Clinicians
Below is a short bio on our scheduled clinicians

Tracy Porter

Tracy Porter has entertained at many horse fairs. Tracy has a very special bond with her horses and we are delighted to have her back at this year's Equifest. She will hold several clinics through out the weekend and be a special part of the Saturday night performance.

Steve & Wendy Hilton

Steve and Wendy Hilton Smith, of Cornerstone Training in Scurry, Texas, are one of horsemanship's most successful and sought after clinician couples. They travel throughout the country conducting clinics, demonstrations, and training workshops. Steve and Wendy have appeared at such venues as Equifest, Equine Affaire, Equitana USA, Horse-O-Rama, and Ride With the Stars. Their training advice and expertise has been featured in articles in noted horse industry publications including Horse Illustrated, Performance Horse, Hoofbeats, and Lone Star Horse Report. They were chosen as 2 of only 100 trainers nationwide to compete in the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge sponsored by the Mustang Heritage Foundation. Steve and Wendy's low-key training methods accelerate the horse's learning while keeping both horse and handler calm. At Cornerstone Training, Steve and Wendy help serious horse lovers learn to train the horse of their dreams for the ride of their lives. Steve and Wendy enjoy speaking with horse lovers at equine events. They consider it an honor and a privilege to share what they know.

Ryan Rose

Ryan has been working with horses and trained under Lynn Palm. He will show you how to understand just how a horse thinks and then give you the know how to make your idea become your horses through a versatile way of thinking and training.

Mary Vanderloop

Mary Vanderloop and her side saddle quadrille team, Ladies of the Ring. Mary is a 3x World Champion Side Saddle rider and International Side saddle Instructor. She will be available if any one wants to try their hand at riding side saddle, along with several demonstrations through out the weekend and Saturday night performance.

Rick Cornwell

Rick Cornwell has been doing clinics and demonstrations in the Midwest since 1996. He tries to show people another way with their horses --- a natural way. It's about changing YOU and your horse comes along for the ride. He is an AQHA Professional Horseman, an AFA Certified Farrier and has traveled for Nutrena feeds doing clinics throughout the midwest.

Click Here to Visit Rick Cornwell's Website

Doreen Passuello

Doreen Passuello is a professional horseman with over 45 years experience in the show ring, at all levels. As an instructor and trainer, Doreen routinely coaches youth and amateurs and their horses from beginning levels all the way up to regional breed shows in halter, hunt and western performance classes. Her students successfully compete at 4-H shows, open shows, AQHA shows and even the world’s largest breed show, The All American Quarter Horse Congress. Her instruction is based not only on teaching horsemanship, but also on teaching life skills and lifetime goals. The accomplishments of her students over the years with their horses, in their school and college studies and later in their careers show the array of horse skills and life skills that Doreen’s students learn. Passuello’s Spring Valley Ranch in Ironwood, MI is home to Doreen’s training facilities as well as offering a complete full care boarding stable. Doreen and her family also breed Quarter Horses and will be standing a young reining bred stallion for the 2008 breeding season.

Doreen will be presenting a clinic on showmanship and basic ground manners . Her showmanship clinic is titled “Showmanship-Life Skills for You and Your Horse.” Come and see this clinic, scheduled for Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, and learn how 5 minutes a day can give you and your horse new skills for both the show ring and every day life. A Certified Wisconsin State Horse Council Judge, Wisconsin Fairs Certified Judge, and 4-H Horse Project Leader, Doreen will also be presenting a clinic on basic horse judging and how 4-H/youth judging contests are run. Learn to see from a judge’s perspective or find out how to start an exciting new competition team for your club.

TJ Clibborn

TJ was born in Glen Innes, New South Wales, Australia. At eight years old his grandfather, Sid Kirkwood, took him to a clinic held by Australian horseman Kel Jefferies, one of the first of the "natural horsemaen" who used sticks and flags to train a horse instead of the sometimes violent methods which were commonly accepted and widely used at that time. TJ instantly knew the path he would take on his journey to becoming a horseman and by twelve he knew he wanted to spend his life working with horses.

As a young rodeo cowboy in the Australian rodeo circuit he participated in bull riding, bareback and saddle bronc riding, calf roping and steer wrestling. At the same time he was also riding show jumpers, and finding success on the Australian Bushman's Horse Racing Circuit where his eight year career as a jockey took him from the Australian tracks to Japan and later the United States. Deciding to expand his knowledge in the show arena, he moved to Europe where he learned to train Grand Prix Show Jumpers.

In 1990, TJ arrived back in the United States with little to his name: his saddle, gear bag, suit case and a way to make a living with horses. He first found work giving horseback tours in Maui, Hawaii and carriage rides in Sacramento, CA. A Chance meeting found him training prized show Arabians in North Carolina before moving on to Boston where he reestablished himself as a jockey and in the show jumping world before being asked to return west to help start a ranch in Montana. This westward adventure took him to Arizona and then to Colorado where he teamed up with his rodeo idol, Larry Mahan. In 1995 at one of Larry Mahan's Clinics, TJ was approached by a couple from Indiana wanting him to hold a clinic for them in the Hoosier State. When his first clinic was a roaring success, it soon became apparent that Indiana was to become TJ's home base. For ten years he has been training horses, conducting clinics, judging horse shows, and organizing trail rides.

His goal continues to be to help as many people through his "Calm, Australian, Training Method". By understanding the principles of C.A.L.M., horse lovers are able to develop a "True Partnership" with their horse because they are not onl learning, but taking to heart, and creating a foundation based on: respect, trust, communication, and love for their horse.

Currently he trains and conducts clinics in Westfield, Indiana and in the winter in Ocala, Florida. To contact TJ, you can call him at (765)729-1217 or visit his website at www.TJClibborn.com.