Coaching
&
Elite Mentorship
About us
Marty began his horsemanship journey as a hired man, to feedlot rider, to feedlot manager to ranch manager, then onto a few of Alberta’s largest cattle ranches where he refined his skills with horses, ropes, and cattle, which soon led to others seeking his advice and help.
​
In 2007 with the encouragement of his partner Yvonne they moved to Stavely, Alberta and established Flattop Horsemanship with the vision of helping anyone in any discipline create the best partnership they could with their horses.
Yvonne, is the office side of their outfit and laughingly calls herself the poop girl, cook and bottle washer and photographer (Marty calls her the fix it lady ). If you ever watch her around Marty you will see the love she has to just watch him teach and ride it’s her favourite pastime, besides riding with him.
​
In late 2017 Marty became very ill, and after many months of testing in the spring of 2018 he was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. This put a stop to his teaching career for a short while. In the spring of 2019 with the help and treatment of Dr Risk at Ananta Health in Calgary, Alberta Marty slowly began to feel better and began teaching again part time. "We are in hopes that things continue to improve and one day Marty will be able to resume his passion for teaching full time". For now Marty does his best to help as many students as he can with their understanding that he may need to cancel with very short notice as this disease in very unpredictable and can set him back at any given moment.
Update as of Jan 2024
Although Marty is still dealing with some of the challenges of this aweful disease he is continually improving each year thanks to Dr Risk at Ananta Health Services.
He has continued to work with his Elite Mentorship participants and has gradually been teaching more lessons and has even been able to judge a few horse shows and Stockmanship contests. We are encouraged by his progress and hope he continues to improve.
Some of Marty's Accomplishments
2003 Pole Ranch Roping Open Champion
2004 Key Ranch Roping Individual High Point Open Roper
2004 Canadian Ranch Roping Champion
2005 Silver Sage 2 man Ranch Roping Individual High Point Champion
2007 Canadian Ranch Roping Open High Point Individual High point Champion
2007 Bowden Ranch Roping Open High Point Reserve Champion
2008 Chautauqua Ranch Roping Open Reserve Champion
2009 Canadian Ranch Roping Open Champion
2009 Willow Valley Ranch Roping Open Individual High Point Champion
Have competed in various local Stock horse/Cowhorse competitions.
Working Equitation Competitor at the National Andalusian Show 2017 (4th place with 30 days on Bolero RHF
