EquestrianCoach.com-Sponsored Apprenticeship with Tim McQuay Scores a Plus with IHSA Reining Champion Austin Griffith of Ohio State

Among the horses Griffith had the chance to work with was Mr. Lonely Gun, owned by McQuay Stables.

Griffith is only the second AQHA High Point Western Rider in IHSA history to successfully defend consecutive national titles and also slide into the IHSA individual Open Reining title and reserve in team reining, receiving the 2013 Jack Fritz Memorial Scholarship in honor of the late advocate of collegiate riding, and an EquestrianCoach.com Achievement of Excellence Award package that included a Pard's gift certificate, $1,000 travel stipend underwritten byEquestrianCoach.com, and week-long apprenticeship with NRHA Hall of Famer and legendary trainer, Tim McQuay.

"The colt Austin was riding is just a two year-old and we are getting him pretty broke. Austin was working on making him turn around with a nice step, with consistent movement that stays smooth. That's stuff we do a lot of every day so the horse learns to be very repetitious with that step and then it gets easy for them," said McQuay about Griffith's contributions to his young horse program.

"I hope that more people get the opportunity to do what I got to do for a week. It's been a really big learning experience,” said Griffith, who hopes to apply what he has learned while on OSU's IHSA Western team this school year. “It's helped me a lot. Having the opportunity to come out and be a part of this program has really meant a lot to me."

McQuay was the NRHA's first-ever $2 Million Dollar Rider and won every major NRHA event including its Futurity, Breeders Classic, Derby and Superstakes. He earned prize money on 229 different reiners and was inducted in 2000 to the NRHA Hall of Fame, having left his mark as a five-time All American Quarter Horse Congress Futurity Champion, two-time AQHA World Champion and multiple NRHA World Champion. He won Silver at the 2005 FEI Masters Reining in Italy, Team Gold and Individual Silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, and in 2010 at the WEG won Individual Gold, securing his reputation as one of the world’s great reining horseman.

EquestrianCoach.com, a proud educational service provider for IHSA, was founded by Bernie Traurig as an online equestrian education for jumping disciplines, filming tips with such Olympians and champion coaches as Denny Emerson, Laura Kraut, Rodrigo Pessoa, and Peter Wylde; Missy Clark, John French, Stacia Madden, Peter Pletcher, and Louise Serio, and using slow-motion, stills, graphics and voice-overs to produce high definition (HD) videos for members (IHSA students and coaches get discounts on membership). Traurig has reached the pinnacle of three Olympic disciplines: Show Jumping, Dressage and Three-Day Eventing. In 2010 the California Professional Horsemen's Association honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award and today he devotes himself to spreading education through clinics around the world and EquestrianCoach.com.

The IHSA mission is to promote competition for riders of all skill levels, who compete individually and as teams at regional and national levels. IHSA is based on the principle that any college student should be able to participate in horse shows regardless of his or her financial status or riding level. To learn more, visit www.IHSAinc.com.