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For over 30+years Marty Gardner has been a fastidious student of the horse, mentored by some of the world’s best horsemen and horsewomen.
His relentless pursuit of horsemanship has resulted in a vast understanding of the horse through a diverse portfolio of disciplines with his favourites being Vaquero and Doma Vaquero Style Horsemanship, Classical Dressage, and Ranch Roping.
A cowboy at heart, in his early years, Marty spent thousands of hours horseback, making his living cowboying on some of the largest feedlots and community pastures throughout Western Canada. At this time in his life, Marty also won multiple Canadian Ranch Roping Championships and individual high point awards with his ranch roping skills.
It was during those years that Marty was sought after to help those that he rode alongside get along a little better with their horses. There was something about the willingness and partnership between Marty and his horses, and the things that they would do for him.
It was from there, that Marty discovered his passion for teaching
horsemanship, which he then turned into a full time career.
In 2007, together with his partner Yvonne, they established
Flattop Horsemanship with a goal to help anyone who was
interested in learning about horses, find the connection they were looking for.
Marty has worked with hundreds of horses and students since 2007, teaching lessons and clinics in a variety of disciplines all over western Canada.
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.
Marty's journey took a challenging turn in late 2017 when he fell seriously ill. After extensive testing he was diagnosed with Lyme disease in the spring of 2018, which temporarily paused his teaching career. Thanks to the dedicated care of Dr. Risk at Ananta Health in Calgary, Marty began to regain his strength and returned to teaching part-time in the spring of 2019. While he remains hopeful for a full recovery and a return to his passion for teaching, he appreciates your understanding of the unpredictability of his condition, which may lead to last-minute cancellations.
Update Aug 2024
Marty has been facing the challenges of his condition with incredible resilience, and each year he continues to show improvement, thanks to the dedicated care from Dr. Risk at Ananta Health Services. His commitment to his Elite Mentorship participants remains strong, as he gradually teaches more and even has judged a few horse shows and Stockmanship contests. We are truly encouraged by his progress and optimistic about his ongoing journey toward improvement.
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 )
