Horseback Magazine March 2014

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Columns: 8 Horse Bites12 Know Your Horse - Pat Parelli with Steven Long36 Tack Talk - Lew Pewterbaugh54 Foot Form Function - Pete Ramey62 Cowboy Corner - Jim Hubbard

PUBLISHER EDITORVicki Long Steven Long

NATIONAL NEWS EDITORCarrie Gobernatz

LIFESTYLE EDITORMargaret Pirtle832-349-1427

[email protected]

EVENTS EDITOR Leslie Greco

ADVERTISING OFFICES• HEADQUARTER OFFICE

(281) 447-0772 Phone & (281) 893-1029 [email protected]

• BRAZOS VALUE BUREAUDiane Holt(936) 878-2678 Ranch & (713) 408-8114 [email protected]

• GULF COAST BUREAUCarol Holloway - (832) 607-8264 [email protected]

• NORTH TEXASMari Crabtree - (216) [email protected]

• NEW MEXICO BUREAULaurie Hammer - (505)315-7842 [email protected]

Volume 21, No. 3 Horseback Magazine, P.O. Box 681397, Houston, TX 77268-1397, (281) 447-0772. The entire contents of the magazine are copyrighted March 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

Email: [email protected] Phone: (281) 447-0772

March 2014FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Welcome to the season! By that we mean that horses are being brushed and groomed. Saddle and tack shops are bursting to the rafters with buyers, and the winter’s deadfall has been cleared from trails making them ready for the thousands of horses that will be kicking up dust this month. As

we said, welcome to the season when “Horseback USA” comes alive with activities astride an equine. And it’s not just trail riders who are oiling up their tack. Competitors are making their way to three premier events that really set the standard in their sports for the rest of the nation. Close to 2 million in paid attendance will go through the gates at the mammoth Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the largest event of its type on the planet in just about every category imaginable. HLS&R introduces city folks to a different side of animals from what they are accustomed to seeing in cartoons, or wrapped in cellophane behind their meat counters. Kids, and even adults, can get up close to farm animals and horses of all sorts and in some cases, touch them. Some of them like the experience so much they actually develop a lifelong relationship with horses and cattle. Nationally ranked equestrians from coast to coast will travel to the freshly expanded Great Southwest Equestrian Center in far west Houston (Katy)for the highly respected Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. There, grace, style, and money mix for the benefit of sick children. And we are especially excited to see the growth of the Diamonds and Dirt Barrel Horse Extravaganza up in Aggie land. The event’s promoters determined to bring a world class event to the geographical heart of a sport that is increasing in popularity and is great fun to watch – barrel racing. By the end of March, the Texas “season” will be well under way and will run through just before Christmas nonstop with the state’s sub tropical weather keeping conditions rideable all the while. So get out of the house, go see a show, or better still, just saddle up.

By Steven Long

Staff

Lifestyle:42 Boots at Diamond 57- Margaret Pirtle40 Barn & Garden44 Real Estate Roundup46 Texas Farms & Ranches

Welcome to the Season!

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSJim 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

On the Cover: Diamonds & Dirt and Pin Oak Charity Horse Show

Cover Story:14 Diamonds & Dirt - Steven Long20 Pin Oak Charity Show - Cathy Strobel

Features:22 Harry and the Plow Horse - Dianne Lindig28 Something to Chew On - Diane Holt

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Retired Racehorses Subject to Study of Second Careers

THE DAKOTAS, (RRTP) – A report


MOVIE ‘50 to 1’ ANNOUNCES ROAD TOUR Feature film about Kentucky Derby winner Mine

That Bird, an inspiring underdog tale of misfit cow-boys and their long shot racehorse, starring Skeet Ulrich, Christian Kane, William Devane, Madelyn

Deutch, Todd Lowe and jockey Calvin Borel.

Hollywood, Calif. — The cast and film-makers of “50 to 1” will hit the road rock-star style on a cross-country tour begin-ning March 17 to promote the major motion picture’s release, says the film’s producer, director and co-writer Jim Wil-son, Oscar®-winning producer of Danc-es with Wolves. “We’re bringing “50 to 1” to the people of America,” Wilson says. The group will travel in a tour bus from New Mexico to Kentucky, making stops in cit-ies and towns along the way, mirroring the trip racehorse Mine That Bird took on his way to the 2009 Kentucky Derby. Cast members joining the tour will be Skeet Ulrich (Jericho, Scream, As Good As It Gets), Christian Kane (Le-verage, Friday Night Lights, Secondhand Lions, Just Married), Todd Lowe (True Blood, The Princess Diaries, Gilmore Girls) and Hugo Perez (Machete, The Longshots, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay). Also on tour will be Wilson and co-producer, co-writer Faith Conroy. The real Mine That Bird will make special appearances along the tour. “When was the last time Hol-lywood’s leading men hopped on a bus and toured the country from town to town, introducing their film to the people of America?” Wilson says. “It’s unprec-edented.” “I’m extremely excited to hit the road with a film I’m very proud to be a part of,” Ulrich says. “It seems fitting we’d be selling our wares from a gypsy-like caravan, given the underdog nature

“Horse Bites is compiled from Press Releases sent to Horseback Magazine. Original reporting is done as circumstances warrant.

Content is edited for length & style.”

“50 to 1”photo courtesy Ten Furlongs, LLC

of our story, and I’m hoping this journey answers three burning questions. One, are audiences tired of the blockbuster and ready to be uplifted by the values of hard work and integrity? Two, can we inspire our audiences to stick to their guns and do what they love at all costs? And three, does Christian snore louder than Todd?” “Man, this almost feels like we’re carnies or something. Or an old whistle-stop political campaign,” Lowe says. “I’m looking forward to rolling into different towns and shaking hands and kissing babies.” “Personally, I’ve always wanted to be a rock star,” Conroy says. “And se-riously, traveling across the country for weeks on end with a busload of gorgeous cowboys? Sign me up!” “I’ve done tours before. I’m ex-cited!” Kane says. “It’s old hat for me in the sense that when you love something so much, you will put 18 wheels and lives in motion just to bring it into town and say, ‘I hope you like this. I made this for you.’” “It’ll be a fun, fun road trip vaca-tion for me, part of the dream-life I want to live,” Perez says. “It’s also an honor and I’m so fortunate to be a part of this adventure.” Inspiration for the tour came during a brainstorming session by Wilson and Conroy. “I thought, why not meet the audience this movie is intended for, introduce them to the stars and shake their hands,” Wilson says. “It’s the audi-ence that matters the most. It’s why we make these stories, to share them with the world.”

“50 to 1” is based on the inspir-ing true story of Mine That Bird and the cowboy trainer and owners who became the ultimate underdogs in a showdown with the world’s racing elite at the 2009 Kentucky Derby. The film was shot in 40 locations across New Mexico, Kentucky and California, and will open theatrically in roll-out fashion beginning in New Mexico March 21,

followed by Texas and Louisiana April 4, Oklahoma and Arkansas April 11, Ten-nessee and Kentucky April 18, and will then expand across the country. The tour mirrors not only the true story, but also the release, and will weave its way from town to town through the initial seven states. “This is just for starters,” Wilson says. “We have every in-tention of crisscrossing America, but it’s dependent on demand. If you want us to come visit your city, let us know.” People interested in having the “50 to 1” tour stop in their town can email their requests to [email protected]. Include in the subject line:“50 to 1” Movie Tour – First and Last name, Town, State and Zip Code. Wilson won the Academy Award® for Best Picture for Dances with Wolves, which he produced. Other pro-ducing credits include The Bodyguard, Wyatt Earp, Swing Vote, Mr. Brooks and Message in a Bottle. Wilson’s previous di-recting credits include Head Above Wa-ter, Whirlygirl and the critically-acclaimed documentary about Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., Laffit – All About Win-ning. Mine That Bird was born May 10, 2006, and began racing in 2008 in Canada, winning four of his first six starts. His career slumped after he was purchased by Mark Allen in the fall of 2008, going winless until his monumental upset at the 2009 Kentucky Derby at 50-to-1 odds. Mine That Bird continued his run for the Triple Crown that year, finish-ing second in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes. He amassed $2,228,637 in earnings throughout his ca-reer but never won another race in nine starts after his win at the Kentucky Der-by. Mine That Bird was retired from rac-ing in November 2010 and currently lives with his owners at Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch in Roswell, New Mexico.www.50to1themovie.com

