Judges
Kristy Johnson
Kristy Johnson
Barbara H. Callihan
Katrin Polcuch
Marietta Roby
Ashley Grube
Maureen Polcuch
Gulia Gozzi
Tina Rempel
LaZelle Russell
Lisa Thonney
Linda Wagner
Alicia Kunz
Annette Marshall
Leona Rutz
Australia
Eliza Campbell
elizacampbells@hotmail.com
Rob Campbell
robcampbells@hotmail.com
Mikail Corera
discover@affinityequitation.com
Phoebe Grass
phoebecaruso@hotmail.com
Berny Thaggard
bikibern@gmail.com
Lisa Wells
noelisa@iinet.net.au
Europe
Austria
Michaela Lumetzberge
Eva Pichler
France
Sandrine Deront
Germany
Kathrin Ahrens-AΒmann
Ines Bruns
Melanie Friedrich
Alicia Kunz
Johanna Memminger
Madith Pauwels
Noemie Pauwels
Philipp Wagner
Ira Vielhaber
Italy
Alessandra Fenzi
Gulia Gozzi
Andrea Lacchini
Simona Lorenzini
Eleonora Malerba
Chiara Morlotti
Canciani Renzo
Anna Tommasin
Lino Tosoni
Switzerland
Leona Rutz
United States
Colorado
Annette Marshall
Minnesota
Kris Anderson
Candace Giller
Erin Olson
Elizabeth Robbins
Missouri
Casey Ling
Montana
Cody Sims
Nevada
Barbara H Callihan
Karen Vowell
Ohio
Christine Burk
Kelly Chapman
Ashley Gruber
Allan Kaulback
Catherine Kaulback
Rebecca Scalise
Laura Wiencek
Oregon
Larry Eades
Lori
Karen Ingalls
Marietta Roby
Linda Wagner
Pennsylvania
Lillian Jane Hunter
Linda Fogle McCormick
Carolyn Mosher
Ron Mosher.
Texas
Casey Ling
Washington
Cindy Attar
Cheryl Beaudry
Cathie Christie
Amber Curran
Terri Edwards
Kindra Eliason
Roland Falb
Debbie Fisher
Dani Gray
Karen Hardy
Karen Ingalls
Kristi Johnson
Patricia Johnson
Chris Jonason
Deborah Jones
Diana Jones
Jeri Dee McAferty
Kim
Kelley Mills
Irene Morgan
Lynne Olmos
Katrin Polcuch
Maurene Polcuch
Tina Rempel
Marietta Roby
Lazelle Russel
Claire Sands
Olivia Schweibert
Kristen Snyder
Lisa Thonney
Elaine
Alaine Turner
Leona Rutz
My name is Leona Rutz and I’m from Switzerland. The first time I rode a horse was when I was 6 years old. I’m here at Bolender Horse Park to learn a new discipline and to learn more about horsemanship. And by the way, I can learn the language!
Annette Marshall
Annette Marshall from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I have a n MA in Sports Administration – I am intrigued with the sport of Mountain Trails. My horse Rocky is 6, he is my first horse – our journey together brought us to Washington to further our strengths in partnership and learn competition skills. I am now an IMTCA certified judge and participated in my first Schooling show. Rocky and I hope to inspire all of our riding friends to join us as I Judge, Coach & develop the sport of Mountain Trails in hopes that our journey takes us to Worlds someday!
Annette Marshall
Annette Marshall from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I have a n MA in Sports Administration – I am intrigued with the sport of Mountain Trails. My horse Rocky is 6, he is my first horse – our journey together brought us to Washington to further our strengths in partnership and learn competition skills. I am now an IMTCA certified judge and participated in my first Schooling show. Rocky and I hope to inspire all of our riding friends to join us as I Judge, Coach & develop the sport of Mountain Trails in hopes that our journey takes us to Worlds someday!
