Appalachian Trainer Face Off

Operating in one of the nation’s most economically challenged regions, Heart of Phoenix found through necessity there was a need to create innovative ways to get a large number of horses trained and adopted each year on a small budget. Our answer to this was the Appalachian Trainer Face Off, a training competition that began in 2017. The ATFO currently is the largest equine event in West Virginia,

hosting over 1,000 people in attendance over the course of the 3 day August event each year. This event has helped make a rescue organization an equine leader in our state. The ATFO horses previously without much hope of adoption for 100 days with trainers from May through August. Many of the horses are rounded up entirely unhandled. Trainers apply and go through a screening process, and horses are vetted and cleared beforehand. These horsemen and women work with their horses to offer accomplished, willing equine partners up for adoption and document their process strategically on social media. The photos, stories and videos required create a vested interest by the public in the success of each horse, trainer and the “ATFO.”

Trainers then compete for 3 days in August to showcase all they have accomplished with their horses. In the end, the trainers showcase their skills, horses gain training, and most go into approved adoptive homes in an auction format event the end where fees range from $800 to over $13,000, as of 2020. Adopters are pre-approved and adopted through Heart of Phoenix adoption agreements. There are prize packages made possible by the ASPCA and other sponsors. Nationally known clinicians, such a Josh Lyons, Michael Lyons and Patrick King have stepped up as judges. We also have a nice array of vendors.