**Horsemanship trainer Josh Peebles is bringing his own colt starting events to Ga.
By LIZ CRUMBLY
Editor
With his soft twang and unvarying affability, not to mention his skill on a green horse, Josh Peebles is one of Georgia’s up-and-coming trainers to watch. In addition to training for the public, through his business, All Purpose Horsemanship, based out of Young Harris, Ga., he regularly competes in colt starting events – he has placed twice in the top 10 in Extreme Mustang Makeover challenges. On top of all of this, he has also begun hosting his own colt starting competition series. The Collective Equestrian caught him between rides to talk about his most recent endeavors.
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**RELATED: Extreme Mustang Makeover: putting down roots in the Southeast**
CE: How did you get started with horsemanship training and colt starting? JP: My dad always had horses. I began riding when I was two years old. When I was 14, I met and began riding with J.C. Rangle, of Hayesville, N.C. He was a third-generation horseman from Spain. I was 17 when I began taking a few clients. I have also extensively studied principles popularized by Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman. I was 25 when I began training fulltime for the public.
CE: What do you specialize in at All Purpose Horsemanship?
JP: I take horses in for training – mainly colt starting projects and problem horses. I also finish horse for general horsemanship, ranch roping, ranch sorting and mounted shooting, and I board horses, as well.
E: Tell us about the colt-staring challenges you’ve been hosting.
JP: I just hosted my second one. I actually participated in and won the first one, so I figured I’d sit this one out and be a judge. I went out west in 2013 to participate in a colt-starting challenge. It was so expensive that I decided to host one myself.
CE: You recently participated in the EMM (Extreme Mustang Makeover) challenge that took place in Gainesville, Ga. Tell us how that went.
JP: There were 31 approved trainers who picked up Mustangs in Mississippi to train this year; about 18 of them made it to the finals. I ended up fourth place overall. My mustang, Shorty, was the second highest selling horse there – he went for $3,300 to a lady from Florida who plans to use him for mounted shooting. Shorty was a completely different horse than the first Mustang I trained for the EMM last year (who I also placed fourth on). He tested me from the day I picked him up.
