The Official Site of the Appalachian Face Off

All Appalachian Trainer Face Off horses will receive approximately 100 days of kind, knowledgeable and thorough training by one of our approved contestant trainers leading up to A TWO Day event during the 5th Annual Heart of Phoenix Open Fun Show on August 25th and 26th of 2017.

This event takes place at the Winfield Riding Arena.

Prior to August 25th, Applications for adoption of any of the 8 contest rescue horses will be accepted and processed. Approved candidates may BID on the horses starting on August 25th at 7am. Bids will be accepted until approximately 7pm (will be steamed live on Facebook with exact time) on August 26th, following the close of the event and the announcement of the winner of the event, as well as winner adopters of each horse.

Heart of Phoenix Adoptions are set up for the adopters’ and horses’ benefit like a lease agreement.

Our goal always to get each adoptable horse into a long term, quality home!

. To be able to adopt, you must apply and have pre-approval here.

Trainers will receive any adoption fees over $500 for each horse, as a thank you for their hard work on their FACE OFF horse’s training!

Horses will be adoptable to the highest BIDDING Approved Adopter.

Adopters may bid online during the event, as well, and they do not need to be present, but they must be pre-approved. Adopted horses must be picked up within 3 days, or the bid goes to the next adopter.

Heart of Phoenix is SO very excited!

Appalachian Trainer Face Off has began.

If you aren’t following, please like the page and visit the blog at:
www.appalachiantrainerfaceoff.com

We are so blessed to be able to begin something here that will serve to help horses in an innovative way never done before right here and rarely done elsewhere in the USA.

We are really over the moon!

To imagine this number of HOP rescue horses receiving one on one training by hugely talented trainers giving their time as volunteers all at once for 100 days and then coming together to compete and show us ALL how amazing a Rescue horse that someone neglected, abused and threw away can be with the RIGHT Horseman or woman!?!?

My heart can barely, just barely. . .take it!

So again, the basics:

8 rescue horses.
8 trainers.
100 days culminating in an epic two day event in August during Heart of Phoenix Open Fun Show and Appalachian Trainer Face Off, which is open to the public.
Trainers will build interest in their horses all of this time, and applications will be accepted starting now, and APPROVED ADOPTERS will be able to bid via in person and online at the end of the show and competition!
The winner will have bragging rights, prizes and there will also be a FAN FAVORITE!

We are still looking for corporate, business and individual sponsors to complete the awards and prizes packages. Be part of something amazing!

The Trainers selected their horses today:

Mike Hurst of Mike Hurst Horsemanship is paired up with Fancy Nancy (originally Paladin, but due to lameness, a new horse was substituted)

Olivia Dixon from Dixon Equine LLC and A pony known as Satan was paired with Zoey (originally Luna, but due to some heaves type symptoms once moved to Ky, a new horse was substituted)

Dan Hull from Dakota Stables selected Rory (recently sent to us from Charming Acres in Pa)

Aubrey Adkins Pyles  from Adkins Quarter Horses selected Soleil

Chloe Adkins, our Youth competitor, selected Dori

Rebecca Francis for Sunni Bell Stables selected Dempsey

Nicole Valeri of Pinnacle Stables selected Vato

Adam Black of Adam Black Horsemanship selected Dune, and Dune came to us as free roaming horse likely born on the Kentucky Stripmines through Kentucky Equine Humane Center (amazing when rescues can work together for the horses)

Over the next 8 DAYS, we will be doing Horse / Trainer write ups, linking you to their pages individually in those posts and asking you to decide. . .Who are you for?

#hopTeamNancy
#hopTeamDune
#hopTeamVato
#hopTeamRory
#hopTeamDori
#hopTeamSoleil
#hopTeamDempsey
#hopTeamZoey

We are pleased to announce the full line up for the Appalachian Trainer Face Off!

The Selected Trainers:

Mike Hurst

Adam Black

Aubrey Adkins Pyles

Olivia Dixon

Nicole Valeri 

Rebecca Francis 

Jay Lewis

Dan Hull

Chloe Adkins

Judges are:

Michael Lyons

Tim Clyne

Susan Sunday

And most importantly, the horses luck enough to have ended up in a rescue willing to go the extra mile to facilitate the best start possible for them, as well as work to make the equine industry and public aware that rescue horses are awesome are. . .

