2 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 3 AN-49f (0113)
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HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 5
January 2014
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Owning a Horse is a Long Term Relationship – That’s Right, a Relationship. There were about 340,000 visits to Horseback Magazine’s online presence, Horseback Online last year. That’s a lot of folks interested in the news of the day, for that is what the site is – an online all breed, all discipline, all news Internet newspaper for the horse lover. We covered everything By Steven Long from the challenging fight to keep the federal Bureau of Land Management (dominated by cattle and mineral interests) from eradicating the wild horses of the West, to the fight to prevent devastating disease from crossing the borders into the United States. No matter what the subject, our horses benefitted and our readers became a little more educated to what is happening behind the scenes in the equine world. When we bought this magazine a decade ago, we knew very little about the issues raging in the horse world at the time. We quickly learned about them , and sometimes learned the hard way. We found that horse people have passion, and that is a good thing. Ten years ago the average price of a bale of hay was a little under $4. Today we see consumers paying $10 or more depending on the part of the country where they keep their horses. A sack of feed has gone up as well, and despite these rising costs, the number of horse owners has remained largely the same – about a million nationwide with almost a third of them residing in our home state, Texas. Why? Because people continue to be born with something we call the “horse gene.” We’ve seen it again in our own family. As we prepared for the annual large Christmas gathering we learned that little Madi, one of Vicki’s nieces, had told her mom she wants a horse from Santa. At 4, it is a request of a mother who has likely never had one of her own. And guess what. Madi’s indulgent parent, like mothers since time immemorial, will put her daughter astride a living breathing equine for her first ride. And it’s girls like Madi, who grow up to be moms themselves, that make horse ownership an industry. From our vantage point, it is an industry that is prospering despite problems of equine over breeding, particularly in the Quarter Horse world. So we’ll begin 2014 with an admonishment for those who have picked up this magazine and are contemplating buying their first horse. Don’t do it unless you plan a relationship with the animal. It’s a long term commitment with powerful responsibilities. A horse lives for 30 years or more, so it is an extremely long term commitment, and a costly one at that. And if it is your child asking for a horse, we urge you to start with just lessons first to make sure you child learns all the responsibility that goes into owning a horse. Then, if you deem your child has enough understanding of what it truly takes to be an equestrian, have the instructor help to pick out the right horse for her. If you are blessed with the horse gene, you will be able to fill your idle moments with one of the most fulfilling things imaginable – for a lifetime. Oakley, photo courtesy On the Cover: Annie The Smithsonian
6 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
Cover Story:
24 America’s Cowgirl - Steven Long
Features:
10 Spotlight on the Gypsy Horse - Kelsey Hellmann 39 Older Riders Never had it so Good - Steven Long
Lifestyle: 12 26 30 38 40
Rodeo Grand Entry Gala - Margaret Pirtle Barn & Garden Ride in a Smooth Stride Jean - Margaret Pirtle Real Estate Roundup Exploring on Horseback - Darley Newman
Columns: 8 14 16 18 20 28 42 46
Horse Bites The Art of the Bit - Pat Parelli with Steven Long On the English Front - Cathy Strobel Whole Horsemanship - Dianne Lindig Tack Talk - Lew Pewterbaugh The Cowboy Way - Corey Johnson Foot Form Function - Pete Ramey Cowboy Corner - Jim Hubbard
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jim Hubbard, Steven Long, Vicki Long, Dianne Lindig, Roni Norquist, Pat Parelli, Darley Newman, Kelsey Hellmann, Pete Ramey, Lew Pewterbaugh, Cathy Strobel, Cory Johnson, Margaret Pirtle Volume 21, No. 1 Horseback Magazine, P.O. Box 681397, Houston, TX 77268-1397, (281) 447-0772. The entire contents of the magazine are copyrighted January 2014 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
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 7
Bureau Admits Wild Horse Fatalities But Says Not Contagious RIDGECREST CORRALS, (BLM) - The federal Bureau of Land Management Ridgecrest Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals has reported 15 horse fatalities that appear to be related to a single undetermined cause. The BLM is working closely with state and federal animal health authorities along with a local veterinarian to determine the cause and decide the best course of action to protect the health and well-being of the wild horses and burros at the Ridgecrest Corrals. At this time, the cause of the deaths does not appear to be contagious. The California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in San Bernardino is testing samples from affected animals and feed supplies. Results are still pending. A wild horse and burro adoption planned for December was cancelled and no animals have been adopted since October. Animals are not being received or shipped from the facility. The Ridgecrest Corrals have approximately 800 wild horses and burros.
All American Winner Named to Ruidoso Hall of Fame RUIDOSO DOWNS, New Mexico (Ruidoso Downs) – Two-time All American Futurity winner and Ruidoso Downs’ resident Carl Draper will be honored as the trainer in the class of 2014 inducted into the Ruidoso Downs’ Racehorse Hall of Fame during ceremonies in late June at Ruidoso Downs. There is one trainer, owner/breeder, jockey and horse inducted into the Ruidoso Downs’ Racehorse Hall of Fame every year. R.C. “Punch” and Suzanne Jones are the owners/breeders to be enshrined in 2014. The jockey and horse will be announced in the near future. The 2014 class has a New Mexico theme and Draper fits the bill with all of his 13 Grade 1 wins coming in New Mexico. Eleven of those Grade 1 wins have occurred at Ruidoso Downs,
8 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
American Derby she flew down the outside of the track, however was unable to run down “Horse Bites is compiled from Noconi in one of history’s most memorable Press Releases sent to Horseback All American derbies. Magazine. Original reporting is While those two horses are the done as circumstances warrant. cornerstones of Draper’s career, he also has Content is edited for length & style.” Grade 1 wins with champion PJ Chick In Black in the Ruidoso Futurity, Genuine Strawfly in the All American Derby, Jess Significant in the Ruidoso Futurity, Jess just a few miles from his home. Destined in the West Texas Futurity and Run Eight of those 11 Grade 1 wins Perry Run in the Bank of America New Mexico have come with two horses: Racehorse Championship Challenge. Hall of Fame member DM Shicago and Draper has won 18 additional graded Heartswideopen. stakes and nine listed stakes, including the now DM Shicago dominated at Ruidoso Grade 1 Zia Park Championship with Desirio Downs for Draper in 2004-5 and made his and the now Grade 1 Ruidoso Derby with first 11 starts at Ruidoso Downs. During Genuine Strawfly. that span he won seven races, including four Grade 1 stakes. After finishing third in the Grade ARCESE QUARTER HORSES USA 1 Rainbow Futurity, the powerful gray gelding SURPASSES TWO MILLION won the 2004 Grade 1, $2 million All American By Christa Morris Futurity by three quarters of a length and was honored as champion-two-year-old gelding. DM Shicago came back in improved OKLAHOMA CITY, (NRHA) – The reining form in 2005. Draper gave him a winter’s rest world is accustomed to seeing milestones after winning the All American Futurity and shattered during the National Reining Horse he returned in the summer of 2005 to win the Association (NRHA) Futurity & Adequan Grade 1, $273,935 Ruidoso Derby; Grade 1, North American Affiliate Championship Show $410,741 Rainbow Derby and the Grade 1, (NAAC). This year’s event proved no different $822,247 All American Derby. He is the only with an NRHA first going into the record All American Futurity winner to follow with books: Arcese Quarter Horses USA became wins in the three Grade 1 derbies at Ruidoso NRHA’s first Two Million Dollar Owner. The operation, based in Weatherford, Texas, Downs. His stunning accomplishments in officially has $2,007,400 in earnings. ARC Walla Dun Did It and NRHA 2005 rewarded him with the world champion, champion three-year-old and champion three- Three Million Dollar Rider Andrea Fappani added more than $35,000 to Arcese’s total year-old gelding titles. DM Shicago earned $1,873,730 from with a go-round placing and a top ten finish 18 career starts with $1,812,513 banked at in the Level (L) 4 Open Finals. To make the accomplishment that much sweeter, the stallion Ruidoso Downs. Just two years after DM Shicago left was sired by their very own Walla Walla Whiz. Eleuterio Arcese, of Arcese Quarter the Draper barn, a filly named Heartswideopen entered his stable and was nearly unbeatable Horses USA, has worked to promote the sport during her two years of competition, especially of Reining in Europe for more than twenty at Ruidoso Downs. At the track, she won nine years through his involvement with NRHA, of 10 starts and earned $1,857,393 of her career the Italian Reining Horse Association, and the Italian Quarter Horse Association. earnings of $1,885,283. Heartswideopen, raced by La Feliz Montana Ranch and is now owned by Julianna Hawn Holt, quickly became the two-year-old to beat at Ruidoso Downs when she stood out Record book takes a bashing with a one-and-one-quarter-length win in the at the 55th Wrangler NFR Grade 1, $500,000 Ruidoso Futurity. Draper then decided to pass the Rainbow Futurity COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (PRCA) – and point the filly at the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Trevor Brazile spent the Monday following All American Futurity. The plan worked as the National Finals Rodeo in New York City, she fought to a neck win in the All American carrying ProRodeo’s banner on Fox and Friends Futurity. and Imus in the Morning after spending the Like DM Shicago, Heartswideopen previous 10 days making multiple new entries was rested after the All American Futurity in the sport’s record book on national TV. and returned for the summer derby series at The most dominant athlete of the 21st century Ruidoso Downs. She was in the midst of a in any individual sport, Brazile closed out the nine-race winning streak when she won the 55th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with Grade 1, $388,830 Ruidoso Derby and the his 11th all-around and 19th overall world Grade 1, $460,953 Rainbow Derby. championships – both records, as was his Heartswideopen tried to match DM eighth consecutive all-around title – and he left Shicago’s unprecedented feat of winning the Las Vegas as the sport’s first $5 million cowboy. All American Futurity and the three Grade 1 Consider that for a moment: His career total is derbies the following summer, but came up now $5,029,313 and the No. 2 guy on the list a neck short. In the Grade 1, $1,065,648 All Horsebites - Con’t. on pg. 28
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 9
Breed Spotlight...
