Thoroughbred Makeover 2024

Lori Ricigliano, of Ricigliano Farms, graduated from the L2-Intermediate Professional Horseman Program February 2, 2024, joining the ranks of Lyons Legacy Trainers. Lori  is very active in the horse industry.  She has held her Judges License as a  USEF / AHA – “R” rated Arabian Horse Judge for over 25 years. She is also a published author and clinician for horsemanship and horse training as well as host of the syndicated equine radio talk show Hoof Beats with Lori.

One of her next adventures is to participate in the 2024 Thoroughbred Makeover held October 9-12 in Lexington, KY. Lori and her mare Kitty will be one of over 400 competitors hoping to win the $10,000 cash prize! The whole Lyons Legacy Team will be rooting for Lori and Kitty.  Show them how to #ridelikealyons!

The Thoroughbred Makeover is the largest Thoroughbred retraining competition in the world for recently-retired ex-racehorses. The Retired Racehorse Project, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, created the Thoroughbred Makeover to showcase the trainability and talent of off-track Thoroughbreds. The competition is intended to inspire good trainers to become involved in transitioning these horses to second careers, and the National Symposium serves to educate the people involved in the care, training, and sale of these horses to responsible owners.

Ten competitive disciplines are offered at the Makeover: Barrel Racing, Competitive Trail, Dressage, Eventing, Field Hunter, Polo, Ranch Work, Show Hunter, Show Jumper, and Freestyle (a free-form division to demonstrate skills of the trainer’s choice). A horse may be entered in up to two disciplines.

Preliminary rounds take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Each competitor receives a preliminary round score and placing, and the top five in each discipline advance to the Finale, which takes place on Saturday in the Covered Arena and is broadcast via livestream. The Finale is a separate championship event and competitors are placed by Finale scores.

Each discipline competes separately in Finale, and each has their own final test to determine the Makeover Champion in that discipline. Judges from all disciplines then rank the ten Makeover Discipline Champions, and the Thoroughbred Makeover Champion is named (and earns a $10,000 check!).

The competition will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY on October 9-12, 2024.

Horse Trainer Highlight

April returned to her hometown of Tyler, TX after retiring from the Marine Corps, in May of 2021. She joined the Marine Corps at 17 years old and served our country for over 24 years in the aviation field, recruiting & career planning. Her husband is also a retired Marine, and their son currently serves in the Marine Corps. Hoorah! She has worked with Veteran nonprofits, serving as a board member and officer throughout the years. After retirement, she began looking for a Veteran horse program in East Texas and was one of the first Veteran riders at Starbrite Therapeutic Equestrian Center! This led April to seek continuing education as she felt a calling to help other veterans heal and follow their passion with horses.  Through her research she found the Lyons Legacy Equestrian Academy program.

April, chose to attend our John & Josh Lyons Certification program in August of 2022 and joined the ranks of Lyons Legacy Trainers on September 23, 2022. After graduation, she returned home to move forward with her equine career. Many Veterans have invisible “soul” wounds, and she believes horses are God’s vessel for healing. As a lifelong equestrian, April’s passion for horses paired with her love for Jesus and our Veterans, led her to serve on staff at Starbrite. The additional skills she gained from her experience in the Lyons Legacy program, paired with her previous experience at Starbrite and with horses in general, made her the perfect choice to take on the role of Program & Site Director at Starbrite Therapeutic Equestrian Center.  Her next adventure is completing her PATH certification to be able to better serve her clientele and fulfill her role at Starbrite.

April has owned horses since the age of 18 with the exception of while deployed to Iraq in 2005. In April’s words, “horse ownership while on active duty is not for the faint of heart.  Moving often required hauling cross country, new stables, farrier, vet and hay supply with little time to ride.  However, the reward of meeting new horse people, having a constant happy place always outweighed the hardship.  My horses and time with them were when I was not a wife, mom, Marine, family member, friend, but just myself.  It was and is my therapy. Through prayer and souls searching I know my purpose is to help other Veterans that struggle with PTSD and Military Sexual Trauma.”

About Starbrite Therapeutic Equestrian Center

Starbrite Therapeutic Equestrian Center is a service organization that utilizes equine assisted activities to spread the Love of Christ by empowering youth, adults and veterans with a variety of needs and abilities. The Starbrite Therapeutic Equestrian Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and member of PATH International. (Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship) and is located in Whitehouse, TX. The programs offered at Starbrite include Therapeutic Riding, Horsemanship, and Horses for Heroes.  These programs are supported by a large group of volunteers to facilitate the learning environment.

