First Teton Horse Expo in Jefferson County slated for March

EDNA GRANT The Jefferson Star - Feb 19, 2024

Photo courtesy of Darci Parry

Teton Horse Experience organizer Darci Parry with husand Bob and son Kacen.
Photo courtesy of Darci Parry.

For many years, the nearest Horse expo took place in Nampa, requiring interested horseman in south east Idaho to travel roughly 300 miles to participate in a large educational equine convention. That is, until Hamer native Darci Parry answered the call and organized the Teton Horse Experience, which will take place at the Wind River Arena on March 8, 9 and 10.

According to Parry, with the closest horse and rider expo being in Nampa, there hasn’t been much opportunity for horse riders to collaborate and learn from each other in the area. Parry herself had run into the same problem when she chose to begin showing her equine medical preventative care equipment at shows. There were none in the area.

“So I thought last January, someone should do this and put one together,” she said. “Then I thought to myself, I’m capable. I can do it.”

The organization of an event like this one takes a lot of time, money and work, Parry said, stating it took her a year to get the event up and running. The hardest part, she said, was finding a venue.

The Wind River Arena, located just north west of Ririe, was the only venue she could find with the space and setup for what the event needs.

“Wind River has been phenomenal to work with,” she expressed, also stating her endeavors to organize the expo haven’t had a day off since securing the venue in November. “I’ve hit the ground running, finding volunteers and presenters.”

Becoming a better and balanced team is the themed goal of the Teton Horse Experience, Parry said, and is loaded with presenters and speakers who will be focusing on improving or maintaining the health and mental health of both horse and rider.

The event boasts a series of vendors along with speakers, veterinarians and demonstrators speaking and sharing about horsemanship, anxiety, health and conditioning, horse physiology, finances and building a business along with social media and photography tips for those selling horses.

“We have a photographer doing demos, giving tips on how to take pictures for marketing and selling horses, we have a speaker coming to talk about how even a rider’s mental and physical health also affects their horse,” Parry described.

Former Miss Rodeo Idaho, Hunter Rackham will be giving a motivational segment, Parry said, on overcoming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, directly related to riding accidents, and how to “get back in the saddle.” Parry described this segment as an important discussion in the Horse community as several riders, including herself, have faced the anxiety of getting back on a horse after a traumatic accident.

There will be a demonstration of alternative shoeing, as Parry said, there is a growing trend in the riding world to think outside the box of normal horseshoeing and this demonstrator will be an informational segment for local riders.

Doctor Mark Bramwell of South Fork Animal Clinic in Rigby will be teaching on medical emergencies, Parry said.

“It’ll be for when you’re up in the mountains and don’t know what to do, which is great,” she stated, “because how many of us have been up there and got ourselves into a situation and don’t know what to do?”

A special presentation will be given during lunch on Friday and Saturday, Parry said, where they will introduce the Mustang Recovery Program, which she has organized with James Barnes, Counselor and trainer.

The Mustang Recovery Program is a therapy program which pairs those working through addiction recovery programs with a wild mustang. According to Parry, this is a 100 day course where the participants learn to work with and care for their horse.

“This has helped with building trust, building bonding skills, building confidence,” Parry said, which she believes are important aspects of staying away from whichever substance they’ve abused in their past.

At the end of the 100 day program, the participants will have a choice to either keep or sell the mustang they’ve trained. Currently, Parry is working with rodeo boards to determine which, if any rodeo events, would be willing to participate in the selling of these mustangs.

Participants from the most recent batch of program applicants will have the opportunity to draw for their mustang partners at the Teton Horse Experience during this time.

According to information shared by Barnes, these participants will have the opportunity to show their mustangs at a first showing, and could also qualify for the Las Vegas Mustang Challenge in July, where $125,000 of prize money is offered.

“This is a humungous program,” Parry said, “and this community, the folks here have really supported it. It’s really taken off.”

It is no secret, Parry said, that Idaho has struggled with drugs and substance addition. Barnes and his wife Katie, she stated, have been in the counseling and substance abuse recovery for several years. According to the program’s flyer circulated with the Teton Horse Experience, Barnes is a veteran horse trainer counselor and claims the initiative aims to break stigmas surrounding addiction and to highlight the potential for transformation.

Parry was born and raised in Idaho and was brought up in Hamer as a cattle rancher’s daughter, calling herself a cowgirl, through and through.

“The pony stage never left me,” she joked.

She has worked in massage therapy in both people and horses for 20 years. As the years have gone by, creating communities in the interest of horse care has really boomed, she said, especially as education has become more and more accessible.

Parry herself has also acquired, in her profession, a piece of equine medical equipment which can provide imagery of the animal to locate potential problems before they effect the animal, she explained. It focuses on temperature and helps give an image of what is happening inside the body to allow horse owners to begin preventative care. She will be demonstrating this technology at the expo, as well.

Both her childhood and her life’s journey have led Parry to participate in Rodeos, Rodeo Queen competitions, 4-H, FFA as well as other programs. Her children have also participated in these programs and events, she said, keeping the love of horses and agriculture in their blood.

“Our team has worked so hard for the community,” she said, regarding the event she expects to be the first of an annual opportunity, “because we do this for the community.”