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April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 3

AN-49f (0113)

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Those Special Horses! is a beautiful spring day. I am sitting in our booth at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, watching the magnificent hunter/ jumpers doing their warm ups, wishing it were me in the arena sailing over the jumps with my first horse Dillon. Unfortunately, I got into horses after I turned forty, and did not pursue the events that required I ride English as I felt I was too old. I took to pleasure trail

By Vicki Long

riding instead. My grandmother was an accomplished English rider, and my mother went the western route running barrels. As a small child I heard stories about their horses and riding, and just always wanted a horse of my own. But we moved around a lot and my parents said no. I did not even get to go to a stable and take lessons. I believe I was born with the “horse gene”, thanks to Grandma and Mom. I do believe there is a “horse gene,” and you either have or you don’t. I think most horse lovers will agree with me. Just ask the wife whose husband can’t understand the attraction of their barn. At any rate, Dillon came to me when he was fifteen. He was a big beautiful black Canadian born Thoroughbred. His brother was used in one of the productions of Black Beauty as a stand in. This majestic horse came into the world in a racing barn, but racing was not the job he enjoyed. Yes he won a couple, and placed in a couple, but was eventually sold to a young girl and participated on the Hunter/Jumper circuit, and boy did he love to jump. He never refused a jump, but his shortcoming was as an ex-racehorse, he thought he had to “race” to the finish of the course, taking the jumps with strides that were too short in-between. Dillon was retired from jumping, and his owner, a good friend gave him to me. I finally had my first horse. I introduced him to the trail. He loved it. It was a new out of the arena experience for him, and he did very well, with only a few issues, like the time he saw his first curb, (he thought he had to jump it), and once on a ride in Bandera, Texas we ran into a mule and wagon that he thought might be a monster coming to eat him. But overall, for an off-the racetrack, Hunter/Jumper, Dillon adapted very well to the trail, and enjoyed the last years of his life with us and our beloved Quarter Horse mare, Bruja. Dillon is why I wanted to cover The American Competitive Trail Horse Association this month. Aside from holding their wonderful rides that are fun for families to compete in, they have been wonderful in supporting horse rescues all over the country, and have helped many horses find the joy of going from the arena to the trail, just like my Dillon did for the second half of his life. Dillon is not with me today, but I know that when it is my time, he will be there waiting to take me on the trail to the next life.

On the Cover:

ACTHA Trail Ride, photo courtesy Aponi.

April 2015

Cover Story: 18 ACTHA - Jennifer Wenzel

Lifestyle & Real Estate: 16 Barn Showcase 22 Top Tractors for Small Acreage 30 From Scruffy to Banner - Donna Baber & Jennifer Wenzel 40 Real Estate Roundup

Columns: 8 Horse Bites 10 Emotional Fitness - Linda Parelli 12 Ride-N-Sync™ - Terry Myers 24 Tack Talk - Lew Pewterbaugh 26 On the English Front - Cathy Strobel 32 The Cowboy Way - Corey Johnson 34 Hoof N’ Horse - Jaime Jackson 46 Cowboy Corner - Jim Hubbard

ADVERTISING OFFICES

• HEADQUARTER OFFICE (281) 447-0772 Phone & (281) 893-1029 Fax Advertising@horsebackmagazine.com • BRAZOS VALLEY BUREAU Diane Holt (936) 878-2678 Ranch & (713) 408-8114 Cell Dianeh@horsebackmagazine.com • GULF COAST BUREAU Carol Holloway - (832) 607-8264 Cell Carol@horsebackmagazine.com • NORTH TEXAS Mari Crabtree - (216) 702-4520 Mari@horsebackmagazine.com • NEW MEXICO BUREAU Laurie Hammer - (505)315-7842

EDITOR Steven Long

NATIONAL NEWS EDITOR Carrie Gobernatz LIFESTYLE EDITOR Margaret Pirtle 832-349-1427 Horsebackmag@gmail.com EVENTS EDITOR Leslie Greco

Goldenhorses7@hotmail.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Jim Hubbard, Steven Long, Vicki Long, Roni Norquist, Linda Parelli, Kelsey Hellmann, Lew Pewterbaugh, Cathy Strobel, Cory Johnson, Margaret Pirtle, Jaime Jackson Volume 22, No. 4 Horseback Magazine, P.O. Box 681397, Houston, TX 77268-1397, (281) 447-0772. The entire contents of the magazine are copyrighted April 2015 by Horseback Magazine. All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the publisher. Horseback Magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and other material unless accompanied by a stamped, self addressed envelope. Horseback Magazine is not responsible for any claims made by advertisers. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or management. Subscription rate is $25.00 for one year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Horseback Magazine, P.O. Box 681397, Houston, TX 77268-1397. Fax: (281) 893-1029

Email: news@horsebackmagazine.com

4 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

STAFF PUBLISHER Vicki Long

Phone: (281)

447-0772

www.horsebackmagazine.com

FOR SOME HORSES, A LITTLE STARCH IS TOO MUCH

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(hay and feed) with a soluble carbohydrate level below 10%, along with the optimum fiber length required for ideal gut fermentation. For more information or to find your nearest dealer, visit us online at www.triplecrownfeed.com or call 800-451-9916.

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April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 5

A BOND THAT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME DESERVES NUTRITION THAT STANDS THE TEST OF SCIENCE.

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6 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

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LOUISIANA Serios’ Feed and Seed Bossier City, LA • 318-746-8559 Atlas Feed Mills, Inc. Breaux Bridge, LA • 337-332-1466 G & H Seed Co. Inc. Crowley, LA • 337-783-7762 Southern Feed & Supply Deridder, LA • 337-462-3333 Thomas Nursery and Feed Farmerville, LA • 318-368-2425 Chastant Brothers, Inc. Lafayette, LA • 337-234-2351 Ranch Outlet LLC Lafayette, LA • 337-235-2163 Currie & Son Feed & Garden Lake Charles, LA • 337-433-2111 Bayou Roberts Coop LeCompte, LA • 318-445-3108 Family Farm & Garden Many, LA • 318-256-3167 Rocking Rooster Minden, LA • 318-382-1400 Valley Farmers Coop Natchitoches, LA • 318-352-6426 T & S Milling, Inc. New Iberia, LA • 337-365-7007 Austin Ag Pineville, LA • 318-466-9538 Landry Feed Store, Inc. Rayne, LA • 337-334-4224 Tommy Feed Store and More Ruston, LA • 318-255-4095 Paul’s Farm and Garden Supply Shreveport, LA • 318-425-2222 Slagle Mall Slagle, LA • 337-239-7611 Taylors Feed and Farm Supply Springhill, LA • 318-539-5818 Joyce’s Farm & Home Supply St. Martinsville, LA • 337-342-2615 DeSoto Town & Country Stonewall, LA • 318-925-0998 Fletcher’s Feed & Farm Supply Sulphur, LA • 337-527-6610 Thibodeaux Feeds, Inc. Thibodeaux, LA • 337-898-1829 Crawﬁsh Center Ville Platte, LA • 337-363-4502 Vinton Feed Store Inc. Vinton, LA • 337-589-3260 S and J Farm and Feed West Monroe, LA • 318-388-5858 Sullivans Winnsboro, LA • 318-435-3104 NEW MEXICO Circle S Feed Carlsbad, NM • 575-885-8369 Bunk’s Feed Hobbs, NM • 575-397-1228 OKLAHOMA AgriProducts Ardmore, OK • 580-223-7355 TEXAS Johnson Feed and Western Wear Alpine, TX • 432-837-5792

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Cook Feed Alvarado, TX • 817-783-2665

Lexington Farm & Feed Lexington, TX • 979-773-2782

Sabinal Grain Sabinal, TX • 830-988-2215

Angleton Feed & Supply Co., LLC Angleton, TX • 979-849-6661

Livingston Feed & Farm Supply Livingston, TX • 936-327-8853

Mummes San Antonio, TX • 830-980-4924

Smith Supply Lockhart, TX • 512-398-3785

D&L Farm & Home - Sanger Sanger, TX • 940-458-0111

Arcola Feed & Hardware Arcola, TX • 281-431-1014

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Lab Supply/Argyle Argyle, TX • 940-241-2444

Lone Star Country Store Corpus Christi, TX • 361- 387-2668

Georgetown Farm Supply Georgetown, TX • 512-930-4054

Jakes Feed and Animal Center Longview, TX • 903-663-3139

Tibaldo’s Feed & Supply Santa Fe, TX • 409-925-2735

Adams Feed Arlington, TX • 817-548-8661

Smith General Store Corsicana, TX • 903-874-1372

Giddings Ranch & Pet Center Giddings, TX • 979-542-3188

Lufkin Farm Lufkin, TX • 936-634-7414

American Feed Seagoville, TX • 972-287-5984

Geddie Feed Athens, TX • 903-583-721

DeWitt Producers Cuero, TX • 361-275-3441

Goliad Feed Goliad, TX • 361- 645-3266

Luling Feed & Supply Luling, TX • 830-875-5423

Producers Coop-Seguin Seguin, TX • 830-379-1750

D&L Feed & Home Aubrey, TX • 940-365-3129

Aggie Feed Dallas, TX • 214-391-3595

E-Barr Feeds Gonzales, TX • 830- 672-6515

Mabank Feed Mabank, TX • 903-887-1771

D&D Farm & Ranch Seguin, TX • 830-379-7340

The Feed Station Austin, TX • 512-301-7788

Feeders Dallas, TX • 972-224-5559

J&N Feed Graham, TX • 940-549-4631

Texoma Feed Sherman, TX • 903-436-1685

Bandera Ranch Store Bandera, TX • 830-796-3342

Pasturas Dallas, TX • 214-563-9875

Arrow Feed & Ranch Supply Granbury, TX • 817-573-8808

Standley Feed and Seed, Inc. Madisonville, Iola, Normangee, TX 936-348-5272

Bastrop Feed and Supply Bastrop, TX • 512-321-3700

Damon Farm & Ranch Damon, TX • 979 742-3317

Steinhauser’s Greater Houston Area, TX • 979-885-2967

Bay City Feed Bay City, TX • 979- 245-2712

Chachere Feed Store, Inc. Dayton, TX • 936-258-2670

S&S Ag Center Groesbeck, TX • 254-729-8008

Sam’s Western Store, Inc. Beaumont, TX • 409-842-2625

AgVantage Farm & Ranch Decatur, TX • 940-627-2312

Helena Chemical Hallettsville, TX • 361- 798-3296

Bear Creek - Bells Bells, TX • 972-965 -4900

Del Rio Feed and Supply Del Rio, TX • 830-775-5090

Watson Ranch & Farm Supply Hamilton, TX • 254-386-3717

Linseisen’s Feed & Supply-Bellville Bellville, TX • 979- 865-3602

Stockman’s Seed & Fertilizer DeLeon, TX • 254-734-5088

Maci Feed Hardin, Texas, TX • 936-298-9404

Belton Feed & Supply Belton, TX • 254-939-3636

Denison Feed Denison, TX • 972-465-3143

Lubianski’s Hedwig, TX • 210-667-1145

Howard County Feed Big Spring, TX • 432-267-6411

D&L Denton Denton, TX • 940-891-0100

Mummes Hondo, TX • 830-426-3313

Spring Creek Feed Center Magnolia, TX • 281-252-5400 Mansﬁeld Feed Mansﬁeld, TX • 817-473-1137 Watson Feed Store Mart, TX • 254-876-2501 McGregor General Store McGregor, TX • 254-840-3224 D&L AgMart McKinney, TX • 972-562-9995 Adams Feed-Midlothian Midlothian, TX • 972-775-1005 Walden Farm & Ranch Supply - Millsap Millsap, TX • 940-682-4667 Walden Farm & Ranch Supply Mineral Wells Mineral Wells, TX • 940-325-8500

