By Cutting Horse Central
It’s no secret that the youth are the future of our industry, Penny Youngblood and Nancy Pearce, of Circle Y Ranch, are dedicated to helping grow and develop the younger generation. One way they are giving back is through the Texas A&M Collegiate Stock Horse Team, which consists of 12 college athletes ranging in show experience.
Not only have Penny and Nancy offered generous financial support over the years for the Texas A& M Equine Program, they have also invested in the team’s preparation for major events like the American Stock Horse Association Collegiate Championships being held in Sweetwater, Texas, April 11-13. Coming off a team victory in 2018, the team has an excellent foundation and Circle Y Ranch resident cutting horse trainer John Sanislow has helped give team members an edge heading into the cow horse event by hosting a cutting clinic at their beautiful ranch in Millsap, TX.
John Worked one on one with each student during the clinic
Each rider shows their horse in the reining, working cow horse, ranch pleasure and ranch trail to showcase the versatility of the pair. Riders can show their own horse or one of the six homebred and raised stock horses Texas A&M offers their team members. During the clinic, John focused on horsemanship and working cattle. The first half of the clinic revolved around working the flag to teach control, and then after a break for lunch they worked on live cattle practicing their cuts and how to position their horse on a cow in preparation for the cow horse event.
“Circle Y and I believe in giving back to the youth,” John said. “I will do anything I can to promote the youth and help them be successful in any possible way that we can. Penny and Nancy have dedicated a lot of time and money to Texas A&M. They stand behind their equine program substantially. This is our way of giving back to our kids and to our future. They have an exceptional team.”
John showed the students how to keep their horses collected while working a cow
Coach Morgan Moreno and her team are so thankful for the support the Circle Y crew has given them, and they feel that the clinic helped better prepare them for their upcoming competition.
“We are very blessed to get to be here, and it’s pretty unique to us to get to come to a facility like this,” Morgan said. “We love to reach out to our Aggie family, and that is usually where we are able to network. Penny and Nancy are definitely supporters of A&M, and they found out about us and took us in as family.”