by Jan Mansfield
A capacity crowd was on hand recently for the exciting finish to the Trainers’ Challenge, just one of the events on the closing day of The Mane Event in Chilliwack, BC, that drew clinicians, exhibitors, and spectators from across North America.
All three trainers had their work cut out for them when they took on the challenge of working with three un-broke two-year-old colts. Introduced to their equine partners only two days earlier, their final session in the main arena came down to which horse would be able to cope with the surroundings the easiest.
Last year’s winner, BC trainer Doug Mills, was again awarded the winner’s trophy after mastering all the final tasks with his horse, including loping him for the first time. “I wasn’t planning on loping when I came in there, but I felt him soften up to me, and then I knew I could do anything with him.”
Craig Cameron was the front runner coming into the finals, although that wasn’t known until later, as all the judges’ scores were kept secret until after the finals.
Drawing the most challenging of the three horses, his expertise and training skills were apparent when he was able to ride the horse in the finals, a feat that many observers thought couldn’t happen after only four hours of training.
“I was disappointed not to win, especially after coming as far as I did with the horse,” said Cameron, who added, “I’ve done more of these than anybody, but this event is my favourite.”
Ken McNabb drew first in the order of go in the finals and demonstrated why he has such an excellent reputation as a trainer. But in a repeat performance of the training session earlier in the day, his horse dislodged him and he, again, landed on his feet.
“My horse came out a little nervy but he was coming along pretty good,” he said. “I felt I worked really hard on this colt, but I felt that I made some tactical errors.”
The last day of the Mane Event began with Cowboy Church led by Steve “The Mule Man” Edwards, along with Ken McNabb and Hugh McLennan, the voice of the Spirit of the West, who led the audience in singing.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with how things went this year,” said show organizer Gail Barker.
“We’ve only been doing this three years in Chilliwack, BC, but I think we have found the formula for giving the equine community what they want. And each year we learn what we can do even better.”
Barker said this year’s attendance was up substantially from the 17,000 who came through the doors last year.
The next stop for the Mane Event is the Clark County Exhibition Center in Ridgefield, Washington, February 9 to 11, the Event’s second appearance there.
And in April, the Mane Event will make its first appearance in Red Deer, AB, which has already attracted a lot of interest from exhibitors. It will run at the Westerner Park from April 27 to 29, 2007.