Wheelers Feed and Outﬁtters Boerne, TX • 830-249-2656

Martin Farm and Ranch Edinburg, TX • 956-383-4949

Hieden Feed Houston, TX • 281-444-1010

Fannin Ag Bonham, TX • 903-583-7121

United Ag-El Campo, Edna, Eagle Lake El Campo, TX • 979-543-7756

Sam Houston Feed and Supply Houston, TX • 281-591-2443

Berend Brothers-Bowie Bowie, TX • 940-872-5131

Elgin General Store Elgin, TX • 512-285-3210

Cypress ACE Hardware & Feed Houston, TX • 281-469-8020

Brenham Produce Co. Brenham, TX • 979-836-3523

Potts Feed Store, Inc. Emory, Quitman, TX • 903-473-2249

Huntsville Farm Supply Huntsville, TX • 936-295-3961

Brazos Feed & Supply, Inc. Bryan, TX • 979-779-1766

Capps True Value Hardware & Ag Fairﬁeld, TX • 903-389-4504

Lindemann Store Industry, TX • 979-357-2121

Producers Coop Assn - Bryan Bryan, TX • 979-778-6000

Farmersville Feed Farmersville, TX • 972-784-7261

Farm and Ranch Supply Isidro, TX • 956-481-3346

Davis Feed & Fertilizer, Inc. Buffalo, Centerville, TX • 903-322-4316

Noonday Feed Flint, TX • 903-561-5622

H-Brand Feed Jacksboro, TX • 940-567-3794

Hooper Feed Carthage, TX • 903-694-9499

Pecos County Feed Fort Stockton, TX • 432-336-6877

Odiorne Feed & Ranch Supply Johnson City, TX • 830-868-4579

Engledow Farm & Ranch Supply Palestine, TX • 903-723-3210

Bernardo Farm & Ranch Supply Cat Spring, TX • 979- 732-5161

M and M FarmSupply Inc. Franklin, Cameron, TX • 979-828-3516

Cordell Farm and Ranch Kaufman, TX • 972-932-2164

Big Country Farm Center Paris, TX • 903-785-8372

D&L Farm & Home - Celina Celina, TX • 972-382-1197

Lochte Feed and General Store Fredericksburg, TX • 830-997-2256

McDonnell Feed Keller, TX • 817-431-3551

Reeves County Feed Pecos, TX • 432-447-2149

Boles Feed Center, TX • 936-598-3061

Gulf Coast Equine and Pet Center Friendswood, TX • 281-482-7186

Tractor City Country Store Kenedy, TX • 830- 583-2017

Wells Bros Plano, TX • 972-424-8516

Silvers Pet & Feed Cibolo, TX • 210-566-8020

William Gin & Grain Frost, TX • 903-682-2611

Kerrville Ranch and Pet Kerrville, TX • 830-895-5800

Neuhaus & Co. Raymondville, TX • 956-689-2481

Ricks Farm and Home Clarksville, TX • 903-427-3395

Marshall Grain Ft. Worth, TX • 817-536-5636

Hoffpauir’s Ranch & Supply Lampasas, TX • 512-556-5444

Anderson Ag Refugio, TX • 361-526-5018

Lonestar Ranch & Outdoors Cleburne, TX • 817-645-4325

Rendon Feed Ft. Worth, TX • 817-561-1935

Laredo Country Store Laredo, TX • (956) 722-7500

Rockdale General Store Rockdale, TX • 512-446-6100

Close Quarters Feed & Pet Supply College Station, TX • 979- 690-3333

D&L Farm & Home - Gainesville Gainesville, TX • 940-612-1210

LaVernia Country Store LaVernia, TX • 830-779-2600

Round Top Farm & Ranch Round Top, TX • 979-249-5666

Conroe Feeders Supply Conroe, TX • 936-441-5549

Ganado Feed & More Ganado, TX • 361-771-2401

Hill Country Feed Leander, TX • 512-259-1658

Eagle Hardward Farm & Ranch Royse City, TX • 972-635-7878

J&D Country Store Conroe, TX • 936-756-7667

Coryell Feed & Supply Gatesville, TX • 254-865-6315

Bear Creek Store Leonard, TX • 903-587-0385

Holt Ranch & Feed Royse City, TX • 972-365-3695

Beran’s Agri-Center Shiner, TX • 361- 594-3395 Somerville Farm & Ranch Somerville, TX • 979-596-2224 Springtown Feed Springtown, TX • 817-220-7656 Allied Ag Stonewall, TX • 830-644-2411 Taylor Feed Taylor, TX • 512-365-9436 Temple Feed & Supply Temple, TX • 254-778-7975 Three Rivers Coop Three Rivers, TX • 361-786-3242 D&D Feed and Supply Tomball, TX • 281-351-7144 Texas Farm Store Uvalde, TX • 830-278-3713

Scott’s Crossing Murchison, TX • 903-469-3122

Northside Ranch, Pet & Garden Victoria, TX • 361-573-5000

Boles Feed Nacogdoches, TX • 936-564-2671

Waco Brazos Feed & Supply Waco, TX • 254-756-6687

Middle G Naples, TX • 903-575-1869

B&S Farm & Home Center Waco, TX • 254-752-0777

Needville Feed and Supply Needville, TX • 979-793-6141 New Braunfels Feed and Supply New Braunfels, TX • 830-625-7250 Berend Brothers-Olney Olney, TX • 940-564-5674

April 2015 •

Bar None Country Store Waco, TX • 254-848-9112 Haney’s Feed and Supply Waller, TX • 936-931-2469 Ark Country Store Waxahachie, TX • 972-937-8860 Walden Farm & Ranch Supply Weatherford Weatherford, TX • 817-598-0043 Wharton Feed & Supply Wharton, TX • 979-532-8533 Berend Brothers-Wichita Falls Wichita Falls, TX • 940-723-2736 Walker’s Farm & Ranch Supply Willis, TX • 936-856-6446 King Feed and Hardware Wimberly, TX • 512-847-2618 Berend Brothers Windthorst, TX • 940-423-6223 Tri County Enterprise Winnsboro, TX • 903-342-3586 Poole Feed Wylie, TX • 469-323-7814 Yoakum Grain, Inc Yoakum, TX • 361-293-3521

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 7

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Horse Bites is compiled from Press Releases sent to Horseback Magazine. Original reporting is done as circumstances warrant. Content is edited for length & style.â&#x20AC;?

HERMAN DETERING HOUSTON, (Horseback) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cancer has claimed one of Texasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; most beloved horsemen. Herman E. Detering III devoted his life to animals and their welfare. He was born in 1938 toward the end of the Great Depression. Detering was an athlete, for a time ranking nationally in tennis. Yet he is known to Horseback readers as an accomplished equestrian and humanitarian who devoted years to animal welfare. He was dedicated to helping animals of all kinds, including the horses at True Blue Animal Rescue by helping them with their FKDOOHQJHV DQG Ă&#x20AC;QGLQJ WKHP D IRUHYHU home. Detering was a product of Houstonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famed St. Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, and later Washington and Lee University. He earned his law degree from New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Columbia University and later taught and lectured at Rice University, St. Thomas University, and the University of Houston. He also was a collector of rare books, founding the Detering Book Gallery, acclaimed among the top rare book stores in the South. Houston is famed for Fotofest, a nationally recognized citywide festival devoted to photography. Detering was a trailblazer whose exhibition of works in print and photography showed parallel development of the art of both photography and psychiatry in a clinical setting. But Detering was also a rancher, deeply involved in the study of animal psychiatry and in particular, non-coercive horsemanship, sometimes called Natural Horsemanship

8 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

today. He adapted his methods to the handling of cattle as well. As a writer his work appeared in The Cattleman and American Brahman Review. His video, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Natural Persuasionâ&#x20AC;? has been called an animal management classic. At this writing, his website remains active at http://www.hermandetering. com/. He served on the boards of FotoFest, the Houston Center for Photography, and the Texas Committee on the Humanities. Detering is survived by his wife Mimi, sister, Deborah Detering, and nieces Shelley Pannill Stein and husband Matt Stein; Katherine Pannill Center and husband Gordon Center as well as Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and her husband Scott Fletcher. Services will be held at The Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon St. on Thursday, April 9 DW D P ,Q OLHX RI Ă RZHUV WKH IDPLO\

Herman Detering

requests donations be made to True Blue Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 1107 Brenham, Tx. 77834

NATIONAL COWGIRL MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME UNDERGOING INTERIOR RENOVATIONS FORT WORTH, TEXAS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage in their trailblazing efforts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; has begun renovation of its galleries and public spaces. The renovation will be done in two phases, VWDUWLQJ ZLWK WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW Ă RRU ZKLFK ZLOO include two new galleries and an interactive mobile in the Grand Rotunda. 5HQRYDWLRQ RI WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW Ă RRU LV DOUHDG\ underway and scheduled to reopen summer 2015. ([KLELWV RQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW Ă RRU ZLOO FRQYH\ WKH KLVWRULFDO VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQFH RI the cowgirls who performed in the Wild West shows from the 1880s to early 20th century. In the new Wild West Gallery visitors will be able to view archival footage projected on several hanging glass screens and colorful images of Wild West posters. Glass showcases speFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ GHVLJQHG WR UHĂ HFW curves of femininity will feature rare artifacts including Buffalo Billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wild West 6KRZ SDUDGH Ă DJ LQWHUDFtive activities for adults and children, as well as computer-enhanced archival photographs that uniquely bring the time period to life. Through the magic of hologram technology, Annie Oakley, one of the Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most iconic and celebrated Honorees, will come alive and share her story in her own words. Oakleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wedding ring and gun will also be featured in the gallery. Inside the Grand Rotunda, a colorful mobile comprised of 100 moving pieces, featuring many women in the Hall of Fame, will compliment the www.horsebackmagazine.com

+RUVHELWHV

Honoree medallions on the Rotunda walls. The top elements of the mobile will be still photographs; video footage of the Honorees will be projected on the bottom elements. The Museum will be able to reprogram the bottom projected elements to create added value for those who book the Grand Rotunda for a special event. The Museum is working with WKUHH LQWHUQDWLRQDO Ă&#x20AC;UPV 3URMHFWLOHV DQ DUFKLWHFWXUDO Ă&#x20AC;UP EDVHG LQ 3DULV France; Goppion, museum display case designers based in Milan, Italy; and Electrosonic, an international audiovisual design and engineering company based in Burbank, Calif. Local contractors, Linbeck Group, Bennett Benner Partners, and The Projects Group are also on the project along with local artist, Janice Hart, who is creating a life-size statue of Annie Oakley that will display Oakleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gun. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are excited about the renovation and consider the new elements works of art that the public wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to miss,â&#x20AC;? said Patricia Riley, Executive Director, National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These improvements will enhance our ability to tell the inspiring stories of the strong www.horsebackmagazine.com

women showcased in our Museum.â&#x20AC;? 7KH VHFRQG Ă RRU ZLOO FORVH for renovation in early 2016 and is scheduled for completion in the fall. 7KH VHFRQG Ă RRU ZLOO WUDQVIRUP LQWR an expansive gallery, which will pay homage to the vast wide open spaces of the American West. The Museum will remain open to visitors throughout FRQVWUXFWLRQ 7KLV ZLOO PDUN WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW makeover for the 33,000-square foot, two-story facility since it opened in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2002. To keep up with the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame renovation process, visit www.cowgirl. net, and follow on Facebook at www. facebook.com/NCMHOF, Twitter at www.twitter.com/cowgirlmuseum, Instagram www.instagram.com/cowgirlmuseum, Pinterest at www.pinterest. com/cowgirlmuseum, and YouTube at: www.youtube.com/user/cowgirlmuseum Quest Finds Success with Micaela Love and Parelli Natural Horsemanship PAGOSA SPRINGS, CO (Parelli) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; When dressage rider and Licensed

Parelli Professional Micaela Love met a horse that had been labeled â&#x20AC;&#x153;crazyâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;hopelessâ&#x20AC;? and had a bad habit of bucking, all she saw was a beautiful chestnut full of potential. With the help of Linda Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, Love embarked on a journey to unlock the talents and happiness of the horse she now calls â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quest.â&#x20AC;? Love wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to give up on her new horse Quest, and neither was equine behaviorist Linda Parelli, who helped Love rehab the horse. Linda Parelli taught the technique of DFKLHYLQJ HPRWLRQDO Ă&#x20AC;WQHVV WR /RYH and it was this technique that helped make all the difference for Quest. Once an extreme challenge and now this ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideal horse, today Quest is a happy and successful dressage horse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quest has quickly stolen my heart and proven himself as the dream horse I have been looking for over the SDVW Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV Âľ VDLG /RYH Â´, EHOLHYH in his ability to take me through the levels of dressage, and I believe in my personal abilities to preserve his health and dignity through the process. I am Horsebites - Conâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. on pg. 14 April 2015 â&#x20AC;˘

