Some of the Outstanding Presenters at This Equine Affaire
Michael Barisone has been making his mark in the world of international dressage
competition for nearly two decades. During his illustrious career he has won more than
100 CDI Grand Prix events on eight different horses, been a member of or alternate
rider for three United States Olympic Teams, and won CDI Grand Prix competitions on
three continents. In addition to excelling as a competitor, Mr. Barisone has been a
member of the United States Equestrian Federation’s High Performance in Dressage
Committee and the USEF’s Selection Committee for the Olympic Games, and he
currently serves as a member of the USEF’s Board Directors. At Michael Barisone
Dressage Stables in Long Valley, NJ, and Loxahatchee, FL, Mr. Barisone uses a
systematic approach to developing dressage horses from three-year-olds to Grand Prix
competitors. He has authored numerous articles on dressage topics for Practical
Horseman, The Chronicle of the Horse, and Dressage Today, and recently brought
dressage to a national audience hosting the Steven Colbert Report on television.
Carol Coppinger is a Licensed 6 Star Master Instructor with Parelli Natural Horse-ManShip, an elite member of the Parelli Professional Board of Directors, and an advisory
member of the Board of Directors of the Parelli Education Institute. As a Master
Instructor she travels from her home in Mount Juliet, TN, throughout the United States,
Australia, and the United Kingdom teaching the fundamentals of the Parelli program and
instilling in horse owners the knowledge and confidence they need to be “just what their
horses are looking for.” Through her clinics Ms. Coppinger focuses on communicating
with horses without the use of force, fear, or intimidation and teaches ways to handle
horses that are aligned with their unique language. In addition to being an expert on the
Parelli methods, Carol Coppinger has competed in various English and western
disciplines and driving events. She has several world championship titles to her credit
within the easy gaited horse realm.
Janet Foy is widely-recognized within the dressage world as an accomplished
competitor, coach, judge, technical delegate, and voice for the dressage discipline.
Though she rode western and hunters at an early age and was named "Girl of the
West" for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in 1973, Janet Foy discovered dressage while
living in Oxford, England. Ms. Foy has won her USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals,
and her students have also won many Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals as well. Janet
Foy is an FEI 4* judge, USEF "S" Dressage Judge, and an USEF Sport horse "R"
Breeding Judge. Recently she was promoted as an FEI Technical Delegate. She has
judged at all major dressage shows in the United States and judged national
championships and CDI***/W in nine foreign countries as well as the FEI World Cup
League Finals for the United States, Canada, and Australia. Janet Foy was on the
panel that selected the United States teams for the Olympic Games in Athens, Beijing,
and London; for the 2006 and 2010 World Equestrian Games; and for the 2007 Pan
American Games. Ms. Foy has served the dressage community as a member of the
USDF Executive Board and the USA Equestrian Board of Directors, and as a member
of the federation Dressage Committee and the International High Performance
Dressage Committee. She is on the USDF "L" Faculty and instructs federation judges
training programs throughout the United States for dressage and sport horse breeding.
Ms. Foy writes articles for various horse magazines and was involved in producing and
writing the scripts—as well as doing the voice overs—for several USDF judges training
videos and USDF On The Levels. Her first book, Dressage for the Not-So-Perfect
Horse, was released in 2012, and her most recent, The Dressage Rider’s Problem
Solver, will be available soon. Janet Foy resides and trains in Colorado Springs, CO,
and winters in Wellington, FL.
Dana Hokana currently operates Dana Hokana Quarter Horses in Temecula, CA, and
is one of the top female trainers in the Quarter Horse industry. During her impressive
training career she has trained multiple youth and amateur horses and riders that have
earned Top Ten placings and championships in western pleasure, horsemanship,
western riding, trail, and reining at both the All American Quarter Horse Congress and
the AQHA World Show. Riding her stallion, Invested Dimension, Dana Hokana
captured an AQHA Reserve World Championship title in senior western pleasure. In
order to educate horse owners and riders about the fundamentals of horse handling and
horsemanship as well as how to compete at the highest levels in the show arena Ms.
