Page 28 - November 2013 ST
P. 28
news
The Atwood Challenge
your knowledge of quadrilles doesn’t extend beyond Jenny Trainor, MT
Jerilyn Caldwell, TX
“What’s a quadrille?”, you have to be impressed AR SANAMAC, “Mac” AR CATS A BLAZIN, “Jesse
by the level of coordination, communication and
Colonel Doc Bar Chex x AR James”
teamwork it takes to perform a ive-person and ive- Sanalea Powder by Powder Colonel Doc Bar x Ellie Rey
horse maneuver like that.
River Playboy
Cat by High Brow Cat
Nate Bowers was joined by Molly Sanders and
Reg #5465308
Reg # 5486133
Sharon Carr for an Introduction to Driving session. Bay gelding
Bay gelding
I can’t recall whether the session was actually titled DOB 2-27-12
DOB 5-22-12
“Introduction to Driving” or not, but there was a fair
amount of introducing taking place, as Molly’s horse Margit Deerman, CA
Jake Biernbaum, VA
was hooked up to the cart (dutifully hauled into the AR ESPECIAL CABERNET, AR DASHIN THRU BARS,
arena by Jake Biernbaum) for the irst time.
“Gator”
“Wyatt”
Nate mentioned that, when done well, “a driving Especials Peppy Jay x AR Colonel Doc Bar Chex x
lesson should be like watching paint dry. When Colonels Cowgirl by Colonel First Doc Down by First
things get exciting, you’re probably in trouble.” Well, Doc Bar Chex
Down Dash
Nate had the entire session under control, and things Reg # 5474756
Reg # 5486134
never got “exciting” in the negative sense, but the Chestnut gelding
Sorrel gelding
audience was enthralled by the lesson, and you could DOB 3-24-12
DOB 5-23-12
tell they left wanting more.
Linda, meanwhile, had a three-day session series Maurice Thibault, CA
David & Jody Ellis, CA
of her own. Throughout the weekend, she worked AR HOW BOUTA DATE, AR HOUSTON SKYLINE,
with Jennifer Steenbakkers and her horse Wolf for a “Bart”
“Houston”
Game of Contact riding makeover. Jennifer and Wolf Colonel Doc Bar Chex x AR Mr Skyline Peppy x
made some pretty spectacular progress – within My Kinda Date by Powder Aristocratic Hi Brow by
30 minutes of Jennifer entering the arena for the River Playboy
Smart Aristocrat
irst time on Friday, Linda had already said, “Wow, Reg # 5470885 Reg # 5473255
Jennifer, you are doing great” about six times. On Sorrel gelding Red dun gelding
Sunday morning, Linda rode Highland as Jennifer DOB 3-23-12
DOB 3-30-12
rode Wolf, and the song choice – “Change” by
Churchill – couldn’t have been more apt. Jennifer Teri Sprague, CO
John & Kathy Baar, KY
truly looked like a totally diferent rider than the one AR BOUND FOR SILVER, AR IMA BLONDE BUCK,
who entered the arena on Friday afternoon.
“Joy”
“Snoopy”
Now, I’m going to take you on a quick detour, back Snowbound (TB) x AR Playboys Buck Fever x AR
to mid-August, a few weeks before the Summit took Totally Blonde by Colonel Im Convinced by Colonel
place. I was reading an updated production schedule Doc Bar Chex
Doc Bar Chex
for the show, and I noticed a phrase that sort of stuck Reg # X0706256
Reg # 5493212
out: “The Atwood Challenge.” I was familiar with the Gray illy
Palomino gelding
Atwood Ranch and their team, but I wasn’t sure how DOB 4-21-12
DOB 4-28-12
they planned on integrating that into some sort of
“challenge” format that would only take 30 minutes.
Well, fast-forward to Saturday, and my questions
were answered: eight Atwood horses were brought the coming year. They would all be brought back to
into the arena, quickly followed by the Atwood team, the 2014 Summit, where they would be sold, with
who introduced eight Parelli Professional teams (10 100% of the proceeds going to the Parelli Education
Professionals total). Once the whole gang was in the Institute (pretty cool, huh?). Led by Pat, each of the
arena, the Atwood Challenge was introduced.
Professionals picked a number out of a hat, with the
Basically, it looks like this: each of the Atwood lowest number choosing their horse from the herd,
horses would go to the home of a Parelli Profes- then the next lowest number, and so on. The “teams”
sional, who would spend time starting them over
are listed in the sidebar above.
26 | Savvy Times November 2013