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 9

Emotional Fitness For Your Horse: Part 1 By Linda Parelli

ne of the most profound statements I ever heard Pat Parelli make is that horses need to be exercised mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Back in 1989, that hit me hard. My horse Regalo was physically very fit, but was an emotional wreck. Within months of beginning the Parelli Program, the change was remarkable. After more than 20 years of teaching all over the world, training horses, and developing my own horses, I continue to study the emotional nature of horses. I’m interested in what triggers them, as well as how to help them become more emotionally fit. HORSES ARE EMOTIONAL BEINGS It’s important to understand the

inner workings of your horse. As prey animals, horses live on the edge. They are programmed to be watchful and sensitive to danger, and the slightest change in their environment will put them on high alert. Sudden noises and movements can be very alarming; this is why, for example, horses can be more emotional on windy days. A horse’s number one emotion is fear, but – particularly around humans – they can also get irritated, annoyed and frustrated. Horses rely on non-verbal communication. They use body language, which can sometimes be quite subtle, and so we miss what they’re trying to express. It’s important to learn to read these more subtle signs so you know what’s going on for your horse, and so you’re able to adjust your approach to help him or her be more confident, comfortable, and happy in their relationship with you. For the sake of this article, I’m going to focus on the main behaviors and body language associated with three main emotions: fear, tension and frustration. Let’s learn

to read the signs, find out what triggers them, know how to prevent or fix them, and help our horses become more emotionally fit. BODY LANGUAGE Fear: shying, spooking, bolting, running away, wide eyes and nostrils, high head, flicking ears, sharply pricked ears, ears out to the side, tilted head, excessive sweating, clamped tail, rearing, explosive bucking. Tension: tight back, choppy stride, elevated head, tight tail, tight lips, tight ears, ears back, chomping mouth, sweating in odd places, braciness, prancing, ‘squeaky belly,’ elevated heart rate, low tolerance. Frustration: head tossing, head shaking, grinding teeth, hanging tongue, frothy mouth, open mouth, switching tail, ears back / pinned, bucking, refusal to go forward, low tolerance, weaving, lip-popping and other stall ‘vices.’ Of course, there can be some overlap in these behaviors, but if you find your horse displaying any of these, it will still give you a good insight as to what might be going on for him – and therefore inform your approach. TRIGGERS Horses are incredibly adaptive, which has ensured their survival and use by mankind for thousands of years… and for more than just meat. Horses have evolved from being a food source to a means of transport, work, warfare, sport and pleasure. They also have morphed into many different breeds, distinct from each other in size, shape, and color pattern. What has not changed, however, is the fact that they are still prey ani-

10 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

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mals and to this day it doesn’t take much to evoke the self-preservation instincts in even the tamest horse. Although horses have lived in human environments for thousands of years, they have not really adapted to it. They are still afraid of confinement and separation from the herd, they get tangled and hurt in our fences, they fear the girth, saddle, or rider, and they fight restraint. Horses are naturally claustrophobic; they need to run in order to use up adrenaline, and are given to panic when trapped. I think it’s important to realize that even before we go to train and ride them, horses are already having trouble! It is our responsibility to help them adapt to this environment in order to live stress-free and happy lives in their relationship with us. Let’s look at what kinds of things trigger these emotions: Fear: The two main triggers are predatory behavior and feeling trapped. Predatory behavior comes www.horsebackmagazine.com

from, well, predators (dogs, wolves, lions and us humans). Horses are always on the lookout for signs of danger: like sneaking or chasing; rustling or moving grasses, bushes, and leaves; sudden noises or movements; and aggression or heightened energy. Horses are “flight from fear” animals, so they avoid anything that feels like a trap. In the human environment, this can be in the form of stables, trailers, stocks, chutes, being tied, restraint from a halter, rope, bridle, and even the girth. Tension: Think of tension as the first stage of fear. Horses get tense when they are confused, pressured, forced, held back, or suppressed when training – both on the ground and when riding. Frustration: Frustration arises in horses when they can’t find comfort. What’s important to horses is safety, comfort and play, in that order. After a horse gets over his initial fear of humans, seeking comfort becomes a primary driver. For example, a horse

in fear mode seems oblivious to pain or the annoyance of flies, but once they feel safe, they will react more to a fly landing on them and causing them to feel uncomfortable. This is why pressure and release is an effective way to train a horse. You create a kind of discomfort by applying pressure with your leg, seat, or hand, and removing the pressure when the horse responds in the desired way. Good trainers have a clear picture of what they are trying to get the horse to do, and have excellent timing of release, in order to let the horse know he’s moving in the right direction. When you are not clear, slow to release, or use continuous pressure, that’s when horses get frustrated. They don’t know what to do, they can’t find the answer, and they don’t know how to find release from the pressure. NEXT ISSUE: We’ll pick up with Part 2, including a list of do’s and don’ts, and strategies for exercising your horse’s emotions. April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 11

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Dancing With Your Horse Part 2

last month’s article regarding body position, we talked about how a balanced rider position is similar to an athletic stance and is the same for western and hunt seat riders. The ear, shoulder, hip and back of heel should be in a direct line. In addition, your hip bones are similar to a bucket and should be able to hold water. If your low back is hollow or arched and your hips are rolled forward, water will drain from your bucket. In this article we will talk about proper leg position. The leg should be long and extended, with the heel low. Don’t squeeze the horse with your knees. People who squeeze with their knees cause their hips to lock. Try this demonstration. Sit in a chair with your knees in front of you about 10 inches apart. Put your hands on either side of the inside of your knees and while holding your arms rigid, try to squeeze your knees together while holding them apart with your arms. As you are doing this, you can feel your hips tense and lock up and actually feel your pelvis start to tip slightly forward. This is what you do when you ride and squeeze with your knees. In addition, pinching with your knees causes a pressure point at the knees and prevents you from properly using your lower leg. The best way to prevent pinching your knees is to turn your toes out. Riding with toes straight ahead, although it may be the way we were all taught

12 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

when we were kids, causes knees to lock and prevents you from using your calf. It also makes you prone to tilting your pelvis forward. To demonstrate this, stand up, have toes straight ahead and about hip width apart. Bend your knees slightly. Now, in that same position, turn your toes out. You will feel your hips role under slightly when you turn your toes out. This stance is the athletic stance mentioned above and is a position which will keep you balanced on your horse. This position, with your toes turned out keeps your back in a relaxed position. Young and beginning riders have the tendency to ride with their heels up. In this position, you can’t wrap your legs

around the horse. Picking up the heels also causes your hips to roll forward, putting the rider in an unbalanced position. Ride with your heals low, but in this attempt, don’t push down so hard in your stirrups that you brace in your legs. A horse carries 55-60% of their body weight on the frontend. If you lean forward when you ride, you add your weight to an already forehand heavy horse. So we need to help our horses by doing everything we can to take weight off the front and shift it to the hind quarters. This will allow the horse to lift and square their shoulders, which lifts the back and allows them to drive with their hind quarter…for that collection and drive that we all want. How can we help our horses? Don’t lean forward. Roll your hips back, sitting on

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your pockets (or what us cowboys call sitting on your “W’s” which is the design on your jean pockets). Going back to our discussion a few months ago about instincts, yours tells you to lean forward. Doing so puts you in such an unbalanced position, that if your horse stumbles or spooks, the rider becomes a yard dart. Ways to avoid becoming airborne include proper leg and body position. Next time you ride, do a few simple things. Make sure your ear, shoulder, hips and back of the heel are in alignment.

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Turn your toes out, ride with a long leg and heal lower than your toe, but not so low that you brace in the stirrup. Sit down and don’t lean forward. When in doubt, have a friend take your picture with one of those smart phones that everyone but me has these days. Take a look at the picture and see what you are doing with your body position. Above all, remember to dance with your horse! Questions about this or any of our articles can be emailed to us at myers5000@aol.com.

Terry Myers is a national clinician and champion horse trainer with a depth of knowledge developed from over 45 years in the horse industry. Myers has been a popular clinician at multiple expos in the U.S. and Canada. To learn more about Myers’ Ride-In-Sync methods as well as clinic and training services/products available, visit his website at www.tmtrainingcenter.com and joint him on Facebook.

April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 13

+RUVHELWHV Horsebites - Conâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. from pg. 9

so excited to continue representing the powerful combination of dressage and natural horsemanship in the show ring!â&#x20AC;? Love and Questâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s victories in dressage so far this year include the USDF-sanctioned Snowbirdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paradise show in Apopka, Florida. The pair scored a 75.9 percent in First Level Test 2 to receive the High Point Champion Award. Love received great feedback from the judge. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She stopped us before we exited the ring to say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;thank you for such a technically and beautifully ridden test. That is exactly the quality we are looking for at this level,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Love shares. Love has seen how Parelli Natural Horsemanship can help dressage riders of any level bring out the best in their horses and avoid behavioral issues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Parelli does a great job of teaching people how to read and understand horses,â&#x20AC;? she said. Linda Parelliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s philosophy falls in line with the Classical Scale of Training, which is the method Love prefers as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Working with Linda has given me hope that proper dressage can be accomplished naturally ZLWKRXW VDFULĂ&#x20AC;FLQJ WKH KRUVHÂˇV PHQWDO emotional, or physical needs.â&#x20AC;? She said that working with Linda Parelli helped bring out Questâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s previous training while leaving behind negative emotions and tension that were piggybacked on each dressage movement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He is now able to offer me his best without getting worried,â&#x20AC;? Love said of Quest. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By breaking our sessions into bite-sized segments, I feel KH LV JDLQLQJ FRQĂ&#x20AC;GHQFH DV D OHDUQHU DV well as an athlete.â&#x20AC;? Loveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Parelli Natural Horsemanship skills, which she has been building upon since the age of twelve, allowed her to build trust with Quest from the very beginning. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Using 3DUHOOLÂˇV ÂśKRUVHQDOLW\Âˇ Ă&#x20AC;OWHUV DOORZHG PH to evaluate Quest and what he needed most to excel with me,â&#x20AC;? said Love. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe that often horses and riders FDQ JHW VWXFN ZLWK D ÂśRQH VL]H Ă&#x20AC;WV DOOÂˇ method of training. With Parelli, I was able to quickly read Questâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innate characteristics and apply a catered strategy, which allowed us to hit the ground running.â&#x20AC;? Love has been a junior trainer and a groom at various prestigious dressage stables around the country,

