Stacy Westfall First Woman Competitor at Road to the Horse

Westfall is excited to be the mystery contestant, the first woman in the event, and the youngest trainer in the ring at this year's Road to the Horse. Contributed Photo

Westfall, from Mt. Gilead, Ohio, is no stranger to the competition arena-or to being the mysterious challenger. She's known for her "mystery-rider" routine at horse shows across the U.S. Dressed in a dark trench coat, hat and bandana to cover her face, Westfall asked her horse to perform sliding stops and fast spins without reins and with musical accompaniment. In 2003, National Reining Horse Association Futurity fans leapt to their feet after her bridleless ride rated tops with the judges. She won without so much as a neck rope to control her horse. Instead, she relied on precise body cues to get precise movements and work well with her willing horse. Westfall is excited to be the mystery contestant, the first woman in the event, and the youngest trainer in the ring at this year's Road to the Horse.

"I was so excited when I was selected, but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone!" Westfall says. "I have won at big events like the NRHA Futurity and All American Quarter Horse Congress, but I consider the chance to compete at Road to the Horse to be an even bigger opportunity. I've been the mystery person before. I was the last draw at the futurity. No one knew who I was. And from my name, they didn't know if I was male or female. It was fun to be a mystery for Road to the Horse, too."

Bland says she chose Westfall from a pool of more than 15 clinicians. Stellar horsemanship and a drive to teach and entertain made her the perfect fourth contestant.

"Road to the Horse brings together the 'crème de la crème' of clinicians the horse industry has to offer," Bland says. "And this year it just so happened that one of those clinicians was a woman. Making history and being the first woman invited to Road to the Horse may carry some challenges that the gentleman will not encounter. Our hats are off to Stacy for embracing this opportunity and meeting the challenge. In turn, she will single-handily represent woman all over the world in her first challenge."

Vast horse experience is common ground with all the clinicians, but Westfall will also bring her competitive nature and show-ring experience to Road to the Horse. She says she's excited and honored to be in ranks with Cameron, Hargis and Black. "I'm curious to see how I'm received," she says. "I come from a show-horse training background rather than training horses for ranch work. It'll be interesting to see the training differences. I haven't started hundreds of colts each year, but the many I have started have done very well. I wonder how I'll be received-there's the surprise that the fourth person is a woman and a newcomer to the clinic scene."

Westfall is ready for action. "I've learned so much from competition. When I go out to show, it's interesting for me to see how well I can do. I go out there with the mentality that I'll do the best I can. I might win or might lose, but I'll do my best-that's all I can do. I want to do the same at Road to the Horse. It's either win or learn. I'll be happy when I've done the best job I can."

Westfall relies on natural training methods to start her young horses at Westfall Training Center-the ranch she and horse-training-husband Jesse own and call home (with their three young boys-Caleb, Joshua and Nathan). While she does start and train horses with halters and bridles, Westfall's goal is to help you learn to use your body to teach your horse how and where to be. Her video and accompanying booklet, How Does She Do That? Bridleless with Stacy Westfall and Can Can Lena is available at www.westfallhorsemanship.com. Note: The first 250 visitors after November 15 to westfallhorsemanship.com who sign up for the e-mail newsletter will be eligible to win a free copy of Westfall's DVD.

Tickets for Road to the Horse are on sale now at www.roadtothehorse.com.

Read on for an in-depth Q&A with Westfall:

Where were you when you found out that you were the one chosen? And how did it feel?
I was at the All American Quarter Horse Congress dressed to show in less than an hour. I felt excited and a little nervous. Friends and customers surrounded me because I was getting ready to show and I wanted to jump and yell, but instead I had to pull my husband aside and whisper in his ear, then go show my horse!Ê I was reserve that day, then I won the only class they sell admission tickets for later that week. I went home after the win - late at night - and got 4 hours of sleep. When I woke up, the first words I said were "ROAD TO THE HORSE." It was still becoming real to me.

Do you feel you have any advantages by being a woman? Disadvantages?
No. Any differences are more likely to come from different life experiences than gender.

Does gender play a part in colt starting? Yes and No. I believe that among the general public it is more common to see a difference in how men and women handle the horses. Women tend to be more timid and men tend to be more aggressive. As a man or a woman gets more educated, the women learn to be more aggressive and the men learn to be more gentle. By the time you are dealing with experienced horse people they tend to be well balanced.

