most effective, natural horsemanship, training methods to help their horse advance to the best of his abilities. The culmination of the event comes on Sunday when after their last hour of training each trainer will demonstrate what their horse has learned by taking it through an obstacle course.
Joining these three trainers at Equine Extravaganza this year will be John Lyons, Kenny Harlow, Colleen Kelly, Larry Whitesell, Leisha Griffith, Lizzy Traband, Mike Branch, Scott Purdum and more. Throughout the weekend there will be over 100 clinics in disciplines from dressage to gaited to jumping to ground work. The United States Equine Rescue League and Days End Horse Farm will be joining the expo again this year with horses for adoption, showcasing them on Saturday. The Bureau of Land Management will be sponsoring the 10 mustangs that clinician Mike Branch will be working with all weekend to get them ready for adoption. On Friday the Competitive Trail Challenge takes place with a course designed by Kenny Harlow. Throughout the weekend the Virginia Draft Horse and Mule Association will have their annual Old Dominion show. There is certainly something for everyone at this horse expo, including hundreds of vendors for shopping. So come early, stay late!