14 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE â&#x20AC;˘ April 2015

as well as starting young horses for several PRE breeders. She has participated in clinics with dressage legends Lendon Grey and Christof Hess, and has groomed for 2008 Paralympic Gold Medalist Lauren Barwick. After an apprenticeship at the Parelli Natural Horsemanship Center in Colorado under founder Pat Parelli, Love decided to become a Parelli Instructor and focus on natural horsemanship to â&#x20AC;&#x153;make the world a better place for horses and for the people who love them.â&#x20AC;? Love hopes to continue building Questâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s WUXVW DQG WR JDLQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO WZR VFRUHV she needs at Third Level for her USDF Bronze Medal. She hopes to compete at with him at Grand Prix level one day. Parelli Natural Horsemanship DQG HPRWLRQDO Ă&#x20AC;WQHVV XVH VWUDWHJLHV WR help horses and their owners overcome the panic default, thus allowing the horse to become a more willing partner; able to work through nervousness, tension, and fear. To learn more about Parelli Natural Horsemanship, visit http://www.parelli.com. . Bethany Peslar and Everglades Dressage Donate Prix St Georges Horse to Dressage4Kids Reinholds, Pennsylvania (DresVDJH .LGV Â˛ Â´$V D QRQSURĂ&#x20AC;W F organization, we are able to accept horse donations which we then match to a home with one of our riders,â&#x20AC;? said U.S. Olympic Dressage veteran Lendon Gray, founder of youth-driven Dressage4Kids (D4K) and Winter Intensive Training Program (WITP). A recent horse-and-rider match made between Dressage4Kids rider Alexa Derr and Versace N., the 13-year-old, 16.3-hand, bay Prix St Georges Dutch Warmblood gelding (Sandor Hit x Harina) donated to Dressage4Kids by Bethany Peslar of Everglades DresVDJH WXUQHG RXW WR EH D SHUIHFW Ă&#x20AC;W â&#x20AC;&#x153;Versace N. is such a great horse. Now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s his time to make dreams come true for a young rider. He and Alexa are a great match, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m happy that Everglades Dressage could give back to our dressage community while paying it forward to the next generation,â&#x20AC;? said Bethany Peslar. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This could be an Under 25 Grand Prix horse for her,â&#x20AC;? said Gray,

who has watched Derr on her former Young Rider horse, Just Livingston, grow as an equestrian over the three years that she has been riding in Grayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Bethany offered Versace N., the timing was amazing. Alexa had been riding through the D4K, WITP, and Emerging Dressage Rider programs on a very nice Young Rider/Intermediate horseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; whose lease was up almost the same day that Bethany contacted us.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;My stomach dropped when I received a text from Lendon to call her as soon as possible,â&#x20AC;? the Florida Young Rider Division Youth Champion Derr said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The text came a few days after I was told the Young Rider horse I was leasing had a buyer, so I was sad and in limbo about my future. I am still in awe that Lendon and Dressage4Kids thought of me to be the rider of such a well-bred horse.â&#x20AC;? The two have been getting to know one another since January. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Versace is the highest quality horse I have ever had the opportunity to ride. I was attracted to his sweet personality and expressiveness under saddle. His playfulness and curiosity are really beginning to show as he begins to trust me. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already found my weakness, which is his puppy dog eyes and gentle demeanor. It gets him cookies every time!â&#x20AC;? Derr, of Reinholds, Pennsylvania, laughs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will forever be grateful to the Peslars and Everglades Dressage for donating Versace to Dressage4Kids. Their timing was impeccable. I was just starting my search for a potential FEI partner,â&#x20AC;? said Derr, who represented the 2014 NAJYRC Region 1 Young Rider team in Kentucky and competed at the USEF Festival of Champions and Region 1 Finals. â&#x20AC;&#x153;D4K has opened doors to train with Olympians at the Courtney King Dye Horse Mastership Clinic, be a member of the Emerging Dressage Athlete Program, and compete at Lendonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Youth Dressage Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; all of which have shaped the horsewoman I am today.â&#x20AC;? Gray added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know Alexa will take good care of him and get the instruction theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need to build a great partnership. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working well together. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an excellent rider who will take the time to get to know himâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more interested in the partnership than the show ring. The rest will be up to them.â&#x20AC;? www.horsebackmagazine.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am continually humbled by the generosity and support of the horse community. It is so important that we stay connected and empower each other to move forward. When someone like the Peslars donates to Dressage4Kids, who then pairs a horse with someone like me, it gives talented, dedicated riders a chance to apply all they have learned and dreamt about. I want to show my gratitude through more than a thankyou or how we perform in the ring. So once my college semester is over, I plan to host a fundraiser for Dressage4Kids. I want my opportunity to lead to opportunities for other riders,â&#x20AC;? states Derr. Everglades Dressage, title VSRQVRU RI WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW &', HYHU KHOG LQ Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI-Wâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; is owned and operated by Bethany Peslar. For Peslar, supporting her sport is a way of life: In addition to sponsoring the Derby, Everglades Dressage has been supporting competitors at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival by presenting Everglades Dressage Rider Achievement Awards throughout the

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show series to salute those who demonstrate excellence in the show ring, improvements in their riding, or strong efforts and dedication to working well with their horses. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Partnership is elemental to dressage. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m so proud Everglades Dressage could play a part in bringing Versace and Alexa together as a perfect Ă&#x20AC;W Âľ 3HVODU VDLG To learn more about Everglades Dressage and Grand Prix rider and trainer Bethany Peslar, visit www. evergladesdressage.com.

U.S. PARA-EQUESTRIAN DRESSAGE 2015 INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE BY: LINDSAY Y. MCCALL Thousand Oaks, CA - The United States Para-Equestrian Dressage athletes have an exciting year coming up as they prepare for the Rio Paralympics scheduled September 7-18, 2016 in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. In January, the USA won over Canada the 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival CPEDI3* in Wellington, FL. Soon

+RUVHELWHV

many riders will head both overseas and across the country to compete in multiple Para-Dressage competitions. Nationally, there will be two CPEDI3* HYHQWV WKDW DUH QRW TXDOLĂ&#x20AC;HUV IRU WKH Rio Paralympics but they are FEI shows where riders may earn their FEI &HUWLĂ&#x20AC;FDWH RI &DSDELOLW\ 7KRVH WZR shows include the Golden State Dressage Classic CPEDI3* held June 11-14, 2015 , in Rancho Murieta, CA, and the CPEDI3* Katy, TX, held October 27-29. Both of these shows will include USA high performance symposiums with world-renowned Dressage and Para-Dressage trainers and judges. The 2015 calendar year also brings the ParaDressage world the Inaugural North American Junior and Young Ridersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Para-Dressage Championship held July 14-19, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Included in the 2015 and 2016 show schedule will be developing rider clinics with dates to be announced in the future. Rounding out the 2015 show year will be the USEF ParaEquestrian Dressage National Championship scheduled October 29-NovemHorsebites - Conâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. on pg. 28

April 2015 â&#x20AC;˘

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 15

RAISING THE

BARN DEER CREEK STABLES

arn-raisings don’t happen much in our modern world because you don’t have tons of folks moving to the county to take up farming from scratch. But what the old practice of barn raising symbolizes within us is the feeling of community and hard work. While we might not be able to pull together an old-fashioned barn raising, that doesn’t mean that everyone doesn’t need a good barn. It just means you need to find a really good barn builder.

Deer Creek Stables custom-built horse barns will be able to fit a variety of different areas that you can designate on your property. These custom-built horse barns are only made from the finest quality of materials, so you will never have to worry about the siding getting rotten or the barn becoming unsafe for your horses. Deer Creek Stables loves horses just as much as you do, and they know how to get you the best products so that you can take care of your horses and other livestock. • DEER CREEK STABLES Chilton, TX 76632 (254) 546-2276 www.deercreekstables.com

We have done a lot of that work for you. Look over and see the best that Texas has to offer in barn builders:

16 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

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BARNS AND BUILDINGS At Barns and Buildings they know what it means to be a custom barn and barn home m builder because they have over 40 years experience to prove it. They do not drop a kit off on your land and leave you to find a contractor or even your own NAILS. Barns and Buildings takes the worry out of building because they do the job from START TO FINISH, They are your Contractor and supplier. Save yourself time and money by going with one builder to help you with ALL-PHASES of your project.Their motto: “If you can dream it, we can build it”.

BNB BUILDINGS

• BARNS AND BUILDINGS www.barnsandbuildings.com (800) 797-0486

BNB Buildings offers the LOWEST PRICES IN TEXAS on all types of clear span welded and preengineered metal buildings. Whether you need a hay barn, carport, implement shed, awning, totally enclosed shop or any other metal structure, BNB Buildings is here to help you in your efforts to have a totally custom experience where uild your particular needs in a metal building are catered to! • BNB BUILDINGS Rockwall, TX www.bnbbuildings.com (512) 269-8750

TRI COUNTY BARNS Tri-County Barns, as an authorized MD BarnMaster dealer, has been building quality horse barns and free-standing buildings across the State of Texas since the early 1990’s. Their modular horse barns and buildings are recognized by their customers as the highest quality and most flexible structure that money can buy, but priced to compete with similar structures in the marketplace. • TRI-COUNTY BARNS www..tcps.com (800) 429-8239

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April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 17

photo by Aponi

THE ACTHA

American Competitive Trail Horse Association

By Jennifer Wenzel

18 HHORSEBACK ORSEBACKM MAGAZINE AGAZINE• •April April2015 2015 18

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hether you are a seasoned trail rider or just thinking of joining the sport of competitive trail riding there are numerous options out there for you, but none with the charitable commitment demonstrated by the American Competitive Trail Horse Association or ACTHA. What separates ACTHA from other trail organizations lies simply within their mission “to end equine unemployment”, combined with charitable giving. ACTHA is concerned with the very complicated issues surrounding humane treatment of horses and realizes no solution is possible without a lot of human involvement. With the help of thousands of like minded individuals across the U.S. and in Canada, they are working together to fulﬁll this mission. But it’s not just the issue of humane treatment of our equines that concerns ACTHA, it’s supporting the numerous organizations that seek to preserve them, their jobs and the people they beneﬁt. They have committed by donating funds, 20% of gross rider fees are donated directly to a charity chosen by the ride host at every event. Commitment also lies in the efforts to bring attention to the countless organizations that not only rescue, rehab and re-home equines in need, but also those programs that our equines play a crucial daily role in, like the countless therapeutic riding facilities, veterans programs and the at risk youth outreach programs across the country. Now beginning their eighth year, this recently approved nonprofit has grown at an astonishing rate, on course to hold more than 1,000 events this year alone across the U.S. and Canada. Along with ACTHA’s mission they are also working hard to give recognition to the great “American Trail Horse” and encourage riders to get out, learn and enjoy their horses in casual competition. ACTHA realizes that the trail horse has long gone unrecognized for its incredible ability to not only carry us across the countryside, but in the knowledge that a good trail horse makes a great all around versatile horse and a versa-

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tile horse with ACTHA training greatly aids rescues in re-homing them. As a testament to this, sale or re-homing ads for horses regularly appear with the verbiage “ACTHA trained”. In fact, so confident is ACTHA in this, that they recently offered fellow nonprofits free memberships for those who work full time or assist part time in a registered equine nonprofit, giving rescues an affordable way to enhance the retraining and marketability of their rescued horses. And while ACTHA welcomes all horses whether breed or grade, registered or not, none is more special than the rescue, whatever their life story may be. Over 1,400 of the more than 28,000 registered equines in ACTHA’s database are certified as coming from a rescue. More amazing is the

trail challenges, an AOC (Arena Obstacle Challenge) and a CTC (Competitive Trail Challenge). Each offers a unique opportunity where families and friends can get together and learn to navigate mostly natural trail obstacles in a safe and fun environment. Unlike other competitions, it isn’t a demanding or stressful sport and that is where the motto “Serious Fun, Casual Competition” comes in. The trail is an easy six or so miles, and has a minimum of six obstacles spaced one mile apart. While the obstacles are timed the course itself is not, allowing for a leisurely trail ride. Arena obstacle challenges are held in an indoor or outdoor arena or even an open ﬁeld and offer participants the challenge of navigating obstacles normally encountered on

photo by Aponi

the trail, but in the conﬁnes of a safe environment. There is a small membership fee to join ACTHA and rider fees for events vary from a low of $25 to a high of $58 depending on the rider division. Depending on you or your horse’s skill level ACTHA has a division for everyone, from Buddy to Open, a Junior Division for riders 7-15 years of age and an In Hand division. Certain rules do pertain to different categories, so it’s best to check the rule book. One of the beneﬁts in joining ACTHA is the many perks it offers its members. In conjunction with Cavallo Horse and Rider there will be a random drawing on July 1, 2015 for

Traill Ridingg fact that over 400 of them have gone on to win the ACTHA Diamond in the Rough Award sponsored by Cavallo Horse and Rider, a category open to rescue horses registered as such in the ACHTA database. Prestigious performance awards also include last year’s Pleasure Winner, Kim Pundai, with her 10 year old thoroughbred gelding, Lex, that she rescued from the Horse Protection Association in Florida as a three year old. ACTHA offers two types of

