Chris Cox made history Sunday as the first horseman to win Road to the Horse three times. All things considered, this colt-starting contest between Cox, Clinton Anderson, and Pat Parelli was the hardest-fought of the eight held so far. Each of the three young horses, sired by different stallions and pasture raised on the famous 6666 ranch, tried hard to unseat his rider. Only Parelli’s horse was successful, and the buckoff in round one, although graceful, may have cost Parelli the win.Once again, I had the pleasure of hosting the event. This time, two past RTTH winners, Stacy Westfall and Richard Winters, assisted with commentary from a perch high above the arena. Our running analysis aimed to make the action easier to understand for viewers in the stands and on the web. Judging from the comments I received, we were successful.
Road to the Horse just might be the most highly anticipated event of the year for American horse lovers. Although it is a celebration of the methods and philosophies of natural horsemanship, the competition does seem to fly in the face of one very important NH principle: Allowing the horse to set the pace for training. Fine trainers such as Cox, Anderson, and Parelli have the skill to negotiate those treacherous waters. Most of the rest of us don’t. Bottom line: Don’t try this at home, kids.
Congrats once again to Chris Cox.
5 comments:
Way to go Chris.... A no thrills guy, as he is, Chris exemplifies the natural relationship between a horse and a human.
He really connects with the horse... We should look at his lineage..LOL maybe he is part horse!
Mike
Interesting that all three have some connection to Australia.
Very different views from the Anderson and Parelli camps.
Pretty cool that Chris cox took out the prize.
They were all wonderful. Not clear to me who would be the winner but Chris did the best on the obstacles but had the horse that was sure looking for a leader an that makes it a lot easier. Pats was friendly and curious and Clinton's very flighty and athletic. What wonderful horse the 6666's are raising! I think they were the best ramuda so far in all the years it has been on.
To be fair, all 3 are some of the best at what they do. I personally think anderson won. He always has the best free style and his method works better than any of the others, that from all the folks I talk to. RTTH was great this year and Cox's win was fair....but a lot of us, about 2/3, did not pay out all that money to listen to Parelli turn this event into his personal clinic. It was unsportsman like, and completely unacceptable for alot of us. Please be an advocate for the 2/3 of us that were not there to listen to him. I hope you allow this to be posted. Thank you.
Konnie - With all due respect, you're missing the point of RTTH...the purpose of teaching. All three men are teachers and equally gifted with the ability to communicate their ideas. The fact that one shook hands with the opportunity to share what he was doing is hardly a quality to be faulted; any great teacher will tell you that.
Great minds discuss ideas,
Mediocre minds discuss events,
And small minds discuss people.
Congrats to Chris for a job well done!
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