In the horse world where the typical scenario is one horse/one discipline, respected horseman Charles Wilhelm is taking another route.
Charles Wilhelm lunging a horse
Charles Wilhelm firmly believes that a Super Horse can appear in a parade one day, work cows the next, compete in an equitation class the following day — and more.
© 2013 by Charles Wilhelm
“I’ve always believed that every horse should be multi-talented, much like a versatile ranch horse,” says the California trainer and clinician. “Each and every horse should be able to quietly do a variety of tasks and exercises with confidence and success."
"Having a Super Horse is a great goal to shoot for, and even if you don’t accomplish that final ‘Super Horse’ level, the training process will help fill in any ‘holes’ in training the horse might have. For instance, I’ve seen top level dressage horses who shy at a cavaletti pole on the ground, and world class jumping horses who were out of control on an easy trail ride."
"These may be great horses at the one thing they do, but in my book they aren’t Super Horses. A Super Horse can appear in a parade one day, work cows the next, compete in an equitation class the following day — and more. The Super Horse can do all that with lightness, cadence, carriage, fluidity and responsiveness."
“After a number of successful Super Horse Clinics at my ranch for the past two years, the popularity of these events inspired me to create a super horse competition. I wanted the challenge to be a platform for horses and people to achieve a higher level of diversified performance and a greater level of refinement in their training and riding skills."
"So I decided to give people an opportunity to develop their horses to participate in a range of event, and created the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge that had its debut June 7-9 in Sacramento at the famous Western States Horse Expo,” smiles Wilhelm.
“One of the great bonuses of having the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge at Western States Horse Expo was that these horses were exposed to huge crowds, golf carts, babies crying, horses all around them, bursts of applause, loud speakers — all kinds of environments and noises that you can’t duplicate at home,” states Wilhelm. “It’s great exposure for the horse. You can’t buy that kind of training!”
The three days of competition included the following:
- Equitation and Trail Patterns: Including trot poles, sidepassing, up and down transitions, gate and bridge
- “Dancing with Cows TM”, and Working Pattern
- Super Horse Challenge Grand Finale: Extreme obstacles with the finalists, flag run, dragging and crossing a large tarp, pedestal, balls, jumps and more.
The Champion of the 3 –day challenge was Julie Lopez on her horse Pistol Pete. As champion, Julie won a saddle designed by Charles Wilhelm and made especially for her horse. She also received a beautiful Championship belt buckle provided by Western States Horse Expo, along with Clippers from Andis, Supplements from HorseTech and other great prizes.
The “Bar ALE” Reserve Champion was Krista Koenig on Gaelic Dancer, owned by Jill Von Ilton. Krista was presented a $500 cash prize, clippers from Andis, supplements from Horse Tech and other goodies.
Third place went to Don Moore on Nic-O-Lena, Fourth place was Carlena Kellogg on Bar Fifty Hank, and Fifth place went to Kari Bluff on Tax Day Cash.
The response from the audience, competitors and sponsors was overwhelmingly positive and future events are sure to be on the horizon. “The support of our sponsors was one of the real keys to making this event such a success,” says Wilhelm.
“I would like to thank our Super Horse Sponsors: Horse & Rider Magazine, Andis Clippers, HorseTech, Bar ALE, CowTrac and Ranch Sorting National Championships, and a big thank you to Miki Nelson, and Horse Expo for the opportunity to showcase the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge. We look forward to many more events.”