April2015 2015 • •H HORSEBACK ORSEBACKM MAGAZINE AGAZINE April

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2 lucky members to win a trip to the beautiful city of Hawksberry, Australia for a week in November to attend the Equine Lifestyle Festival. This drawing includes hotel accommodations and roundtrip coach airfare, the festival and dinner with Cavallo Horse & Rider owners Greg Giles and Carole Herder. This drawing is open to ride hosts, open or pleasure riders. Each time you ride, wear Cavallo boots, receive the Cavallo judges pick award or host another ride, you receive another opportunity to enter the drawing. Another perk this year is the year end prize for the 2014-2015 Open and Pleasure National Champions. The winners in each of these categories will receive a year’s use of a full size diesel pickup truck for the Open winner and a year’s use of a full size gasoline pickup truck for the Pleasure winner. Prizes have also been expanded from sixth place to tenth in not only Open and Pleasure categories but in the Junior Division and for State Champions. ACTHA has numerous medal programs where points achieved offer rewarding prizes from some of the industry’s top companies and

noted trainers in a variety of categories. ACHTA’s current medal sponsors include Tucker Saddles, Horse Tack Company, Cavallo Horse & Rider, Molly’s Custom Silver, Re-Ride Stories, Lynn Palm, Barbra Schulte, Rods.com, TechNiche ThermaFur, Equine Prints, and Paul’s Pet Product. Medal sponsors have been extremely generous with ACTHA members; points are not only accrued by placing ﬁrst through sixth in AOC’s and CTC’s, but also by competing. Other perks of ACTHA include their 15% member savings with sponsors and their ACTHA Buck Program. The ACTHA Buck program is a combined effort of ACTHA’s network of businesses, organizations and sponsors that offers a discount of 25% off purchases when used in conjunction with ACTHA Bucks. ACTHA Bucks are earned by joining, placing ﬁrst through third in a ride, referring members and completing feedback surveys. Businesses that participate in the member savings program offer

Familyy Fun

photo by Aponi

20 20 HHORSEBACK ORSEBACKM MAGAZINE AGAZINE• •April April2015 2015

an extensive ens diversity of products for the horse and rider. ACTHA members can even take advantage of worry free travel plans with a discounted membership to US Rider, an absolute must if you trailer your horse anywhere. Ride Hosts nationwide are considered the backbone of ACTHA, responsible for putting on wonderful, fun filled events. These multi-talented individuals are creative and ingenious and come from a variety of backgrounds, not only horse trainers but college professors, military personnel, firefighters and dog trainers. Their common denominator; have fun with our horses, further our equine knowledge, help horses in need and offer affordable mini vacations with family or friends. Imaginative ride hosts often host themed rides such as the “Pony Express Ride”, the “Sasquatch Hunt” and multiple series rides with a buckle or trailer series which culminate the series end with that award. All rides offer prizes, many donated by ACTHA’s wonderful sponsors and some even offer cash prizes. With the idea of an affordable mini vacation, Ride Host’s venues are as diverse as the terrain and bountiful with amenities. Whether it be the beach in California, a private ranch, a horse camp or a state park, amenities will vary from facility to facility but usually include camping or cabin rental, RV hookups, possible generator plug ins, showers, stalls or round pen panels, and meals. But the fun doesn’t stop with the trail riding and camping, ride hosts go out of their way to offer their guests additional opportunities throughout the weekend that they have the option of participating in or not. Some of these things include clinics, private or group lessons with clinicians, educational seminars on a variety of topics ranging from safety to hoof care, geo-caching on horseback (equiwww.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com

Alll Levelss Welcome!

cache), Cowboy Church, vendors and live entertainment. Because most events take place either one day or over a multitude of days, ride hosts have come to realize that being an ACTHA ride host is a great part time home based business, you can earn extra income and support the charity of your choice. Ride hosts use the income to support their own businesses, their farms, their horses or even their own charity. Many ride hosts can personally attest to this but none more so than ride hosts Rita Kay and Andy Isaacs from Morning Star Ranch Ministries in Minola, Texas. If you ask them they will tell you ACTHA rides have kept their ministry aﬂoat. Five years ago they considered closing the doors on their nonproﬁt, feeling they www.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com

had reached a plateau with lack of funds. With the recommendation that they had the perfect venue and facility to host ACTHA rides, that’s exactly what they began doing. Morning Star Ranch hosted their 30th ACTHA event in March and not only have their events kept the Ministry aﬂoat, it has earned them enough income to make improvements to their facilities, which not only serve as a retreat and conference center, but a summer camp for ﬁnancially disadvantaged youth in Texas. With ACTHA’s call to “Get Involved” and “Support the Cause” the list of ACTHA supported charities now reaches a database of almost 500, with every one of them and more needing our help. While the majority of the charities are equine or equine related, that is not always the case.

Any nonproﬁt can be registered with ACTHA, and some of them are there for very personal reasons. Charities can register at www.actha.us/

charities/register. Making a difference in the lives of our horses is easier and more rewarding than you might imagine. Even if you don’t ride you too can be a powerful force in supporting ACTHA’s mission that a horse with a job is a horse with a home, security and a future by hosting a ride, volunteering or donating to a cause. To learn more about ACTHA and how you can get involved please visit www.actha.us. To learn how you can become a Ride Host please visit www. actha.us/hostaride. To learn more about ACTHA events in your area please visit www.actha.us/events.

April April2015 2015 • •H HORSEBACK ORSEBACKM MAGAZINE AGAZINE

21 21

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HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 23

7DFN &DUH

Antique Saddles

he best part of opening my little shop in Medina, Texas, is having the time and opportunity to work on antique saddles. I recently had the good fortune of preparing an antique saddle for the not yet open Kimble County Museum. The saddle was owned by a gentleman who had historic roots in Kimble and Mason Counties. According to his daughter, the saddle was bought between 1918 and 1921, which according to the design elements would be correct. There are some inconsistencies, which can hopefully be accounted for. Part of the beauty of working with antique saddles is tracking the design changes as saddles morphed from the Hope saddle, the first truly western saddle, to today’s western saddle. This particular saddle brings into question some of the characteristics I have always thought to be true. Obviously, someone had to create an elemental design change. As a historian of western saddles, I want to know who was the first to use

this particular design element. It is a typical for the period. Baxter Black once constantly fluctuating quest, as every said, “There weren’t no fluffy cowboys in the wild”. Obviously, the owner, who saddle seems to bring up questions. The saddle I prepped for this rode the saddle into his 80’s, kept in museum was an E. Henrich saddle, shape. I sat in the saddle, and although I Mason, Texas. The Henrich saddle shop could ride it, it was tight. I’m 6’ and 180 was on the old town square in Mason, and lbs, so apparently this owner was smaller. I think, at some point, someone was in business for many years, becoming an antique store, and part of the old town took this saddle to a car wash to clean the square walking tour. The gentleman who mold off of it. I had a hard time trying to owned the saddle, rode and maintained decide if it was a roughout saddle, unusual the saddle until he was in his 80’s. It is for the period, or one that had had the obvious that the saddle was well cared finish “blasted” off of it. I decided on the for, and when repairs were made, the latter. The underside of the leather was saddle was taken back to the same saddle pretty obviously the flesh side, so the top shop where it was originally purchased. had to be the grain side. In some areas, The stirrup leathers are obviously newer, you could see the black exoskeletons of but are still marked with the E. Henrich the mold spores, so I tried to smooth the cartouche, and have Blevins buckles, leather as much as possible. It all came out pretty good, but not as smooth as if which did not exist before 1961. So, this saddle was made around the top grain was still intact. This was an interesting project. I 1920, which is the era of “freak forks”, the term for saddles with extremely wide or have worked on Henrich saddles before, unusual swells. The swells on this saddle and they have always been nicely made measure 24”. I have always thought that saddles. Mason is an interesting town, “front jockeys” were a normal part of with a big history, and E. Henrich and saddles until about 1926, but this saddle Son Saddlery is certainly a part of that has a one piece seat and front jockeys, history. If you have an old family which are way ahead of the time. One of the other curiosities of this saddle is the heirloom saddle that needs restoring, let one piece back housing. Normally, even me know. I love the old saddle history. today, the back housing is made of two pieces, joined by a “frog”. There is no valid reason to use two pieces except to save Bandera’s Lew Pewterbaugh has been called the leather, but this is just one of the unusual most knowledgeable saddle and tack authority in design elements that make Henrich an the Southwest. For private fitting consultation call (830) 328-0321 or (830) 522-6613 innovator in the saddle business. or email: saddlerlew@gmail.com. This saddle has a 13½” seat,

24 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

www.horsebackmagazine.com

Horseback Magazine’s Saddle & Tack Editor

www.horsebackmagazine.com

April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 25

(QJOLVK

Confidently Identify Your Diagonals and Leads

iagonals and leads are critical to every horse’s balance when working in an arena or confined space. Unless you are planning on trail riding as your only activity, when you ride English at a trot or canter, you need to be able to quickly and correctly determine which diagonal or lead you are on. When you are rising in the trot, also known as posting, you will help the horse with its balance by rising when the outside foreleg is reaching forward. To determine which diagonal you are on, start by watching the horse’s outside shoulder. Each time you leave the saddle, say “up” to yourself. Decide whether the outside shoulder is going forward or backward as you rise. When you think you know which way it is going, look at the inside shoulder for a few strides to compare the movement. It should be easy to tell at that point which shoulder is going forward and which is going back. If you have difficulty seeing the diagonal, keep watching one shoulder for several strides and then look at the other for several strides and compare again. Keep looking back and forth while saying “up” until you can see which shoulder is going forward when you rise. Sometimes it helps to have a friend watch to confirm whether you are right or wrong about the diagonal once you think you know which side you are rising with. To be on the correct diagonal, you want to be rising when the outside shoul-

26 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

der is going forward and the inside shoulder is coming back. To change diagonals, simply sit for two beats and resume your posting. If you sit for three beats you will return to the same diagonal you were on, so look again after you change until you can reliably sit for only two beats. Practice seeing and changing your diagonals by taking two-point or sitting for several strides and then returning to the posting trot. Check the diagonal each time and correct it if you are on the wrong one. Ready for a greater chal-

lenge? Try to see the diagonal by keeping your eyes up and using only your peripheral vision. Keep your chin up so your head doesn’t drop thus changing your balance as you check. Then try to feel the movement without looking at all. When you think you know which side you are rising with, take a look to confirm it. Let’s take it a step further and sit the trot for several strides. Try to feel the horse’s hip swing your hip forward on one side and then on the other with each step he takes. When you feel your inside www.horsebackmagazine.com

hip getting pushed forward, try rising. Since the trot is a diagonal gait, the inside hind and outside foreleg move forward together at the moment when you should be rising. For the expert’s challenge, see if you can sit the first couple of trot strides, feel the movement of the legs and begin rising within three strides on the correct diagonal. If you can succeed repeatedly, consider yourself an expert on diagonals! Now let’s move on to identifying leads. The process is similar to checking for diagonals. Begin by asking your horse for a canter. Look at the inside shoulder for a few strides and then compare the movement to the outside shoulder. One shoulder will be reaching slightly farther forward than the other. If you are on the correct lead, the inside shoulder will be reaching more. If you find it difficult to distinguish the difference in the shoulders, lean slightly more forward and look at the lower leg. You should be able to see the hoof of the leading leg before you can see the other hoof. Once you can see the difference, look again at the shoulder and notice the subtle difference between the two. It’s important to note that leaning forward and looking down can put you and your horse off balance. Even though you might need to do it to confirm which lead you are on, it’s important to avoid routinely leaning over to look down as it can become a bad habit. If the mane is long, it may get in the way of your view. A simple French braid can get it out of your way if necessary. As with the trot, if you are having difficulty telling which lead you are on, ask a friend to watch to confirm what you think you are seeing. Once you are able to see the leads, try using your peripheral vision. Then try to feel the lead without looking. Since the horse has both a front and back lead, the back legs will also lead with the inside leg when the lead is correct. You will feel your inside hip getting pushed forward with each stride when you are on the correct lead. If you feel a strange twisting of your hips in the canter as if you are inside a washing machine, then your horse is probably in a cross canter where the front and back leads are different. The easiest way to fix a wrong lead is to bring the horse back to a trot and set him up again. However, wrong leads and cross canters can be corrected without breaking the canter by performing a flying change. As you fine tune your riding skills, you will find that identifying leads and diagonals quickly will help your horse to give you a smoother, more balanced and more enjoyable ride. Now challenge yourself with seeing how quickly you can accurately pick up and identify your leads and diagonals every time.

