About Us
OUR TEAM
Ron and Mary Chlasta owners or R&M stables joined by Amy Dennen - camp coordinator and Patrick Tanski - horse trainer.
AMY DENNEN
Amy serves as camp coordinator for our summer pony camps. She keeps everyone on task offering support to our wranglers and encourages all of the ‘cowpokes’ as they participate in activities on the ranch. Amy has been riding for several years at R&M and brings innovative ideas as we continue to refine and improve the services offered to the campers who enjoy the ranch each summer.
RON CHLASTA
Ron Chlasta is the owner of R&M Stables and is passionate about owning horses that have a solid foundation and can be used everyday from doing ranch work to riding down the street to check the mail in the mailbox. Ron is certified through the County Mounties national organization and has spent countless hours of training in service horse organizations throughout Middle Tennessee. His horses have performed at the top level of WHOA competitions along with winning national titles at the Mounted Police national Colloquium held annually at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
In 2021 Ron rode with the Tennessee Mounted Officer Association at the national championships in Lexington. He and his horse Trooper had the following results:
- 1st Gaited Equitation
- 2nd Individual Obstacles
- 2nd Overall Horse Combined Obstacle & Equitation
- 1st Department Award - (partner Sgt. Kevin Hooper Nashville Parks)
At the 2023 national championships at KHP - Lexington Ron and Trooper:
- 2nd Gaited Equitation
- 4th Dual Obstacle Team Event -(partner Sgt. Kevin Hooper Nashville Parks)
During the 2017 Colloquium - KHP national championships
1st Dual Obstacle Team event -(partner Doug Wyatt North Carolina)
In 2018, two R&M Stables horses partnered to win the title in Dual Obstacles:
- 1st Dual Obstacle Team event - (partner Jason Parizek riding Geronimo & Ron riding Trooper)
In both 2014 and 2015, Ron’s horses(Geronimo and Trooper) won the WHOA national service horse division winning both dual and individual obstacle competitions at the Miller Colosseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Ron loves teaching and spending time with the adult working rider. He views maturity as an asset and encourages adult riders to analyze the skills and abilities they already possess and apply them to riding and horse ownership.
PATRICK TANSKI
Patrick specializes in training horses, retraining problem horses, teaching clinics and giving lessons to both youth and adult riders at our facility. His passion is focused on the process of constant learning as the rider advances their level of horsemanship abilities. Patrick believes that the fun of riding will be found in an ability to improve communication between the horse and rider, and enabling a constant desire to refine the rider’s skills while on the ground or in the saddle. Whether your dream involves learning at the entry level, mastering groundwork, or peaceful weekend trail rides through the woods, his style of teaching and training can provide a rider with limitless challenges and years of enjoyment with their equine partner.
Patrick brings his own style of natural horsemanship into the training program. His goal is to develop balanced, willing, forward horses and thoughtful, tactful riders. During the past three years, he has worked on several ranches, learning the art of starting colts, solving problem horses, and has apprenticed under an NRHA professional trainer learning how to train reining performance horses.
While training horses for a living is what Patrick defines as giving him purpose, he has a true passion for helping others ,showing them what life is like on a working ranch. As he describes it - some of the most valuable life lessons can be taught by working with the horse. Patrick’s first assignment at R&M was to conduct the Wrangler leadership camp for our advanced riders. The students appreciated his sense of humor, empathy, respect, and great affection for both horses and humans. Regardless of whether you are an aspiring rider or an accomplished one, he has an ability to draw out the joys and responsibilities of becoming a safe and effective rider.