Horsebites - Con’t. on pg. 10


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released in late February by the Retired Racehorse Training Project (RRTP) is the first nationwide study of how Thor-oughbred ex-racehorses are transitioned into second careers. It is based on a survey conducted in late 2013 titled Explor-ing the Bridge To Second Careers in which owners of 4,200 ex-racehorses from 47 states and Canada responded to 23 questions. “The public believes that racing owners dump their retiring horses into auctions and that a lucky few get rescued and adopted,” said RRTP president Steuart Pittman.“Our survey tells a different story. Most of these horses were not rescued. They were sold or donated through networks of peo-ple both inside and outside of racing who work very hard to transition these animals.”

• 34% percent of these horses were acquired directly from racing owners.• 31% were acquired from non-racing private owners.• 13.5% were acquired from non-profit placement or rescue organizations, although that share increased from 11% to 19% over the last ten years.• 9% were acquired from professional training or sales businesses.• 2.3% of horses came through auctions.The survey also revealed that prices for horses increased with training, but are still far below what it costs to transi-tion racehorses to new careers.• The average adoption fee at nonprofit placement orga-nizations was $1001 (22% were free). These organizations were most likely to have horse protection terms in con-tracts.• Horses acquired through racing owners were purchased for an average price of $1,265 (30% were given away).• Horses sold through private non-racing owners had an average price of $2,618 not including the 19% that were free.• Horses sold through professional training or sales busi-nesses had an average sale price of $4,646, not including the 4% given away.• The average price at public auction was $839.The survey respondents identified the sport of eventing as their primary riding discipline most often (37%). Hunter/jumper was second at 27%, dressage third at 13%, and then trails and recreation (English) at 9%.

Pro Horse Slaughter Leader Wallis Dead By Steven Long

HOUSTON, (Horseback) – She had the ability to make some horse lovers retch. Now, some are hailing Sue Wallis as a worthy opponent who lost her fight and had retired from the pro-horse slaughter arena for most of the last year; others, not so much. She is dead at 56. The Wyoming legislator was preceded in death by her husband, Rod McQueary slightly more than a year ago. The couple leaves nine children. Wallis served in the Wyoming legislature for four terms from rural Recluse in Campbell County. Her replace-ment will be appointed by commissioners before the new leg-islature convenes February 10. Horseback has asked for comment from fellow horse


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HORSEBACK MAGAZINE: I recently saw a monkey see, monkey do situation. We were in an arena and an experienced rider was taking her horse over small jumps. A novice came in, made two passes around the perimeter and then headed toward the horizontal pole. For-tunately, it was set low and there wasn’t a mishap, but I can assure you, that per-son had no idea whether the horse could jump or not and a wreck could have happened.

PAT PARELLI: That is a perplexing question for in-experienced riders and folks not into Natural Horseman-ship. When is a horse ready for a particular task? My viewpoint is that most hors-es lack foundation, pretty much across the board, for all sports and disciplines. A well rounded horse that does it all with confidence is what we want. This is a horse that uses his instincts and skills at the same time, knows what he’s doing, and uses the left, rational thinking, side of his brain. This confidence can be developed on the ground.

HORSEBACK: So groundwork, as always, is the foundation.

Know the Horse You’re RidingBy Pat Parelli with Steven Long

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PARELLI: One way we test the readiness of a horse is to see if he’ll take jumps on the ground. A good pre-flight test is to see if he’ll take a jump inline with just a halter and lead. The next thing is to consider that most horses are taught things to do with im-p u l s i v e n e s s . Many don’t understand the difference be-tween impul-sion and im-pulsiveness. Impul-sion is when whoa equals go, and go equals whoa when it comes from emotional fitness. Im-pulsiveness is something that comes from horses who aren’t confident, who still are in a flight from fear mode and feel they must do every-thing with speed.

HORSEBACK: So, a real world analogy would be?

PARELLI: If you gave your em-ployee your credit card and a list

of supplies to buy, and if he followed your request and bought only what was only the list, then that is impul-sion. If he came back and said, ‘I ran around to a lot of de-partments, saw a good buy on this other stuff and bought for

just a few thousand on your credit card without your permission, then that’s impulsive behavior. People understand the difference when it comes to things like credit cards but they miss it when it comes to horses. Traditional equine sports methods are usually based on hav-

ing horses with more go than whoa. If the horse has more steam, then he’s going to get over the jump. If the horse is not jumping with con-fidence, however, then the horse is still in a flight from fear mode and that’s when opposition reflexes come into play.

HORSEBACK: So how does a per-son know when the horse is ready?

PARELLI: First get him confident on the ground – that’s what we do with our program. We get the horse confident and brave through a step by step foundation program before we ever ask anything under saddle. The crux of the matter is that we need to get people away from traditional military concepts of “making” the horse do things rather than getting the horse to be more confident. Once we learn some equine psychology, and then learn equine sports psychology, all these problems will be things of the past.

“...we need to get people away from traditional

military concepts of “making” the horse do

things rather than getting the horse to be more

confident.”



& D

irt

From Broadcaster to ImpresarioCollege Station’s Kristi Schiller is Putting Barrel Racing Front and

Center as a Sport Gaining the Respect it Deserves

Horse trailers pulling spirited barrel racing horses will converge on the Brazos Valley and the Brazos County Expo Complex in mid March for one of the largest extravaganzas of its type in the nation. The Diamonds and Dirt Barrel Horse Classic combines bling, country music, ruffles, rock hard muscle, and distaff daring do all in one package. It’s the brain child of a Freeport, Texas girl come to greatness, Kristy Schiller. She is a larger than life force of nature whose personal website shows an opening page domi-nated by her image splashed across a building on New York’s Times Square. La Schiller does nothing small. Not content to have her favorite, an otherwise backwater charity, ignored by the national spotlight - she bought K9s4COps a float in the Rose Parade guaranteeing national TV exposure. We sat down for a visit about Diamonds and Dirt, and a few other things.

HORSEBACK: How did you come up with that marvelous name for the event? It pretty much says it all, grit, class, and definitely a feminine feeling but also earthiness.

SCHILLER: Latricia Duke (trainer, racer, and barrel racing coach) and I toyed with a


by Steven Long


lot of names - we loved the ebb and flow of Diamonds & Dirt immedi-ately. (Duke has racing earnings of $5.5 million, training and sending four horses to the National Finals Rodeo. Horses touched by the fine hand of Duke include Sign of Pas-sion mounted by Tiffany Fox, Yeah Hes Fire ridden by Brittany Pozzi, Hesa Bug Leo with Angie Meadors astride, and Dial It Fast with Shada Brazile In the barrel horse world Duke horses are the elite).

HORSEBACK: In last year’s article I read about your purchase of “In-sane for Fame,” your involvement with trainers, but there was one question unanswered in the story. Do you ride, and do you barrel race?

