ONE MiGHT WONDER iF HE WAS JUST BLESSED WiTH A NATURAL KNACK, BUT HE SAiD DETER- MiNATiON WAS A BiGGER FACTOR THAN MERE TALENT.
“ I do think the good Lord did bless me with a skill set. I’ m definitely not the handiest person that I know as far as natural ability, but I’ ve worked very hard at getting better. Perseverance, you know.” Perseverance, and some good, old-fashioned horse sense.
He moved from farm country of Iowa to ranch country of South Dakota 26 or 27 years ago to attend National American University, and after graduating,“ I just went to training horses,” he said.“ It was hard knocks. I went and rode with a lot of good guys, had a lot of different mentors. I’ ve been very fortunate. I’ ve had some good local mentors and then broadened my horizons, and I’ ve got to ride with my heroes extensively …. I’ ve got to live a really cool life with the horse business.”
And that perseverance has reaped its rewards, as what began as a one-man show has grown to be a productive and reputable training operation with a full crew and lots of expertise, with clients from all over the country.
“ We’ re dealing with people’ s horses that their whole dreams are wrapped up in,” Randy said emphatically.“ We need to work harder, be more diligent, and make sure they have the best care possible every day they’ re here. It is our job to take care of that dream the best we can.”
“ My crew is very important,” Randy said.“ I value my crew immensely. Kat Dickhoff is my head assistant trainer. She’ s been here 10 years, accomplished horsewoman, shows great, trains great. She’ s a wonderful asset. My barn manager has been here almost 2 years; she’ s wonderful, runs my breeding program, runs my day-to-day business. I’ ve got a really good colt starter who’ s been here a little over a year. I’ m very fortunate to have a very good crew right now.”
The caliber of crew he has gives Randy more flexibility in how the training of a horse progresses.“ It depends on where the horse is at in training, but we decide who fits that horse’ s style the best. For instance, my colt starter doesn’ t ride my finished horses, but he was having troubles with a colt, and since I’ ve been in the business a long time, I started riding that colt. I rode that colt for a couple, three weeks, Kat started riding him, and we figured out what we needed to do. That’ s kind of the cool thing about my business. Here, you get a whole professional training staff looking after your horse.”
People from all over the United States know the Sliding G reputation and seek out the Sliding G expertise, as they work to progress through the ranks of the show horse world or better their horsemanship. myblackshillscountry. com Down Country Roads
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