QUARTERFEST CLINICIANS TEACH COLT STARTING, RANCH ROPING

America’s Horse, April 1, 2009 – Clinicians Jeff Griffith and Curt and Tammy Pate will help horse owners connect with their horses through clinics and demonstrations at QuarterFest: A Celebration of the American Quarter Horse at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. These three professional trainers will focus on ranch roping, cattle handling, horsemanship and colt starting May 1-3. They’ll also monitor a couple of fun trail and cattle-handling contests on the last day of QuarterFest.

AQHA Professional Horseman Jeff Griffith got a real sense of the right way to start colts while growing up on Montana’s 130,000-acre Flying D Ranch. Having spent most of his adult life cowboying, and starting and riding colts, Griffith feels fortunate to have spent time on some of the country’s biggest ranches. He worked closely with Joe Stiles at the King Ranch in Texas, has traveled with Buck Brannaman, and worked with and been around some of the country’s best horsemen including Barney Hinds, Cliff Kelmer, Tooter Waites, Buster Welch, Leon Harrel and Bob Lowe.

Griffith lives and breathes horses. He has dedicated his life to becoming an outstanding horseman. And despite the success he has achieved,Griffith never stops studying the horse and learning. He is continually looking for new and better ways to communicate with his equine partner, and with the people he teaches.

As a teacher, Griffith is practical and sincere. He is able to combine what he has learned from horses and horsemen, and communicate it to his students in an easy-to-understand manner. His simplistic style of teaching makes it easier, safer and more enjoyable to learn. His clinics are open to horses and riders at any level, from any discipline. He has received accolades from a wide variety of equine professionals including those involved in cutting, reining, team roping, tie-down roping, barrel racing, endurance riding, jumping, eventing, dressage and racing.

AQHA Professional Horseman Curt Pate will focus on beginning ranch roping, working with cattle, advanced ranch roping, and cattle and horseback ranch roping for his QuarterFest clinics. Curt is the featured clinician at AQHA Regional Experiences and a former columnist for America’s Horse.

Curt lives near Newell, South Dakota, and has been training horses and presenting demonstrations for more than 10 years. His experience and natural talent with horses has helped him assist countless owners as they work through problems with their animals. Even Hollywood leaned on him during the filming of the 1998 movie “The Horse Whisperer” as an equine technical advisor.

Curt’s low-stress method teaches respect for the horse as a partner rather than a servant. Curt strongly believes low-stress training causes high-performance horsemanship. When he’s not touring the country for AQHA, Curt can be found at his home in South Dakota, where he lives with wife, Tammy, son Rial and daughter Mesa.

Tammy Pate will be joining Curt at QuarterFest to headline a number of clinics and demonstrations on enhancing your partnership with your horse, women’s-only horsemanship and negotiating trail obstacles. She’ll also be available with some last-minute coaching and practice before the Trail Trials competition Sunday, May 3.

Tammy is proud to be known as a cowboy’s wife. Born into a ranching family, Tammy was literally raised on horseback. Her father was a rodeo cowboy, who spent his free time teaching young Tammy and her sisters all he knew about horses and riding.

Tammy’s grandmother instilled in her the deep values of the ranching life: a reverence for nature and the practical skills ranching families needed for the demands of their rural life.

Tammy married Curt, who was then a rodeo announcer, and followed him into the demanding life of managing a cow camp. Together, they developed innovative, gentle ways of training horses and managing livestock. Tammy is an accomplished clinician and presenter. Everyday ranch life has groomed a level of confidence in her that is visible to any audience, whether it be a group of horsewomen at a clinic in Montana or members of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.

Curt and Tammy also will pair up to put on the QuarterFest Stockmanship Contest on Sunday, May 3.

In addition to Jeff Griffith and Curt and Tammy Pate, the following clinicians will be at QuarterFest providing clinics and demonstrations all weekend long: Julie Goodnight of Salida, Colorado; Bob Avila of Temecula, California; Christy Landwehr of Aurora, Colorado; and Bo Winslow of Estes Park, Colorado.

You can participate in as many clinics as you’d like with your general admission ticket to QuarterFest. For an additional fee, you can bring your horse to the clinics; however, there will be a limited number of spots for attendees with horses. Reserve your spot now! Visit www.aqha.com/quarterfest to see the complete schedule of events and to order your tickets.

QuarterFest is a three-day, education-packed celebration of the American Quarter Horse Association’s 68^th anniversary where AQHA members and horse enthusiasts from around the world will gather in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, May 1-3 for fun, entertainment and festivities to honor the world’s most versatile horse – the American Quarter Horse. Our sponsors – Tractor Supply, B&W Trailer Hitches, John Deere, Justin Boots, Merial, Nutrena, Professional’s Choice, Bank of America, Montana Silversmiths, Farnam and Wrangler – share our passion for horses and are an integral part of QuarterFest.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal, The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal or America’s Horse, visit www.aqha.com/magazines.