History’s Secret Breed By Kelsey Hellman,
Photo’s courtesy: Aunique Ranch, La Porte, Texas
T
he history of the Gypsy Vanner Horse is one of rich culture and full of tradition. The Romanichal people of Europe, also known as Gypsies, developed these horses. This breed just recently became increasingly popular in the United States. This horse was simply called the Gypsy Horse for centuries because no one knew enough about the animal to call it anything else. The Gypsy people had a very close knit and secretive way of life. For the longest time their horses were not accessible to the general public. The different Gypsy families that bred and owned the animals would hide them away in fields far from the public eye. They often moved their horses to new locations to keep them away from outsiders and avoid theft. This was how the culture and the horse survived for so long. Over the centuries the Gypsy culture has specialized and thrived with their namesake mount. But the
10 H HORSEBACK ORSEBACK M MAGAZINE AGAZINE 2 2 January January 2014 2014 10
foundation of the horse is difficult to trace back to its origins since these people do not keep written records. This means there was no official studbook until 1996; when the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society was founded. At that time the breed was named Gypsy Vanner. But it was not until 2009 that the United States Equestrian Federation approved the Gypsy Horse Registry as a National Affiliated Association. Throughout history these horses were used to pull vardoes, also known as living wagons or caravans. These were an early version of a mobile home. Since Gypsies traveled from place to place, never settling in one area
for too long, the caravans held all of the family’s worldly belongings. The heavily constructed wagon weighed an enormous amount, and add on top of that things like pots, pans, dishes, clothing a pot belly or cooking stove, and this house on wheels needed to be pulled by a very strong horse. Due to the weight of the caravan everyone except the young and elderly would walk alongside the horse and cart to the next destination. It was common in this culture for a woman to be the one working with the horse while driving the cart. But the men and children could also work with the horse if needed. This allowed for a horse that was well rounded and worked by several different people. It was that need for a strong and well-rounded horse to pull a caravan that made the Gypsies start selectively breeding to get traits they found necessary. In order to pull such a heavy load their horses needed to have huge bones, www.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
Inset Pictures: Gypsy Horses from Aunique Ranch: www.auniqueranch.com thick necks, a great layback of the shoulder and solid, weighty bodies. Coupled with strong legs and large feet these animals needed to be sure-footed in all weather conditions. W h i l e strength was needed in these mounts they were bred for so much more; to create the ideal horse fit for the Gypsy’s every need. These people desired a horse that was smaller than an average draft horse and was able to withstand harsh weather on a meager food source. They needed to be “easy keepers,” because in the past most of the horses had to exist on what was found growing along the country roads when the family camped for the night. Great stock was put in the to horses’ disposition. Gypsy families would not tolerate any animal with a bad temper; animals must be safe and reliable www.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
around everyone from the young all the way to the elderly. Seeing that the whole family traveled together across the countryside the horse needed to be unflappable in any situation and completely reliable around people, especially the children. They had to have a willingness to do what was required of them with a pleasant attitude. If a horse was ill tempered, was not good with children, or would not perform the required tasks willingly, it was not used as breeding stock and would be sold, traded or eaten right away. The Gypsies favored the breed for their flashiness and leg adornment. They were most commonly black and white in color with a lot of feathering and long flowing manes and tails. Though today this breed can be found in a variety of colors. The coloring played a huge
part in the history and creation of this animal. During World War I the military was buying or taking claim to huge numbers of horses. These horses were all different sizes and were used to carry soldiers in to battle, pull canon and cart the injured. The only horses that were not used by the military were ones with color! The Gypsy breed was safe from the destruction of literally millions of horses at war’s end. Around this time the Gypsies started breeding to add even more color on their horses. The loud coloring of their horses proved to be helpful throughout the centuries. Their horses were easy to recognize and could not be swapped out for a different horse during the night like a solid colored horse could be. Since it was not common for them to read or write, pronounced markings on their horses helped the families keep a verbal record of lineage. To this day there are still Gypsies who travel from place to place breeding and training their horses. The only difference is the public is more aware of this once secret breed. Today, the Gypsy horse has become an integral part of some of the finest stables in America. A welltrained horse for riding and cart pulling can range in price from $5,000 on up to $40,000+. These animals are prized for their intelligence, disposition, and mostly for their incredible beauty which is displayed from coast to coast. To learn more about this extraordinary breed visit Vanners.org or GypsyHorseAssociation.org.
January 2014 2014 2 2H HORSEBACK ORSEBACK M MAGAZINE AGAZINE January
11 11
Lifestyle...
Rodeo Grand Entry Gala An Evening For Fun And Charity By Margaret Pirtle
B
efore the first chute opens and before the dirt is riveted with the hoof beats of hundreds of horses, the Ft. Worth Junior League, Grand Entry Gala kicks off one of the greatest rodeo’s in the nation. But all this glitter and chic western hoe-down, which is set for January 11, is just one more event that the Junior League produces to benefit all of its many charitable community projects. Not content with just “yelling and selling” the Rodeo Souvenir
Annual for the last fifty-one years, looks to partner with the Ft Worth Rodeo to make more money to support their missions. From scholastic work in local schools to charitable volunteering, the Junior League has had a part in
12 12 HHORSEBACK ORSEBACKM MAGAZINE AGAZINE2 2January January2014 2014
hundreds of success stories across the Ft. Worth Area and the Grand Entry Gala provides them with the extra needed funds to expand their reach. As the bunting goes up, and the tables are dressed in linen for the evening, underfoot you still know that you are in the rodeo arena of the Will Rodgers Coliseum and that makes this event even more special. It is the time to kick up your heels and two-step to live country music and know that it is this very type of event that makes Ft. Worth the special “cow town” it is traditionally known for. Here the past can meet the future and fun begets charitable works, as the Junior League rides over the landscape continuing their mission of helping those in need. Pull on your boots, and steam your hat, the Grand Entry Gala is about to begin. It is the kick-off party for the Ft. Worth Rodeo - a event celebrating that it’s Rodeo time in Fort Worth again.
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Western Fashions, Saddles, Tack, Headstalls & More!
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 13
Western...
The Art of the Bit
By Pat Parelli with Steven Long
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE: We’ve done scores of columns together since the last time we talked about choosing the right bit for your horse. I know that in the arena I have most often seen you use a simple snaffle bit. How about a quick refresher course for our readers? PAT PARELLI: Most people will ask themselves a question at one time or another, ‘What kind of bit does my horse need?’ Back in the 50s and 60s I remember buying horses and almost every horse came with
a halter and almost always came with a bit. We never thought about whether the other owner knew what they were doing. HORSEBACK: Folks just assumed that the bit the horse came with was the bit the horse was accustomed to having in its mouth. Bet they somet i m e s got some surprises first time they got aboard the saddle. PARELLI: Yep, and sometimes that horse was passed down from owner to owner, time to time, whether that bit worked for him or not. I’ve seen other people
have one bit, and that bit goes on every horse they owned. The question here is, what bit should I use with this horse? I’ve asked the question of myself a million times, but I think it is asking the horse that is important. HORSEBACK: I know I’ve thought about changing bits every time my
“There are two types of bit: leverage & non-leverage” mare Bruja gets ornery. In almost every case, the new bit didn’t correct the problem and I returned to my O ring snaffle. PARELLI: I used to be a proponent
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for snaffle bit only. I thought it was the leverage bit. like that, and they are actually putting only bit that is important. Then I asked The non leverage ones are a bit on them that puts more power Tom Dorrance, one of my mentors, bits that don’t have shanks. That bit is to the hind quarters instead of learnwhat he thought was the best bit. He made for teaching, lateral flexion, and ing understanding, communication, looked at me real smug and said, “The controlling the hind quarters. The bits and psychology – when they need a one that the horse non leveraged likes best.” I agree bit to disenwith that a thousand gage the hind percent, but we all quarters. There’s more need to know about to a horse than bits with a bit of riding. There’s knowledge. There are something two kinds of bits that more than the people have invented mere act of over the years, comnot falling off. munications devices It’s ridin’ and and torture devices. guidin’ and I’ve never seen a tornegotiatin’ all ture device that a at the same horse would want or Left: Non-leverage snaffle bit - Parelli Confidence Snaffle, Right: Leverage bit time. Keep it needed. Parelli 5 Inch Short Shank. photo’s courtesy www.parelli.com natural! HORSEBACK: I know. When I go to For more information on Parelli, visit one of those mega tack stores, the kind that have shanks on them are made for www.parelli.com that has every bit on the market, you elevating the front end and bringing see some of the most astonishing things power to the hind quarters. PARELLI: Exactly. But let’s talk about That’s where a lot of people get the communications devices. There are in trouble. They put a big bit on the hB two types; the leverage, and the non horse, he rears or bucks or something
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 15
English...