Alicia Kunz
My name is Alicia Kunz and I am 18 years old. I am from Germany and have been riding for 10 years. I came to Bolender Horse Park because I wanted to learn more about Mountain Trail because it is something new for me. I am also excited to learn more about the partnership between horse and rider. I’ve already learned a lot about riding the course and how to judge a ride. I’m glad to have such an experience!
LaZelle Russell
LaZelle Russell is the owner of Royal Stewart Indoor Arena in Walla Walla. She has an active interest in Versatile Ranch Horses and holds clinics for cow work and trail. Recently she signed on with ACTHA to host arena obstacle competitions. LaZelle has shown in various working cowhorse, reining and trail competitions. She placed in the Top Five for reigning and equitation at the National Appaloosa show and received a Certificate of Competition Top Ten in the nation for arena trail. In May 2013 she competed at the Versatile Ranch Horse show in Pomeroy, WA and won the non-pro division and the All-Round Title out of 30 riders. LaZelle is an apprentice judge and scribe. She has attended many judging clinics over the years including Matt Livingood’s reigning seminars, Bill Enk’s intense cowhorse judging school and the PNW judge’s training in 2004 and 2012. She is a 4-H leader in Walla Walla County, a member of ACTHA and a certified instructor for Equine Assisted Learning. She was named as a director of the International Mountain Trail Association and is an AQHA Trail Challenge judge.
Lisa Thonney
Lisa Thonney has been a horse trainer as well as a 4-H and open judge for more than 40 years in the Pacific Northwest. She attended the PNW Judge’s training hosted by Oregon State University in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2006 and 2012. She became one of the first mule judges in Washington State. Several of Lisa’s students have competed at regional and national levels, winning top honors in Western and English riding disciplines. Lisa has been the resident horse trainer and lesson giver at Royal Stewart Indoor Arena in Walla Walla for the last ten years. During this time she spent 3 years designing a two-acre trail course for training purposes. In 2013 Lisa was named as a director of the newly formed International Mountain Trail Association as well as a judge for the new AQHA Trail Challenge. She was also voted by readers of a local newspaper as “2013 Best of the Best” riding instructor for the area.
Linda Wagner
Horses are my passion for life! I began riding at the age of nine months old on a POA pony. My pony gave me the opportunity to learn to ride and grow. She also taught me about the tough times; how to fall and get back in the saddle again! As I got older my love for horses and desire to learn has never stopped. I have had the opportunity to ride many horses as my knowledge level increased. I began taking English lessons to learn better balance in the saddle. I got involved with 4-H for several years where I competed in showmanship, bareback, western, English and trail classes. During my time in 4-H, I was able to experience showing in the county and state fairs. Aside from showing my horse in 4-H, I also won the junior judging trophy. As my 4-H years came to an end, I began showing open shows and the Appaloosa breed shows. I continued taking lessons and became quite involved with showmanship and halter classes. I won 8th place Rookie of the Year my first year showing Appaloosas. As my knowledge increased, I became interested in training. I assisted training at an Appaloosa farm where I had the opportunity to do everything involved with horses from the ground up: breeding, handling foals, conditioning halter horses, grooming, starting western pleasure horses under saddle and showing. From there I moved on to a quarter horse farm where I had the opportunity to establish the foundation work on the weanlings and yearlings and start the two and three olds under saddle for western pleasure. For the last six years I decided to get involved with new disciplines. I joined The Tacoma Lariettes drill team where I have been able to experience the excitement of drill. I decided I prefer riding at a slower pace and discovered Extreme Mountain Trail. I was introduced to Mark and Lee, and Bolender Horse Park. I began taking lessons with Mark and attending a few clinics where I have been able to learn how to establish a true partnership with my horses. I began showing in trail challenges at Bolender Horse Park and my love for this discipline hasn’t stopped. I have always had an interest in judging, so I attended the judges clinic where I could learn what the judges are looking for and understand the scoring system. Now I am proud to say I am a Mountain Trail judge. My plans are to continue judging and I look forward to the opportunities I may have by judging at other challenges. I enjoy watching Mountain Trail grow as a discipline, as well as seeing so many skilled horses and riders!
