By Shawn Hamilton

As a self-professed rookie at the 2025 Road to the Horse World Championship of Colt Starting, I had many questions...

• How are the competitors judged and scored? 
• What is the Wild Card Challenge? 
• How are Championship competitors chosen?
• Where do the horses come from?

These questions and many more were answered, and the takeaways of how to build trust and connection with your horse through communication were abundant. For me, Road to the Horse was a memorable learning experience.

HOW ROAD TO THE HORSE WORKS

Purpose: To determine the top colt starter of the year. The winner proves that their horsemanship methods are superior by building a partnership through communication with an unbroken three-year-old colt, whose well-being is the priority.

Wild Card Challenge: Four competitors, selected from applicants, choose a three-year-old unbroken filly from the remuda of six provided by the Pitchfork Ranch in Texas, and are judged on their round pen work, saddling, mounting, and riding. The Wild Card Challenge follows the same rules as the Championship Competition, but the rounds are shorter and there is no obstacle course. The winner takes the fourth spot in the Championship Competition.

Championship Competitors: Three competitors are invited or chosen from applications, and the fourth spot is filled by the Wild Card Challenge winner. Their remuda consists of ten colts from Pitchfork Ranch and the order of choice is determined by a draw. 

SCORING

Rounds One and Two: 1 hour and 45 minutes each with a mandatory 15-minute break.

In a round pen, competitors are judged on catching, haltering, saddling preparation, introduction of rider, obstacle preparation, groundwork, general interaction, timing—reward and release, forward motion, willingness to guide/steer, progression of the colt’s softness and yields to pressure, clarity of message, and overall horsemanship, all heavily weighted by the colts demeanour and confidence throughout. 

Tik Maynard in the round pen with Goodluck Suncat.

In round two competitors may leave the round pen, mounted, for the larger arena for two ten-minute intervals. 

Final Round: Competitors have 20 minutes in the pen to catch, saddle, and mount while being judged, then 35 minutes outside the pen for rail work, the obstacle course, and overall riding. 

The combined scores for the three rounds determine the champion.

Competitors, equipped with a microphone, share with the spectators their methodology throughout the competition, creating a wealth of information for the audience.

TAKE AWAYS

Competitors share advice on their approaches to training:

Dustin Sippola, Cardston, AB

Wild Card Challenge competitor 

• Do a little bit and quit, little things can make a big difference.
• Don’t get stuck on just one trainer. Once you find one you learn best from, try to find others who train in a similar way. Everybody learns differently and sometimes it is just the way someone explains something.

Dustin Sippola works with his filly in Round 2 of the Wild Card Competition.

Buster McLaury, Texas

Wild Card Challenge winner, second place overall

• Horses in a herd are used to either having their feet moved by other horses or moving other horses’ feet. When they get with a human, they want to do the same.

Buster McLaury on his Wild Card filly.

Vicki Wilson, New Zealand

Championship competitor

• Curiosity is the key. I want him to be curious about what I want him to do.
• I am a trainer but also a teacher. I want to be a teacher that the horse likes. I don’t tell them off for doing something wrong, I simply tell them that is not the right answer.

Phil Haugen, Oklahoma

Championship competitor

• If you don’t communicate with a horse’s mind, then you will not get their body. When you have a horse’s thinking side of their brain, you can train them. You can convince or push them through something but then they are not thinking, they are just reacting.
• It is important to have a release. In our own mind we have the result, but we don’t have the plan. If you don’t understand what the release is, you cannot ask the question. How do you let the horse know what the answer is? You must find the release and be consistent with it.

Tik Maynard, born in Vancouver BC, residing in Florida

World Champion of Colt Starting for the second consecutive year 

• Observation — Observe the way the horse relates to other horses and to us. Learn when to back off before our horse tells us. Observe ourselves, our mood, which can affect our body language that the horse picks up on.
• Communication — Look for eye contact. When the horse engages, back off to give him space. Horses will go where they are looking.
• Motivation — Everything a horse does he does for a reason. There is always a puzzle to solve.
• Play — We can learn all the skills but then there will be something missing, and that is play. What play isn’t is a chore.

Related: Another Win for Tik Maynard at Road to the Horse

Related: Canada’s Dustin Sippola - Wild Card Challenge Competitor

More by Shawn Hamilton

Photos by Clix Photography

Main Photo: Dustin Sippola works with his filly in Round 2 of the Wild Card Competition.