D
o you ever notice how some people always know exactly where they are headed? They wake up each day with a plan that will take them closer to a goal that is shining off in the distance. When you enter your first year of school, the plan is that you will become educated and graduate. It’s likely that someone else initiated that plan for you, but as time progressed, it became more important to you. Each day, you would complete a small step in the plan that might have been too subtle for you to notice. When you ask a child, “What did you learn in school today?” the answer is often, “Nothing”. But when you pick apart the hours in the day, usually you will find some small, almost imperceptible progress in their journey to become educated. Your journey with your horse is very similar. It doesn’t happen all at once. First, however, you need a plan. But how do you make a plan that is right for you? Think about
“What’s Your Plan?”
what you want from your riding. Is it a simple partnership with your horse? Maybe you just want to be in good control so you can ride with your friends. Is it the simple satisfaction of mastering skills? Perhaps you want to be able to compete. If competition is for you, what level do you desire? Do you just want the thrill of participating at a competition? Are you someone who feels the need to win and keep raising the bar? You might even become an elite athlete who is destined to excel at the highest levels of your sport and will stop at nothing until you have made it to the Olympics or the World Equestrian Games. Whatever it is that you aspire to, you will need a plan. Take a few minutes to reflect on your personality. What inspires
you or gives you joy? Don’t try to become an Olympic athlete if competition stresses you out. What kind of schedule do you have? Are you willing and able to commit to only a couple of hours per week or do you have unlimited time available? What is your normal energy level? What are your financial resources? Take a good look at the “big picture” and start formulating a plan on how you would like to get there. Then allow yourself the time to get there. Whatever your goals are and wherever you are in your journey, it’s important to remember that it is the journey, not the destination that we spend the most time on. Make sure you are enjoying the process. Whatever your goals, you will need to always be willing to step back and work on the basics. You will repeat exercises for you and your horse over and over as you strive for perfection 0 YEARS
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16 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
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and discover that at some point; those things that were difficult are suddenly easy! It may hit you in a light bulb moment when you realize that your horse is completing your thoughts. You think it and he does it. The evolution of your relationship with your horse starts as a dream. As you work towards that perfect partnership, you will often take two steps forward and one step backwards. It may seem like you are getting nowhere at all. Then one day you look back and realize you have been making small, almost imperceptible progress on a regular basis to bring you to this point. You and your horse are no longer going in two different directions. It has taken patience and perseverance, but it has also been so much fun! And so your journey continues. When you make a plan for yourself, you will likely benefit from the help of a more experienced horseman or perhaps a professional who can help guide you and formulate a reasonable timetable.
Sometimes it takes someone from the outside looking in to help you see something obvious that might be holding you back. If you are 65 years old and just starting to ride, you might not want to plan for the Olympics. If you are 16 and have been riding the same horse for years, you might need to make a change. Often, when a rider buys a horse, it is good for the skills the rider currently has. When someone is serious about riding and takes lessons for several years to improve, there is often a time when the rider surpasses the ability of the horse. The rider may be demanding more of the horse than its aging body is able to give. When this happens, the best thing to do is recognize it and be kind enough to let someone else have that horse to love by selling, leasing or giving the horse away. You’ll want to make sure he goes to a loving home that will allow him to work at an easier pace for his comfort. Meanwhile, you will need to buy or lease a horse that can physically keep up with your
demands. You will probably need to spend more on this horse than on the last one if you wish to continue riding to a higher level. However, your goal could be to train a young horse with your increased level of skill. Again, consider what your desires and goals are. Goals can change at any time, too. Just because you started out to become a grand prix rider doesn’t mean that you can’t revise that goal at some point. You may have decided that you love working with young, green horses more than competing. Or maybe you love helping other riders learn the things that you have learned. Be a little flexible. Life is full of choices and opportunities, but without a plan, you could end up missing those opportunities. What’s your plan? Happy New Year! hB Cathy Strobel has over 30 years of experience as a trainer, judge & clinician she can be reached at Southern Breeze Eq. Ctr. at (281) 431-4868 or www.sbreeze.com
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 17
General...
“S
top him deep”, I said, “then use your left leg behind the girth to support his haunches and to direct his energy to the right”. “But my teacher at home said to move my right leg back in order to turn right”, my student replied.. “That’s for a turn on the forehand,” I replied, “not for a turn on the haunches.” I could see the confusion in his face, and it reminded me of how I’d struggled with similar questions years ago. “A turn on the forehand is usually a safety, or suppling maneuver that’s meant to take away the horse’s momentum and explosive power. You’re working cattle today. You want to maintain your horse’s power, (not take it away), by keeping his weight in his haunches while turning, so her can explode out of his haunches in a different direction.” This scenario illustrates how vital it is that, as effective rider-trainers, we know not only where we’re going, but how we’re going to get there. In other words, not just that we are going to go from “point A” to “point B”, but what our purpose is in going there, and what skills, maneuvers, or ways of going are required to accomplish this purpose. In the example above, the coupling of speed and quick stops or changes of direction required in cattle work dictated the deep stop and turn on the haunches, (called a rollback, when it’s 180°), that would accomplish the task effectively. There might also be some tight, forward bending turns involved,
18 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
“It’s not just where you’re going...”
but even these include some shifting back of the horse’s weight into its haunches, and some crossing over of the horse’s front feet and shoulders in order to work efficiently and safely. On a jump course, on the other hand, the purpose is to keep the horse moving forward with steady energy and rhythm, in a position in which it is ready to go over obstacles along the way. There won’t be any
looking and planning ahead, making choices about whether a bending turn or a leg yield is most practical in order to stay on a trail, or to avoid a limb, boulder, or other obstacle. Of course it’s fine to enjoy the scenery as you go, and to let your horse take part in choosing the best footing and finding their balance on inclines and declines, but this is no excuse for becoming nothing more than a passenger, nor for
deep stops, or changes of direction as severe as the roll-backs required in cattle work. Most of the turns will be done in a forward, bending manner. The tightest turns will require the horse to collect briefly, and to bring its elevated shoulders across its body in the direction of the turn, while still maintaining its forward momentum, and its forward energy into the rider’s hands. While it does shift its weight back in order to accomplish this, it is not nearly as extreme a weight shift into the haunches as is required of the horse working cattle, (or one doing a reining pattern). Even on a leisurely trail ride, it’s important that the rider be constantly
letting your horse ignore your requests and signals. When training or conditioning, our purpose is to develop the horse athletically in a well-rounded way, so we ask the horse to learn and execute skills and maneuvers that may not be needed in that immediate situation, but that will prepare the horse to execute them when they are called for. For instance, I may ask a horse, (or a rider), to trot down the rail from one end of the arena to the corner on the same side on the opposite end. I may ask the horse to move in a straight line, with hind feet following the exact same path as front feet. Or, I may ask the horse to move forward in a straight path, but with the haunches or shoulders one step toward www.horsebackmagazine.com
the inside of the arena. If traveling from one corner to the opposite diagonal corner, I may ask the horse to travel in a straight line, or to leg yield, with both front and back feet crossing over each other. At each stage of the exercise, I am already planning what will come next, and how I will help the horse to flow from one movement into the next. I will also include some large and small bending turns and circles. Some of these maneuvers will prepare the horse for more difficult or complex ones later on, while building the horse’s confidence, core strength and ability to balance. If much of this sounds foreign to you, this may be a good time to make yourself a New Year’s resolution, to take some lessons, attend a clinic, or study a book or video that explains these fundamentals of effective horsemanship. The end of one year, and the beginning of the next provides us opportunity for reflection of our past
habits, and for the developing of new paths and choices, in horsemanship and in life. Just as we make choices about how to move forward along the path of horsemanship, we must also make choices about how we want to move forward through life; choices that take into account not just where we are going, but how we want to get there. Will we get there by focusing only on our own needs, while disregarding those of others, or will we make choices at each point along the way, that help or encourage those around us? Will our individual choices bring us advantages at the expense of others, or will they lift us up together in mind, body, and spirit? In this new year, may each of you find the best way forward, in horsemanship, and in life! And may you Always Remember to Enjoy the Ride! hB
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 19
General...