Hokana has produced 19 DVDs titled The Winning Strides Series. She also contributes
articles on training topics to a broad range of Web sites and publications including
PleasureHorse.com, the California Horsetrader, Horse Circuit News, Bit and Bridle,
Horses Magazine, Cowgirls in Style, Western Horse U.K., Saddle Up Magazine, and the
Quarter Horse Journal. Ms. Hokana regularly shares her horse training expertise
through private clinics and appearances at horse expos throughout the United States.
Breeding and showing Belgian draft horses has been a tradition in Ray Houston’s
family for more than 80 years. Mr. Houston owns, operates, and trains at Triple Star
Farms in East China, MI, a private draft horse facility that houses 15-20 Belgian and
Percheron horses in training to compete internationally in driving and halter competition.
Ray Houston and his horses have competed successfully at and won all major draft
horse shows in the United States including the 2009/2010 Draft Horse World
Championship and the North American Belgian Championship. In addition to his draft
horse operation and training and driving activities, Ray Houston owns Houston’s Tack &
Feed and operates a 50-horse boarding facility. He develops custom feed programs for
specific breeds and disciplines, and Houston’s Tack & Feed supplies feed and
supplements for draft and light breeds at equine facilities throughout southeastern
Michigan. Ray Houston writes for the Draft Horse Journal and is an active member of
several draft horse associations.
Marc Johnson’s niche within the horse world is within the realm of pleasure and
competitive driving. During his competitive career, Mr. Johnson has navigated single,
pairs, and four-in-hand teams at FEI events in both Europe and here in the United
States including representing the United States at the World Pair Driving
Championships in 1993. From his home base in Hamilton, MA, Marc Johnson currently
focuses on carriage driving, including competing, teaching, and marathon course design
at all levels. He is a USEF course designer who has designed many driving courses
including the one at Black Prong Equestrian Centre in Florida, the winter home of
Maureen and Alan Aulson. He has further served the driving community as a selector
for the U.S. Four–in-Hand Team and as the Northeast Director and combined driving
Technical Delegate for the American Driving Society.
Kerry Kuhn developed his Practical Horsemanship methods through years of training
ranch, family, and trail horses as well as world class equine competitors for the
performance and rodeo arenas. Mr. Kuhn shares his simple yet effective approach to
horsemanship through his weekly HRTV television show, “Ridin’ Horses with Kerry
Kuhn.” For more than a decade he has traveled from his ranch in Kansas to private
facilities and horse expos throughout the United States to share his training
philosophies. He is featured on the online Western Horseman horsemanship series
“Ask our Expert,” serves as a national ambassador for Purina Mills’ Equine Influential
Team, and has been the official clinician on “Best of America by Horseback” for many
years. Mr. Kuhn is the author of an ongoing video series and several training DVDs,
and his training tips have been featured in several equine industry publications.
From his home at Windswept Stables in Brodhead, KY, Gary Lane specializes in
helping the owners of easy gaited horses “find the magic” in their horses. During the
course of his extensive career, Mr. Lane has worked with virtually all easy gaited breeds
from Tennessee Walkers and Missouri Fox Trotters to Paso Finos and Icelandics. His
definition of horse training is “the art of influencing and directing your horse to obtain his
willing obedience in the accomplishment of a task,” and he works with both novice and
professional gaited horse riders to develop free going horses with smooth easy going
gaits. As a result of his experience as a military commander in Desert Storm and a
Kentucky police detective, Mr. Lane believes that leadership has an important role in
training any horse and that step-by-step structure is an important teaching tool for both
horses and riders. He shares his training program through a best-selling book titled
Training the Gaited Horse, From the Trail to the Rail, and three training videos/DVDs on
understanding and training gaited horses.
Kenda Lenseigne of Phoenix, AZ, has done what no other woman in history has done:
win all of the major championship titles in the sport of cowboy mounted shooting. Ms.
Lenseigne has ridden her horse and shot her way to the Cowboy Mounted Shooting
Association’s Overall World Champion title, to two Overall National Champion titles,
numerous regional Overall Champion titles, and five World Point Champion Cowgirl
titles—while also setting 11 time world records. In just a few short years Kenda
Lenseigne has raised the bar in the sport of cowboy mounted shooting as a competitor,
instructor, trainer, and business woman and generated a lot of attention as an
ambassador for this exciting discipline. In addition to a busy competition schedule, Ms.