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April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 27

+RUVHELWHV Horsebites - Con’t. from pg. 15

ber 1, 2015, in Houston, TX. For more information please visit the USEF website at https://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsdisciplines/discipline/ allparaequestrian/hpparaEquestrian. aspx.

OAKES TURNS BACK THE CLOCK IN FORT MOHAVE FORT MOHAVE, AZ, – The 31-year-old bull rider won his first Xtreme Bulls title in eight years March 14 when he captured the Fort Mohave Classic PRCA Xtreme Bulls event with a score of 163 points on two head. Oakes was the only man able to navigate the loaded pen of bulls and come away with two qualified rides. He rode for 82.5 points on Bar T Rodeo’s No. 813 in the finals, and then watched every other rider hit the dirt. “The last buckle I have like this is from Laughlin (Nev.) in 2007,” Oakes said while holding his spoils after his victory lap. “It looks the exact same, just a different city and several years later. This one is going in the trophy case, because this is a special win for me.” Oakes – who qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2004-05 and 2008-09 – hadn’t won a PRCA rodeo in five years before the 2015 season. He won the Homestead (Fla.) Championship Rodeo and was co-champion at the Peace River Pro Rodeo Classic (Wauchula, Fla.) earlier this season, but the Fort Mohave Xtreme Bulls title should serve as an announcement that he’s officially back.

28 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

“I’m going to go try to win the world this year,” the Tonasket, Wash., cowboy said. “I don’t see a reason why I can’t. I let it slip through my fingers a few times in the past, and I’m not going to let that happen again. I don’t have a lot of years left to do this, so I don’t want to leave anything on the table. I want to do whatever I can to win a gold buckle this year.” Oakes hasn’t rodeoed full time since his last WNFR season in 2009. He says the past five years have mainly been spent healing after several surgeries, and that he never thought he’d make a return to rodeo. “I never had any intentions of going again, but the longer I stayed out, the better I started feeling,” said Oakes, who earned a total of $8,235 in Fort Mohave. “All my friends in the Northwest got me back into it by inviting me to local events, and they talked me into coming back. It felt good and felt right tonight, and I finally feel healthy for the first time in years.” Although 31 is somewhat old in terms of bull riding years, Oakes looks at this as a second chance to pursue the career he loves. The win in Fort Mohave boosted his confidence tremendously. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I can ride with these guys,” he said. “In the past, I might’ve been beaten mentally sometimes, but not anymore. Some people might call me old, but I call it experienced. I feel refreshed and I love to ride bulls. There were times when I was riding in the past when I was only riding at 50 percent, but I’m healthy now.” Tanner Learmont, who won the San Antonio Xtreme Bulls event two weeks ago, took the first-round Horsebites - Con’t. on pg. 42

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From Scruffy to Banner the Diamond in the Rough ACTHA Horse

remember when Scruffy came to us. His name wasn’t really Scruffy, but that’s what I called him and it certainly fit. A friend had asked us if we could keep him at our farm for a while because his daughter had lost interest in riding. When he arrived he wasn’t a pretty sight. As a three year old, he had been the “low man” in the herd. He was covered in nicks and cuts from all the kicks and bites he had received from the other horses. His coat was dull and kind of a mustard brown color, his mane and tail had been chopped off leaving him looking - well... Scruffy. About that time, my husband Lewis started talking about getting me a new horse, a good trail horse like his. Lewis and his horse Bounty have an amazing bond. He never looks at anything on the trail; he’s stable, dependable and a wonderful partner. The horse I had at the time was a beautiful black Morgan. He had been a show horse before we got him with most of his experience limited to the arena. Needless to say he was pretty spooky on the trails. For me, every ride was a challenge because he thought that every bush had a bear behind it. I loved him, but I longed for a horse that I could get on and enjoy the ride without the feeling of being constantly on guard. Of course

30 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

By Donna Baber & Jennifer Wenzel my fears brought out more spookiness in him and I think after a while we were spooking each other. While I was a pretty good rider, I didn’t have a lot of experience with training so the idea of getting another horse sounded like a pretty good one to me. So the search began. In my mind I was riding a majestic Friesian type horse. One that was gentle and well trained, we could ride the trails without a care in the world. After looking at several a friend told us about a horse that we might want to check out. He was stunning to look at, that silky dark chestnut color with a beautifully shaped head. The owner kindly said we could take him to our farm for a couple of weeks on a trial. I was so excited to think this beautiful horse could possibly be the one for me. In fact, I decided to call him Mr. Beautiful. At night after everyone had gone to bed I would go out to the barn to brush him and give him treats. I wondered if we would “bond”, if this wonderful horse would be the answer to my prayers. Mr. Beautiful’s stall was right next to Scruffy’s so I would doctor his cuts, brush him and also give him a few treats while I was there admiring Mr. Beautiful. They were quite a pair, side by side like that. It was easy to feel sorry for Scruffy; he didn’t seem to have much going for him.

A couple of days later some friends invited us over to their ranch to go trail riding. It would be my first opportunity to try Mr. Beautiful out on the trail and I was looking forward to seeing if he was “The One”. We loaded Bounty onto the trailer and then brought Mr. Beautiful over. He acted like he had never seen anything like that in his whole life. He reared back and danced around the trailer for a full 45 minutes. At this point we were so exhausted we almost didn’t care if we went or not. It was then that Lewis said “do you want to go get Scruffy and see if he will load?” Well, I hadn’t even thought of riding Scruffy, and I wasn’t too happy thinking about going trail riding with our friends and their gorgeous horses while I rode Scruffy! I didn’t like this picture at all but decided to go out to the pasture to get him and see if he would load. He stood quietly while I put the halter on him then walked obediently to the trailer and hopped on. I thought, “oh dear, I was not expecting this.” We arrived at our friend’s place and unloaded the horses. Scruffy seemed unfazed, being around new horses and unfamiliar surroundings didn’t seem to bother him one bit. As I rode along I started to get this uneasy feeling…I didn’t even want to ask myself the question, because I was www.horsebackmagazine.com

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afraid of what I suspected might be true. Finally I just said it, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lord are you trying to tell me that you want Scruffy to be my horse? Lewis said he would get me a PRETTY horseâ&#x20AC;ŚI canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe you would want me to have a horse like Scruffy! Seriously!!! Out of all the beautiful horses out there Scruffy is the one for me?â&#x20AC;? As I rode I recalled a time when I was a little girl and my Aunt had sent a box of clothes my cousin had outgrown. The ugliest coat I had ever seen was in that box, brown tweed with a scarf attached to the collar, and of course that was the coat I was expected to wear to school. I refused to button the coat, even on the coldest days, because in my childish mind I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want anyone to think that I had chosen that coat to wear. Now, that I look back I thinkâ&#x20AC;ŚI must have looked pretty silly walking to school in the freezing weather with my coat hanging open like that! As you can imagine that is exactly what came to my mind as I rode down the trail on Scruffy while everyone else rode along on their majestic steeds. As we rode through the beautiful www.horsebackmagazine.com

country side I realized there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a single incident where Scruffy acted nervous. In fact, he was the perfect gentleman and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spook once the entire ride. I had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was going to have to choose between Scruffy and Mr. Beautiful. Being a Christian I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help but think God was trying to tell me something, that Scruffy was the horse for me, and if this were true then he had better do something to help me fall in love with him. That love came with my morning ritual of tending to his many cuts and scrapes. I knew I had my answer. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t keep calling him Scruffy so I chose the name Banner, a name that meant so much to me from the verse in the Song of Solomonâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;?His Banner over me is love.â&#x20AC;? That was 14 years ago. With lots of TLC, good nutrition and plenty of growing time Bannerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cuts healed. His mane and tail grew out and he transformed into a beautiful horse. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to believe I ever called him Scruffy because my Banner became and still is, my Mr. Beautiful. Later we found out Banner had

excellent bloodlines and came from a long line of show horses. When he was a yearling he was sold to our friend because his owner felt his small stature wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t suitable for showing. What no one knew at the time was he was just a â&#x20AC;&#x153;late bloomer.â&#x20AC;? Banner has given me many years of pleasure as he carried me over miles of trails. We learned together and he helped me overcome many of my fears. I would have missed a great treasure for sure if I had â&#x20AC;&#x153;leaned to my own understanding.â&#x20AC;? In 2012 I was tragically hit by a car while walking in a parking lot. A broken arm and leg left me in a wheelchair for 3 Â˝ months. I had been unable to ride for quite a while when Morgan, my then 7 year old granddaughter offered to take care of Banner for me. Banner has proven to be the perfect horse for her. He is patient and willing and together they have become quite the team! Together Morgan and her PaPa (Lewis) are having the time of their lives competing in ACTHA events in and around Florida. It is such a joy to watch them take off on the trail together knowing my beautiful Banner will take good care of her too. April 2015 â&#x20AC;˘

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 31

:HVWHUQ

Scamper the Wonder “Horse”

camper the Wonder Horse was my first horse; well to say she was a horse was a stretch. Scamper was a pony, my Dad bought for me and she was mine; but a horse? I think not. I think he paid maybe twenty-five dollars for her…or maybe he traded nine chickens for her. I’m not really sure, but she was mine and I was as proud as any five year old could be. She was the beginning of my cowboy career and I had plans to be the next Jim Shoulders and Phil Lyne all rolled into one. But before my cowboy career could begin, Scamper had a few kinks that needed ironing out. Not huge issues, just things like laying down when she didn’t want to go and running off when she did want to go. There wasn’t a whole lot of in between with Scamper. But it wasn’t a big deal for a top hand like I was going to be. It was just a chance to show the world a what a wolf of the world looked like. The first thing we dealt with was the running off, and really the running off wasn’t that huge a deal. Heck, I could ride her as fast as she could run. It was all the things she would brush me against the concerned me! She would run off (which consisted of a combination of her bone jarring trot and her ground hammering lope) with me pulling on both reins for all I was worth and Dad would start hollering, “Just pull one rein, just pull one rein” That was easy for him to say, he wasn’t riding this wild mustang

32 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

that I was riding. I couldn’t hear him anyway; I was way more concerned with dying. We would bolt around the arena, or around the barn, with her brushing up against things trying to knock me off and me pulling for all I was worth to get her to stop. Once Dad had several young horses tied to the fence when Scamper ran off. She ran up between the fence and those young horses. You would have thought it would have caused a big wreck, but other than undoing all of Dad’s training, breaking a few lead ropes and catching those lead ropes under my chin as I laid back in the saddle….it went surprisingly well. The laying down was the other issue that I needed to work out with her. When she didn’t want to go anymore, she would just lay down. Didn’t matter where you were or what you were doing. She’d just quit. I spent many a day jumping up and down on her sides trying to get her to get back up. All she would do was just lay out on her side like she was just waiting to die. And I can tell you, there were many times I wished she would have died…or that I could have killed her! We got most of these kinks worked out in the arena and Dad finally felt comfortable enough to take me with him to check cows. I was some kinda excited. I left the house in all my cowboy gear ready to show my Dad what a hand I had become. I had my best hat, my boots, my rope and my chaps.