Gulia Gozzi
Judge. I teach the mountain trail in Italy in the GG RANCH PERFORMANCE HORSES – VERONA And I teach the Mountain trail with the Mark Bolender Method.
Ashley Grube
Ashley Gruber is a lifelong horsewoman who got her start in Ohio 4-H and FFA judging competitions and horse shows. She went on to study at the University of Findlay four-year Western Equestrian Program, where she became a top graduate completing a dual major in Equine Business Management and Equine Teaching and Training. She has been a carded judge for 15 years for several organizations including Ohio and Pennsylvania 4-H, and the Pony of Americas (POAC). She has successfully trained and shown horses in multiple disciplines and very proud to now be a part of the IMTCA.
Marietta Roby
Marietta Roby has been horse crazy nearly since birth. After being pestered to distraction for a horse, her parents, who were not horse people and had no intention of being, purchased a very smart, very naughty Shetland mix pony to cure her of her horse illness. This tactic was unsuccessful. Marietta went on to train and compete horses in a variety of disciplines, and still continues to do so. Her mother continues to pray for her return to sanity, while at the same time being proud of her accomplishments. Marietta has been judging for 15 years. She lives in Central Oregon with her family, human and non-human. She rides and trains mustangs, and continues her quest for horsemanship under some of the best horsemen in the world.
Kim McClelland
Kim McClelland has been living and breathing horses since she was 4 years old. Throughout her childhood, in Texas, she rode Quarter Horses, Paints, and even Mules in western games, pleasure shows, rodeo parades and trail rides. Her riding skills were honed while helping on her grandfather’s cattle ranch. After moving to the Northwest, Kim continued to expand her equine education by studying English riding. Her focus for several years was in Dressage theory and how to integrate this knowledge into her western roots. In 1996, she began to share her experience through teaching both Western and English riding applying natural horsemanship and balanced riding theories. Kim shares her experience through articles and other writing projects as well as judging local shows and teaching clinics. She trains horses with concern and respect for the horse first using her understanding of horse behavior. Constantly striving for better horsemanship herself, she has completed studies in Equine Training and Safety and studied Natural Horsemanship as a student of Greg Eliel over a ten year span. Kim has also been a certified Centered Riding Level II instructor and incorporates the theories into her teaching. She continues her studies with upper level Centered Riding coaches and practices the “Rider’s Seat” concepts taught by Tom Nagel. Her western roots are never far from her heart and she practices those skills through participation in clinics and enjoying the sport of Mountain Trail. Using this experience, Kim teaches and trains with the ability to answer the “why” questions, bridge the similarities of different riding disciplines and build confidence in both horse and rider. Kim owns an Arabian, a Fell Pony/Haflinger cross and a Miniature horse and lives north of Seattle, WA with her family. She is the owner of Five Star Horsemanship based in Snohomish, WA. 5starhorsemanship.com
Barbara H. Callihan
Barbara H. Callihan, owner of Happy Hoof Beats Equestrian Center in Southern Nevada, is a third generation equestrian coach and trainer, and a fourth generation Nevadan. As a devoted equestrian professional for more than 60 years, her business office has been managed from a saddle whether in the arena, in corrals, on desert trails or mountain adventures, or while earning state, regional, and national awards and recognition in numerous competitive disciplines. Barbara’s diverse skills and experience, her commitment to horsemanship excellence, and her ‘safety-first’ philosophy deliver unmatched knowledge, leadership, and insight in order to meet your scholarship needs. Since 2009 Barbara has been an active competitor and judge in emerging competitive trail disciplines including ACTHA, Equine Trail Sport (ETS), and International Mountain Trail Challenges (IMTCA). In 2016 she became a recognized IMTCA coach and trainer, and is currently working with Mark Bolender, the founder of IMTCA, to bring the discipline to Southern Nevada. More info: happyhoofbeats.com.