SCHILLER: I started riding at a very early age, probably about 3-years-old. I believe I got my first barrel horse when I was about 8. Like most kids, I started in 4-H competing in all-around horseman-ship then youth rodeos, high school rodeos, AQHA shows, etc. I eventu-ally did all the events, but I always

had a love of the glamour of the rodeo queens and a fondness for going fast. I started my career in broadcasting and was extremely fortunate to be able to fulfill my career dreams by work-ing. In the early 1990’s I was drawn to the innovation of the information superhighway. It was a natural transi-tion for me to be involved in trying to combine the two. I must have had some success along the way — Forbes named me “Queen of the Internet.” During this time I did not have the luxury of time to have a career and horses, so I took an equine sabbatical for almost 20 years. I knew I would be involved in horses again one day. This level found me, I like to say. When I had met Latricia Duke, I was actually in the process of purchasing another open horse for myself. The original arena we were go-ing to had flooded so we ended up go-ing to a private barn in nearby Anson, Texas. Low and behold, it was home to futurity trainers, Latricia and J.O. Duke (Duke Barrel Horses, Merkel, Tx). I did not know the Duke fam-ily, yet, but as the day progressed and the more I watched her I became very

impressed at their work ethic and their ability to handle each young horse carefully, and compassion-ately consider what that 3-year-old required. Their dedication to their craft left me captivated to say the least. Due to my hectic schedule, I don’t get to compete as much as I would like but every once in a while I’ll sneak out with the girls to a local jackpot. In fact, I ran one of my favorite mounts, Recent Re-lease (who holds a record of one of the fastest times in the world on a standard pattern) at Friday night’s jackpot in Magnolia, Texas a few weeks ago. Latricia won it on a fu-turity colt and I was one out of the money. I was pretty proud of my-self because my time to ride is still very limited. For me to climb on these high caliber horses is like giving someone with a learner’s permit the keys to a Ferrari! It’s an abso-lute rush! It’s like riding the big-gest roller coaster at Disney World with a fast pass!


Diamonds & Dirt- Con’t. on pg.18


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Scan or visit http://goo.gl/ZPGU0n

IT ONLY TAKES TWO DAYS TO BECOME A BETTER HORSEMAN. Begin your journey toward real horsemanship, attend a Walkabout Tour stop near you.

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WALKABOUTEVENTS.COM • 888.287.7432

OVER $6,000 IN PRIZES GIVEN AWAY AT EACH TOUR STOP!JOIN WWW.NOWORRIESCLUB.COM TO GET COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

MARCH 22-23 • GEORGE H. HENDERSON JR. EXPO CTR. • 1200 ELLEN TROUT DR. • LUFKIN, TX

Also wants to say PROUD SPONSOR OF MARY WALKER AND LATTE!

New & Used Trades

FEATURING BLOOMER TRAILERS & OUTLAW CONVERSIONS

WWW.OTTINC.COM877 277 0065 MARY 402 598 7607 OR DUCK 816 721 5981

1014 LAPLATTE RD. BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA 68123


HORSEBACK: Somewhere, somehow, you came to an epiph-any. Somewhere, somehow, you dreamed up hosting a world class barrel racing event. Set the scene for me. Where were you? What was the inspiration?

SCHILLER: As much as I love the Internet, I got tired of watching webcasts to see my horses compete. One late summer evening in 2011, shortly after Latricia Duke came to work at the Schiller Ranch, we were having dinner up at the “Big House” and were discussing her travel plans for the upcoming year. She said she was going to Louisi-ana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. She said that’s where the big money futurities are. I thought it was lu-dicrous that a state with our bar-rel racing heritage didn’t have a premier futurity. This is where the sport of barrel racing originated. We should have one of the biggest and best futurities in the country. From that conversation Diamonds & Dirt was born.

HORSEBACK: I’ve read of your love of dogs. The beneficiary of the event is K9s4COPs. How did law enforcement come into the picture, particularly the K9s4COPs?

SCHILLER: K9s4COPs was raised from a vision I had in December 2009 when I saw on the news about a K-9 dog being killed in the line of duty. I was so moved that an officer’s life was saved by the quick action of his K-9 partner. I immediately began researching de-partments that were in dire needs of a dog. Unfortunately, dogs are the number one item cut from most department budgets. I am incred-ibly grateful to the many people and corporations that have stepped up just this past year to the tune of an excess of $1 million dollars. People have embraced this avenue to show their unbridled support of law enforcement. K9s4COPs pro-vides a trusted way for individuals, corporations and foundations to

foster a relationship with those in uniform that keep our community a safer place.

HORSEBACK: Diamonds and Dirt has made a really big splash in the barrel horse world, and I’m certain the athletes are grateful at its growth and your commitment.

SCHILLER: In our first two years, the Diamonds & Dirt Barrel Horse Classic has become one of the top events in the country. Barrel Horse News ranked us as the No. 4 event in nation behind the likes of the Nationals Finals Rodeo. We were by far and away the richest event in the state of Texas. This year we’ve added a $225,000 Slot Race for 4- and 5-year-olds. The winner will take home $100,000. This is the only Slot Race in the country open to 5-year-olds. With the addition of the in-novative classes and the proposed expansion of the Brazos County Expo, our event has tremendous growth potential for many years to come.

HORSEBACK: Is your daughter riding yet?

SCHILLER: I’m simply OVER THE MOON that my daughter Sinclair has a full blown love af-fair with horses and barrel racing. My little 40-pound jockey has gone from trying (what seems like yes-terday) to find a D in the alphabet this past spring, to running in the 1D by the end of summer—in the OPEN! AGAINST ADULTS! At Diamonds & Dirt this past March, she trotted and baby loped a blistering 46-second pat-tern on her steadfast mare Saint Rosie. We worked our way through her first two pee wee rodeo series and were competing at the Ogden 8 & Under World Championships by late summer. The Ogden was no back-yard goat-roping, these young rid-ers came to play with some serious horsepower. One of the horses we ran against was Mystic Angela, a

former NFR record holder! Once Sinclair saw other kids her age competing at such a high level, her competitive nature took over. (I have no idea where she got that from!) She spent two weeks with Jackie Ganter, one of the toughest youth barrel racers around and proud member of Team Woof Pack, a group of talented young riders who donate a portion of their earnings to K9s4COPs. She saw how much work Jackie puts into her horses. After

“I was so moved that an officer’s

life was saved by the quick action of his K-9 partner.

I immediately began

researching departments that were in

dire need of a dog.”



hanging out with Jackie, all she’s wanted to do is learn how to run barrels. I love it she looks up to the other young girls she looks up to — Allie Chouest, Karsyn Dan-iels, Kylee McMillian, Jayci Byler, Cheyenne Gubert, Austyn Peacock, Zoey Korenek, Ceily Simpton and Hailey Hass. These little girls all support each other and in turn love to support K9s4COPs. My little girl lives with Latricia Duke, for heaven’s sake – but seeing how much work other kids into it made

her want to do it even more. She went from having someone else booting her horses before and after a run to taking care of that herself. Of course, a good pile of dirt (to play in) still calls too from time to time, but she’s learn-ing her horses have to come first. Now we’re competing at jackpots together.

HORSEBACK: Will the event al-ways be held in College Station?

SCHILLER: Our goal all along was to have a premier event that our family and friends could attend (and Bryan’s Brazos County Expo, is practically in Schiller Ranch’s backyard). They provide DDBHC with a centrally located, premier fa-cility. Ever since our first year, the city of Bryan/College Station and the surrounding Brazos Valley has stepped up to work with us and as our event has grown, so has their commitment.

