2025 Horses, Trainers and Riders
OUR 2025 ROSTER
365 2025 Teams
1. Adam Black with Ollie #hopteamollie
2. Hannah Fowler with Kabrina #hopteamkabrina
3. Vivan Jones with Zendetta #hopteamzendetta
4. Dixie Marrese with Lacy #hopteamlacy
5. Bre Mood with Finley #hopteamfinley
6. Colby O’Connor with Wilbur #hopteamwilbur
Diamond Teams
1. Adam Black with Panama #hopteampanama
2. Vania Carr with Sovereign #hopteamsovereign
3. Shelbe Cochran with Alfredo #hopteamalfredo
4. Tyler DeLange with Sela #hopteamsela
5. Hannah Fowler with Tandoori #hopteamtandoori
6. Laura Funderburg with Enero #hopteamenero
7. Hillary Holman with Taz #hopteamtaz
8. Alison Mattis with Arlington #hopteamarlington
9. Grave McCall with Sonic #hopteamsonic
10. Colby O’ Conner with Donatello or Cassia #hopteamdonatello #hopteamcassia
11. Trinity Wood with Galaxy #hopteamgalaxy
Platinum Teams
1. Quinn Lawson with Illusion #hopteamIllusion
2. Hannah Brown with Odessa #hopteamodessa
3. Carina Colvin with Briar #hopteambriar
4. Maribeth Peppler with Paella #hopteampaella
5. Brenda Hanson with Lilah #hopteamlilah
6. Katie Elder with Halo #hopteamhalo
7. Katelyn Reese with Kalani or Twixt #hopteamkalani #hopteamtwixt
8. Amy Parsely with Papa Smurf #hopteampapasmurf
9. Betty Miller with Oakley #hopteamoakley
10. Salina Springer with Bellini #hopteambellini
11. Maggie Higgins with Champ #hopteamchamp
12. Laura Lezotte with Tabasco #hopteamtabasco
Whippersnappers
1. Josie Casebere with Wembley #hopteamwembley
2. Richard Hames with Mokey #hopteammokey
3. Kyrstan Heath with Gritts #hopteamgritts
4. Joey Lezotte with Sprocket #hopteamsprocket
5. Jessica Lyons with Gobo #hopteamgobo
6. Caity Sammons with Merple #hopteammerple
7. Steffanie Burk with Red #hopteamred
Showcase Horses
1. Maggie England with Zinnia #hopteamzinnia
2. Carl Bledsoe with Killian / 365 Showcase #hopteamkillian
3. Justin Haefner with Wellington / 365 Showcase #hopteamwellington
4. Jennesa Blanc with Leeta #hopteamleeta
5. Craig Shaffer and Emma Shearer with Alpine #hopteamalpine
6. Betty Miller with Bastian #hopteambastian
7. Bailey Harless with Seven of Nine #hopteam7of9
8. Kelsie Kessick with Brody #hopteambrody
9. Jessi-Lyn Reuter with Britney #hopteambritney
10. Pending Adam Black with Pearl #hopteampearl
11. Tara Zic with Matilda #hopteammatilda
RIDER WARS
1. Kelsie Kessick – Apprentice
2. Casey White – Journeyman
3. Deanna Gibson- Apprentice
4. Niki Miller- Apprentice
5. Elizabeth Kopras- Journeyman
6. Amariah Tuttle- Apprentice
7. Paytton Burke- Journeyman
8. Sydney Webster- Apprentice
9. Michelle Strader- Journeyman
10. Honey May – Apprentice
11. Rachel Robins- Apprentice
Virtual Youth Riders
1. Molly Hopperton
2. Maddie Hopperton
3. Lila Hopperton
The Appalachian Trainer Face Off is a unique event that brings together horse trainers from around the country to compete, showcasing the adoptable horses while providing an opportunity for trainers to showcase their skills.
The 2024 event marked the 8th year for the ATFO.
Since its inception, the program has:
• Provided over 240 horses with 100 + days of training
• Was a feature series on Horse.TV in 2021
• Has been featured in Horse Illustrated, Horse Nation and Chronicle of the Horse
• Enabled 175 horse trainers to showcase their talents to an audience online and in person
• Raised $425,000+ in funding used to both host the event and aid in HOP’s mission to rehabilitate and rehome the horses of Appalachia
• Generated over $600,000 in training value for the horses of HOP
• Was the 2021 largest equine event in the state of West Virginia with over 2,000+ horse friendly attendees.
Operating in one of the nation’s most economically challenged regions, Heart of Phoenix found through necessity there was a need to create innovative ways to get a large number of horses trained and adopted each year on a small budget.
Our answer to this was the Appalachian Trainer Face Off. It is training competition that began in 2017. The ATFO is currently one of the largest equine events in West Virginia, hosting 500-2,500 people in August yearly. The ATFO helped make a rescue organization an equine leader in the country.
The Appalachian Trainer Face Off is a unique event that brings together horse trainers from around the country to compete, showcasing the adoptable horses while providing an opportunity for trainers to showcase their skills.
Some of our Judges have been: Josh Lyons, Noah TY (Steady Horse), Michael Lyons, Richie Wingfield, Carson James, Pat Roberts (wife of Monty Roberts), Sonny Garguilo, Carl Bledsoe, Colton Woods and Patrick King.
Heart of Phoenix believes when faced with uncommon adversity, all efforts should be make to create a great impact while ensuring that the multiple issues involve are being tackled simultaneously. We have found the Appalachian Trainer Face Off has accomplished this, leading to a better understanding what horse rescue means, what adoption should look like and how the horse industry can help us help horses in a meaningful way.