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The Challenge trainers will meet at the MS State Fairgrounds in January to select an untrained rescue horse as their training partner for the next 120 days.. They will return to the Kirk Fordice Equine Center on May 15-17 to compete for the title of Heart of the Horse Trainers Challenge Champion and over $15,000 in cash and prizes. Professional, amateur and youth trainers from English, western and gaited disciplines will test their horsemanship skills in three days of head-on competition. The challenge horses, once cast aside as useless and neglected, will perform their skills to prove they are now transformed into safe, capable riding companions, ready for a long-term owner and loving new home. The Trainers Challenge will kick off Thursday, May 15, with trainers exhibiting in health & ground manners classes. Friday, May 16, will feature horsemanship and trail classes.
On Saturday, May 17, the Heart of the Horse Expo will offer a wide variety of horse related vendors and exhibits, as well as the most popular class of the HoH Trainers Challenge - the freestyle competition!
At the conclusion of freestyle presentations, the overall 2025 Heart of the Horse Champion, division champions and other training awards will be announced. After the awards ceremony, the Challenge horses, who have been pre-vetted and trained intensively for past 120 days, will be presented in the live Safe Horse Auction to pre-screened adopters. Prospective bidders must be pre-approved to adopt these horses through Mississippi Horse Rescue and meet with the horse and trainer before the auction on Saturday, May 17. This type of auction is the place to find that
special treasured horse because it provides the setting to match buyers and horses appropriately, according to the suitability of the horse to the abilities and activities intended by the buyer, ensuring long-term interest and lasting homes.
Admission is free to the public.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mississippi State Fairgrounds, Jackson, Mississippi, United States