“Welcome to the Future”
I
Horseback Magazine’s Saddle & Tack Editor
t’s 2014 already, and we have finally reached 1984, or maybe even surpassed it. At least when we’re on the back of a horse and out of range of cell towers, we can pretend it’s 1869 again, with the uncivil war behind us, and cattle starting to move up the trails to the rail heads. I don’t think I ever go for a ride without thinking about the old west. Of course, I always think about how slowly we move on horseback on the trail compared to traveling the Interstate at 85 mph. I often think it would be interesting to see the reaction of some old cowboy from the past to see how quickly we can move around the country. Stock show trail rides will be starting soon; a modern day version of horse travel, with support vehicles, porta-potties, living quarter trailers being relayed to the next overnight stop, etc. Well, I’m sure for those of you who enjoy that, it’s a world of fun. Seems to me it always turns cold and
wet for the stock show trail rides, and I don’t enjoy cold and wet. There are still a few places where a horseman can get lost, but most of the time you’ll get in trouble if you get out of bounds. I have friends that go to the immense Big Bend Ranch State Park with a couple of pack mules, They apparently can pretty much go where they want. I understand Big Bend National Park is much more strict about where you can and can’t go. Most other Texas parks are too small to really get lost in. At the Hill Country State Natural Area, you can take a different trail everyday for a week, always returning to the same campsite every night, which is nice, but you can’t really get lost. Oh, sure, you can get turned around for an hour, but if you give your horse his head, he’ll take you back to the last place he was fed in less than an hour. I’ve never had an opportunity to ride in the true Western states. I imagine you could still get lost with ease in parts of Wyoming, Montana,
or Idaho, even parts of Colorado and New Mexico. I know Jim Hubbard takes pack trips into New Mexico. Now there’s a fellow who knows how to get away from it all. The point is, very few of us can take the time to take a real wilderness adventure for any length of time. We all have busy lives and can’t afford to live like the old trail drivers and mountain men, and really do any of us want to? There were no showers in the wilderness, only cold rivers and mountain streams in which to bathe. No rest rooms, and even worse, no toilet paper. Not only can’t we take the time, we’ve grown soft, and most of us would not want to “live off the land” if we had to. Life was a constant search for food, and fuel, and a safe place to hang your hat at night. I like to get a shower pretty often. I like running water - and flush toilets. I like a gas cook stove, and I like refrigerators. I like four or five ice cubes in a glass of bourbon in the
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evening. Actually, four or five more with a refill on the bourbon. I like to sit back in an easy chair with a good book, with my dog curled up beside me, and the horses grazing peacefully in the pasture. In this brave new world, we are faced with more and more intrusion by the government in our personal lives. Eavesdropping, drones, security cameras, data bases, are all very disturbing. Most horse folks are country people and don’t care for the intrusions on our lives. Perhaps the yearning for a simpler place and time will one day bring us to a point where serious decisions have to be made. How much has our security really cost us in this once free country, and how can we regain our freedoms without losing our comforts? When we read stories about Jim Bridger and Kit Carson, we think, “I wish I could have been there”. They had no security. They lived in fear for their lives much of the time. There was little rest, as food had to be obtained every day, wood had to be gathered, and lice had to be eradicated from clothes and hair. Today if you drink from a clear looking mountain stream, chances are you’re going to come down with a really bad case of something that could kill you. Well, these thoughts rolled out from thinking about the upcoming trail rides, and I usually offer some handy tips about getting your gear in shape, etc., etc. Well, we’re starting a New Year, and there is a lot I didn’t like about the old one. This New Year, think about the freedoms our forefathers had, think about what we’ve lost, and think about once great companies exporting our heritage overseas for the sake of a dollar. Let’s try to buy American when we can, and stop doing business with the folks that have taken jobs and quality and integrity overseas to make an extra buck. There is nothing like good U.S. leather and workmanship. God Bless the U.S.A. again, please. hB Bandera’s Lew Pewterbaugh has been called the most knowledgeable saddle and tack authority in the Southwest. For private fitting consultation call (830) 328-0321 or (830) 522-6613 or email: saddlerlew@gmail.com. www.horsebackmagazine.com
January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 21
America’s
By Steven Long
Cowgirl
By any measure, she was recognized as America’s Cowgirl from coast to coast and abroad. Performing before the crowned heads of Europe, a petite Ohio woman with the eye of an eagle and the steady hands of a surgeon wowed crowds in the greatest show of them all. It was the golden age of arena spectaculars. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West began in 1883, and a year later, the Ringling Brothers brought America circus on a grand scale. But these spectacles needed stars, and none filled that coveted slot better than Annie Oakley, perhaps the greatest sharpshooter who ever lived. In the long panoply of the nation’s entertainment history, long before vaudeville, she was filling stadiums and coliseums as the first female superstar.
P
hoebe Ann Moses was born on a hot Ohio day in 1860, less than a year before the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, the girl who would become Annie Oakley had modest beginnings in a log cabin in Willowdell, Ohio to Quaker parents. The couple scratched out a living as best they could for five years.. She was the sixth of seven children. Annie’s father died when she was six. At nine the future superstar was bound out to a cruel family in what amounted to indentured servitude. She was once put out of the house in freezing cold and barefoot because she had fallen asleep darning. Finally she was brought back home to be with her newly married mother. Annie began shooting game for the family table, hotels, and local restaurants. By the time she was 15, she had paid off the mortgage on her mother’s farm with her hunting skills. On Thanksgiving Day,
22 H HORSEBACK ORSEBACK M MAGAZINE AGAZINE 2 2 January January 2014 2014 22
1875, young Phoebe Ann emerged from obscurity when she beat Frank Butler, a well known sharpshooter who had come to town for exhibition shooting willing to take on all comers. During the shoot off, Annie matched him shot for shot over 25 rounds. Finally, on the last shot the older man missed on his last target and the girl, now called Annie, walked away with what would now be $2,126, a staggering sum for an Ohio teenager in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Butler was taken with the girl and by the following August the two were married. They remained together for 50 years and died within 18 days of each other in 1926. Annie died first, and then Frank refused to eat succumbing 18 days later. The Broadway show, “Annie Get Your Gun” is based on the couple’s half century long love story. It was produced by the legendary team of Rogers and Hammerstein with music by Irving Berlin. The show opened in 1946 for 1,147 performances 20 years after the couple’s
death. Annie and Frank began performing together in 1882 when Annie subbed for Butler’s sick partner. The two moved to the bustling southern Ohio town of Cincinatti, near the Kentucky border, where the Butlers lived in the Oakley neighborhood. Eventually, she took the area’s name to the stage, presumably as Annie from Oakley, and finally shortened to the stage name of Annie Oakley. In 1885, the five foot tall sharpshooter and her husband joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. At their side were such famous names as Calamity Jane and Sioux medicine man Sitting Bull and 20 of his Indian braves. For the next 16 years the couple were a fixture in the show with Butler content to eventually move to the sidelines as his wife’s manager. Buffalo Bill, the impresario who staged the wild west extravaganza wasn’t always in show business. He started out as a rider for the short lived Pony Express, and www.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
Annie Oakley in England, during a European Tour,
photo courtesy The Garst Museum & The National Annie Oakley Center www.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
January 2014 2014 2 2H HORSEBACK ORSEBACK M MAGAZINE AGAZINE January
23 23
Cowgirls from the turn of the century, photo courtesy National Cowgirl Hall of Fame
then because a big game guide and scout and then eventually a buffalo hunter contributing to the near extinction of the North American Bison. Beside’s Oakley’s shooting demonstrations, the show typically had re-enactments of the Pony Express, an Indian attack on a wagon train, and stagecoach robberies, The finale was an attack on a settler’s cabin with Cody riding in with his cowboys to save the day. This finale is said to have been used on 23 of 27 tours. In 1887, Oakley and Butler traveled to England for the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria with her majesty in attendance at their performance. The troupe stayed in Great Britain five months playing to packed houses. In 1889, the by now well traveled country cowgirl met 1890 Pope Leo XIII and wowed the continent. The tour again barnstormed Europe in 1902 and Oakley played this time before King Edward VII and the future George V. They returned in 1904 for a final tour that started in Paris in 1906 and then went on to Italy, Austria, the Balkans, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Germany and Belgium. For an uneducated country girl from Ohio, Annie Oakley moved in ethereal heights, performing not only for the venerable Victoria, but also King Umberto I of Italy, President Marie Francois Sadi Carnot of France and others. But her “crowning” achievement was taking a shot at German Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany – at his request.
24 24 HHORSEBACK ORSEBACKM MAGAZINE AGAZINE2 2January January2014 2014
Her bullet knocked the ashes off a cigarette held by the monarch. After the outbreak of WW I, legend has it that Oakley sent the Kaiser a letter requesting another shot. He didn’t respond as canon roared across the trenches of Belgium. Ever a patriot, as tensions mounted between the United States and Spain before the Spanish American War the sharpshooting superstar drafted a letter to President William McKinley dated April 5, 1898 offering him the service of “50 lady sharpshooters” who would buy their own arms and ammunition for the opportunity to fight for their homeland against the Spanish. The offer was not accepted. An accident in 1901 ended Annie Oakley’s run with the Buffalo Bill’s show. She was badly injured but recovered, enduring five spinal operations. But her star would not yet fade as she took to the stage in a play in 1902, its title, The Western Girl. Annie Oakley had made her mark in sporting and stage history, but she also did well in the courtroom. It was the golden age of yellow journalism and in 1904 newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst’s was king. His newspapers were riding high on stories about cocaine, and the prohibitionists’ desire to end its use. In Chicago, a burlesque queen was busted with the drug and gave her name to the cops as “Annie Oakley.” The Hearst papers printed the libel that the famed sharpshooter was caught stealing to support a cocaine habit. Annie sued, and over a period of six years she won 54 or 55 lawsuits to clear her name.
Over her 66 years, Annie Oakley is said to have taught more than 15,000 women to shoot a gun. She also became a philanthropist aiding women’s causes. She even staged a bit of a comeback in 1922 taking on a shooting contest in North Carolina. Still a crack shot, she hit 100 clay targets in a row from a distance of 16 yards. But that year the aging couple suffered an another auto accident forcing her to wear a steel brace on her leg. Ever the trooper, Oakley continued to perform setting records in 1924 but her health was in decline and she died two years later of anemia back in Ohio. Annie Oakley, ever the star, left a lasting memento on the performing arts. Before the day of computer generated tickets, theater managers would mark complimentary passes by punching a hole to differentiate them from paid admissions for the count at the end of the performance. These passes were called Annie Oakley’s, after the playing cards the sharpshooter perforated in her act with a bullet day after day, night after night, across two continents. During her long and storied career, Annie Oakley and her husband Frank Butler made a fortune but died broke having given away their entire fortune. The two are buried in Brock Cemetery, Greenville, Ohio. hB
Steven Long is a bestselling journalist and author. He is editor of Horseback Magazine and Horseback Online.
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ENGLISH & WESTERN SADDLES, TACK & MORE! TRADITIONAL, FLEX TREE & TREELESS OPTIONS! January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 25
By: Margaret Pirtle, Lifestyle Editor
“If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.” - Will Rogers
Barn &
Chuck Wagon Beef Stew Warms Body & Soul
For EXTREME Gardeners Only!