Horse Trainer Highlight

Breakthrough Horsemanship - Alisha Anderson

Alisha Anderson has two passions. Teaching – and horses!

Currently she’s on the road assisting with Josh Lyons clinics and traveling around the country. She has combined those passions into the career she hopes to follow for years to come.

Working with Josh happened ‘by the Grace of God’ and she’s thankful for the opportunity, she says. She graduated from the Josh Lyons Accreditation Program in 2023 and has plans to also complete the John & Josh Lyons Certification Program in April 2024.

While the Josh Lyons training helped Alisha hone her skills, she bought her first horse years before while serving in the Air Force and stationed in North Dakota. Her love of horses started as a youngster when she lived on a farm for a time. She took riding lessons even after her family moved off the farm and into an apartment. She said she worked on a dairy farm as a teenager and saved her money to help pay for the lessons.

Her goal has been a career centered around horses. She admits she’s still figuring it out. Her business, Breakthrough Horsemanship, offers travel lessons as well as horse training.

“I love teaching and I have a passion for that. I missed working with students,” she said about her time worked as an instructor in the Air Force. “I like what I’m doing now because I participate in clinics and private lessons – and I like the travel. From here it’s a matter of figuring out when and where.”

She credits her own love of learning and working with others to getting her where she is today.

“I attended clinics and did all I could to learn and network,” she said. “I enjoy teaching – and horses – and I enjoy putting the two together.”

Find out more about Josh Lyons clinics and their upcoming dates and locations at joshlyons.com

Spanish Cowhorse & Performance Horses - Angel Ramirez

Angel Ramirez is just 17 years old, but she’s already completed the Josh Lyons Accreditation Program, becoming the second generation in her family to do so.

And she knows what she wants for her future – continuing to operate the family ranch with the help of her sisters.

In the meantime, she is continuing her training and she loves competing.

“Josh Lyons has been a family friend for 20 years and my mom trained with him back in 2002,” she said. “It’s an awesome community to be around so it was a no brainer to be trained by him.”

Her family’s ranch is home to 400 cattle and it’s located in Montana, about 30 miles outside of Billings.

In addition to working on the ranch she competes in cow horse competitions like reining and cutting. Because she is under age 18 she competes in youth classes. She started out in rodeos, competing in barrels and pole bending. She competes in non-pro classes but would like to someday compete in pro circuits, too.

“My favorite event is the open roping,” she said. “I’ve been doing that since I was 13.”

“I just love competing and the horsemanship of it,” she added. “It’s a great community and there are some good jackpots, rider earnings and horse earnings.”

Her goal is to do both ranching and competing. But for now she’s home-schooled. Her favorite subject is history and she says she’s good at math. It’s not all about books, though. Depending on the day, she might spend the day fixing fencing or helping at neighboring ranches. She likes the routine because it keeps her on her toes.

Right now she’s working on training her youngest horse. She has several quarter horses: Abilene, Pecos, Buck and Star to name a few. She prefers Quarter Horses because of their grit, athleticism, and willingness to work.

“They’re solid,” she said.

She’s continuing her work with Josh Lyons, too, including a five-day clinic this month.

No Better Cat – AKA Boon

no better cat

It’s not every day a horse has its own social media account – but No Better Cat (aka Boon) sure does.

The 3-year-old, red roan colt who is a son of the great Bet Hesa Cat  and raised by Purina animal nutrition has quite a following, too. Over 895 Facebook followers to be exact!

Boon has had a busy summer crisscrossing the country with trainer Josh Lyons putting on clinics and performing in horse shows.

“At Josh’s clinics he gets ridden sometimes all day yet he never skips a beat,” owner Elsabe Hausauer explains on the horse’s Facebook page. “I love that riders of all ages are riding him since he is a demo horse and he will ride according to their level, whether they are 5 years old or 80.”

Recently Boon participated with Josh Lyons in the horse’s very first reining show. The duo followed up a clinic in New Hampshire with a horse show in Pennsylvania, finishing with two second place finishes and one fourth place.

 

“I am missing this little dude – he is one tough little horse,” Hausauer said in a post early this summer. “He is currently travelling all over the US learning and growing … Love that he can handle the pressure mentally and physically very well! Thank you Lyons family!”

Hausauer is a North Dakota AQHA Professional Horsewoman whose lifelong passion for horses has led to her family owning a ranch and offering training services, horsemanship clinics and private lessons.

