22 FEATURE: TRAINERS PROFILE- KANE SCOPE
TRAINERS PROFILE- KANE SKOPP
understand how to care for and develop a horse— is something I’ m really proud of.
10. What are your future plans or goals with training & showing? In the future, I hope to keep doing what I’ m doing and continue learning how to do it better. There’ s always more to improve, more to understand, and I want to keep evolving for the sake of the horses and the people who trust me with them.
11. What other interests / hobbies do you enjoy or have? I wouldn’ t say I have any hobbies outside of horses, but I have a lot of interest in the breeding side of the industry, it’ s a major part of our business. These days, most of the horses we’ re breeding are by imported stallions or semen and out of mares with strong imported bloodlines. Being able to travel to the U. S. and see these stallions in person, talk with trainers, and get a feel for how they produce talent, mind and structure has been very valuable.
It takes the right kind of mare to truly complement a stallion, and without doing your homework, it’ s easy to invest a lot of money
and end up disappointed. Understanding how to make the right crosses and produce quality, sound and trainable horses is something I really enjoy and continue to learn more about.
12. Any items in your tack room you just can’ t do without? Probably a snaffle and my Chuck Letchworth short shank correctional. It’ s a great bit for transitioning horses as they advance in their training.
13. Hardest part of the job is: I think the most challenging part of the job is to truly do it properly, stay competitive, care for the horses, manage clients, and maintain your property, it’ s a seven-day-a-week commitment. There are no office hours. Between horses and customers, you’ re essentially on call 24 / 7. Being able to remain enthusiastic without any downtime is a difficulty I think we all face.
That said, I’ m grateful to do what I do every day and live the lifestyle that comes with it. As demanding as it is at times, I wouldn’ t want to do anything else other than training Quarter Horses.
Australian Quarter Horse Association- www. aqha. com. au