Read about our next set of riders for the Versatile Horse & Rider Competition, sponsored by Nutrena, below!

Matt Lovejoy

Horse: Twilight Smarty 313 (aka “Jewel”), 6-year-old Quarter Horse mare

Matt was raised on an Arabian horse farm in West Virginia and began his professional horsemanship career at the age of 24. He has worked and trained under 14 world champion trainers in various disciplines including reining, reined cow horse, cutting, pleasure, roping, endurance racing, and ranch work. Matt has won 7 buckles and earned himself the nickname “Cowboy Matt.” Matt specializes in “problem” horses and acquired Jewel after she had bucked off her previous owner one too many times. In just 5 months, Jewel has proven herself to be a confident and capable mount, and Matt looks forward to showing off her versatility in the VHRC.

Symphonie Nadeau

Horse: Invited by Krymsun (aka “Onyx”), 15-year-old Quarter Horse gelding

Symphonie has a solid equestrian background with 31 years of experience competing and training horses in different countries and working with Olympic and international clinicians. She has won several titles, including the provincial finals of the Quebec Extreme Cowboy Association in the Open Pro division.

Danelle Osinchuk

Horse: Slip Me A Dual Pep (aka “Magic”), 19-year-old Quarter Horse gelding

Danelle and Magic have been a team for 10 years, and together have competed in cutting events, stock horse shows, and versatility events. Magic was bred and trained for cutting and reining. They have won amateur and open year-end championships in The New England Stock Horse Series and placed in the top 5 multiple times in the VHRC.

Jackie Rappel

Horse: Becketts Hickory Doc (“Roanie”), 19-year-old Quarter Horse gelding

Jackie and Roanie have been competing together in reined cow horse and the VHRC for four years. They’ve placed as high as 4^th and had multiple top 10 finishes. Although Jackie sold Roanie to friends about a year ago and he is now semi-retired, Jackie still rides him once a month and plans to continue competing with him at the VHRC every year as long as he’s still up for the challenge.

Laura Ryan

Horse: Doctor’s Peppy’s Lena (aka “Jewel”), 17-year-old Quarter Horse mare

East meets west with this pair! Laura is from New York, and her mount Jewel was born in Texas before being acquired in a stableman’s lien. For the last 11 years, they have participated in western versatility, trail, and ranch horse competitions. This will be their VHRC debut.

Martin Schwartz

Horse: Show Me Sterling (aka “Sterling”), 10-year-old Appaloosa gelding

Martin and Sterling have proven their abilities time and again in the VHRC, winning back-to-back champion titles in 2017 and 2018. Because of Sterling’s owner’s back troubles, he cannot ride – so Martin has taken the reins for the past six years and Sterling has truly blossomed under him. We can’t wait to see how these two perform at this year’s competition!