A
n oddball Indiegogo campaign wants you to get your shotgun, fire Flower Shells into your garden, and wait for the daisies. Gardening too boring for you? Just add a shotgun. If you believe this Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, there’s a new way to sow your seeds: blasting them into the soil with a 12-gauge. Flower Shell is a shotgun shell filled with flower seeds that will produce anything from daisies to sunflowers, and poppies to meadow flowers. “Imagine a shotgun shell that gives life instead of taking it,” reads the Indiegogo campaign page. “Imagine fields of meadow flowers and sunflowers. Imagine gardening as something fun.” This godlike ability can be yours for only $50 for a set of four shells (peony, poppy, or cornflower) at the campaign page Courtsey of: Tim Hornyak http://news.cnet.com
26 January2014 2014 26 H HORSEBACK ORSEBACK M MAGAZINE AGAZINE 2 - January
On just plain cold days and nights, everyone seems to yearn for the gastronomic equivalent of a warm sweater or a favorite blanket. This hearty, savory slow cooker stew with potatoes, carrots, celery, broth, herbs and spices will have you warmed up in no-time. Ingredients: 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper • 1 clove garlic, minced • 1 bay leaf • 1 teaspoon paprika • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce • 1 onion, chopped • 1 1/2 cups beef broth • 3 potatoes, diced • 4 carrots, sliced • 1 stalk celery, chopped Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours
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Garden Birds of a Feather
The Best Vegetable Seed Catalogs
W
hen January rolls around and you can count the weeks until the first warm weather appears, it is the perfect time to start looking toward the new seed catalogs. To help you get started, here are the best ones we have found for a perfect summer vegetable garden. You can contact the companies direct and ask for a copy of their catalog or check them out on the web. Burpee: W. Atlee Burpee’s dream was to breed poultry for mail order sales, but when he branched into the seed business he found his calling, The quality control, testing and hardy breeding standards that Burpee’s company adheres to guarantees great plants. • W. Atlee Burpee and Company 300 Park Ave. Warminster, PA 18991-0001 • 800-888-1447 • burpee.com Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: This catalog looks more like a fine gardening magazine as opposed to a retail catalog of seeds. A catalog of thick, glossy pages and specimen photography displays vegetables and seeds that have been saved and grown to continue rare, genetically unaltered and heirloom varieties. • Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds 2278 Baker Creek Road Mansfield, MO 65704 • 417-924-8917 • rareseeds.com John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds: For over 100 years Scheepers has been one of the top names in seeds for vegetables and herbs. • John Scheepers PO Box 638, Bantam, CT 06750 • 860-567-6086 • kitchengardenseeds.com www.horsebackmagazine.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
W
inter can be hard on our feathered friends so here are some prime choices for feed. Black oil sunflower seeds are by far the best food to offer birds in any season. Suet - For high calories, suet is one of the best foods for birds.
Peanuts – Because nuts don’t freeze, they are the perfect backyard food which is high in calorie and fat-rich. Shelled or unshelled. Millet – a favorite of small ground birds and very inexpensive to purchase.
No Flies!
I
Someone Try This and Let Us Know If It Works !
know it’s not summer yet, but I saw this on Pintrest and just couldn’t resist sharing a practically free way of keeping flies out of barns. So I am giving it out - haven’t had a chance to see if it works and the weather is too cold right now to bring out the flies: Just a heavy duty plastic bag, partially filled with water and hung over a stall. In the bag is a penny. The explanation is that the “eye of a fly” is actually hundreds of eyes and the reflection of light on the bag of water keeps them away. Don’t know what the penny does, but said it is essential to make this work. A lot of posts swore by this simple method for fly repellent. Said you could even use it on the patio. January 2014 2 -H January 2014 HORSEBACK ORSEBACK M MAGAZINE AGAZINE
27 27
Western...
Uncle George & His New Words
M
y Uncle George taught me a lot of new words, and it usually didn’t take very long to put them into practice. The place they were put into practice was on the Dairy that my Dad and my Grandpa had together when I was about five or six. During the springtime I was always pretty excited, after all here was a bunch of cows that were little boy sized. I wanted to be cowboy like my dad…or a farmer, like my grandpa….or a fire truck…….sometimes I wanted to be Superman. But I digress, this particular day I was wearing my cowboy hat. Uncle George was heading out to doctor some Holstein calves and he was carrying a rope. Now George was not a cowboy by any means, he wasn’t going to ride a horse and we drove to the pasture. BUT, he was carrying a rope. So I jumped all over the chance to go rope some calves. Imagine my disappointment when he said I couldn’t bring my rope. Was he not taking this aspiring young cowboy (that day anyway) seriously? Did he not know that I had plans to be the next Phil Lyne? It turns out that he had no idea that Phil Lyne was the AllAround cowboy in the finals that year. I wondered what he had been watching that year, the Hesston commercials? When we got to the pasture George calmly got out and walked into the pasture carrying his rope. Now all my life, short as it was, I had been told to watch out for the momma cows. They would get you to protect their babies. So of course I was right on George’s heels going into that pen. He very calmly
28 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
walked up to that old milk cow and dropped a loop on the calf. That’s when things got a little western. As he tightened that loop on that calf, the natural instincts of a cow came out. It seems no matter how tame the momma is, when young ‘uns are under pressure momma cows remember all of the wild, in-thebrush instincts of a longhorn. That calf was jumpin’ and dodgin’ around, the momma cow was bellerin’ and carryin’ on and it was all George could do to hold that calf, let alone do the doctorin’. Now I really think that George thought I would be more help than I was, because I was just standing back watching this whole show. I was really thinking that today may have been the day I wanted to be a fireman instead of a cowboy. That calf probably outweighed me and the thought of jumping in there and helping made me want to get my little red hat and run around going “whayooo, whayooo” (do your best fire truck siren imitation here). But, George had started using those words (the ones that I got into trouble for saying) and he did have something in his hands that he could give me a whippin’ with eventually. So I tentatively started walking up to that calf, and George started hollerin’. He said, “Get in there and grab that _____ calf ” (words I won’t repeat) “What about the momma?” I asked. “She won’t bother you as long as you have a hold of the calf, now get in there and grab that _____ calf! He replied. So this little five year old boy took a deep breath, mentally took off his red fireman’s hat, put his cowboy hat back on and started toward that calf. It was a really slow “start toward the calf ” and it involved alot of words as George was trying to hold the syringe and the calf at the same time. It seems he was losing his sparkling disposition. When I finally reached the calf, that momma cow had reached it about the same time. I remember what George had said, so I grabbed a hold of that calf.
That’s when all of the words that Uncle George had taught me came to my mind. That momma cow hit and must have knocked me into the atmosphere. I knew this to be true because I saw stars and there are only stars in the sky. When I came back to earth, ol’ momma hit me again and proceeded to roll me along the ground like a dog pushing a basketball downhill. Lucky for me, we slammed into the feed bunk and her momentum was arrested. At that point I think I must have been beamed up to the Star Trek Enterprise because I couldn’t feel anything and I saw those stars again. When Captain Kirk had beamed me back to Earth, I happened to see good ol’ Uncle George. It seemed that the calf had got away and he was on his hand and knees having some sort of spasms. When the roaring had stopped in my ears (a by product of the beaming back and forth?) and my senses started returning, I started to hear the most horrible sound. I thought maybe George was hurt, and because I couldn’t hold that calf, it was my fault. Then I realized he was laughing at me. I could have sucked it up and not cried about the cow running me over and mashing me into the feed bunk, but between that and him laughing at me… it was too much for this five year old boy. I jumped up, with tears running down my face and said, “You lied to me! You #%$@*$! You said she wouldn’t get me!” He couldn’t even catch his breath, he was laughing so hard! I didn’t even wait for him to stand up. I turned and ran to Grandma’s house and cried to her for a little while. She explained that George probably didn’t do it on purpose (I did notice that she used the word probably) and that he just need my help. I didn’t care if he needed help or not at that point. I just knew he was not getting any help from me. The good news was that Grandma gave me a bowl of ice cream and I spent the rest of the day pushing around my fire truck and wearing my fireman’s hat. To heck with that cowboy stuff that day, maybe I would try it again tomorrow. hB
www.horsebackmagazine.com
www.horsebackmagazine.com
January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 29
Horsebites - Con’t. from pg. 8
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30 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
– tie-down roper Cody Ohl – is about $1.8 million behind at $3,220,291. The $170,823 Brazile collected in team roping and tie-down roping in Las Vegas brought his season total to $426,010, the second-highest total in ProRodeo history (he holds positions 1 through 7) and allowed him to win his record eighth WNFR all-around title. With two round wins in the team roping with Patrick Smith, Brazile increased his own National Finals record for most overall round wins to 55. For a few moments on Saturday night, Brazile also had the Wrangler NFR record for 10-head aggregate in the tie-down roping. His time of 83.2 seconds broke the 1997 standard of 84.0 held by Fred Whitfield, but Shane Hanchey later clinched his first world championship by winning the average in 80.1 seconds. The tie-down roping also had a record-tying effort by Cody Ohl with his five round wins. Dave Brock had five in 1978 and Ohl tied that mark in 2001. This time, Ohl got the tie in high style. He won the 10th round in 6.6 seconds, one-tenth off his arena record. The only arena record broken this year was rookie Taylor Jacob’s 13.37-second run in the sixth round of the barrel racing. WORLD SNOW POLO CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUTS IN ASPEN ASPEN, (Phelps) - Considered to be one of the world’s most glamorous winter destinations, Aspen was the setting for the Piaget World Snow Polo Championship, held on the snow packed field of Wagner Park. Topranked Argentine polo players Facundo Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres of the Piaget Ellerstina Polo team, and polo’s most famous face, Nacho Figueras, joined America’s top-ranked player, Nic Roldan, along with hosts and cofounders of the Aspen Valley Polo Club, Marc and Melissa Ganzi and Larry Boland, President of Piaget North America, to host the round robin tournament. Piaget was also the official timekeeper of the tournament. At the foot of Aspen Mountain with the snow falling, the Piaget team, featuring Gonazlito Pieres, Marc Ganzi and Kris Kampsen, took to Wagner Park to compete against the St. Regis team featuring Nacho Figueras, Nic Roldan, and Brandon Phillips. Excitement was in the air, as the two teams battled it out, with Phillips and Figueras each scoring a goal to deliver a 2-0 win for St. Regis. Following their defeat, Piaget re-entered the field determined to beat the Audi team consisting of Facundo Pieres, Melissa Ganzi and Juan Bollini. Melissa Ganzi bolted into action, quickly scoring for Audi in the first thirty seconds putting the team ahead 1-0 in the first chukker. In the second chukker, Marc Ganzi scored for Piaget to even the score at 1-1. The crowd was silent as they watched brother vs. brother and husband vs. wife. Ultimately, Melissa Ganzi brought Audi to a 2-1 victory, as she scored the final goal through a penalty shot in the end of the second chukker. The final match saw St. Regis and Audi locked in a stalemate with neither team scoring in the first chukker. Facundo Pieres took a penalty shot in the second chukker that was blocked by a confident Figueras, standing in the saddle, as the crowd cheered. Figueras then went on to score the final goal, bringing the black St. Regis team to victory. Inside the VIP tent, Piaget hosted a lounge for Aspen’s best and brightest to enjoy the polo action. On display were the newest Piaget Polo FortyFive timepieces, along with framed photos showing Piaget’s long history with the sport of kings. Following the match, Larry Boland presented the special silver and horn trophy to the winning St. Regis team. “We are proud to be presenting the Piaget World Snow Polo Championship here in Aspen and thrilled to have both Gonzalito and Facundo Pieres with us. It was an exciting day of polo in one of the most picturesque settings in America,” stated Boland. Marc Ganzi, added “It has always been a dream of mine and my wife Melissa’s to create a polo club in Aspen. We are honored to have Piaget as the official timekeeper and to help us kick off a new era in snow polo.” In addition to the Piaget World Snow Polo World Championship, Piaget is the title sponsor of the USPA Piaget Gold Cup and the Piaget Hamptons Cup.
