2026 Invitational Colt Starting Competition

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 Mike Price is owner of Diamond P Mules in Whitehall, Montana.
I’ve been around horses and mules since the day I was born, and for the past 20+ years I’ve had the privilege of training mules for the public. Along with training, I raise and sell a few mules of my own, and we use our stock for just about everything—hunting, camping, roping, showing, or simply enjoying a good ride.

What I love most about training horses and mules is how much they teach us about ourselves. Starting colts is like a drug to me—it’s something I just can’t get enough of. 

I’m grateful for the chance to be part of this event, and I look forward to seeing you all down the trail.
Let’s ride!

 Ryan was born and raised in Rocky Mountain House Alberta and continues to call this community home. He has spent the last 30 years focusing on his career as a professional colt starter, with his first pay cheque being earned at the age of 12. Ryan believes that as horsemen, we never stop learning, and can often be heard saying “when I know better, I do better.” After 30 years in the colt starting business, Ryan has developed a program that is proven to provide horses the foundation that is required to produce confident and willing equine partners, regardless of discipline. Though Ryan’s passion is young horses, he will often have horses in training for “problem solving” and fine tuning.   Ryan’s program focuses on teaching young horses trust, respect and work ethic, that follows them throughout their careers.

 He accomplishes this by building confidence and avoiding situations that cause fear and trauma. “If you don’t get one scared, you’ll never have a fear response to overcome.” A confident foundation results in a versatile and usable horse. Ryan believes that confidence and versatility is extremely important for the health, wellbeing, mind and future of all horses, but especially performance horses “even our performance horses are all around horses, we use them for everything.” When not working with client horses, giving lessons or offering clinics, Ryan spends his time on the back of one of the families’ personal horses, either ranch rodeoing, riding in the foothills of Alberta, or fine tuning his wife and kids rodeo horses. If you can’t find him in the arena, mountains or pasture, he is likely hauling someone somewhere for lessons, clinics or rodeos. Ryan is a huge supporter of his wife and kids and spends a great deal of time making sure their horses are in top performance condition year-round.     “If you miss the beginning, the basics, then you are destined to go back and visit the beginning” – Buck Brannaman 

 Matt Robertson has a horse training business, alongside his wife Paige, in Prescott, AZ focusing on colt starting and problem horses. The forty-five year old horseman was born and raised in Wyoming where ranching, horsemanship and rodeo filled his youth.  Matt found a love for riding bucking horses at a young age, sparking a career that evolved through highschool and the PRCA, into ranch bronc riding until recent years.  As a young teen starting colts to pay entry fees, Matt was introduced to Ray Hunt's method of horsemanship, planting the seed of what would grow into a lifelong career.  His evolving approach to horsemanship has been a journey of self discovery and exploration, gaining an understanding of how the horse's mind and body work, to create a confident and reliable partnership.  Matt's journey has taken him from Alberta to Arizona starting colts, cowboying and playing music.