Lenseigne travels throughout the United States teaching clinics and sharing her passion
for mounted shooting. She is a staff writer for Western Shooting Horse Magazine and
has had instructional articles published in Western Horseman, CMSA Rundown, and
Western Shooting Horse. She has been the topic of articles in numerous western
riding, rodeo, and western lifestyle magazines and been featured on several television
programs.
Guy McLean is a self-taught, Australian-born horse trainer and teacher who possesses
an uncanny ability to entertain an audience with his magnetic personality, authentic
bush poetry, quick wit, cracking stock whips, and almost supernatural connection with
horses. Through a complete love of horses and a burning desire to “find better ways” of
building relationships with horses, Mr. McLean developed his own training methods
which “ask” the horse to do the job as a partner. He has won multiple colt starting
championships in Australia and America, is a two-time Australian Bush Poetry
Champion, and was recognized as the “Ambassador of the Outback” in 2002 and 2006.
Mr. McLean grew up on the Susan River with his family running the Susan River
Homestead Adventure resort and has performed and taught horsemanship throughout
Australia for many years. While maintaining a home base in Australia Guy McLean now
travels throughout the United States to perform and present at prominent equestrian
events including the World Equestrian Games, the National Rodeo Finals, Dressage at
Devon, the Washington International Horse Show, and major equine expos and fairs.
He has produced an educational DVD series to share his training approaches and
philosophy with riders of all disciplines.
Molly Powell is a million-dollar barrel racer with an impressive list of competitive
accomplishments that includes 50 championship qualifications. Ms. Powell first became
involved in professional rodeo at the age of 10 and quickly took the barrel racing arena
by storm. In 2002 she swept up a Gold Medal at the Olympic Command Performance
in which she competed on a borrowed horse with borrowed tack. She earned the title of
2004 World Reserve Champion Barrel Racer, won the Calgary Stampede $50,000
Bonus Round, and was Reserve Grand Champion at the 2007 Ariat Tour Finals. In
both 2010 and 2012 Ms. Powell was a Top Ten Finalist at the Calgary Stampede.
Between championship runs and training her next group of winning horses at her home
in Stephenville, TX, Ms. Powell travels across the country to offer advice and guidance
to aspiring barrel racers. She also takes a contemporary approach to coaching by
offering online lessons to barrel horse riders who submit video to her for review.
Bernie Traurig has amassed 53 years’ worth of training and riding techniques and
experiences working with thousands of horses and is recognized not only for his riding
talents and accomplishments, but for his teaching and coaching gifts as well. As a
competitor, Mr. Traurig represented the United States Equestrian Team both at home
and abroad on many occasions and excelled in show jumping, dressage, and eventing.
As a junior rider Bernie Traurig won both the AHSA Medal and ASPCA Maclay Finals,
and during his adult career he won more than 60 show jumping Grand Prixs and
competed in eight World Cup Finals. On dressage mounts he won 15 Grand Prixs and
Grand Prix Special Classes and was short-listed for the 1986 World Championship trials
and the 1988 Olympic Games. For his vast accomplishments in the show hunter arena,
Mr. Traurig was inducted into the USEF’s National Show Hunter Hall of Fame in 2009.
He received further recognition as the recipient of the United States Hunter Jumper
Association’s Distinguished Presidents Service Award in 2012. Bernie Traurig is now
an avid coach who currently promotes the American hunter/jumper forward riding
system and offers equestrian coaching sessions for all jumping disciplines through
EquestrianCoach.com, an online coaching program which he developed to provide
affordable and accessible education. He also shares his expertise through articles in
Practical Horseman, The Chronicle of the Horse, Riding, and other magazines.
Tommie Turvey, known to many as the Equine Extremist, grew up on the backs of
horses and is now one of the most sought-after entertainers and trainers in the equine
industry. From Liberty Horse Ranch in Summerville, GA, Mr. Turvey travels the world
performing at most major rodeos, horse shows, and horse expos with his memorable
American Paint Horses, Pokerjoe, Joker, and Ace. Pokerjoe and Joker are stars in their
own right having been immortalized as Breyer® horse models. In addition to his talent
as an entertainer, Tommie Turvey is in high demand for his skills as a horse trainer,
clinician, and stuntman. He and horses trained by him have been involved in numerous
major movies and hit television productions over the years. Most recently he trained the
Budweiser Clydesdales for their highly-anticipated Superbowl commercial. Tommie
Turvey has dedicated his life to bringing the power and beauty of the horse to the
forefront through inspiring performances and he regularly shares his training expertise
and philosophy through clinics across the nation.
