By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

MIDLAND, Ohio — It’s called the Confidence Course Showdown and it’s an equine competition testing the confidence a horse has in its rider. Competitors in this first-time event call it their version of a Super Bowl, or playoff.

Fourteen riders and their mounts converged on the grounds at Happenstance Farm in Midland, Ohio, earlier this month to test their horses’ ability to overcome 22 different obstacles against other riders and horses. Spearheading this competition, more popularly known as a runoff, was renowned horse trainer Helge Buflod of Waynesville, Ohio.

“I like competition and it makes people strive a little bit,” Buflod said. “I want to push them out of their comfort zone. We’ve held Confidence Courses in the past, but this is the first year for a runoff.”

Buflod held seven training clinics throughout the 2008 season and invited the top two or three riders at these clinics to Midland for a timed obstacle course showdown, testing not only the ability of horses to complete each obstacle but the riders’ ability so instill that trust in the horse.

“It wasn’t the same course they were used to seeing during the year,” Buflod said, “we added some new obstacles.”

After an hour of practice at each stop on the course, riders were timed as they separately entered the ring to confront 22 obstacles. Riders were allowed one minute at each obstacle with a penalty of two minutes for skipping an obstacle altogether. Keeping an eye on the clock was Chuck Baker, president of the southwestern chapter of the Ohio Horseman’s Council.

Some obstacles were challenging for riders (scaling a five-foot mound of dirt, backing a horse between Z-shaped logs, walking a teetered bridge, or standing for three seconds on an elephant stand) while others were a breeze (walking between rows of balloons, through a round bale holder, weaving barrels and walking past a pen of llamas).

“Part of the instruction is to get the horse’s confidence up by getting them to go through some pretty challenging obstacles. It’s also a test to see how much trust the horses have in the riders to accept these scary stops,” Buflod said.

A $50 gift certificate to a local western apparel show was the top prize, with numerous certificates and halters to second or third finishers. But prizes were not the lure for these competitors.
“It’s not the competition, it’s just being with all the other horse people and getting your horse’s confidence up to do these things,” said Mindy Pendery of Loveland, Ohio. “These obstacles are against everything they know to do.

“It’s our job to get their confidence up so they succeed. It’s incredible that we can get them to do some of these things. My horse (Annie) tends to run before thinking.”

Pendery, who has a small stable on Dickens Hills Road in Loveland, shares boarding expenses for her Tennessee Walker with two other friends and their horses.

“Horse people are great people to be around,” she said.
The top finishers in this Confidence Course Showdown were Barb Pfantz of Lebanon (aboard a mustang named Monte), Jody Morris of Waynesville (Rocky Mountain named Romeo) and Jocelyn Metzger of Harveysburg (spotted saddlebred named Speckles).