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The Pin Oak Charity Horse ShowBy Cathy Strobel



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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Horse trailers in Houston are a common sight so you might not notice them at first. But if you are paying

attention and are in the vicinity of the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, you will be likely to observe an increasing number of well-equipped horse trail-ers and RV’s descending upon the Great Southwest Equestrian Center beginning around March 17th this year. For the 69th time, competitive equestrians will gather together for the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. Hailed as one of the old-est established horse shows in the country, Pin Oak was recognized six years ago by the United States Equestrian Federation as the first Heritage Horse Show in the United States. Today it is one of the top 25 shows in the country. Over the course of two weeks, you will be able to watch competitors at their best in a variety of disci-plines. And for those who enjoy the jumping; hunter and jumper classes will be held each day. Dur-ing week one, sponsored by Ha-ras dos Cavaleiros, spectators can enjoy breed competitions featur-ing American Saddlebreds, Anda-lusians, Lusitanos and Welsh Po-nies. Boasting prestigious classes throughout, such as the USHJA $30,000 Hunter Derby and four $25-30,000 Grand Prix classes, there is plenty of variety and ex-citement for spectators. According to Lynn Walsh, President of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, “This is just as much of a social event as it is a horse show.” With Texas Children’s Hospital as the major charitable benefactor, there is no shortage of people who want to help. It seems the whole Houston community has a hand in this event. There are countless volunteers that need to be coordinated, corporate and personal sponsors to be identified and many vendors vying for spaces on the show grounds before the horsemen appear in droves. Tied into this event, are par-ties and fundraisers throughout the year to bolster this massive effort for charity. The heart of Houston society will be turning out for many of these events before this year’s competition is said and done. There is a lot of tradi-tion that goes along with this show, as well. Generations of families have and continue to be a part of Pin Oak

from the philanthropic, volunteering and competitive aspects of the show. The impact of the show is also huge to the local economy and has been guesstimated to be well into the tens of millions of dollars. Almost 1,100 stalls will be sold out along with nearly 100 RV slots for the 2 weeks of showing.

Hundreds of hotel rooms are filled. Res-taurants, local shops, veterinarians, far-riers and countless other businesses and suppliers will benefit from the impressive gathering of horse flesh. The logistics to put on this event are just as impressive. According to Sean Brown, facility manager of GSEC, over 400 temporary stalls must be assembled, thousands of shavings bales must be stored and delivered, manure disposal has to be handled in a timely fashion and then there are the arenas that must be managed. Each arena has to be watered and groomed, flowers and plants select-ed, brought in and arranged while jump courses are modified with frequency. As the profits from this show are donated to charity, there is a very philan-thropic feel to the show. Texas Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House and Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Fam-ily Alliance are all benefactors. Last year TCH received over $200,000 from the show. Pin Oak has made a commitment of over $400,000 to Child Life and the 2nd floor Child Life Play Room at the

THC West Campus. At this point, only $70,000 of the commitment remains before new commitments are made in 2014. Y. Ping Sun, a board member of TCH, knows just how much help this show is. “We are grateful to the vol-unteers and organizers of the Pin Oak

Charity Horse Show which benefits Texas Children’s Hospital. TCH is one of the top five children’s Hos-pitals in the nation, helping and healing the sickest children regard-less of their families’ ability to pay. It is the generous spirit of many people supporting events like Pin Oak who enable TCH to serve our community.” Drawing nationally honored trainers and show riders such as Peter Pletcher, who may show as many as 40-50 horses during the two weeks; this event continues to attract top athletes. Equestrian legends like Todd Minikus and Conrad Homfeld are a sampling of stand-out show riders from years past. Local Houstonian Katie Lam-bert Boone of Irish Day Farms has a history of bringing 30-40 horses to the competition and is now, stepping up her game. With the help of her clients, Irish Day Farm is sponsoring week two of the com-petition. Katie says, “It’s a great horse show! It has improved a lot over the years. I was at a show in Palm Beach recently and was excit-

ed to hear horse people there telling me that they had heard about the show and how great it is. I think the social aspect of it is a lot of fun and the jumpers are a great attraction for regular Housto-nians. It has a lot more evening classes and events than most horse shows do. I love it when the school kids come to see the show, too!” And it truly is a fun show with cozy seating in the arenas, VIP areas with food service and several parties in the 5,000 square foot Arena Club over-looking the main indoor arena. Let it suffice to say that if you enjoy horses at all and are able to get to Houston between March 19th and 30th, you need to take some time to visit the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center. For more information, visit pinoak.org.



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HORSEBACK MAGAZINE: Since I grew up as a horse-crazy girl in the 50’s and 60’s, I can’t believe that I’d never heard of Snowman’s story until recently. In many ways, I find it even more com-pelling than the Secretariat or Seabiscuit stories, because, they were bred to do what they excelled at. Although Seabis-cuit was kind of a misfit, he was bred to run, and to do what he ended up being

good at. Snowman came out of nowhere. ELIZABETH LETTS: I think that the thing about the story that makes it so incredible was Harry and Snowman’s re-lationship with each other. I do think its true, when you think about a great cham-pion, like Secretariat, or Man of War, or any of those great horses, they were bred to be champions, and, of course they still

had to rise to the top of the pack, but Snowman wasn’t bred for anything. Like you said, he came out of nowhere. HORSEBACK: I’ve wondered when I look at the photos of Snowman, and read the descriptions of him, if, in some fluky way, his breeding somewhat mimicked, the way in which, later on, Warmbloods were developed?

Harry and the Plow Horsea.k.a Snowman

By Diane Lindig Lovett

F rom the moment she first saw a picture of Snowman leaping over the16-hand mare Lady Gray, Elizabeth Letts knew the story her next book would tell. The spectacular nature of the stunt was enough to capture her attention, but it was one small detail within the photograph- the look in the leaping horse’s eye, that drew her in completely. Calm, confident, and joyful; it expressed the relationship shared by the big gray horse and his rider, Harry de Leyer. The detail within the photograph, the story within the story, reflected a bond so strong, that Harry called it the

“secret weapon” behind the duo’s astounding competitive successes in 1958-60. From their humble beginnings, Harry and his eighty-dollar rescued plow horse soared to the highest heights of the show jumping world, and they carried the com-mon man with them. Through the process of researching and writing their story, the author was reconnected with her own horsemanship roots, and was reminded that, no matter which paths our lives take, we never really leave our horses behind.

Snowman - Con’t. on pg. 24


Before coming to the U.S. in 1950, Harry had seen his home village of St. Odenrode, Holland suffer the ravages of World War

II. His family’s previously thriving farm and brewery business had been decimated, and the field in which he had ridden as a boy had been turned into a graveyard for the fallen sol-diers. When he immi-grated to America with his young wife, Johanna, they arrived with only a small, single crate of their possessions. In the six years since, he had worked relentlessly, first as a tobacco share-crop-per, then as a stable hand and trainer, before land-ing a job as the riding instructor for the Knox Girls’ School on Long Island, while building and maintaining his own small stable and training business on the side. Snowman’s life, like Harry’s had been no cakewalk. Their paths met on a snow-covered day in February, 1956, just as the East’s largest weekly horse auction, in New Holland, Pennsylvania, was shutting down for the day. Harry had arrived late, due to a flat tire on his dilapidated station wagon. He was looking for a schooling horse to add to the Knox School stable, but the only horses left were those unsold ones that had been loaded onto the killer truck. The horse that would soon be christened “Snowman” by the de Leyer children was one of them. Despite looking beaten-up and poor, with open wounds on both knees, cracked hooves, and marks across his chest from pulling a plow, the horse caught Harry’s eye. He saw past the wounds and signs of neglect to notice not only the horse’s sturdy constitution, but the calm, trusting look in the big gray’s eyes. That look,

that expression, drew Harry in, and refused to let him go, just as it would draw in author Elizabeth Letts, and inspire her to write their story years later. Harry paid the killer “knacker” his entire budget of $80, and the rest, as they say, is history. When Harry first tried to train Snowman to jump, the horse refused to even pick his feet

up to clear ground-poles, but Har-ry suspected that he actually could jump, One day, on a dare from a sta-ble hand at the Knox school, Harry headed the lumbering gray toward a 4-foot jump, and discovered that, low and behold, the horse loved to jump, if you gave him something worth jumping! By the Summer of 1958, Harry and Snowman were winning consistently in the series of East Coast shows leading up to the crowning event of the season, the National Horse Show, then held in Madison Square Garden in Novem-ber. At the season’s end, the amazing duo had won the Triple Crown of show jumping; the American Horse Shows Association Horse of the Year, the Professional Horseman’s Associa-tion Championship, and the Nation-al Horse Show Diamond Jubilee.