Great insight and an effective teaching style have made Stacy Westfall one of the most
popular and sought-after clinicians in the horse industry. Ms. Westfall developed her
natural horsemanship techniques through years of training horses for reining
competition. During her career, she rode with numerous influential trainers and reining
competitors including Dan Huss, Clark Bradley, Rusty Dare, and Mike Flarida. Stacy
Westfall is an AQHA and NRHA Freestyle Reining Champion who impressed the horse
world twice by winning while riding both bridleless and bareback. Her famous 2006
Freestyle Championship ride, seen by millions on the Internet, led to an appearance on
the Ellen Degeneres show in 2008. In addition to her accomplishments within the
reining arena, Stacy Westfall is the first woman to take part in (and win) the Road to the
Horse competition. With her husband, Jesse, she presents clinics at venues throughout
the nation to inspire and teach people how to build better relationships with their horses.
Jeff Wilson is a dedicated spokesperson for western dressage, a new equestrian
discipline with origins on the West Coast. Mr. Wilson has been starting and training
horses under saddle and working with problem horses of a variety of breeds on a
professional basis for more than 30 years. He recently became enthused with the
emerging sport of western dressage because he believes that it represents “the next
level of horsemanship” that all riders should understand in order to build better
partnerships with their horses. At his western dressage clinics, Jeff Wilson teaches
classic dressage concepts and movements in a fun and easy-to-understand manner.
He is also writing a manual on western dressage to complement what he teaches in his
clinics. For the past 26 years Jeff Wilson has bred and trained Black Willow Morgans in
Delhi, NY. He is the creator of the Black Willow Western Dressage Drill Team,
America’s first drill team focused on western dressage. At the 2010 World Equestrian
Games he demonstrated the virtues of western dressage with one of his Morgan
stallions.
For more than three decades, Richard Winters has dedicated himself to honing his
horsemanship skills and passing his knowledge on to others. His vast training
experience includes starting hundreds of horses that have gone on to almost every
equine discipline imaginable. Richard Winters is an avid National Reined Cow Horse
Association (NRCHA) competitor and world champion as well as the winner of the Paso
Robles, CA, Equine Experience $10,000 Colt Starting Challenge in 2007 and the Road
to the Horse competition in 2009. In addition to his competitive pursuits, Mr. Winters
has judged the Supreme Extreme Mustang Make-Over, many NRCHA club shows, and
a myriad of expo contests. His masterful communication skills with horses and humans
have made him a favorite at clinics, horse expos, and symposiums throughout the
United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Europe. In 2007 he was the recipient of
the Monty Roberts Equitarian Award for outstanding achievements in horse/human
relationships. Richard Winters regularly shares his expertise through articles in
numerous equine publications and Web sites and his Richard Winters Horsemanship
TV show on HRTV Channel 404 on Dish Network. He and his wife currently reside in
Reno, Nevada.
Jimmy Wofford is a five-time Olympic medalist who is internationally renowned as a
leading competitor, trainer, and coach in the field of eventing. Mr. Wofford was born
and raised on a horse farm in Kansas where he first learned to ride under the
experienced tutelage of his father, Col. John Wofford. Col. Wofford was a retired
cavalry officer who was a member of the 1932 Olympic squad. Jimmy Wofford was a
member of the USET’s Three Day Event squad from 1965 to 1985, and he rode on the
1968, 1972, and 1980 (alternate) Olympic teams. He won an individual silver medal in
1980, an individual bronze in 1970, team silver medals in 1968 and 1972, and a team
bronze in 1978. He also competed on the 1970 and 1978 World Championship squads
and was a five-time winner of the U.S. National Combined Training Championships. Mr.
Wofford attended Rutgers University and graduated from the business school at the
University of Colorado. He has served as Vice President of the United States
Equestrian Team, as a member of the Board of Directors and as President of the
American Horse Shows Association, and as a member of the Board of the United States
Combined Training Association. He has had at least one student on every Olympic and
World Championship Team since 1978.