RMBA’s 2nd Annual Round Pen Shootout was held in conjunction with the RMBA’s 7th Annual Horse Show, Open Ranch Horse Competition and Breeders’ Sale.  The event was held in Deer Lodge, MT on August 24-25, 2007.  The RMBA Shootout brought out many people to watch three of Montana’s Finest Trainers vie for the RMBA Top Trainer Title.  Among the three trainers were John Mike Downey, the 2006 RMBA Top Trainer, as well as Brad Tank, and Matt Brooks, a local Deer Lodge Trainer.  These three trainers simultaneously started 3 long 2 year olds provided by Weaver Quarter Horses of Big Sandy, MT.  Though the judges called it a close competition, Matt Brooks was deemed RMBA’s 2007 Top Trainer.

We would like to thank all three competitors, the judges, Weaver Quarter Horses for providing a great set of colts and also the Kelley Ranch of Deer Lodge, for taking care of us when a replacement colt was needed.  Also, thanks to Tim O’Donnell and Jack Benjamin for organizing and overseeing the great event.

Now, it is time to look forward to another great RMBA Round Pen Shootout.  It will be held in conjunction with the Annual Breeders Sale, August 22-23, 2008, with the location again, Deer Lodge, MT.  2008 will bring Matt Brooks defending his 2007 RMBA Top Trainer title against challenging trainers, Wade Fisher of Twin Bridges, and a local Deer Lodge Cowgirl, Cindy Frazer.  The competition will heat up Friday night when the trainers start their work on colts provided by the Larivee Paint Ranch of Anaconda, MT.  There will be a panel of judges scoring each trainer in various categories pertaining to colt starting.  The trainers will be given round pens to begin their work in during their two hours of allotted time on Friday evening as well as on Saturday.  Each day the trainers will be preparing their colt to be ridden and to be put through and obstacle course on Saturday for the completion of the shootout.  After each trainer has the chance to complete the obstacle course, the scours will be calculated and the 2008 RMBA Top Trainer title will be awarded.

Yet another highlight for the 2008 shoot out is each round pen colt will be auctioned of at Saturday afternoons Annual Breeders Sale.  Here will be the chance to purchase a colt you were able to watch being handled and started from day one.

Best wishes for the New Year and I hope to see you all at the RMBA Round Pen Shootout watching as each trainer’s wisdom arises!

Autumn Murphy; 2008 Round Pen Shoot-Out Committee

About the 2008 trainers:

Matt Brooks has spent most of his life riding, helping on ranches, and working in cow camps. The last eight years he rode colts, shod horses, and day-worked in Browning. His horse breaking techniques have been picked up from various people he has worked with on many different ranches. His goal is to make a solid, well-rounded ranch horse. Cindy Frazer lived in Australia for ten years learning various colt starting and training techniques from several renowned horsemen while working on cattle properties and feedlots.  She starts and trains her own colts, as well as outside horses.  She has started to compete in reining and incorporates those techniques in the horses she works with.

Wade has been starting colts and training horses for over 30 years.  

He is a full time cowboy, horseman and trainer. Born and raised in Montana, he has been very fortunate to have spent his life and made his living from the back of a horse!

 

About the 2008 horses:

The Larivee Paint Ranch is the home of "Last Mountain Bar", 1996 black homozygous tobiano stallion, who has been producing paint foals since 1999.  His foals have the most excellent dispositions of any around and they have great conformation and color to go with it.  His son, "Mountain Bars Wish", also stands at the family ranch outside of Anaconda, MT.  This operation has turned out some outstanding horses in many areas.  We have Last Mountain Bar (Tiger-as we call him) babies all over-they reside in New York, Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and many in Montana of course.
  The babies have been turned into ranch horses, pleasure horses, show horses, and some of the offspring have been kept as stallion prospects.  Often times we have repeat customers and many of our buyers keep us informed as to what they are doing w/their babies.  We have several at home that we have kept that are being shown by Kellee (11) and Richard (15).  They compete in 4-H, open shows and a few paint classes and have done very well w/these colts.
  The ranch is owned and operated by Carolyn Pasha, along w/her mother Sharon Violette.  Carolyn's husband Larry and her children Richard & Kellee are an integral part of the daily operations with the horses.  The Larivee name comes from Stan & June Larivee, Sharon's parents and Carolyn's grandparents were paint horse lover's and we are keeping the passion alive generations later.  They would be very proud of all the hard work and commitment that goes into these horses and the success that their great-grandchildren have with the ones they are riding and showing. 
  Come see these Tiger babies at the RMBA show and sale in Deer Lodge, MT in August 2008.