Horse & Rider magazine recently asked, "Does your horse prefer Women or Men?" What do you think?
As for the horses, I think they will take you for who you are. They can come with opinions from previous experiences though. If they were beat or excessively spoiled they can look at men or women differently - but that outlook can generally be changed.

Is there more pressure in coming to RTTH as the first woman?
Yes. I think it'll be a constant topic.

When did you train your first colt? Where were you? How old were you?
Growing up in Maine, I always rode, but we didn't have a big place where I could work with lots of horses. I started riding when I was really little-on a Shetland pony named Misty who was trained to rear on command. I trained my first horse when I was a freshman in high school-about age 14. It was a $150 Standardbred I bought so I could learn to train. I had been to a few John Lyons' clinics when he traveled to New England. I watched, collected his handouts, and went home to try out everything I learned. I practiced everything in a friends' round pen-we didn't even have a round pen at the time. I followed the John Lyons' on Horses book chapter by chapter to train that first horse.

How many colts have your started in your lifetime-round about?
It's so difficult to count. Now, I start about 15 horses a year. Some are for clients; others are horses we purchased to start in reining. I've always been involved in the early training because my husband Jesse went to the shows and I was home with the kids and the young horses. It made sense for him to train the horses who were showing-so he could be with our clients at the shows. We split training pretty equally-Jesse and I will both jump in and work with young and older horses.

What horse gave you the most trouble?
A three year old dun we have now - named Maggie. She gave me so much trouble that we decided to buy her. I started her mother, her older half brother, and her full sister-the mare I ride bridleless now. I don't know why, but Maggie's just wired a little different. She didn't fit my usual training sequence. She was the horse that taught me to look at each horse individually, rather than to get into a rut of doing everything the same. My subconscious told me, she's not ready to ride. Still, I thought, she's had all kinds of sacking out and ground work. She was the first horse I'd been bucked off of in 8 years. I was getting in a rut of going through the steps, going through the same steps; the horses were all turning out fine, but Maggie was different. It was a wake up call to remember all horses are different and all should be treated as individuals. The same things that make her difficult also make her really neat. She has a lot of focus. She's easy to motivate and she's very intense. She's also very challenging-we do well together now. I'm up for a challenge.

What cowboy mentors do you study or look up to?
My first introduction to training was through John Lyons-his clinics and books. When I went to school at the University of Findlay, I had the chance to work for Dan Huss of Huss Performance Horses. He was one of my instructors. Clark Bradley, who was named AQHA Professional Horseman of the Year, was also an instructor when I was there. Mike Flarida helped me work with older horses. This summer I had the pleasure of meeting and riding with Pat Parelli at his ranch. I look forward to learning more from him. We go around to the horse shows and I enjoy being around all the big names. I love to see how they work with their horses. I have to say that my husband Jesse has been my biggest influence. He has such a passion for performance horses; he's introduced me to so much. I wouldn't be here without him.

What horse-related magazines do you get at your house?
Western Horseman, Horse & Rider, Equus, Quarter Horse News, NRHA Reiner, and Horse Illustrated. I went around at Equine Affaire and signed up for almost every magazine I could find.

What horse related TV shows do you watch?
I have a DVR and it's set up to record all the RFD-TV shows. At any time, I have about 100 hours of shows recorded. I watch Craig Cameron's show, Richard Winters, The Dressage Connection. I love horses. I love to watch anything about them and learn more as I go.

What made you want to be part of RTTH?
I've always liked colt starting. I heard about the show when it first started and watched the videos from every year.

What's different when you train a horse at RTTH versus how you train at home?
At home I'm not going to try to do everything in three hours. You can modify things, but if you have more time, you have a chance to work out the kinks. To an extent, It'll be luck of the draw. If you draw a tougher horse, you don't have as much time to add on all the extras that you could-or that you definitely would at home.

What do you want people to know about the event?
It's fun to see how clinicians adapt their usual training techniques to fit in the time frame. I heard Clinton say on the video that if he were at home, he'd spend days doing this or that. It's a challenge.

Any friendly warnings or words of wisdom for your competitors?
Have fun!

For more information about Road to the Horse, and to purchase tickets, visit www.roadtothehorse.com, or call 325-736-5000. Tickets are buy one get one free through December 1, 2005. Road to the Horse is sponsored by Horse & Rider, HiQual, Purina Mills, LLC, John Deere, Horsetrader and Samson.

Read the inverview with Martin Black.
Read the invterview with Craig Cameron.
Read the invterview with Van Hargis.