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Cholla was a Masterpiece Himself!
An Award Winning International Artist (who happened to be a horse)
“My horses love Omega Horseshine® and continue to shine on, from the inside out” ~ Linda Parelli
Go to OmegaFields.com or call 920-550-4061 to order or find a dealer near you. www.horsebackmagazine.com
January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 31
Lifestyle...
SMOOTH
Stride
JEANS MADE FOR THE SADDLE
By Margaret Pirtle
R
iding in a saddle for any length of time will let you know that your pants aren’t fitting well. Polyester -too hot, thin pants- too cold, or the jeans you have on are too tight, too tall, wrong waist, etc. Let’s face it ladies, we have all been there and nothing is worst than bad fitting jeans in a saddle. We can blame the saddle and the horse all we want, but sometimes you have to face up to the truth, that your figure and the jeans are just not a good mix. Désirée Smith, an accomplished three-day event competitor who has been teaching, riding and training horses for over 30 years knows this exact problem well. Being an active rider and instructor still, at the age of 53, and one day, after working the horses, she sat down in her tack room to change back
32 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
into her jeans from her riding breeches and thought: “Why? Why do I have to change pants in my barn twice a day?” She began a
search for practical riding pants - pants that were comfortable and functional in the saddle, but were also appropriate for mucking stalls, or running to the grocery store. She was surprised to find nothing that fit the bill. Every “riding” jean she could find had an inseam that was hard on knees, saddle and crotch. She finally made her own, merging a store-bought sweat pants pattern with jodhpur pattern. She bought a machine and taught herself enough to sew her idea up in corduroy… and loved
the result: “The most comfortable, practical pair of pants I’ve ever had.” But Désirée wants to be on a horse, not behind a sewing machine. She wore them threadbare, and then wore them completely out. Finally in desperation, she and her husband, Eric, decided they might have to begin their own riding pants company. This seemed to Désirée and Eric one of those moments that life puts a great big “GO THAT WAY” arrow in front of you. They found a old company that was closing and bought the Smooth Stride in February of 2013. Now open for business, they are handling the riding jean to bring comfortable, practical, and great looks to women who ride horses. The Smooth Stride product line currently includes all-denim “Just Jeans”, “Full Seat Jeans” featuring micro suede seat, and “Knee Patch Jeans” with micro suede patches on the inside of the legs from above the knee to the hem. All three feature Smooth Stride’s contoured waist, cut, and stretch denim and are designed to make the woman’s body look GREAT in her jeans, and feel great in the saddle. Check them out at www.smoothstride.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 33
REALTOR Roundup DEITRA ROBERTSON REALTOR Deitra Robertson Real Estate, Inc. 38351 FM 1736 Hempstead, TX (O): (832) 642-6789 (C): (832) 642-6789
TAMMY FOREMAN - REALTOR Hodde Real Estate Co. 112 W. Main Street, Brenham, TX
DEE ANN BOUDREAUXREALTOR Texas First Real Estate 1116 FM 109 New Ulm, TX (O): (903) 322-3379 (C): (979) 583-7305
(O): (979) 836-8532 (C): (979) 451-2945 (E):info@hodderealty.com (W): www.hodderealty.com Tours: www.texas-property.com
(E): deitra@IKnowRanches.com (W): www.IKnowRanches.com
(E): deeboudreaux@windstream.net (W): www.texasfirstre.com
SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Residential, Country Homes, Land, Commercial. TERRITORY: Texas
SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Horse Properties, Land TERRITORY: Texas
SPECIALTIES: Residential, Equestrian, Farm/ Ranch, Country Property TERRITORY: Texas
TIM PHELAN OWNER Waller County Land 40040 Hempstead Hwy. Waller, TX (O): (936) 372-9181 (O): (979) 826-4133 (E): broker@wallercountyland.com (W): www.wallercountyland.com SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Property TERRITORY: Waller County & surrounding areas. ANGIE FRANKS REALTOR Elite Texas Properties 12320 Barker Cypress Rd Suite 600-224 Cypress, TX
YOLANDA FUSILIER BROKER Peak Realty 17515 Spring Cypress Rd. Suite # C260 Cypress, TX (O): (979) 921-9530 (E): peak@wt.net
LARRY JACOBS REALTOR Jacob’s Properties 14372 Liberty Street Montgomery, TX (O): (936) 597-3301 (O): (979) 597-3317 (E): larry@txland.com (W): www.txland.com
SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Land Commercial TERRITORY: Waller County & surrounding areas
SPECIALTIES: Ranches, Hunting & Horse Properties, Acreage TERRITORY: Texas
TOOTIE LYONS RIXMANREALTOR, ASSOCIATE Heritage Texas Country Properties 605 S. Austin Brenham, TX
BOB BORDERS ABR, SFRC, LHMS Keller Williams Realty 1595 S. Main St, Ste. 101 Boerne, TX
(O): (800) 563-6003 (C): (979) 877-5822 (E): angiefranks06@yahoo.com (W): www.elitetexasproperties.com
(C): (979) 836-3633 (E): tootie2@sbcglobal.net (W): www.e-countryproperty.com/page-46/ tootie-lyons-rixman
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SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Property, Country Homes, Farm/Ranch TERRITORY: Texas
SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Property, Country Homes, Farm/Ranch TERRITORY: Brazos Valley Texas
SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Property, Country Homes, Farm/Ranch TERRITORY: Boerne Texas Area
WENDY CLINE BROKER ASSOCIATE RE/Max Realty Center 13611 Skinner Rd., #100 Cypress, TX (O): (281) 213-6200 (C): (281) 460-9360 (E): wendy@wendyclineteam.com (W): www.wendyclineteam.com SPECIALTIES: Residential, Land, Commercial TERRITORY: Texas
34 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
Attention Realtors & Brokers! JOIN HORSEBACK’S ROUNDUP! Only $35/month includes both online & in print!
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
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43ac horse ranch in Madison County, 3 bed 2.5 bath 2650sf home with heated pool, 3 car carport w office, 1000 sf apartment, pool dressing room and bath. All pipe fencing with horse wire. 9 stall show barn w/2 runs, office vet room and bath, tack room, rubber mats, ceiling fans, cross ventilation, waterers and feeders. Hot & cold wash rack. (8)12 x 20 Stallion Sheds w 20 x70 runs, (9) paddocks w loaang sheds each w pipe gates to create 22 stalls. 6 horse hot walker and pro cutter ag system. 40x100 hay barn on slab w bunkhouse apartment. 2009 Oakcreek 3/2 mobile home. 150x300 lighted pipe arena w/Priefert “Score” fully automatic roping chute, electric eye, heading/heeling box, concrete walkway to chute and 20’ return alley. Heat and Air announcers box, w PA system and bleachers Drainage by engineer to ensure dry ground. Two lighted 100’ round arenas w/holding pens.