They repeated their wins of the first two awards in 1959, and won the Open Jumping Championship at the Washington International Horse Show in 1960. All this in competi-tion against the most elite horse and rider teams of the time, and while maintaining a schedule that included continuing his duties as a schooling mount for the Knox School girls, per-

forming exhibitions, (included the stunt in which “Snowie” jumped over Lady Gray), and, on warm days, taking the de Leyer children swim-ming on his back in Long Island Sound. Snowman’s popularity also opened the door to corporate sponsor-ships of events, rais-ing the bar for prize money in a way similar to the way Tiger Woods’s popu-larity did for golf, years later. When Harry and Snowman started their career,

they were lucky if prize money cov-ered their show expenses. At the Na-tional Horse Show in 1959, the duo competed for and won the Chemical Corn Bank sponsored Champion-ship Stakes prize of $5,000, a sum that equaled the average American’s annual salary at the time. Likewise, prices for top show jumpers increased dramatically. After Snowman’s win at the Garden in 1958, the real estate magnate Bert Firestone offered Harry $35,000 for him, and when his offer was declined, he left a blank check for Harry to fill in, if he changed his mind. After his win over Snowman in the first class at” the National” in 1959, Windsor Castle was bought, during the show, for the then astronomical sum of $50,000.

The Eighty-Dollar Champion:Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation

By Elizabeth Letts, Ballentine Books Paperback



English...

gave reassurance to each other. So, not only did Snowman look happy, he looked confident in every situation. What do you think was the key to Snow-man and Harry’s phenomenal competitive success? LETTS: Again, I think it was their rela-tionship. I don’t know if Snowman was the most talented horse, and Harry, certainly had many, many talented horses come through is barn over the years, but when they were together, they were greater than the sum of their parts. Snowman brought out the best in Harry, and Harry brought out the best in Snowman, and that is the magic of riding, that’s the magic of equestrian sports, to me. HORSEBACK: Speaking of the magic of riding, I love the description of Harry and Snowman’s final jump-off at the National Horse Show in 1958. It reads: “The big gates swung open, and Snowman entered the ring. As usual, Harry gave him a moment to survey the crowd- the sounds of the shouting and the applause from up in the cheap seats was deafening. Harry tipped his hat to the crowd to acknowledge their sup-port. Then the noise and the crowd, all the people in the grand hall, and even the grand hall itself fell away…” Harry and Snowman completed a seemingly effortless clear round before Harry even hears the crowd cheering. I’ve never competed at that level, but I can so relate to that sense of connection and timelessness when riding.

LETTS: I think that is really where the power of this story came from, and why the book has been so successful, is that, I did have access to Harry, and to be able to talk with him, and to be able to under-stand what it was like, how did that feel. And I think, anybody who’s ever ridden a horse can relate to that at some level, even if you haven’t ridden in a jump-off at the National Championship in Madison Square Garden, we still have moments when it feels like that. HORSEBACK: Things changed dramati-cally, after Snowman brought show jump-ing into the public square and increased the sport’s popularity among everyday people. Would you say that Snowman was to show jumping what Tiger Woods was to golf years later?? LETTS: That’s just a great analogy. There were other horses at the time, such as Nautilus, who won a big show jumping championship in England and was quite well-known, but Snowman had this spe-cial magic to him. He was “The People’s Horse”. Harry told me many times that he never felt that Snowman belonged only to him. He felt that Snowman belonged to everyone. I thought that was such a beau-tiful way to feel about it. People connect-ed to Snowman, and they connected to Harry, and it made them feel interested in the sport in a way that none of the other horses had been able to do. HORSEBACK: Do you know, are there plans to make a movie based on the story?

LETTS: I’ve heard other people say that, and I think that is an interesting point. If you looked at pictures of him, Harry felt very strongly that you could clearly see the Thoroughbred in him. He was obvi-ously a little heavier-boned than the Thor-oughbred, and he didn’t have a real Thor-oughbred-looking head, but if you say that he was the first Warmblood, Harry would be the first to say no. He probably had a little Percheron in him, Thoroughbred, maybe a little Standardbred, I mean, he was a true “mutt.” HORSEBACK: Truly. The other thing I noticed in his photographs is that, that look in his eye, in every picture that you see him in, is just so amazingly, consistent-ly, happy and confident. LETTS: Yes, and that was the thing that made me really stop, and pause at his pic-ture when I first saw it in 2008. When I saw him jumping over the other horse, I thought to myself, not only is this a crazy stunt, but look at the look on his face- happy… just, happy, and you could tell that he loved his rider, and that was what drew me to the story. I thought, “Why does this horse love this rider so much?” And when I found out why, I just couldn’t get over it. HORSEBACK: Exactly, and for the rea-son that you might expect, after learning their story, which is, essentially, that Snow-man had a sense that Harry had saved his life, and would do anything for him, and he would do anything for Snowman. Because of what they’d each been through, they Snowman - Con’t. on pg. 26



English...

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Thanks to Ron Davis of Docutainment Films, for providing the pictures of Snowman and Harry. Read about the documentary, Harry and Snowman, to be released later this year, at www.docutainmentfilms.com. Our thanks to Joan Porter Jannaman, for the use of her lovely painting, Snowman and Harry. The original oil painting is now hanging in The International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Limited edition, signed, and

numbered prints are available through the artist’s website, www.lakehillstudio.com. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this print edition will be DONAT-ED equally between the KENTUCKY EQUINE HUMANE CENTER and THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK FOUNDATION.

LETTS: Yes, there is a movie in the works. MGM is making it. At this point, it’s still in the signing stages, so I’m not sure when they will start filming, but it’s very exciting. There is also a documentary be-ing made about it by Docutainment Films, that will come out some time later this year. HORSEBACK: Wonderful! Is there any particular scene within the story you wrote, or an image that comes to mind that epitomizes what makes this story special, or that is the first thing you think of when you remember the experience of writing this book?

LETTS: Oh, Yeah! I still remember the moment when Harry told me this story. It’s the image of Snowman, standing in the morning mist in Harry’s barnyard, in his halter and dangling lead rope, with the rubber tire and a piece of fence still at-tached to it! I can just see the expres-sion on that horse’s face, just smiling! Harry had seen something in the horse, and brought him home, but then he sold

him- probably the biggest mistake Har-ry ever made, but as Harry said, “The horse knew better,” That loyalty…I just can’t get over it! HORSEBACK: I think that scene is a metaphor for how once we are con-nected; our horses never really leave us. LETTS: Yes. There’s a Jane Smiley quote on my website, “But what truly horsey girls discover, in the end, is that boyfriends, husbands, children, and ca-reers, are the substitute for horses.” That quote is very poignant for me, be-cause, after being totally immersed in riding, and it was the most important thing in my life at 16, (Elizabeth and her horse, Pretty Boy Floyd were chosen to participate in the National Junior Three Day Event Championships in Lexington, Kentucky) I went off and did a million things that literally had nothing to do with horses. And yet, here I am. I think it’s true for all of us, once you get horses in your blood, you may feel that you’re mov-

ing away from them, but you never really do. HORSEBACK: Now that your path has lead you back to your horsemanship roots, what’s next in your writing career? LETTS: I have another book in the works. I’m writing about the res-cue of the Lipizzaners at the end of World War II, by the United States Army. HORSEBACK: Wonderful! Now I have another great horse story to look forward to reading! Thank you so much for sharing your time and talents with us!

