For 30 years, my wife and I owned and operated our retail store. In 2004, I was bitten by the horse bug. Immediately I knew I wanted to become part of the equine industry. Self-taught from television horsemanship clinicians on RFD-TV, in 2015 I entered a "mustang makeover" type event. My horse for the project had been in the wild for 9 years roaming free with a herd of feral horses in Tehachapi, CA . He went straight from the catch pen to the back of my horse trailer. I named him "Scratch" for two reasons. One, bite marks and scars covered his body from fights with other horses as he tried to maintain his position in the wild herd. Two, that's where both of us were starting from in the training process.
From mid-June until October I worked with him and we placed 4th in a field of 8 at the Vaquero Heritage Trainers Challenge (six trainers made their living training horses). I documented my progress in my podcast about horses, The Whoa Podcast, and on my YouTube channel. Not many folks are lucky enough to claim they started their first horse at age 60! Today, Scratch and I compete in ETI Trail Challenges and Ranch Versatility horse shows.
When I'm not riding, I edit podcasts, create videos, and look for stories in the cowboy and equine world.
If you have a project that needs help, contact me. I love collaborating with creative people.