I also had what no self-respecting cowboy would be without; I had my pistol in the holster on my hip. I, not only was ready to do cowboy work, I was dressed properly to perform these important actions. Dad was riding a big gelding we called Festus. Now Festus, it seemed to me, was nineteen feet tall with a head that was almost that long too. So, Scamper and I did have somewhat of a hard time keeping up. The best we could manage was to travel a little ways back of them, in her spine battering trot. At one point, I started to wonder if I would ever have kids (just kidding, what five year old thinks about having kids?). I couldn’t have been prouder though. I was going to do real live cowboy work on my own horse, with my Dad. Whoo Hoo! As we traveled along, suddenly Dad kicked Festus into a lope and they soared over this irrigation ditch. It probably wasn’t a huge ditch, at least not for Festus. They cleared it rather easily and Dad pulled up on the other side to check on me. I pulled ol’ Scamper to a stop at the edge of the ditch and it might as well have been the Atlantic Ocean. I felt like, not only was I riding the smallest horse in the world, but that I was the littlest kid too. But, my Dad was there to encourage me. He didn’t say too much, no long speeches for him that day. He just said, “You can make it”. If it was one thing I believed, it was whatever my Dad told me. Heck I was the kid he could get www.horsebackmagazine.com

to jump off the top of the garage into his arms…man, after writing that down…I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer was I? But I digress…back to the ditch. I turned Scamper around and rode back toward the house, when I was about twenty yards away I turned around and lined her up on the ditch. I took the end of my reins and started whipping her over and under, I knew that we needed a lot of speed to cross that Grand Canyon of an irrigation ditch. I would like to say that she took off with all of the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse, but we were pretty much in that same spleen splattering trot/lope thing. But she was going somewhat faster. As we neared the ditch, I started having visions of us flying over that ditch somewhat like Pegasus. That we would clear it and I would come to a sliding stop like the top professionals that we were. I could just picture my Dad’s chest swelling up with pride, knowing that his legacy www.horsebackmagazine.com

was going to continue in a grand fashion. There would be dancehall gals singing and everyone would be beating me on the back in congratulations and buying me drinks…… of milk. As we raced toward the edge of the ditch, with all of the brain rattling, kidney collapsing speed that could be mustered by a short legged pony; Scamper must have been feeling all of the confidence that I was oozing, because at about ten feet from the ditch, she jumped. She surely must have thought that she grew wings. To say we missed would be an understatement. We landed smack dab in the middle of the ditch and sunk to the bottom. Obviously not a wide ditch, but it was deep. Both of us went under and came back up spraying water like a couple of Beluga whales. As we scrambled out, to my horror… I could hear my Dad laughing. I was cold and wet, not the least bit happy about the situation and I had a new found hate in my heart

for this worthless, early jumping, nine chicken pony. But my Dad… he just couldn’t stop laughing. I just knew that I could no longer call myself a cowboy, I mean, come on…any hand worth his salt could have made that jump, right? Dad finally got himself under control and shared with me some of the wrecks he had growing. He let me know part of being a cowboy was celebrating the wrecks that you have. Laughter is contagious and eventually I laughed a little too. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that this was part of the initiation that goes along with being a cowboy. If you haven’t been in a wreck or two, then you probably have done much. You know, I don’t really recall what happened to Scamper. I just remember I started riding real horses at some point. I supposed Dad traded her off to the next growing cowboy, or maybe he sold her for twelve chickens. I don’t know. April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 33

+RRI +HDOWK

In Perspective:

The Modern Day Barefoot ‘Movement’

Part I of III

everal people have now asked me to clarify things, from my perspective about the actual relationships between my early books and that of Dr. Hiltrud Strasser. Specifically, Dr. Strasser’s A Lifetime of Soundness and my first two books, the Horse Owner’s Guide to Natural Hoof Care (HOG), and The Natural Horse ( TNH) in a chronological timeline. Foremost in my mind, the issue should never be “who said what, when”, or “what or who came first”, as though some kind of competition or jockeying for “top position” was in the works between Dr. Strasser and myself, or any others. Helping horses has never been a competitive matter with me, nor with Dr. Strasser as I understand from having met her. Accordingly, my purpose here, then, is to place each work, TNH,

LOS, and the HOG in the light of the times when the works were created, and to reveal some of their influences on some of the more notable characters in the burgeoning barefoot movement we all know today. I doubt seriously there are less than half a dozen persons on the face of the earth who truly know and understand the facts: Dr. Strasser, Sabine Kells, and myself, being over half of them. The decision to refrain from saying, “everybody take off the shoes and have your horses go barefoot,” in the 1992 edition of my book, The Natural Horse: Lessons From The Wild, came after considerable deliberation and discussions with my colleague and fellow farrier Dr. Leslie Emery (author of Horseshoeing Theory and Hoof Care, pub. 1978). There was no “barefoot movement” or “natural hoof care” then, just as there was no real “natural horseman-

ship” or “natural boarding” revolution happening either. The connection to the wild horse and “nature” was just beginning to be laid by people like Emery, Gene Ovnicek, Pat Parelli, myself and a few others. The unique language and charismatic personalities many of us now know were still several decades away. Most important, no one -and I say that categorically -- knew what the consequences would be of telling everyone to “de-shoe your horse” in the early days. The pinnacle of irresponsibility would been to have said just that -- back then. Think about it. The first discussions of natural hoof care actually preceded my entry into wild horse country in 1982, ten years before the publication of TNH, some fifteen years before the arrival of LOS. As early as 1978, Emery and I had met and Jaime Jackson - Con’t. on pg. 36

Jaime Jackson’s field research base camp in the U.S. Great Basin in 1982. Note the manual typewriter on the table!

34 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

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April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 35

+RRI +HDOWK Jaime Jackson - Con’t. from pg. 34

discussed the concept, including the vital implications of diet, boarding conditions, horsemanship -- and wild horses. What was missing, indeed, was the actual wild horse, the physical “link” to nature that Emery speculated on in HT&HC, and which I personally investigated, with, I will add, Emery’s full support. It was the following passage, however, on p. 65 of his great work, that both inspired me and brought us together as advocates, and which, in my mind, laid the actual foundation for the modern “natural care” movement: “Lack of understanding of the natural state and function of the hoof is the primary deficiency in shoeing theory and practice, and in the treatment of lameness. To fully illustrate the natural state and function of the hoof, the origins of the horse must be examined. Thus, the reasons for the development of the single-digit foot must be considered. The horse’s life style has been altered drastically through do-

mestication. In order to take proper care of him, we must understand how and where he lived in a wild state. From nutrition to hoof care, this concept is important.” Foremost on our minds was our mutual concern that horse owners would act (to de-shoe) without thinking of the full consequences of their actions. As everyone in the barefoot movement should know by now, the complexities of genuine natural hoof care require a depth of understanding and critical technical skills necessary to execute without causing harm. Further, and just as important, we recognized that there was no real support network coming from farriers (there were no barefoot practitioners yet) to help horse owners, and that veterinarians (whom we had surveyed) would widely condemn the practice as inhumane, if not insane. In fact, we were unable to obtain any support for the idea of deshoeing horses from either the veterinary or farriery communities. Even wellknown trainers we confronted were

unresponsive or very negative. To our surprise, even equine veterinary researchers whom we both respected outright rejected the “wild horse model” -- including some years later, believe it or not, contemporary barefoot advocate Dr. Hiltrud Strasser! And, at that, after the TNH was published and brought to her attention by me personally. To my knowledge, Dr. Strasser has not changed her opinion either. At least, she hasn’t said as much to me. I first became aware of Dr. Strasser after she contacted me through an interpreter, Sabine Kells, in late 1996 or early 1997, following my presentation at (Dr. Ric Redden’s) Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium in Louisville, KY, to express her interest in my research. The letter, written by Sabine (who writes and speaks fluently in both English and German), very thoughtfully praised The Natural Horse for “its invaluable information”, and shared that the two of them were collaborating on a new work called Lifetime of Sound-

No w

comfort for your horse... ease for your body olo in C rs

providing the support you need ®

36 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

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ness and that my research would be included. I even sent them a wild horse hoof cadaver to help them better understand what a naturally shaped hoof from the U.S. Great Basin actually looked like! Prior to Sabine’s arrival, Dr. Strasser had authored several papers, or books -- it was never clear to me which they were -- in German. One of her assistants had mailed me photocopied pages for my review in 1996. I was impressed that she was actively engaged in barefoot trimming, and that she was very vocal against shoeing, and I told her so. One of her papers dated back to 1989. Moreover, she had formed a teaching school, in 1993, to teach others her method of trimming. Although her method hardly resembled what I would call a “natural trim, by 1996, she and a number of others, whom I’ll identify a little later, were embracing barefoot trimming and putting their own spin on things. Eventually, I accepted an invitation to travel to Germany to meet with Dr. Strasser. LOS had proved to me that she and Sabine were serious about promoting our common ground -- getting horses out of shoes and into better hoof care. This would also be my opportunity to see exactly what they were doing at the hoof, and to discuss the possibility of working together in the future. Off I went to meet her and it was during that visit that Dr. Strasser rejected the wild horse as a viable model for hoof care. More to the point, she said she had developed her own “physiologically correct trim” (as Sabine explained to me) and wanted me to embrace and promote it. I could only surmise that TNH had served her in other important ways, enough to be referenced in LOS anyway. Nevertheless, my understanding of what they were doing then at the hoof was not exactly what I was doing, but at that time, it was close enough for me to try to work with them in the future for the sake of horses. I agreed to promote her book (LOS) in the U.S., and to help promote her first

Advertise in Horseback Magazine!

Jaime Jackson- Con’t. on pg. 38 www.horsebackmagazine.com

April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 37

+RRI +HDOWK Jaime Jackson - Con’t. from pg. 37

clinic tour the following year as well. But the differences between the “Strasser method” and what I actually did and advocated began to surface over the next year. Eventually, her method being conducted turned out to be a style of trimming that I could not advocate or recommend to others, and I withdrew my public support altogether. Rather than criticize Dr. Strasser publicly, I moved to form the AANHCP (at that time, known as the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners but eventually came to be renamed the Association for the Advancement of Natural Horse Care Practices) and began to actively promote what I considered to be genuine natural hoof care based squarely on the wild horse model. This marked the first splintering in the barefoot hoof care movement. So be it. LOS is an inspiring work, nevertheless. You can see its many influences from reading it, namely, papers written by the 19th century

British veterinarian Bracy Clark, my book (and other unpublished exchanges between us), Xenophon, and many others, most unfamiliar to Americans. Dr. Strasser’s experiments in barefoot hoof care are also obviously a part of LOS. But if one reads LOS with a critical eye, one can see that the wild horse is more of a supportive, side-bar attraction than an inspirational centerpiece, as it is in TNH and in all my published works. Dr. Strasser had her own ideas, and that is a fact. In fact, LOS is not about natural hoof care at all. Nor does it ever really state that it is, although the language is suggestive. Nor is it a precise text in any way about how to trim hooves. Less than a page and a half are given to describing her method, identified in LOS as “Physiologically Correct Trimming”. To emphasize my point, she and Sabine had created an 800+ page training manual to that end! LOS is, simply, and very effectively so, an introduction to the benefits of barefoot horse care,

purported natural lifestyles, and a condemnation of horseshoeing. In all respects, too, LOS is not the first such text to condemn the “evil necessity of shoeing”. Nor is it the first to advocate or describe barefoot hoof care, natural horsemanship, or natural boarding conditions. Yet, LOS is an important contemporary work, in that it categorically calls for the removal of shoes from all horses -- because, and I stand directly at Dr. Strasser’s side on this point, horseshoes always damage hooves; and, because it advocates for responsible horsemanship in the broadest sense. Moreover, it is particularly inspirational in that it is coming from a veterinarian! We are all asking, aren’t we, why does the veterinary community as a whole, continue to bury its head in the sand? But, there, I draw the line. TNH/HOG and LOS really, accurately, have nothing more in common. Just as the hoof care methods of Dr. Strasser and myself have little in common.

