Cowboys & Colts

By: Melody Perry

On September 14th and 15th horse trainers from around the US gathered at the Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds to compete in the 3-and-a-half-hour-long Colt Starting Challenge USA. Competitors had just over three hours to saddle, ride, and desensitize an unbroken colt or filly. After two days of quick competition, Brady Babcock placed first, Karl Starkey placed second, and James Maze placed third; each won prize money and points toward the Las Vegas Final.

In first place, Brady Babcock of Moore, Idaho, was paired with a chestnut mare named Wendy. Babcock was easily the fastest competitor of the event, having his horse saddled and going through tricky obstacles before anyone else.

In second place, Karl Starkey of Helena Montana, was paired with a Pinto Quarter Horse gelding named Gus. Starkey focused on getting Gus to focus and respect him for the first day.

In third place, James Maze of Arlington, Washington, was paired with a three year old Quarter Horse mare named Rainee. Maze took his time on groundwork which was a big portion of the final score and a huge part of natural horsemanship.

The final competitor--who wasn’t included in the overall running--Russell Beatty from Burlington, Washington, was paired with a dapple grey Arabian gelding named Q. Beatty,like Maze, focused on groundwork but threw in more obstacles such as barrels and tarps than Maze who focused mostly with just a rope.

By the end of the first day, all horses had been saddled, and three had been ridden.

On day two, competitors had one hour in the round pen. Then if they chose, they had half an hour in a full arena to ride around and get their horses ready for the obstacle course. All but Maze and Rainee opted to take down the round pens for the final half hour.

For the finale, all competitors had twelve minutes to ride around an obstacle course consisting of weaving through large cones, walking over tarps, picking up all four feet, roping a barrel, dragging a log, and walking between a zig-zag of poles.

Q and Russell took their time through the course at the end, when Russel forgot to drag a log he hopped off his horse to do it by hand, exclaiming ‘Nobody said you had to be on your horse!’

Gus and Karl also took their time going through the course. Gus displayed his talents by performing a bow when asked to pick up his feet and helping Karl pick up the rope off a barrel. They finished with a sliding stop by the entrance gate after an upbeat canter.

James and Rainee were unable to mount up and ride the course, but the pair were still given a hearty round of applause.

Our final competitor, Brady and Wendy made themselves the clear winners after they finished with minutes to spare, even unsaddling and riding around in a neck rope and bareback. The pair were given a standing ovation as the competition came to a close.

The competition’s owner and creator Cristy Beatty and her husband Russell—who was also competing—went over the rules and their mission for the event.

Beatty pushes natural horsemanship which she describes as, “Training the way [that] horses move in a herd.” They urge trainers to work on being the “lead mare” to their horse first, which will, in the end, set them up for success, as well as give horses practice with pressure and release and controlling their feet.

They’ve held over 20 events so far in 2018, visiting many states that include California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, North Carolina, Florida, South Dakota, and many more.