Click here for the horse list.

Horses will be selected by drawing on May 15th in Lesage, WV. Trainers will draw numbers and will select based on the lowest number drawn with respect to selecting horses that are a suitable size for the trainer, as a few of these horses are quite small.

The following dates are firmly set. The general format is, as well, but a few elements are subject to change.

May 15, 2017 at 1pm:

First Number Draw Date for trainers to select their rescue horses at Mulligan Farms, Lesage, WV (10 minutes from Huntington, WV). This is the newest location of Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue.

June 1st, June 15th, July 1st, July 15th, August 1st, August 15th and August 20th:

2 videos with updates are due by trainers twice a month during the 90-100 day Face Off Training portion of the event. We recommend trainers create their own Facebook training page, if they do not have one already, as Heart of Phoenix will build interest in YOUR horse for the competition through these updates and videos. You are welcome to submit more often, and they will be widely sponsored and circulated by the rescue to our many thousands of followers on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and beyond. This is your chance to market yourself as the BEST of Appalachia before the weekend competition even arrives. Use it wisely!

 August 25th and 26th:

At the Winfield Show Grounds and Riding Arena

5449 WV-34, Winfield, WV 25213

This will be a Friday and Saturday event. The top half of competing trainers will move on to the Obstacle Course and Free Style Performance portion Saturday. The event closes with an awards ceremony, prizes and “Auction.” Learn more about the Auction portion and how this is a portion of the event that will allow the trainers to “earn” more than prizes and bragging rights for their participation.

In an effort to provide a fuller selection for trainers, we may bring in a few additional horses by May 15th. As the rescue is constantly helping other horses, should a trainer’s horse come up lame or ill, we will have replacement options for the trainers.

Trainers and Judges are asked to join this group for easy communication, sharing of videos, photos and so forth, as the competition progresses.

Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, as well as the Appalachian Trainer Face Off page, will share any and all updates, linked to the trainer’s page, to encourage wide engagement of our audience and potential adopters and future clients of the trainers.

Points will be assigned  based on:        

Unable to complete task, Able to complete, Able to complete well or Able to excel

Events scored will include:

Day One, August 25th, Winfield Riding Arena, WV

Beginning at Noon

Moving the horse 

Ability to get forward motion

Control of walk, trot, and lope

Difficulty of Horse

Desensitizing / Ground work of the horse

Ability of trainer to settle the horse

Tarps, flag and/or ropes, ground poles

Horses’s acceptance of the saddle & pad

Riding Portion

How prepared is the horse to be mounted

Horse’s willingness to stand

How horse turns and stops

Ridden both directions at the walk, trot and canter

Ability to load into and back out of a trailer

Ability to stand tied

Following the end of the 1st days event, the highest scoring 8 competitors will continue on to Day 2 of the competition. 

Scoring from Day 1 will combine with Day 2 Scoring

DAY TWO on August 26th in Winfield Riding Arena

Beginning at 9am

OBSTACLE Course and Free Style Performance

While navigating the course:

Ability to control spookiness

Walk, trot and canter around arena both directions while on the correct lead and against the rail

Ability to get forward motion

Stop their horse

Get the horse to back up 3 steps

Get off and pick up all 4 feet

Weave thru all poles

Walk thru zig zag poles

Cross tarp

Cross ground poles

Rope the barrel (they then drop the rope)

Drag the log (take rope from top of barrel)

Free style competitions are entirely the Trainer’s choice for 5 minutes following the end of the obstacle course portion.

TRAINERS, please join the group page on Facebook, and I will be posted the DETAILS on scoring soon!

If you, for some reason, cannot attend to draw and pick up your horse on May 15th, PLEASE let me know right away. Horses must be picked up no later than the 18th. We are draw for you and select for you if you’re not present at 1pm on May 15th. 

Submit your Application by May 1st!

Across Appalachia, Horses are abandoned and neglected and left unstarted in astronomical numbers.

Our states’ former mine sites are covered in feral horses in need. Thousands. Our counties are unable to keep up with the number of unhandled horses being released, unkempt and maltreated.

Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, based in WV, Ohio and Kentucky, believes we have an event able to not only raise awareness, but an event able to showcase the trainers our region and allow the public to see what previously abandoned and neglected horses are capable of with the right training.