Contact Dianne at Hill Country Equestrian Lodge where she teaches Whole

Horsemanship year-round. www.hillcountryequestlodge.com,

or (830) 796-7950


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Available

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Slow feeders have become popular due to domestication and human involvement which has forced horses from their natural environ-

ment and habits. This can lead to over-weight animals, especially when coupled with limited physical activity. Many of these horses have become resistant to the effects of Insulin, the hormone released from the pancreas in response to an in-crease of blood glucose following the in-gestion of a starch meal. Insulin resistance and aberrant carbohydrate metabolism play a role in disorders such as Cushing’s disease, Insulin Resistance, Laminitis, Re-current Exertional Rhabdomyolysis, and Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy. These disorders may be directly linked to the inability of certain individuals to metabolize large amounts of starch over long periods of time. They all have delete-rious effects on the health of the horse and in most cases require intense medical and nutritional intervention to avoid prema-ture death. Other conditions as a result of “meals” can contribute to Ulcers, Choke, and Colic. We as caregivers of equines are trying to solve these issues. Horseback has decided to take a stab at finding some of the slow feeding products available that are good, bad and in-between but more im-portantly, ones that will work best for your challenges, needs and feeding situation. You will find options ranging from $7.95 to $96 a bag, and larger hay holders up to $300 or more. Why a slow feed system for your horse? Decrease secretion of cortisol by

alleviating stress associated with meals (mentally and physically horses need for-age available 24/7). If cortisol is elevated, insulin rises which leads to fat storage; this can cause or worsen obesity. Reduce the risk of ulcers: A horse’s stomach produces acid 24 hours a day in preparation for constant uptake and can empty in as little as 15-20 minutes. Sa-liva is alkaline, which buffers gastric acid. Under natural conditions with free choice forage, the horse will produce about five gallons of saliva every day, and eventually “recycle” much of the water content via re-absorption prior to excretion. Equines naturally graze 18-24 hours a day therefore food should always be available. The lack of food produces a stressful situation which can be a large con-tributing factor psychologically. Increased digestion: If your horse consumes hay too quickly, it will not have enough time to digest it properly. Proper digestion and fermentation require time and movement. Using multiple locations will encourage both. This will keep fer-mentation going consistently, effectively keeping the hindgut weighted and healthy, as a result, and preventing conditions that can contribute to colic. Consuming hay more slowly reduces the likelihood of choke. Minimize or alleviates boredom: Horses allowed to continuously slow feed benefit both physiologically and psycho-logically. Keeping the horse occupied helps to prevent vices from developing. Horses only sleep 3 to 4 hours in a 24 hour period and usually no longer than 20 minutes at a

time, food is their main focus. Hay is a concentrated food for the horse: It is grass with the water reduced; every bite is a concentrated source of in-take per pound. Grass is around 80% wa-ter, while hay is usually around 10% . The concentrated nutrition in hay may make it necessary to limit intake over a 24 hour period. Increased chew time wears teeth more naturally and produces more saliva.Little to no wasted hay: Saving you money! Slow feeding horses has numer-ous benefits and more closely mimics that of his wild ancestors before domestication.What to look for in hay feeders:

1 Safety2.Durability3.Natural grazing posture with the head down 4. Consider whether your horse is bare-foot or shod5. What is the material your horse will be eating out of - is it soft and easy on the muzzle?6. Price

Let’s talk a bit about the benefits of natural grazing posture with the head below the knee:Less strain on the skeletal system and soft tissue, a horse is designed to eat with the head down, not up, sideways or twisted. The head down in a natural po-sition allows the mandible (jaw bone) to come down and forward in the joint cap-sule, the atlantoaxial joint (between the at-las and the axis between the two vertebrae) to open, and the mandible to move up and down, side to side forward and back with-

Something to Chew On… By Diane Holt

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out any restriction. Enables nasal passages to drain effectively: Their emotional state is closely tied in to body position and posture. If we require a horse to eat with their head elevated, we are encouraging an alert and tense mental state. Eliminates the risk of hay and dust falling into your horse’s eyes. It does not impair the horse’s peripheral vision (350 degrees). If impaired, this can create tension psychologically. Horses are prey animals and depend on sight and sound to detect predators.Next are your needs, locations and time to service the feeders:

1. How many horses will the feeders need to accommodate?2. Where will the feeders be located sheds, stalls, trailer, arena or pasture?3. How much time do you have avail-able to fill them?When you slow feed hay, you are using a method of slowing down the rate of

consumption; it’s that simple. So let’s just say you want to slow down the hay consumption for any of the reasons mentioned above, or you want to keep the hay off the ground to help prevent sand colic, dirt and dust from the hay.

These are just a few of the options that are available and we will share some details on them based on our personal ex-perience:

The Hay Basket, www.tarterfarmandranch.com, is a large feeder that accommodates several square bales of hay dry or soaked. It can be converted to a slow feeder by placing the hay into a bale net or make a top ring net using nag bag netting. The Hay Baskets made our list because of the quality of the product and the simplicity of use. It holds several square bales dry or soaked hay, easy to turn over and roll to another location, extremely durable and great for feeding 4 horses together at a time, and with it hold-

ing a good amount of hay you don’t have to spend time refilling. This system allows your horses head to be in the natural graz-ing position and allows little effort to fill. It keeps the hay off the ground and mini-mizes wasted hay; an excellent choice. We would not recommend this for mini horses because of the side openings.

Slow Feeder Saver by High Country Plastics www.highcountryplastics.com/prod-ucts/slow.html,Innovative five-piece designed slow feeder box assembles in minutes. Weighs only 55 pounds easy to move, made of a durable solid material eliminating waste of hay, no sharp edges or corners and easy to fill, great for soaked or dry hay. However it does allows faster hay consumption unless you place the hay in a bale net or weave nag bag netting on the grill for slower con-sumption. We would not recommend for mini horses because of the top openings.

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There are numerous different styles of feeders available, the trick is finding the one that best suits you and your horse.



Hay Pillow, www.thehaypillow.com, a fabulous system alone, or as an addition to other systems. Hay Pillow Inc. offers several sizes of openings, easy to fill with zipper enclosures, toss out anywhere, in-side the stall, pasture or paddocks. They also offer the Mini Hay Pillow designed especially for miniature horses. Helps with boredom and also becomes a source of entertainment and slow eating tool keeping your alone horse or easy keepers very busy. Having several of them in dif-ferent locations allows the horse’s natural movement from location to location to graze with head down in natural position and keeps them moving. Horses need constant movement as nature designed so an excellent choice.

The Nag bagwww.slowfeeder.com is a very good op-tion if you have to hang your bags. They also have square and round bale nets for ground feeding and or custom cuts to ac-commodate your feeding system. Made of a very durable netting some of the best netting I’ve seen out there. No knots on

the netting to bother your horses muzzle while eating and easy to fill if you’re travel-ing. They make great trailer bags.

The Cinch Chix,www.cinchchix.com, is another wonderful option to feed natu-rally they are designed for use with square or round bales and hay by the flake. They are easy to manage, made of durable nylon cord, knotted at the intersections with dif-ferent size options available to you. They also offer a Free up Feeder frame that makes it very easy to fill your net.

Texas Hay Net, www.texashaynet.com, another good choice if you feed round bales you simply cast the netting over the bale and install the closing string at ground level it’s simple and can feed many horses at a time. If your horse is shod you will want to have it inside a hay ring solid at ground level. Their web site can show you the before mess with-out using a net and the after it will save your hay budget.

The Nibble Net,

www.thinaircanvas.com/nibblenet/nib-blenetframe.htm, is made of heavy-duty vinyl back with a grid of poly nylon webbing, offered in one-and-a-half or two-inch openings. Re-ally like the nibble net sheets that you can build your own box for the hay and this would allow the horses head to be in the proper natural position and slow feeds, they also have the Nibble net Nibble-and-go for ground slow feeding, or put the bag into a tub on the ground to make it a more natural way of eating for your horses.

The Natural Feeder, www.thenaturalfeeder.com. It keeps the hay off the ground to mini-mize eating dirt or sand resulting in colic. If kept outside you need to consider put-ting more holes in the bottom for better drainage so the hay does not gather and rot inside. We would not recommend for mini horses because of the top openings.