Destiny Ranch
Wow! What a horse property... Reduced! $749,000
Glen Oaks Ranch
35ac horse facility with 2 homes. Main home 4300 sq ft 3/3.5 remodeled with upscale amenities, granite & marble, separate climate controlled wine room with 100+ capacity and wine cooler. All counter tops granite or marble. Kitchen boasts Dacor appliances. Mother in Law suite, oversized master bath, 2 vanities, tub w/fp, exercise area, large master closet with built ins. ex Master bedroom sitting area with frig & coffee bar. Pool with slide & wooden deck wraps house on 3 sides. Irrigation system and alarm system-owned by Sellers. 6 stall pipe barn with automatic waterers, vet stocks & hot/cold wash rack, 4 horse walker, 125' lighted arena, 75x200 lighted roping pen with return alley. 30 x 60 lig workshop on slab with roll up doors. Over 2 miles of pipe fencing. 12 separate paddocks, 9 loaang sheds with concrete oors. 3/2 rental bringing in $1000/month income. Has been continually rented for last 4 years. Double carport and deck with wheel chair accessibility.
Offered at $589,000
Dee Ann Boudreaux
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TEXAS FIRST REAL ESTATE, LLC. (979) 583-7305 CELL • (903) 322-3379 OFFICE deeboudreaux@windstream.net January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 35
Real Estate
McMillan’s
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Mineola 498 Ranch is a well diversified ranch, providing activities for all, with the focal point of the ranch being a state-of-the-art Equestrian facility. The ranch also features an 8+/- & 12+/acre lake, approximately 1+/- mile of Lake Fork Creek frontage and spring fed creeks. It’s hard to find this many amenities all in one ranch of this size. The property is located just east of the quaint East Texas town of Mineola, TX located on FM49. Featured ranch activities include fishing, horseback riding, duck hunting, deer hunting, and relaxing walks on the miles of manicured trails through the mature pine and hardwood forest. 498+/- ACRES - Asking $3,350,000 - Equestrian Facility could be divisible.
Conner Wilson
903-702-8043 mobile, conner@hrcranch.com
Cash McWhorter
469-222-4076 mobile, cash@hrcranch.com www.hrcranch.com www.horsebackmagazine.com
January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 37
Lifestyle... in Bandera, TX
Luxury accommodations with limestone ireplaces. Over 6000 Beautiful Hill Country Acres!
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38 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
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Older Rider’s Never Had It So Good
By Steven Long
I
am reminded of Hallie Stillwell who made her last ride to an induction into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. The centenarian was determined to ride to the occasion so a fearful staff helped the legendary Big Bend rancher into the saddle and by God, she rode a mile to the induction. Hallie died shortly thereafter, content in the fact that she had one last glorious ride. Actually, things are getting better for older riders and I know several who are in the saddle frequently mounting up well into their 70’s and 80’s. We know of one working trainer who is still in the round pen at 90. To the dedicated horseman, there is no such word as elderly. One thing that helps is that as we age there is no need to feel macho any longer. We don’t have to ride the heaviest saddle in the tack room. Baby boomers are now well into the Medicare rolls. They were preceded by us war babies. Our respective generations have dominated American life and buying habits since our pre-teen years. There is no reason that will change as we live life spans well beyond our parents, or so we are told is likely to happen by actuaries. We are beginning to see the buying power of the boomers impact everything in retail, and that includes stuff that goes on a horse. A huge improvement was dreamed up more than a decade ago by whomever got a piece of canvass, an upholstery needle and thread, and created the Cordura saddle. We don’t know if it was Abetta or Wintec, but we do know www.horsebackmagazine.com
this, it’s a damned site easier to lift a 14 pound saddle onto the back of a horse than it is to struggle with that old 40 pound monster. We suspect the horses like it better too. Now it’s time to get personal about this. At the age of 69, and slightly handicapped, a Cordura saddle isn’t a luxury anymore, it’s a necessity. I’ve tried them all, but it took master saddler and Horseback columnist Lew Pewterbaugh, to show me the best. Today I ride a 16 inch Big Horn. Not only is it light and durable, it’s really comfortable. In fact even the fenders are padded – yes, I said padded fenders and I’m not kidding. Even the skirt is thick with a foam interior. Riding a horse is a thing of pleasure, and with today’s tack there is no reason for it to be more work than our aging muscles and stamina can handle. And guess what? These modern lightweight saddles look good too and are downright indestructible. Our friend Jeanne Beauxbene of Bandera has used an early Abetta for a decade in her trail riding business. I’ve seen the saddle, and it looks just as good as the day it was carried out of the shop. By the nature of Jeanne’s business, the saddle has seen hard use but you’d never know it. So when you mount up, just remember old Hallie Stillwell who rode to her induction in the Hall of Fame at 100. Now that’s an accomplishment. hB
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HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 39
EXPLORING Cappadocia, Turkey on Horseback
By Darley Newman Horseback riding in the village of Guzelyurt in Cappadocia, Turkey. Check out those saddles!
In
ancient times the name than I would have been through narrow er, I use my reins and legs to communiCappadocia meant “the valleys of fairy chimneys. We passed a cate with my horse. It was a good thing land of beautiful horses” few hikers, some of whom had trav- Incion, the 9-year-old white steed I was and the finest horses were eled from far away to reach the mineral riding, was both well trained and kind, raised in this part of Central Turkey. As waters, which lay ahead and Ahmet ex- allowing me to make a few mistakes in part of my job as the host of the PBS plained are reputed to have some me- leading as we traveled. series Equitrekking, I travel the world dicinal properties. I was glad to be on Riding along towards Mustafriding horses with local people. At lot horseback once again, as I saw locals pasa, we stopped several times to examof times, I see a place once, but don’t and a few Japanese tourists rolling up ine something new. Ahmet pointed out have the opportunity a series of cubbyholes to go back. I made carved high into the it a point to venture cliffs above called back to Cappadocia dovecotes. These pifor a second time geon houses were to ride their strong usually carved near Barb-Arab horses a water source, like because I had to see the nearby natural more. springs. They were My local meant to attract piguide and now geons to nest. Locals friend, Ahmet Diler, would and still do a horse guide, rug collect the droppings trader, hotelier, and use them as fertour operator and tilizer for their vineentrepreneur grew yards and crops. up in Avanos, the old By the late afterLeft: Trailriding in the Jordan Desert, Right, Little Petra , Jordan pottery center, where noon, we had reached the we based ourselves. old Greek village of MustaNot only does Ahmet know everyone, their pants and wading along in their fapasa with its stone houses with carved his passion for Turkey’s history had shoes. facades, rock-cut churches and Ottoman Everywhere I travel I ride di- style architecture. The village dates back endeared me to Cappadocia on my first visit and was once again, as we took off verse horse breeds, whose tack is also to Byzantine times, and much like it was at a canter towards the old Greek city of different. Here in Turkey, I was riding then, the people here are mostly selfon soft sheepskin covered saddles Ah- sustainable. They farm and trade as they Mustafapasa. Meandering among the lunar met had acquired in Kyrgyzstan. These have for hundreds of years. landscapes of the Üzengi Valley, I could saddles are similar to an American West- I was amazed that I could ride a easily imagine what life was like here ern saddle in that they have a horn that horse from one village to the next on my hundreds of years ago, because things sticks up in the front, the kind cowboys Cappadocia riding vacation, getting lost here haven’t changed so much. might use to rope a steer, but the Kyr- amid the whites, pinks and browns of Passing through the valley, our gyz saddles have a taller tree, so you sit the bizarre rock formations, called fairy horses clip clopped through streams higher off the horses’ back. I had to get chimneys, which rise up in the shape of and over rocky passes. Our horses took used to sitting so high, as that meant I towers and undulate like ocean waves, the sometimes challenging rocky ter- had less contact with my horse’s sides. looking altogether different depending rain with stride, much more surefooted As a primarily English style rid- on your location.
40 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
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HOW YOU CAN GO Learn more about riding in Turkey in Equitrekking.com’s Vacation Guide, which features dude ranches, cattle drives and global horseback riding vacations. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Darley Newman is the five time Daytime Emmy Award nominated host, writer and producer of the Emmy-winning Equitrekking travel TV show, which broadcasts on PBS and international networks in over 82 countries and on Equitrekking.com. hB
New Book from Pete Ramey Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot
Go to
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Featuring Chapters from the Contributing Authors: Robert M. Bowker, VMD, PhD Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, Dipl ACVSMR, MRCVS Brian Hampson, PhD Eleanor Kellon, VMD Kerry Ridgway, DVM Debra R. Taylor, DVM, MS, DACVIM Kathryn Watts, BS Pete Ramey
Practical Instruction for the Equine Veterinarian, Farrier and Trimmer. Details Internal Anatomy and Development, Caudal Foot Pain and Laminitis Treatment, plus help for countless other hoof problems.
Order Information Order and see more details at HoofRehab.com or write to PO Box 232 Lakemont, Ga. 30552 Product Customer Service Line (706) 212-8604
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 41
General...
