This year the MFTHBA Membership Committee is formally recognizing the Top 5 trainers for the 2018 MFTHBA Trainer of the Year by counting down to the Trainer of the Year.  There was a tie for third on the Top 5 list, so we will recognize each trainer on a separate day.  Yesterday, we recognized Vance Vahle, and today we recognize Erin Patterson.

Erin Patterson is a two-time MFTHBA Trainer of the Year award winner.  In 2018, Mrs. Patterson had horses compete in both the performance and versatility arenas.

Here are just a few of the horses that Mrs. Patterson trained and their accomplishments in 2018:  the Four Years and Older MFTHBA Spring Show & Futurity Amateur Specialty Champion, She’s Something Special, owned by Janice Patterson of Harrisonville, Missouri, and Colton Patterson of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and the Open Amateur Three Year Old Futurity Reserve Champion, It’s R Time, owned by Kevin and Debbie Reed of Cleveland, Missouri.

The Trainer of the Year Award:

The Trainer of the Year award was designed to recognize the achievements of professional horsemen and women involved in the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed.  This past year the MFTHBA Membership Committee and Board moved to have the award based on the performance of those horses the trainer works with.

“In years past, the Trainer of the Year was based on nominations and voting by the membership.  Former MFTHBA President, Aaron Stanifer, and I discussed moving the award to more of a performance-based award.  This is something that the Membership Committee had been discussing for a number of years,” said Amy Stangl, MFTHBA Membership Committee Chairman.

A test run was conducted after the 2018 MFTHBA Spring Show and Futurity, and it was determined that it would be feasible to calculate the award in this manner.  The new Board approved the change at the November workshop.

“This year 28 trainers earned points towards the award in various disciplines:  versatility, model, and performance.  We are hoping to have even more trainers earning points in the near future,” added Stangl.  “The new database will eventually be able to calculate the award automatically, and it will allow us to include other events outside of the shows at Ava in the final award calculations.”

The MFTHBA is grateful to all the equine professionals that dedicate their lives to the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse, and congratulates Erin Patterson on being recognized as a 2018 MFTHBA Top 5 Trainer.

Rounding out the Top 10:

3. Erin Patterson 3. Vance Vahle 5. Geno Middleton

6. Bryan Biggs

7. Josh Dampier

8. Jamie Johnson

9. Buck Thompson

10. Steve Dampier