Mary Beth Roberts is the development director of the non-profit Knoxville-based Horse Haven of Tennessee. The group is holding a new fundraiser Saturday, Aug. 29 at Knoxville Center Mall—a trailer rodeo where drivers test their skills on a timed obstacle course for trucks pulling horse trailers. Prizes go to the top three in the gooseneck competition, which starts at 10 a.m., and pull-behind, which starts at 1 p.m. Registration closes Aug. 21. Horse Haven advocates for, shelters, and rehabilitates neglected and abused equines in Tennessee.

Is the rodeo safe for amateur drivers?
Of course! We were careful in choosing a venue that would be big enough and safe enough for any level of driver.

Is there such a thing as a pro trailer-rodeo competitor?
As far as I know there are no pros. I know other parts of the country hold trailer rodeos and they are a blast! Most folks who tow think they are good at it, even better than their neighbors and friends. This event gives those folks the opportunity to put their money where their mouth is.

What in the heck is this gooseneck competition you’re advertising?
What? You thought we were pulling trailers with geese? A gooseneck is a trailer with a front section curved like a goose’s neck. It attaches in the bed of the truck and swivels. Towing a gooseneck is very different from towing a trailer from a ball on a hitch. That’s why we have both categories of competition.

Do you ride horses?
Not as often as I like, but yes! I love to trail ride, especially at Big South Fork.

Would you compete?
I would if it wasn’t a conflict of interest. But I don’t have a livestock trailer. My 30-foot trailer is an RV. So, I’d have to beg my friend to let me borrow her trailer—and her truck—because her horse trailer is a gooseneck, and my truck has a hitch.

What is a common misconception about Horse Haven?
That we take owners’ horses to sell them for profit! It’s amazing how many people think that. Law enforcement trained in animal cruelty investigates any call about abused equines. They determine whether the horses are in fact abused or neglected, and offer the owner advice on how to bring the equine back to thriving. If, after the designated time period the owner does not or can not bring the horse to standard, law enforcement calls us to pick up the animals. We hold the horses, giving them the care they need to thrive, while the courts prosecute. If the court releases the animals from their owners, we find them a new, loving home. We do ask for adoption fees, which are between $50 and $200 to help offset the cost of caring for these horses—that cost ranges from hundreds of dollars to thousands. We never recoup the cost of caring for these horses with adoption fees.

How will you use the money raised at the rodeo?
To provide hay, feed, vet care, and farrier care for the equines in our care. We currently have 67 horses and more coming every week.

What are some of your goals as development director?
Since Horse Haven of Tennessee provides our services to every county in the state at no cost, I want to see us start to get more donations from other parts of the state. My goal is to hold a major fundraiser in Middle Tennessee in 2016 and one in West Tennessee by 2018.

Abused horses are a pretty sad cause—will that carry over into the event?
It is sad. It gets to us every time we take in another horse. But it’s rewarding when we see them healthy and going home to a family that wants them and knows how to care for them. At the trailer rodeo, I think the passion for seeing abused and neglected equine thriving and going to a good family will be the prevailing emotion. That and the friendly competition of who tows like a pro!

To register for the trailer rodeo before Aug. 21: horsehaventn.org/trailerrodeo

Rose Kennedy

Rose Kennedy came to Knoxville to work as an editorial assistant on 13-30’s Retail Appliance Management Series and never saw a reason to leave. Her “so uncool I’m cool” career among the alt weekly newspaper crowd has led to award-winning articles on Dr. Bill Bass and the Body Farm and cyber-bullying at West High School, and treasonous food columns about preferring unsweet tea and feeling ambivalent about biscuits.