World Champion trainer John Briggs of Pilot Point, Texas has been involved with horses the majority of his life. John and his wife, Jill, have developed a reputation for success with currently over twenty clients. This husband and wife team have trained a total of 61 World and Congress Championships including AQHA Youth World Champions Elizabeth Borders and Cheyenne Peterson as well as Amateur Congress Champion Angela Fox. GoHorseShow.com sat down with Briggs to talk about where he got started and why he has been so successful at such a young age.
Q: Hi John–so, how did you get involved with horses?
A: I was born in Tucson, Arizona and showed my first AQHA show when I was about eleven years old in Bosque Farms, New Mexico. My great grandmother, Rose Fulton was a founding member of AQHA. Because of her involvement, my family also started showing. I showed in everything from halter, speed events, western to the english events.
Q: What do you like about the horse industry?
A: What I like about the horse industry is that it has several different aspects including competition as well as many social and political events someone can become involved within the association.
Q: Who are some of your mentors?
A: It is hard to single out a few but my mentors include Pete Kyle and John Hoyt. I feel they both did a lot to further the horse industry. Some of my best memories showing horses would be showing as a youth kid in Pete Kyle’s barn. It was a great group of kids in that barn at the time, we were competitive but we enjoyed having a good time also. Pete always made the shows fun. Riding with Pete was a great experience. He would spend hours working with the kids; drilling us on patterns and the finer details of showing the different events, but for all the work we did, he would also make it fun, taking us to the lake or snow skiing. We had some great times showing in youth as a youth kid of Pete’s.
Q: What would you like for everyone to know about you in the industry?
A: I hope that I have shown that hard work and dedication are an important factors in success. This was something I felt I had some talent at and wanted to help others accomplish their goals in the show pen.
Q: What are some of your favorite wins?
A: Winning the Western Riding at the AJQHA World Show. I especially like that win because I had trained and prepared that horse myself. His name was Mr. Bueno Dial Bar (pictured left). He was the first horse I ever owned. He was a very special horse to my family. I got him when I was nine years old. He used to buck me off every time I rode him. One time I was at the Land Of Enchantment circuit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and he bucked me off in the warm up pen and preceded to run into the show arena by the spectators and make a scene and scare everybody. I had many people tell me to sell him, but I decided to stick it out, and he became a horse that took me to the top of at the Congress and World Shows. Other favorite wins were in 1999 when I won the Jr Trail at the AQHA World Show and when Elizabeth Borders won Youth Horsemanship at the 2008 AQHYA World Show. She had been reserve twice before, and it was neat to watch her achieve a goal she had worked very hard for. (Photo © Harold Campton)
Q: What advice would you give to young trainers?
A: They shouldn’t hesitate to reach out for help from the more established trainers out there. I know, for example, every time I wasn’t sure what to do with a horse in training, I would ask a trainer I respect for help. I think I learned more that way than any other way.
Q: What would you like to see changed in the horse industry?
A: I think the horse shows could use some improving. It just seems like there is so much intensity put into practicing and showing all the classes that the show offers in a very tight schedule that there is no time for any fun activities. I’d like to see a way to involve more fun activities at the show.
Q: What is it you like about judging?
A: I like getting that chance to really evaluate horses in their respected discipline. It’s also really great meeting new people from show management to fellow judges. I really feel the industry has improved since back when I showed as a youth kid. I feel judges are more educated and that there is a fairer playing field these days.
(photo © Jeff Kirkbride, Cheyenne Peterson and Ritzy Investment pictured here with John Briggs)
Q: How are you able to handle multiple clients?
A: Being able to handle multiple clients is not easy and has taken years to be able to handle it better. Jill and try to discuss a plan for our clients even before the show begins. We decide who is helping who and how much practice every client should have well before we even get to the show. Having a master plan had really helped with being organized with the clients.
Q: How do you juggle both your family and work priorities?
A: This is probably the hardest question you’ve asked. It’s not easy but I really try to keep my priorities straight. Family is the most important thing I have. I think that I have had clients come into my barn because they feel that my family values mean so much that they feel I have a good sense of balance between work and family. That’s very appealing to some people.
Q: Thank you John for your time!
A: Thank You!
