The Western States Horse Expo Hall of Fame Award was established in 2002 to recognize an individual and/or organization who has made a substantial contribution to the Equine Industry in the United States.

Western States Horse Expo Hall of Fame Perpetual Award pictured right.
(an original by J. Randall Smith)
 

2007
Linda Tellington-Jones Honored with
Induction into Western States Horse Expo Hall of Fame

It's always a tough decision to make each year. There continue to be so many worthy nominations for the Western States Horse Expo Hall of Fame, and certainly the four previous inductees, Frank Vessels, Ray Hunt, Dr. Robert Miller, and Pat Parelli, are outstanding figures in the horse industry. To explain how special this award is, perhaps the wording on the perpetual trophy says it best: "In honor of those who have made a significant, meaningful difference in the world of horses."

This year an exemplary horsewoman was nominated, and she got "the nod" unanimously from the selection committee. The nomination form that heralded Linda Tellington-Jones's accomplishments and contributions listed her numerous presentations, lectures, awards, television appearances, videos, books and an explanation of her work that has helped horses and horse people around the world for decades.

An innovator in the horse world since the 1960s, Linda's background includes an amazing variety of riding accomplishments, from hunters, jumpers, dressage, steeplechasing, combined training, competitive trail riding, English pleasure, Western pleasure, Top Ten placings in the world-renowned Tevis Cup 100 mile ride, to a world record in endurance she set in 1964 on a 100-mile race that remained unchallenged for seven years. Her unique background with horses includes directing the Pacific Coast School of Horsemanship in California, a 9-month residential school for riding instructors and trainers attended by international students.

Linda's contributions to equine behavior, health and communication are recognized and acclaimed internationally; her TTouch and TTEAM methods have been successfully used by Olympic contestants and trail riders alike. As part of Linda's legacy, she has authored 15 books in 14 languages and has produced 21 videos of her work with animals. To help spread her work around the world, there are Tellington Method certified practitioners in 26 countries. Her current projects include teaching orphaned children in Africa how to help animals in local veterinary hospitals and animal shelters by using the Tellington Method of TTouch.

Linda Tellington-Jones was completely surprised about the Hall of Fame award, thinking that she was riding in the Saturday Evening Showcase as a clinician. She was loaned a Paint horse mare from one of the California Cowgirls, and she even borrowed a cowgirl hat with glittery tiara attached. When told at the last minute that she won the Hall of Fame award, ever the consummate show person, she smiled, gathered her reins and cantered to the center of the arena to be met by Horse Expo founder and president Miki Cohen and radio and television personality Rick Lamb. Linda said graciously as she was presented with her plaque, "I'm thrilled at the honor of being inducted into the Western States Horse Expo Hall of Fame. To share my work with over 70,000 enthusiastic lovers of horses at this educational expo is a wonderful opportunity to change the world one TTouch at a time."

Pat Parelli couldn't attend his Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the 2006 Western States Horse Expo. So this year he rode out to the arena before Linda Tellington-Jones to accept his plaque and make a brief speech. As the two Hall of Fame recipients rode around the arena to greet the crowd, Pat Parelli on his black mare Magic did some spins, slide stops and other fancy maneuvers --- but that didn't deter Linda Tellington-Jones from keeping right up with Pat on a horse that she had ridden for about four minutes! The crowd leaped to its feet as the two performers and riders extraordinaire "strutted their stuff!"

The Western States Horse Expo is accepting Hall of Fame nominations for the 2008 award. To submit, send your nomination to Western States Horse Expo, Post Office Box 517, Coloma, CA 95613. For more information about the Western States Horse Expo, visit www.horsexpo.com or call 800/352-2411. 

PAT PARELLI NAMED TO HALL OF FAME 2006
Born in California’s Bay Area, Pat Parelli was obsessed with horses at an early age. When Pat was just 13, a horseman and trapper named Freddie Ferrera of Livermore, California, recognized Pat’s talents with horses and took him under his wing. During the summers he would teach Pat about how to be “natural” with horses, dogs, and cattle, and how to live in parallel with nature.

For more about Pat Parelli go to: www.parelli.com

ROBERT MILLER, DVM NAMED TO HALL OF FAME 2004
Robert M. Miller earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University in 1956. It was also at CSU that he met his future wife, Debby, a talented barrel racer on the school's rodeo team.

While in school, Bob spent several summers working as a horse wrangler on cattle ranches, where he developed his own effective but gentle ways of starting and handling horses.

After graduating from CSU, the Millers settled in Thousand Oaks, California, where Bob founded the Conejo Valley Veterinary Clinic. Although he treated animals of all sizes and types, from hummingbirds to whales, his practice eventually became primarily equine.

In 1959, a theory about the learning capabilities of newborn foals slowly began to form in Dr. Miller's mind. Over the next 25 years, he developed a complete training regimen for the first week of a horse's life. He dubbed it Imprint Training. Like many revolutionary ideas, it met with resistance and was slow to catch on among professional horsemen.

But by 1984, Dr. Miller was becoming a recognized expert in equine behavior, and through a series of videos and his landmark Western Horseman book, "Imprint Training of the Newborn Foal," his ideas caught on with the public.

Today, Imprint Training is widely accepted and is practiced around the world by amateur and professional horsemen alike, even in the racing industry. When done correctly, it is the fastest and most profound method of permanently shaping a horse's responses and attitude.

Dr. Miller left his career practice in 1988, after 32 years as a working veterinarian, in order to devote the rest of his life to promoting and explaining not only Imprint Training, but also the revolution in horsemanship that he saw occurring around him.

His newest book, co-authored by Rick Lamb and titled "The Revolution in Horsemanship" was released in late 2004. joined by a number of other books Dr. Miller has penned over the years on horse behavior and care.

Bob Miller has received numerous professional awards for his work. His sense of humor and artistic talent are renowned and are immortalized in nine books of veterinary cartoons. He and Debby enjoy traveling and snow skiing, and still ride regularly on both horses and mules. In fact, their world champion mule, Jordass Jean, was recently inducted into the Bishop Mule Days Hall of Fame.

RAY HUNT NAMED TO HALL OF FAME 2003
The man who inspired a generation of clinicians, Ray Hunt was named to the Horse Expo Hall of Fame in an emotional Friday night ceremony. His life's work has defined attitudes and philosophies about horsemanship for well over thirty years. He often says, "I'm here for the horse, to help him get a better deal," but his focus has been to create a lasting partnership between horse and rider, and his work has influenced thousands.

The Western States Horse Expo Hall of Fame Award was established in 2002 to recognize an individual and/or organization that has made a substantial contribution within the Equine Industry in the United States.

To make a nomination, please contact us via e-mail (letters@horsexpo.com or by calling our main office at (530) 295-1424, or 800-352-2411.

FRANK VESSELS - 2002
FRANK VESSELS, 1ST HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE, 2002
Frank “Scoop” Vessels III is unique in that he ranks simultaneously among the nation’s top breeders in both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse indutries. The esteem in which both camps hold him is borne out by the fact that he has been president of the American Quarter Horse Association. Know best for the creation and management of the Vessel’s Stallion Farm near San Diego, his farm stands the top racing Quarter horse stallion in the country, First Down Dash, as well as the leading Thoroughbred sire on the West Coast, In Excess (ire). Scoop Vessels is one of the equine industry’s most exemplary entrepreneurs/