She says Boon’s easy going disposition makes him one of the easiest horses she’s ever worked with. She also plans on standing him to the public for breeding purposes in 2024 and she’s pretty excited about it, writing, “Can’t wait to see his foals and their trainability, athleticism and disposition!” Her goal was to own a stallion that is not only well bred but who is also tough physically and mentally under pressure. 

“He is beautiful and rides so nice … Josh is doing an incredible job with him, I feel truly blessed! Not only for Boon to get trained but for me to also keep growing in my horsemanship journey and learning so much from Josh along the way,” Hausauer said.

“I have truly found a friendship with Josh, Jana and their sons that will last a lifetime.”

Information about No Better Cat (Boon) , go to No Better Cat and find out more about Hausauer at www.themuddybootranch.com

For breeding contract information, check out Boon’s page on our website!

Photography: Sheila King and Elaina Eppinger Photography
Flyer: Allyson Johannessen 

Mustangs and Show Horses with Alyssa Dietrich

Whether it’s training a wild mustang from California or teaching new skills to a thoroughbred fresh off a Maryland racetrack, Alyssa Dietrich has turned her childhood love of horses into a very grownup career. At 27, she has also worked as a full-time EMT, but training horses and teaching others to show and ride is her true calling. Thanks to the John & Josh Lyons certification program, she’s able to do that.

“The certification program taught technique, but also how to set up a business,” Alyssa said. “Learning to deal with people and a business is 100 times more complicated than training the horses! I was looking for a good solid program that also offered me a good foundation for a business. There are plenty of training programs but none of the others I found touched on the business aspect.”

Alyssa rents a facility in New Freedom, Pa., near the Maryland border. “I ride and compete mainly hunter/jumpers which was very different from my classmates who all rode western, but I admired the sensitivity and responsiveness of Josh’s reining horses; I wanted that for my own horses and the horses I train,” she said.

She’s used the techniques learned at the Josh Lyons clinic to “gentle” wild Mustangs from California. The U.S. government pays to capture and move the mustangs to trainers like Alyssa who train them for the use of reins and saddles. She actually took a mustang to the Josh Lyons clinic, a mustang that was ‘fresh off the range.’

Alyssa also works with horses that used to race but are moving into their next phase. Many move to owners interested in a show horse, mainly in the English or Hunter Jumper realm. To do that takes some work. “These horses are used to crowd noise and they are trained to go, go, go! They need to be retrained to relax, to learn they don’t have to be running, running, running. They need to learn that it’s ok to stop, to walk – oh, and don’t bite me!”

Alyssa said she grew up in Maryland where English and Hunter Jumpers dominate and she continues to train in those areas. She stresses the foundations of all disciplines are the same – even western and ranch riding. They just branch off into different technical areas.
“I’ve loved horses since before I could walk,” she said. “With the Lyons program, I was looking for a gentler approach and a more natural horsemanship than I grew up with.”

 

Alyssa hopes to continue her work with horses, her training and show work along with hosting clinics.  You can find more information on Facebook about Face Up Training & Colt Starting.

Are You Bridling Your Horse Correctly?

In this Certification class we took a few minutes learning a simple way to properly  bridle the horse.

It is important to not hit their teeth with the bit or to force it into their mouth, especially when introducing the bridle. Take your time! Let them slowly spit the bit out when taking the bridle off.

Remember, most bad bridling habits come from rushing the process or hitting their teeth with the bit!

Adding A Pre-Cue To The Back-up

“Adding pre-cues to backing your horse off your seat.”

Here’s a peek into classroom time during one of our 5 Day Trainers Clinics.

Be sure to check out or 2021 schedule for our upcoming clinics near you!

https://www.joshlyons.com/events/

For those of you who prefer to stay at home to learn and train at your own pace, our step-by-step Online Training Courses and weekly Zoom meetings with Josh are absolutely perfect!

https://lyons-online.mykajabi.com/

The Outside Horse

You are always riding two horses: The inside horse and the outside horse.

“Everything on the left side of the horse’s mane is controlled by your left hand, left leg, left seat. Everything on the right side of the mane is controlled by right hand, right leg, right seat.”

Cueing Your Horse

 

We cue our horses to do the things we want them to do, (to go forward, to go left, to go right, to change gaits, to change direction, speed transitions, to back up, etc.) but cueing them out of it is just as IMPORTANT.

Give them the responsibility of doing what you asked, until you tell them to stop.

What we don’t want is to tell them to do something and hold them there, constantly helping them do their job. it’s easy to micromanage and over-cue. Give them a job, tell them to do it and KEEP DOING the job until you tell them to stop.