High/Low Hooves: A Whole-Horse Issue
T
hrush is a common catch-all phrase for the wide assortment of bacterial and fungal infections of the horse’s frog. It is most-commonly recognized by an extra-foul smell when picking out the hooves, by a disintegration of the frog tissue, and sometimes by a grey or black residue in and around the frog that has a texture resembling cottage cheese. While most horse owners were taught to look out for thrush, most tend to think of it only as a hygiene problem or merely a cosmetic flaw. Instead, it is a serious and quite common cause of lameness, often misdiagnosed as navicular syndrome—plus it can cause a cascade of problems within the foot, and throughout the horse’s entire body. HOW CRITICAL IS A HEALTHY FROG? When a horse is moving correctly, the foot should impact the ground slightly heel-first. So, on rocky terrain (or any other terrain the foot can sink into) the frog is bearing much of the initial impact force. The frog, along with the overall flexible structure of the backhalf of the foot, is designed to dissipate much of the initial impact energy, as do the tires on your truck. This is healthy and natural—the way the horse was built. If there is any sensitivity in the back of the foot, the horse will avoid moving in this natural way; instead, it will shift more impact force to the front of the foot. While toe-first impacts are perfectly natural if a horse is travelling uphill, accelerating, or negotiating slippery terrain, the system was not designed to operate this way all the time—this compensative movement robs the horse of its natural front-line energy dissipation system, increasing
the force that must be absorbed by joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles, etc. This can lead to injury and/or speed up long-term breakdown. Additionally, excessive toe-first impacts can cause wall flares, hoof capsule rotation, wall cracks, thin soles, bruises and abscesses of the hoof. In short, healthy frogs are important! If you have ever picked out a horse’s foot and found yourself needing to be careful not to cause pain with the hoof pick, think of how difficult it would be for the horse to use the back of that foot. If the frog is healthy, it should be almost impossible to cause pain to the bottom of a horse’s foot with a typical hoof pick, and the central cleft should not be deep or particularly sensitive.
WET VS. DRY CONDITIONS Most people tend to think of thrush as a wetenvironment issue. While it may be more common in wet conditions, it seems to cause more pain when it occurs in the desert. A hard, dry frog with a deeply-infected central cleft is far more painful than a soft, wet frog with the same infection, so no matter where you live, you need to be on a constant lookout for this
problem. That said, one of the best things you can do to treat and prevent thrush is to keep the horse’s environment clean. It is also important to drain wet areas—you can’t control how often it rains, but you can control how long the horse’s footing stays wet after it rains. Adding gutters and drainage to the barn, adding gravel to low, wet, high-traffic areas, cleanup of manure and urine, and general drying out of the horse’s area reaps major benefits. TRIMMING When trimming the frog, try to remove tiny flaps of skin that can harbor fungus and bacteria, but avoid over-trimming the frog and causing sensitivity. This tightrope walk is impossible to teach in a magazine article, but at least be aware that it is common for horses to develop painful thrush simply because of a lack of hygienic frog trimming—but it is equally common for horses to be lame or impact toe-first because of excessive frog trimming. NUTRITION As with every other problem a horse might have, there is a critical nutritional component. I’ll be brief, because I seem
Figures 1 & 2: FIGURE 1 When trimming the frog for hygiene, remove thin “flaps” along the collateral and central sulci (grooves) that trap debris and block air flow into the crevices. Equally important, are the ground-surface areas you should often avoid trimming. When possible, leave these areas alone to continue callusing. It is actually quicker and easier to trim the entire frog into a neat, tidy appearance, but in many cases this can cause lameness. It is better to trim what you must, and leave what you can— prioritizing soundness over beauty. Photo reprinted from the book Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot , P. Ramey. Figures 3 & 4: This horse was very lame, gingerly walking with a pronounced toe-first impact—the only real problem I found was the thrush in the central sulcus. The heels had contracted until an exaggerated crevice allowed infection to take over. Then the runaway infection ate its way all the way up into the hairline. The same foot (right photo) is shown after 4 weeks of riding in padded hoof boots and treating as described here. The heels opened up and the lameness disappeared as the frog became more healthy. Note that there is still an area at the central sulcus that is too narrow and deep to see to the bottom of. Treatment needs to continue until the entire frog is visible. Photo reprinted from the book Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot , P. Ramey.
42 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4
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to discuss it in every article, but don’t underestimate its importance. When any component is missing from the diet, the horse tends to provide what it can to the critical organs. The skin gets the leftovers. So any gap in the nutrition profile can weaken the frogs (and every other part of the horse’s foot, along with the skin and coat). High-quality, well-balanced nutritional supplements are typically the best treatment (and prevention) of advanced thrush cases. Additionally, excess sugars in the diet can weaken the frog tissue, as can any disease and even emotional stress. You have to consider the whole animal, and every aspect of its health and well-being. This will sound fruity to some, but truer words were never spoken. TOPICAL TREATMENT SOLUTIONS Most people are surprised that I always mention the medicine last. Topical treatment is important, but not as important as the factors I previously covered (environment, trimming and nutrition). Many commercial treatments and old home remedies will work, but many of them can actually make the situation worse. Whatever you use, be sure it kills both fungi and bacterial—this is the easy part. The harder part is that the product must not harm or destroy www.horsebackmagazine.com
live tissue. In advanced thrush cases, particularly at the central sulcus (cleft), the tissue at the bottom of the crevice is thin, raw, and very sensitive. Treating this area with a destructive or caustic product often causes more harm than good. I half-jokingly tell clients to find the most sensitive spot on their own body and apply any wouldbe thrush treatment to the area. This would quickly tell them if the remedy is appropriate to use in a sensitive area of their horse. HOW TO TREAT Whatever medicine you choose, it is important to treat all the way to the deepest point of the central and collateral sulci, and any other deep pockets or splits in the frog. I have only found two ways to do this effectively. First, and probably most effective, are long soaks (at least 30 minutes) in a liquid solution. This is bestdone with commercial soaking boots, but homemade models can be fashioned with inner tubes or thick plastic bags. Don’t try it with a bucket. It is doubtful you will be able to soak long enough or often enough to do any good. The other method I use is to inject a creamy or salve-type solution deep into any crevices with a catheter-tipped
syringe (Monoject 412) or similar longtipped tube or applicator. This requires great care not to damage the soft tissue, but is much quicker than soaking. With both methods, the results are best if application is repeated daily until the problem clears up completely. WHEN TO TREAT Generally speaking, contact with air keeps these harmful pathogens in check as well as anything. So if you can readily see the bottom of any crevices in the frog, routine hoof picking may be all you need to treat and prevent thrush problems. If, however, you pick out the foot and find deep areas (usually at the central sulcus) that you cannot see to the bottom of, this is a place where you need to treat. Keep treating until the area fills in and/or opens up so you can see the entire surface. Use those same criteria for prevention—always treat any deep pockets as soon as they try to form in the future, and then discontinue treatment as soon as you can see the entire frog. Treated in this proactive fashion, it is very rare for thrush problems to develop to a point that they cause pain for the horse—and as usual, it is far easier to prevent these problems than it is to cure them.
January 2014 2
hB
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 43
DURASOLE KEEPS YOUR BEST HOOF FORWARD!
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Have a Bucking Good Rodeo Season! Advertise in Horseback Magazine! 44 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 45
General...
Hayin! Howdy!
Welcome to Cowboy Corner.
Welcome to 2014, hope all enjoy a prosperous new year with good health and happiness. Forecast for the livestock business are good and moisture has returned to the Brazos bottom. Would never have thought that the moisture catch-up would be this soon after the severe draught of just two years ago. Never have claimed to be a weather man, but the folks predictin’ it don’t seem to be either. Being a weatherman on the Texas Gulf Coast must be a great job ‘cause you get the big bucks whether right or not. About the weather - wasn’t last fall something. Hot, dry, September, wet October, cold, wet November and December. Hope the winter is dry, cold is manageable, but wet and cold is tough. Rodeo season is just around the corner, and wet and cold makes things real uncomfortable. After several years of dryer than normal conditions, the wetter than normal conditions have created new challenges. When the Brazos bottom is dry, it’s really dry, and when it gets wet it’s really wet. Haying livestock often becomes a real production and takes a lot of time. If feeding round bales, and if the hay storage is reasonably close to the animals, and if you have a big tractor, life is good. If the tractor has a cab and a front end loader, then life can really be good, warm, dry, and carry two bales at a time. To top off
46 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 2 January 2014
the dream machine add four wheel drive and the only thing I can think of to make this hay mover better is for it to be paid for. From the dream machine things go downhill fast. Smaller, no cab, no loader, no four wheel drive tractor with rear hay forks means one bale at a time in the weather. Regardless of the tractor, distance from hay storage to animals is a limiting factor. Haulin’ round bales several miles down the road, with an open tractor in the rain as the temperature drops, takes a lot of fun out of the livestock business. One great alternative to the tractor hay mover is a bale buggy. The bale buggy will handle one roll of hay at a time, can be pulled with your truck down the road at highway speed. Suddenly the truck becomes the comfort zone, and much faster than the tractor. Just a thought, about hay pullers, from the school of experience. My learnin’ from the school of hard knocks has taught that three quarter or one ton diesel trucks are best, dual rear wheel trucks are better than single wheel, and a friend says,
“better have fo’ on de’ floor”. As with the dream machine, ‘only thing that makes this diesel 4X4 one ton dually better, is for it to be paid for. Good lesson to learn is just because it costs a lot, doesn’t mean it will go anywhere. Have seen about everything with wheels or tractors stuck in the Brazos bottom . With a load like a hay trailer or bale buggy behind a truck, getting’ stuck is a lot easier than just the truck. Maneuverability is really limited with any trailer on wet slick ground, so be careful. Can’t walk in the cattle pens without gettin’ some on you, and you can’t drive on wet slick ground without getting stuck. When you do get stuck, stop before you bury the towing vehicle to the frame, and don’t unhook the trailer thinking you can get unstuck without the load. Rule of thumb, if you stick a 50 HP tractor than you are gonna need a 100 HP tractor to get unstuck. To unstick a one ton dually with a load, better use that 100 HP tractor. More about getting’ unstuck later.
Happy Trails...
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January 2014 2
HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 47
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