Austin Shepard
Cutting Horses
Rider Bio
Austin Shepard was born in 1977 in Mobile, Alabama. Austin’s father was a cutting horse trainer and he has followed closely in his footsteps. His current training operation, The Circle S, is based in Summerdale, Alabama, where he has lived for the past 22 years with his family, wife Stacey, son Cade and daughter Caylee. Austin’s future goals are to ride good horses for good people and spend time with his family.
Career
Austin has trained cutting horses professionally since 1995. He specialises in starting 2YO horses and 3YO futurity horses. Austin has learned from many great trainers including Bill Riddle, Paul Hansma, Ronnie Rice and Pat Earnhart. He has become one of the top riders and trainers in the cutting horse industry amassing over $9million in lifetime earnings. Austin has trained elite cutting horses of this time including Open Futurity Champions, Open World Champions and World Champion Stallions. Austin is truly one of the all-time greats
Highlights
Lifetime earnings: $9,676,380 (PHC Livescoring March 2023)
4th in the standings of all time leading riders in the NCHA
2023 2x Augusta Futurity Open Champion
2022 Cotton Stakes Classic 3YO Open Champion
2022 Arbuckle Futurity 5/6YO Open Champion
2022 Augusta Futurity 4YO Open Champion
Has won every major event in the Will Rogers Coliseum
“Within the first 30 days of installing the Equilume Stable Lights I noticed significant improvements in my horses’ coats. Even in the summer months, they looked much better under these lights than they did at the same time last year. I also noticed a huge difference in the way the horses feel under saddle. I am convinced that the Equilume Stable lights are positively impacting the horses.”
Austin Shepard, NCHA Riders Hall of Fame | NCHA Futurity Champion, USA