Happy Trails with Dawni O’Bryan: Five Backgrounds, One Vision

I sat down with the adult horsemen and horsewomen of the Lamar Community College horse programs. The instructors that make up the leadership of the different facets of the horse program come from diverse backgrounds and areas of the United States. Starting with the department chair of agriculture, equine, and rodeo, Savanna Mauch, is now in her sixth year at LCC. She hails from Minnesota, got her bachelor’s degree in animal science at South Dakota State University, and her master’s degree in Brookings, SD. She was also a teaching assistant while she was there. Mauch has started a rodeo Bible camp that is conducted on campus for area youth that enjoy learning about rodeo and other horse disciplines. There are 20 freshmen and 14 sophomores in the horse programs with 80% of them double majoring in the Horse Training and Management (HTM) and Equine Business Management (EBM). Once graduated, these students have a high placement rate in the horse industry.

Ryan Pierce is the Horse Training and Management instructor, replacing Ryan Bray, and was born and raised in Ohio. He has operated as a cutting horse trainer and competitor. He has also served as a judge for the National Cutting Horse Association. He is the son of Holly, Colorado cutting horse guy, Ted Pierce. He was hired in late August and hit the ground running. He hopes to get a chance to recruit for the program next year. He enjoys helping the students improve their horsemanship skills and seeing the equine athletes improve also. His biggest challenge is the lack of time with the students. There is just never enough time in the day when dealing with horses and kids.

Holly Hopkins is the assistant for the horse programs and works the HTM, EBM, rodeo team, and ranch horse team. She was born and raised in California and received her bachelor’s degree at Feather River College and received her master’s degree from Missouri State University. She also taught classes there. Her biggest challenge is being spread thin amongst the different programs that need her assistance. She also makes reels for social media outreach for the different programs.

Travis Greenlee was highlighted in a previous article as the new rodeo coach at LCC. He comes from southwest Colorado and has enjoyed his fall season of college rodeo.

Cole Bennett is from Syracuse, KS and has the title of Head Ranch Horse Coach and assistant Rodeo Coach. Before assuming his current position, Hopkins approached him to help the ranch horse team, and they loaded up and went to Bennett’s facility. As a colt starter and reined cow horse trainer, he showed his own in 2017. He trains for the public now, as well as his own, and is a member of the National Reined Cow Horse Association. He has traveled to several different states showing at various competitions. He currently has 11 members on the team, of which only 4 can be on the points’ team. At the collegiate level, they compete in reining, cow work, trail, and pleasure. They are also divided into Limited Non-Pro and Novice divisions depending on ability. Their next competition is in Sterling, November 22-24. The Limited Non-Pro competitors will be Rangle Osborn, Diego Marquez, and Audreauna Shahan. The novice rider will be Kendal Hill. The most challenging aspect of Bennett’s job that he mentioned was the mental aspect. Each student needs approached differently. The rewards come as the students get better and the horses get better. He mentioned that he gets more nervous watching his students compete than when he is doing the competing himself. According to him, coaching college students has helped his own training.

Greenlee and Bennett also conduct a Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the college which is open to all students that want to attend. The vibe is present on campus (down at the barns) of a sincere vision for the students to not only improve their horsemanship, their communication skills, their job preparedness, but a spiritual journey guided by God toward greatness in their field.

Happy Trails.