The Appalachian Trainer Face Off is a revolutionary concept that brings unhandled RESCUED Horses together with Amazing Trainers across our region in a way seldom seen before.

These trainers selected the horse of their choice from equines in need at Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, INC in May to undertake 100 days of training to prove they are the BEST of the best in Appalachia and to change the life of a neglected horse entirely.

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off Introductions

Introducing our next Trainer Face Off Pair: Olivia with Zoey!
This 6 year old mare came to us with her very senior, partially blind and emaciated dam, 2 Standardbred geldings and a senior miniature horse when their elderly owner needed to turn them over after going without food and needed items in order to try to provide for them. She hadn’t received farrier care before, had never been on a trailer and was not truly halter trained. Her dam had to be euthanized due to various detrimental conditions, and this little gal was quite lost without her mama. You can read her intake story here.

Various horse traders had stopped and asked the lady who had this herd to give them away, let them load them up, run them to auction, and the owner refused each time. Can you imagine the fate an barely leadable mare would have had if HOP hadn’t come in time or if the owner hadn’t refused each time?

We cannot wait to watch her journey unfold with Olivia of Dixon Equine and A Pony Known of Satan fame. Can Olivia bring out all of the talent with little mare holds in her tiny frame? Oh, we suspect she can! Heck, day two is barely over, and she is already well underway!

ADAM BLACK of Adam Black Horsemanship of Ohio

HOP has asked each of the trainers taking part this year to tell YOU about themselves. We asked for some of their personal favorite photos to share with you, as well.

Adam is our second featured trainer, and we will share more trainers as they get their photos and write ups to us.

We encourage you to Share these trainers, like their pages and keep them in mind whenever you are looking for training, lessons and/or a clinician for an event. We recommend and everyone of these awesome folks

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off feature Trainer:

Mike Hurst of Mike Hurst Horsemanship.

“I started training horses in 2001 for myself after leaving the army and buying a farm. I bought un-started horses because they were cheap, and I could start them myself. I had no idea that there would be no turning back from this point. I began reading about training and watching videos. I picked up on things quite easily and couldn’t feed my desire to learn fast enough. Friends started asking for help and later people starting offering money for my help. I realized that horses were helping me more than I was helping them. Horses were so honest, forgiving and comforting. They have given me a sense of purpose by allowing me to enter their lives. I have had some success getting horses to operate cooperatively with me and for my clients; horses fill in the gaps for my lack of ability to communicate with them. Horses will give you their all if you just ask.

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off Introductions

Introducing our 6th Face off Pair: Dori and Chloe!
This 3 year old pony was seized in a very public case from Logan county, WV last year. Her pasture mate was dying from starvation and parasite infestation during a snow storm while Dori and Satine stood by going without any basic care and without sufficient food. Their pasture mate ultimately died there without help. Thankfully, these two mares did not suffer the same fate, though Dori came to HOP so critically ill, our board members and volunteers had to stay up round the clock with antibiotics, banamine and IV fluids for days and days to save her life.
Thankfully, Dori did recover. She has a tremendous amount of sass, else she probably would never have lived through her ordeal. She is a blank slate and ready to learn, though she will be a challenge with all this spunk, we are sure.

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off Introductions

Introducing our 5th Trainer and Rescue Horse pairing: Rebecca and Dempsey.

This young gelding came to us from a seizure case in Ohio. This was the first time we have been called into Lawrence County, Ohio to help horses in need. A more grisly scene would have been hard to fathom. Dempsey and Link, A Haflinger cross gelding, were tied on short ropes. Link was a skeleton, and his hooves were grossly overgrown and split in many directions. Dempsey had been there a shorter time, and he had no water or food in winter. Neither had shelter or a wind break. There were carcasses present from horses who died from starvation there, as well as other dead animals.

Thankfully, Dempsey healed quickly from this mistreatment. He is a blank slate and ready to learn.

Here is to believing Rebecca and Sunni Bell Stables with give this boy the overdue start in life he deserves!

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off Introductions

Introducing our fourth Trainer x Horse Pairing, Dan and Rory

This Mare was said to have been used as a Quarter Horse brood mare for some years before ending up at a rescue in PA over 2 years ago. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the ability to offer her training. In the last part of 2016, they weren’t able to offer dental or farrier care and asked us to try to help her. Once we had space, more recently, we accepted Rory into Heart of Phoenix with the hope this challenge will be the first thing in her near 10 year of life to offer her the ability to ENJOY a relationship with people after so long.

She is one of the more fearful, mistreated equines in the competition. Whatever handling that took place in her past, limited as it must have been, was very poor prior to her rescue.

Can Dan of Dan Hull’s “From The Ground Up” Horse Training be the person to give her a new outlook toward people and to make her a partner? Here is to 90-100 days of chances and opportunity! We are sure this will be the best 100 days of this gal’s life!

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off Introductions

Introducing our third Trainer x Horse Pairing, Aubrey and Soleil!

This kind black Tennessee Walking Horse mare was saved in later 2016 from Mingo county, WV. She was living in abject, stark neglect and was a walking skeleton. She has no previous skilled handling, and the people neglecting her did not even know how to halter and lead her. She is only 6 years old, possibly coming 7. She struggled to recover for many months, and there were times we felt she had suffered too much, too long. But here she is today and a beautiful mare, at that!

Can Aubrey of Adkins Quarter Horses bring out all of the talent this former body score 1 mare from rural Appalachia has to give her future owner? Undoubtedly!

The Appalachian Trainer Face Off Introductions

Introducing our second Trainer x Horse Pairing, Adam and Dune!

Dune was rescued by the Kentucky Equine Humane Society last year and gelded. Others in his herd were rescued as they were causing issues in the local community as a free ranging herd of abandoned and/or feral born horses. He was waiting and growing in their care until this opportunity for him to show the horse world JUST how Amazing horses from this reclaimed and active mine sites can be if offered the right training.

Can Adam Black bring out all of the potential this young and feral born gelding has to offer?

Paladin needed someone. Not just anyone, mind you.

For many years, he stood in filth inside a lonely barn without real human or horse interaction. They fed him some, sure. But they allowed his muscles to waste, his mind to go stir crazy and his skin to all but slough off from the feces no one ever came into to clean away. No one cared enough to halter train him, geld him or touch him. They were scared. Terrified, actually.

He stood there year after year, and when the manure would get so deep, he had difficulty walking, they would open another stall and chase him over to it, never touching him. This only happened a few times, and there were times manure and urine was waste deep, even in winter, in arctic temperatures.

Can Mike Hurst bring out all the talents we know this long time neglected Morgan cross gelding has to offer?