The Road To The Horse is a competition among trainers starting Quarter Horses over three days. Organizers are holding the 10th edition of this event this weekend in its new venue at the Kentucky Horse Park, in Lexington. This morning The Horse visited with Glenn Blodgett, DVM, horse division manager for the 6666 Ranch, which is a Road to the Horse partner and, for the third consecutive year, the event’s remuda provider.

Blodgett explained that he and the 6666 Ranch cowboys select and bring 12 horses with them from Guthrie, Texas, to the event. He answered our questions about the history of these horses and their care.

The Horse: How does 6666 Ranch select the horses for the remuda, and is there a certain level of maturity or development these horses must reach before you consider them for the competition?

Blodgett: Well, when they approached us the first time, they had been using 2-year-old geldings, I believe, but they made a decision I think based on prior years that they felt like they needed a little more maturity in their horses, because … everything happens really fast here, they have to put a lot of pressure on the horses in order to complete this thing within a reasonable length of time. So they made a decision to move to a 3-year-old, which we were able to accommodate them on