'R <RX +DYH D 6SHFLDO +RUVH IRU 6,5("

Therapeutic Horsemanship

+RUVH PXVW EH a i i i i i i i

Calm, relaxed, and people-friendly Sound in all gaits (W/T/C or W/J/L) Good ground manners Well-trained Mentally mature Usually between 14 & 16 hands Show ring experience a plus

Contact Hockley, Texas- Anthony 281-356-7588, x208; anthonyb@sire-htec.org Richmond, Texas- Renee 281-344-4308; rjamieson@sire-htec.org Spring, Texas- Shayna 281-353-6160; shayna@sire-htec.org

ZZZ VLUH KWHF RUJ

38 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

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April 2015 •

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 39

REALTOR Roundup TAMMY FOREMAN REALTOR Hodde Real Estate Co. 112 W. Main Street, Brenham, TX (O): (979) 836-8532 (C): (979) 451-2945

DEITRA ROBERTSON REALTOR Deitra Robertson Real Estate, Inc. 38351 FM 1736 Hempstead, TX (O): (832) 642-6789 (C): (832) 642-6789

WENDY CLINE REALTOR/BROKER CLHMS, SRES, ABR, Million Dollar Guild Wendy Cline Properties Keller Williams Memorial

950 Corbindale Ste 100 Houston, TX 77024

(E): tammy@hodderealty.com (W): www.hodderealty.com

(E): deitra@IKnowRanches.com (W): www.IKnowRanches.com

(O): (281) 858-3469 (E): wendy@wendyclineproperties.com (W): www.wendyclineproperties.com

SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Equestrian, Residential, Country Homes, Land. TERRITORY: Texas

SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Horse Properties, Land TERRITORY: Texas

SPECIALTIES: Equestrian, Farm & Ranch, Land, Residential, Luxury, Commercial TERRITORY: Texas

YOLANDA FUSILIER BROKER Peak Realty 17515 Spring Cypress Rd. Suite # C260 Cypress, TX (O): (979) 921-9530 (C): (713) 417-7567 (E): peak@wt.net (W): www.peakrealty.sbuilder.net

MARY GARBETT BROKER ASSOCIATE Right Time Real Estate LLC at KW Farm & Ranch 950 Corbindale Rd, #100 Houston, TX (C) (713) 213-2420 (O) (713) 470-2055 (E) mary@marygarbett.com (W) www.har.com/marygarbett

DEE ANN BOUDREAUXREALTOR Texas First Real Estate 1116 FM 109 New Ulm, TX (O): (903) 322-3379 (C): (979) 583-7305 (E): deeboudreaux@windstream.net (W): www.texasfirstre.com SPECIALTIES: Residential, Equestrian, Farm/ Ranch, Country Property TERRITORY: Texas

SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Land Commercial TERRITORY: Waller, Harris, and surrounding counties.

WILLIAM “BOO” CHRISTENSEN BROKER/OWNER RE/MAX Advantage 110 E. Alamo Brenham, TX

TOOTIE LYONS RIXMANREALTOR, ASSOCIATE Heritage Texas Country Properties 605 S. Austin Brenham, TX

(O): (979) 251-7500 (C): (979) 277-8426 (E): boo@realtorboo.com (W): www.realtorboo.com

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SPECIALTIES: Farm/Ranch, Hunting Property, Country Homes TERRITORY: Texas

SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Property, Country Homes, Farm & Ranch TERRITORY: Texas

RENEE DIEHL ALHS Round Top Real Estate 101 Main St. Round Top, TX (C): (713) 401-8958 (O): (979) 249-5732 (E): diehl@gmail.com (W): www.roundtopland.com SPECIALTIES: Farm & Ranch, Land, Country & Luxury Homes TERRITORY: South Central Texas

40 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

Attention Realtors & Brokers! JOIN HORSEBACK’S ROUNDUP! Only $35/month includes both online & in print!

SPECIALTIES: Equestrian Estates, Farm & Ranch, Residential TERRITORY: Ft. Bend, Waller, Austin, Washington, Grimes, Harris Counties CARRIE SHWAGER REALTOR The Property Source 7424 FM 1488, Ste. A-1 Magnolia, TX 77354 (C): (281) 960-5190 (F): (936) 449-4586 (E): carrieschwager@att.net (W): www.texasluxurypropertyrealtor.com SPECIALTIES: Equestrian, Farm and Ranch, Hunting, and Luxury Residential TERRITORY: Texas YOUR NAME HERE!REALTOR/BROKER The Best Real Estate Co. 1234 Main Street Houston, TX (O): (123) 456-7890 (C): (123) 456-7890 (E): info@bestrealtor.com (W): www.bestrealtor.com SPECIALTIES: Ranches, Hunting & Horse Properties, Acreage TERRITORY: Texas www.horsebackmagazine.com

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HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 41

+RUVHELWHV

Horsebites Hor rsebitess - C Con’t. on’t. fro from om ppg. g. 228 8

victory with an 85.5-point ride on Bar T Rodeo’s Classic Vinyl. /HDUPRQW ÀQLVKHG VHFRQG in the average, and earned a total of $7,708 – which moved him ahead of Sage Kimzey into the lead in the Xtreme Bulls Tour standings.

Qualifying Heats Up for 2015 Washington International Horse Show Washington, DC –The qualifying period for the 2015 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) is currently underway, and the nation’s top horses and riders are gaining points early this season

42 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE • April 2015

competing in winter circuits around the country. WIHS offers popular year-end championships for junior and pony equitation riders as well as adult and children’s hunter and jumper competitors. The 57th Annual Washington International Horse Show returns to Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC, October 20-25, 2015. Horses and riders compete all year to qualify for the WIHS Championship Finals, including the $10,000 WIHS Children’s Hunter Championship, $10,000 WIHS Children’s Jumper Championship, $10,000 WIHS Adult Hunter Championship, $10,000 WIHS Adult Jumper Championship, WIHS Equitation Finals, and WIHS Pony Equitation Finals. Although you do not have to be a WIHS member to compete in the qualifying classes, competitors must be WIHS members in order for their points to count towards the Finals. Sign up today at www. wihs.org/membership to become a WIHS member and start earning points. The qualifying period is September 1, 2014 through August 31, 2015. As the season begins to heat up,

we congratulate the top competitors in WIHS standings as of March 13, 2015: WIHS Equitation and Pony Equitation Standings Victoria Colvin of Loxahatchee, FL, currently leads the WIHS Equitation East Coast standings with 2,168 points. Ashton Alexander of Ocala, FL, sits second with 1,828 points, and Thomas O’Mara, Jr. of Rumson, NJ, has 1,816 points. The top rider on the West Coast standings is Alexandra Ladove of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, with 1,160 points. Raegan Rast of Stillwell, KS, stands second with 964 points and Morgan Dickerson of Pasadena, CA, is third with 816 points. In the WIHS Pony Equitation standings, Jordan Cobb of Austin, TX, has 416 points to lead off the year. Augusta D. Iwasaki of Calabasas, CA, is second with 372 points, and Sloan Hopson of Houston, TX, is third with 352 points. WIHS Children’s and Adult Hunter Standings In the Children’s Hunter standings, Czech Mate and Carly Martin of

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+RUVHELWHV

South Barrington, IL, have the lead with 818 points. Heartbreaker and Shaye E. Coe of Versailles, KY, have 744 points for second place in the standings, and Journey to the Top and Brianna Laheta of Wayne, IL, have 652 points in third. Benvolio and Mary Grossman of Burlington, WI, currently lead the Adult Hunter standings with 730 points. Duet and Susan Schmitt of Oconomowoc, WI, have 554 points, and Overseas and Mindy Wurzburg of Memphis, TN, sit third with 544 points.

and Maxine (Star) Schatten of Franklin, TN, sit second with 3,002 points. 5HGHĂ&#x20AC;Q DQG 'HDQ 'LJQHOOL RI .DWRQDK NY, have 2,370 points in the third position. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss your chance to qualify for the WIHS Championships! WIHS looks forward to hosting the best horses and riders from around the nation in 2015 and encourages all riders to continue their drive to qualify. wihs.org

WIHS Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and Adult Jumper Standings In the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jumper standings division, Bilbo Baggins and Anna Claire Smith of Atlanta, GA, are well on their way to qualifying for the championship with 2,361 points. Alanda and Sienna Partipilo of Chicago, IL, have 1,916 points in second place. Thunderball and Anderson F. Wagner of Wellington, FL, are currently third with 1,723 points. The Adult Jumpers are also earning points to qualify for their championship in October. Bonapart and Lindsey Tomeu of Wellington, FL, have 4,165 points to lead the division. Wup L

SWISS MOCHA, NATRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TENTH HORSE HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

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Sedalia, Colorado, USA - Swiss Mocha, a grey unregistered Missouri Fox Trotter / Quarter Horse cross mare, owned and ridden by Paula Riley of Waleska, Georgia, was inducted into the North American Trail Ride Conferenceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (NATRCTM) Horse Hall of Fame at the National Convention held February, 2015 in Kansas City, Kansas. Swiss Mocha (Coco) is only the tenth horse to receive this honor in NATRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 54 year history. At the end of 2013 when Coco was nominated, she had completed 170 rides over 14 years,

won sweepstakes at 20 of the rides, covered 9500+ miles in competition, won 11 National Championships, two national and three regional High Point Open /LJKWZHLJKW Ă&#x20AC;UVWV DQG LQ ZRQ WKH Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cup, NATRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highest annual award for Overall High Point Horse. By the end of 2014, Coco had completed an additional 12 rides, went another 720 competition miles, won three more sweepstakes, earned her 12th National Championship and was third in the nation. Coco and the other Hall of Fame horses are a testament to the principles of NATRC that encourage the selection, riding and care of horses that result in year after year partnerships on the trail. At 20 years old, Coco continues to compete at the highest levels of Open competition. NATRC distance competitive trail rides are fun, challenging, educational, are open to all breeds and folks from all disciplines, and held in a friendly, family environment. Riders are invited to see what they and their horses can achieve. Find out more at www.natrc.org.

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*HQHUDO

Spring Brings Weeds! Howdy! Welcome to Cowboy Corner. Well, 2015 Rodeo Houston is in the history books. Back in February, I wrote about stayin’ warm and dry on the trail ride. Got to practice what I preached during this year’s ride and during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Some say saddlin’ up with frost on the ground builds character. Well, got enough character to last me awhile. Year 2015 will go down in the books as wet and cold, proving the sayin’ “When the going gets tough the tough get going”. Weather is the farming and ranching wild card. Since we have no control, all activity must be planned and executed with an eye on the sky. With a wet winter in 2015, spring should be early and off to a good start with the sunshine. Wildflowers should be plentiful this year, so plan some time to enjoy the bluebonnets. That wet winter and early spring will bring the weeds before the permanent pasture begins. This is going to be the year to combine spring pasture weed control with liquid fertilizer. It is a good practice in early spring to give your fertilizer supplier a call. Some of us have winter pasture that due to moisture and grazing will have fresh forage prior to maturity to bale. Rye grass makes good hay but sometimes is tricky to harvest due to the ground moisture. The fields have to be dry enough to get around. We’ll see, but

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lookin’ good. Made hay last year that worked out, so here’s hoping. ‘Have heard some conversations lately about all the lush forage and the affect on horses with unlimited access. My horses are pasture horses and to my knowledge have never been adversely affected by good forage. Mentioned my grass will be plentiful until early fall for my range horses. The rye grass is planted in about a third of the horse pasture and is available free choice. The rye and free choice hay make a good winter feed program supplemented with some grain fed daily. The vets I know all agree that dry feed is a major cause of colic in the winter. The rye grass, which is high in water, helps the intestinal tract function and produce a looser manure detrimental to impaction on horses. Horses eating rye grass have never been an issue on my ranch. Additionally, rye grass is higher in nutrients, such as protein and can reduce grain replacement for maintenance. The rye grass palatability is very high, and older horses with some dental issues can do well on the high moisture, easy to chew winter forage. Rye grass hay is also

good for horses and should be weed free if planted thick enough to be fertilized with adequate moisture. Like to plant the grass at double the seed rate on a prepared seed bed. I do broadcast planting rather than drilling. With adequate moisture, don’t spare the fertilizer, liquid or dry. Use plenty of nitrogen for good forage production and soil testing prior to planting is a good practice. Soil testing additionally saves money by indicating which nutrients are needed on your field. Last winter’s rye grass field is a good place to think about planting pasture for spring and fall this year. Since the field should be tilled for spring, planting should be easier. Remember, permanent grasses like Bermuda can be over-seeded next fall and actually benefit from the tillage and fertilization associated with fall pastures. Forage management is a year round activity and is kind of like rolling the dice with Mother Nature. Hope some of the spare moisture this winter will reappear in the summer.

Happy Trails...

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