Freedom Feeders,www.feedomfeeder.com. Several different sizes available can be thrown into a tub for ground feeding rath-

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Note:

Carbohydrate metabo-lism refers to the pro-duction, storage and use of carbohydrates within organisms. It is essentially the metabolism of sugars and the control of blood sugar levels - we need to maintain these levels in an internal homeostasis.

Equine exertional rhab-domyolysis (ER, also known as tying up, azotu-ria, or Monday morning disease) is a syndrome that damages the muscle tissue in horses. It is usu-ally due to overfeeding a horse carbohydrates and appears to have a genetic link.

Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy is a genetic predisposition to fail to digest grains properly in the horse. The re-sult leads to damage to muscle tissue during ex-ertion. The active result, failure to properly digest starches and sugars from grains, leads to a general system effect. The muscle tissues showing effect or damage varies widely.

Cushing’s syndrome de-scribes the signs and symptoms associated with prolonged expo-sure to inappropriately high levels of the hor-mone cortisol.

Insulin resistance (IR) is a physiological condition in which cells fail to re-spond to the normal ac-tions of the hormone in-sulin. The body produces insulin, but the cells in the body become resis-tant to insulin and are unable to use it as effec-tively,

er than strapped on the fence. The Extend-ed day size is the one we tried and worked well for inside stalls or against a fence. Slow Bale Buddy, www.bigbalebuddy.com.The Slow Bale Buddy is for feeding horses round and square bales of all sizes. Made of soft, strong knotless nylon netting with 1 1/2 inch openings, and fastened with a special safety fastener, it completely en-closes the bale so that the horses must pull the hay through the holes in the netting to eat. While not for use with shod horses unless used in conjunction with another feeder, the Slow Bale Buddy is completely safe for use with all horses, (even minis) as the holes are too small to get caught in.

Pre-Vent Feeders, www.pre-ventfeeders.com. Grain feeders designed to imitate a horse’s natural grazing behavior and address poor feeding behaviors such as aggressive eaters. They are designed to have the horse use his

tongue and lips to retrieve small amounts of feed, requiring him to concentrate and keep his head down while feeding.

Nose-it, www.nose-it.com,a toy with a purpose. Some people will elect to put the Nose-It into a shallow tub in the stall and feed their grain out of it to keep the horse busy and not eating it fast. Outside your horses engage in walk-ing with the Nose-It keeping them moving to get what is inside out.

The Soaker,www.healyourhay.com, doesn’t necessarily fit into the slow feeder category but we have to mention it be-cause they are fabulous if you have a horse with the following conditions: IR, Cush-ings, choke, allergies from dust and dirt. These soakers free up your time with auto-matically set times of filling and draining. Soaking hay has numerous benefits. 1. is it puts moisture back into the hay help-

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ing with colic because dry hay reduces the horse’s body fluids to digest it. 2. Wonder-ful for when horses aren’t drinking much in the winter time, soak in hot water for 30 minutes and feed in your slow feeder system. The most natural way to feed hay is feeding it soaked and the soaker makes it easy. We have mentioned many op-tions to choose from. All the products reviewed were great, some better than others. What you need to think about is what your needs are, we tried to share with you some things to consider before

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purchasing. Be careful if you have shoes on your horse, you need to consider that for the type of slow feeder you choose. As well, if you are feeding mini’s you won’t want anything on the ground for them to get their feet stuck. Try to visualize HOW your horses should be eating natu-rally and how and what the surface is that your horse is being asked to eat from day in and day out, and how it would impact them. Make sure you choose a compa-ny that offers knowledge, support and ed-

ucation to help you decide what style and size that would most benefit your horse’s needs and requirements. Ultimately you are the best judge of whether a slow feeder is right for your situation. Just consider everything because it does matter. Check them all out you’ll surely find one that fits your budget, needs and situation. Something to chew on…….

The review team.

1”, 1.25 & 2” netting holes



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281.659.5584FingerFarms.net

“Do you really like to argue?”

Horseback Magazine’s Saddle & Tack Editor

One area of tack where you can really get into an argument is bits.

I wrote an article years ago where I called a snaffle bit a direct bit, and a curb bit an indirect bit. Well, I was immediately told by an expert that the curb bit was not an indirect bit, but a leverage bit. Well, of course it is. Who could argue with that? English riders have different names for things than western riders, but they all refer to the same thing. A lot of my little bit of knowledge about bits comes from Dale Myler, one of the brothers that started Myler Bits, USA. Dale used to come to the “Horseman’s General Store” in Bandera to give bit seminars, before there was some “hanky-panky”, as I recall the story, and someone took Myler bits to China, a small island off the coast of Alabama, to be kind of copied, at least in looks. Friends, there is a big difference between “Myler, USA” bits and Myler

bits. The Mylers did a lot of research including using a mini-cam inside the horse’s mouth, to see what the bit was doing and how the horse reacted. Now, this, my friends, was scientific research. Because of this scientific research, I tend to give a lot of credence to what Dale Myler told me about bits. One thing that has always stuck with

me is that horses hate the taste of copper in their mouth. That is why their mouths salivate more with copper. They are trying to spit it out! Put a copper bit in your mouth. It’s bitter. Horses like sweet iron, and stainless steel is benign; has no taste. Aluminum dries the mouth. Conclusion? Use sweet iron or stainless steel. Curb bits are a leverage bit. They work off of a fulcrum, your horse’s jaw. The reins come back, the curb strap comes up against the horse’s jaw, the bars of the bit come down on the bars of the horse’s jaw, and a pinching affect is produced . As the horse tucks his head to get away from the pinching of his lower jaw his tongue rolls up in his mouth. The port in the bit allows his tongue to roll into it. To a certain degree, the higher the port - the milder the bit. Goes against everything you’ve ever heard, right? The flatter the port on a curb bit, the more severe it is. Years ago, I had a reining horse trained by the great and famous Dale Wilkinson; Hall of Fame honoree in the National Reining Horse Association, The National Cutting Horse

Association, and the AQHA. When I first went to southern Georgia to meet with Dale, I had a tack shop in middle Tennessee. I thought I’d get to see a lot of interesting tack in Dale’s barn. Dale had three bridles he used to train everything from world champions to backyard reiners. He had a “Don Dodge Snaffle” he used to start horses, A Trammel curb with a medium port and a 6” shank for advanced horses, and a straight mouth curb for when he wanted to get their attention. Countable but lots of world champions in several disciplines, and countless less famous horses trained with only three bits. Amazing. Not really. The amazing thing is the hands that hold the reins, and the understanding of the horse, and its mind. There are lots and lots of ways to start horses. The California Vaquero, with his club bosal and 1” mecate, The Texas cowboy with the snaffle, and the Ohio horseman with a sidepull, all strive for the same result. Most of them make pretty good horses, if the trainers have good hands. It’ the hands on the lines, and the understanding of the horse’s mind that makes a trainer. When you work with a hammer every day, your hands get calloused. If you ride a lot, your horse’s mouth gets calloused. If you change to a different style bit every few months, your horse’s mouth will stay fresher. If you learn to ride with your seat and legs, you can rely less on the bit, and you won’t have to


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: [email protected].

“ride the head”.I used to do quite a bit of bridleless riding in the round pen, learning to use my seat and legs. It is often necessary to ride with contact with the mouth to round your horse so he engages his hindquarters. I was riding with a friend one day, when she wanted to run back to the barn. I said, “Not a good idea. You should never run back toward the barn”. She did it anyway. I was riding with a crappy bosal with a cotton rope mecate. She did it anyway. Took off at a gallop, and my horse wanted to follow. I doubled him with the mecate, and the heel knot came off the bosal and all I had was a rope around the horse’s neck. I just sat down on him and rode him at a walk all the way back to the barn. Without the bridleless training, I would have had an uncontrolled runaway. So, what is the best bit? I used to keep about 100 bits on the wall of my shop, but there were 2 that I stocked several of. An offset D ring snaffle, and a C bit with a sweet iron medium port. For the English riders, I carried an O ring snaffle, and a “Boucher” with a “French link”. What I could never find in any catalog was a set of good hands. The best bit for your horse is one that he is comfortable with and responds well to. You can’t expect to get good results unless you can get your mind right. Plus you need to learn to use your seat and legs, as well as your hands. If anyone cares to respond, I’m ready to argue or expound.


