Rick Wheat Bio
Rick Wheat was born and raised in a small town in Douglas County, Missouri. He began at a young age working on the farm with his father. He used horses to plow, put up hay, clear fields, and to ride to church on Sunday mornings. He developed an early love for horses and riding. Rick had a favorite older cousin whom he looked to as a mentor. He rode ba****ck horses at professional l
evel rodeos and introduced Rick to the business. After serving in the military for two years, Rick located to the Springfield, Missouri area. He returned to the rodeo circuit but began accepting a few horses to train, too. Rick found he had a knack for winning the ba****ck and saddle-bronc events, and this income made it possible for him to spend time training horses. During this time, he trained reining horses, pleasure horses, and worked in all other aspects of the horse training industry. Training soon became a full time job, but he could not give up his beloved rodeos. Around this time, Rick began preconditioning cattle for feedlots all over the country. He enjoyed this so much that he took a break from training horses and riding in the rodeos. In time, he was offered a job repossessing cattle for the Bank of Oklahoma. Since the bank had cattle all over the U.S., Rick moved to Florida. While there, he discovered a much different rodeo industry from what he was used to back west. Intrigued, he found himself rodeoing once again. He realized the hard way that pick up horses were needed desperately in the rodeos there. It was at this time he started creating a version of the now-patented Noavel Headstall. With this, he began to experience a great deal of success. Rick was traveling all over Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee working at ranches and riding in the rodeos when he was given the opportunity to run a cattle operation. The offer came from the second-largest cattle investment company in the United States. He settled on a ranch in Black Rock, Arkansas but was still traveling most of the time and still rodeoing as often as possible. Rick says, “I pulled my trailer with my old horse, Charlie, through more places than you can even imagine. Charlie sure was ugly, but he was a fine horse." Rick leased the Flat Creek Ranch in Black Rock, Arkansas, which consisted of approximately 6,000 acres. The first rodeo he ever produced was nearby in a little town called Smithville. “It never got very big, but we had a lot of fun." During this time, he was managing around 10,000 head of cattle from Georgia to Missouri. Eventually, the cattle business consumed all of his time. Unfortunately, his real passions, rodeoing and horse training, fell by the wayside. Rick remained with the cattle company about eight years. The business was very successful, but after almost a decade he was experiencing burnout. At this point, Rick moved to a 3,000 acre ranch located in Cushman, Arkansas known as the Big T Ranch. He started helping out a longtime friend with a rodeo company. It did not take long before he realized he had everything he needed to run his own rodeo. With the help of his two sons, Rick's rodeo company rose to the top, winning ARCA and NCRA producer of the year in 1993. “Running a rodeo company is a lot of work. I was tired, and it was a perfect time to sale out, so I did." After selling the rodeo company, Rick purchased a farm but decided he would spend a year volunteering at a ranch for adults with special needs, located in Franklin, Arkansas. While there, he trained several horses and opened an hourly trail ride for novice riders. After his year was fulfilled at the special needs ranch, he moved to his farm in Mt. Pleasant, Arkansas. Rick and Shana married in 1998 and moved the trail ride to Mt. Pleasant. In 2000, they were contacted by a dude ranch in Mountain Home, Arkansas, by an owner needing help with her horses. Rick and Shana volunteered to assist this elderly proprietor with her business. Out of this came an interview by the Western Horseman Magazine. The couple was honored to be the Personality Profile for the magazine in December of 2001. Rick and Shana later attended a trade show for the dude ranch and were approached by a gentleman about training a horse. Rick offered to drive to the man's farm and “take a look." The horse was a three-year-old Appaloosa c**t that had never been ridden. Rick unloaded his saddle and headstall from the back of his truck, and in less than thirty minutes was riding the c**t. The owner was amazed. He asked Rick what this unique headstall was, to which Rick replied, "Just something I came up with." The gentleman encouraged Rick and Shana to patent the headstall, and, thus, the journey to patenting the Noavel Headstall began. The Wheat's continued to operate their trail ride and began leasing and selling horses to Girl Scout camps and other trail riding businesses around the country. It was soon apparent Rick needed to be on the road demonstrating his newly patented Noavel Headstall product. Over the next several years, he conducted training clinics all over the United States, Italy, Germany, France, and Canada. He had a busy weekly schedule traveling and performing every weekend. Rick has received numerous awards and recognitions. In addition to Cowboy of the Year, Rick was at the top of the list for Professional Horse Trainers by 2010. Along with this, the Noavel was named number twenty-four on the list of all-time best inventions by the American Farriers Association. He has been recognized by ARTEX Animal Welfare Association and Blue Bonnet Humane Society for having the most humane training method and device. Rick is the only trainer recognized by the Amish and Brotherhood of Working Farriers Association, as well as countless other honors. In 2012, Rick suffered a massive stroke, which paralyzed his right arm and leg. The doctors held out little hope that he would ever walk again, much less ride horses. The first time Rick struggled to mount a horse was frustrating for him, but the end result was pure joy. Shana was attending the University of Arkansas at Little Rock completing a degree in Social Work. They decided she should earn a certification in Rehabilitative Riding, as well. Rick and Shana knew that if equine-assisted therapies and activities could change his life, it would certainly be life-changing for others in need. W Heart W Therapeutic Riding Stables opened on October 2, 2014, at the Wheat's ranch in Mt. Rick continued his therapy sessions almost daily and also worked closely with Shana as she developed training programs for other participants. Sadly, we lost Rick in 2022. He assigned the patent to Shana the year before. She continues to fulfill his legacy through the Noavel. For more information on the Noavel Headstall call 870-615-4712.