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slaughter advocate, Dave Duquette, an Oregon rancher. He has declined. Equine Welfare Alliance head John Holland, a staunch opponent of Wallis for years also declined comment. Politically, Wallis was surpris-ingly liberal for a rural Republican, advocating equal rights to same sex couples, opposing bills that would re-strict access to abortion, and had said that in the next legislative session that she would introduce legislation to le-galize medical marijuana. She was also pro-choice. Sue Wallis was a colorful poli-tician who wrote poetry and recited it on the floor of the Wyoming House. But she was best known as a passionate advocate of unrestricted horse slaughter attracting a small but active following of fellow ranchers who took their fight unsuccessfully all the way to Washington. Only last week did Congress pass an amendment to the federal budget prohibiting funding for meat inspectors in horse slaughter-houses thereby ending the prospect of legal abattoirs in the U.S. for the fore-

seeable future..

BLM Helicopter Contracts Called “Routine” By Laura Leigh, Horseback MagazineRENO, (Horseback) – In a story re-ported in late February by Horseback Magazine about the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) $12 million dollar contracts for flight services to El Aero of Nevada and Will Hogan of Montana are for “routine” services. BLM spokes-person Tom Gorey responded to our inquiry saying these contracts were “for inventory and monitoring purposes.” When asked if these contracts were for additional services or special projects Gorey responded that the services were “routine.” The BLM conducts inven-tory flights to determine populations of wild horses and burros. The inven-tory flights are also used to determine herd health and range conditions. Go-rey confirmed BLM has no roundups scheduled this year. Congress appropriated $71.8 million to the Wild Horse and Burro Program in Fiscal Year 2013, which ended September 30, 2013. Holding

costs (long and short term) accounted for $46.2 million (64 percent), gath-ers and removals cost $4.8 million (6 percent), and adoption events cost $7.5 million (10 percent). (*statistics taken from BLM webpage). Currently BLM manages 179 Herd Management Areas (HMAs). The acreage currently managed by BLM for wild horses and burros is 26.9 mil-lion acres. Within the HMAs BLM sets an “Appropriate Management Level” (AML) nationwide of both wild horses and burros at 26,677 animals. In June of last year the Nation-al Academy of Science (NAS) released the findings an extensive review of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro program. In the report the NAS cited deficiencies program wide. Yet noted that “AMLs are a focal point for controversy, it is important to develop and maintain standards for transparency, quality, and equity in the establishment, adjust-ment, and monitoring of AMLs.” In recommendations for establishing and validating AML the report outlined six steps. The first step involves “Invento-





Barn &

Tomato Pasta Salad

Time to trade in the winter stew for something lite and fresh. This flavorful salad recipes play more than just a supporting role, it is the star of the table.

Ingredients:• 3 cups cooked rotini pasta• 1 cup tomatoes (cherry, grape or plum) cut into small chunks• 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen) – lightly steamed until crisp-tender• 1/2 cup red onion – diced• 3/4 cup low-fat sour cream• 1 tbsp. prepared tomato pesto

Directions:

Step 1: In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked pasta, tomatoes, peas, and onion.Step 2: In a small bowl, combine the sour cream with the pesto.Step 3: Add the sour cream mixture to the salad ingredients and combine well.

Leather Halter Shelf (for cats or not...)

Got a few old leather halters laying around? Just add a piece of wood and a few tacks and turn that old halter into a shelf for what-nots or maybe even a sitting perch for a cat.

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



GardenGrowing Potatoes without Digging!

Even a couch potato can grow a good potato crop with very little effort. By

using hay and a little soil cleaning up front. Clean up or hoe off an area where you would like to grow your potatoes. Then water down that area very well with a good soaking hose. Plant your potatoes by placing them on the surface of the soil, about 14-16 inches apart in every direction.Now cover with six inches of hay. Water the hay well, giving your potatoes a great damp start. If you have lots of wind and are worried the hay may fly away, you can cover with a light mesh or grass clippings. If you use mesh, make sure and remove it when plants emerge. Now all you have to do is water when necessary and top off with grass clippings if the mulch looks a bit thin. Harvest when ready. You can check the crop without wasting a plant. Just draw back the mulch. If the potatoes are too small, replace the covering carefully and let them grow on a bit longer. You can even harvest some potatoes from a plant and leave the others to grow on.

What the

Heck!

If you haven’t seen or tried a Cucamelon, then you are missing one

great summer taste.

These tiny-sized watermelons have the pure taste of cucumber with a hint of lime thrown in.

Super easy to grow, this cute fruit is planted like a cucumber from April till May. Give the vines a little support and water and wait for your vine to produce. Pick these little melons when they are about the size of a grape and eat them whole.

Great in salads or they can be pickled whole or sliced in half.

Wild Spring

All it takes is a mason jar and some free wild flowers to make spring happen around your home. Texas roads and fields will soon be decked out in Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, Black-eyed Susans, Crimson Clover and hundreds of other native plants.

Take a afternoon to shop the roads and fields and bring a little spring into your home.



A pair of boots is so much more than convenient footwear for ranch and riding. They con-tain memories from the wear-er and family of great times,

two-stepping across a wood floor and days of hard work that begin at dawn and last until the last ray of the sun disappears. These memories are not anything you will hear about on the evening news, but are the only thing that is of any real value and contain the love we give them. When the boots can no longer be worn, there is a sadness that the

BootsCowboy Memories From Diamond 57

memories will evaporate as new ones take their place. But Dia-mond 57 knows about memories and the need to keep them with us after the use of the boots for daily wear is over. Sue Roake of Gresham, Oregon takes the boots and the memories attached with them and preserves them in a useful, creative and stylish way with her Cowboy Boot bag. From the scar of a barbed wire fence or a scuff from a dance floor, each of these all leather purses are made from authentic, all leather, vintage cowboy boots. No two are alike and each is original, brand-

ed signed and numbered.

From purses to wallets and a mirage of other vin-tage products, Diamond 57 has taken cowhide memo-ries and turned them into products that allows those memories to continue. Check out their products and see what they can do to help you preserve your favorite boots.

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REALTOR Roundup

TAMMY FOREMAN -REALTORHodde Real Estate Co.112 W. Main Street, Brenham, TX

(O): (979) 836-8532(C): (979) 451-2945(E):[email protected](W): www.hodderealty.com

Tours: www.texas-property.com

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

ANETT MIER - REALTORColdwell Banker Properties Unlimited31315 FM 2920 #24Waller, Texas

(C): (832) 876-8875

(E): [email protected](W): www.Anettrealtor.com

SPECIALTIES: Ranch, Land and Horse PropertiesTERRITORY: Waller, Montgomery, Grimes & surrounding areas.

LARRY JACOBS - REALTORJacob’s Properties14372 Liberty StreetMontgomery, TX

(O): (936) 597-3301(O): (979) 597-3317

(E): [email protected](W): www.txland.com

SPECIALTIES: Ranches, Hunting & Horse Properties, AcreageTERRITORY: Texas

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

(E): [email protected](W): www.IKnowRanches.com

SPECIALTIES: Farms/Ranches, Horse Properties, LandTERRITORY: Texas

YOLANDA FUSILIER - BROKERPeak Realty17515 Spring Cypress Rd.Suite # C260Cypress, TX(O): (979) 921-9530(C): (713) 417-7567(E): [email protected]

(W): www.peakrealty.sbuilder.net

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

DEE ANN BOUDREAUX- REALTORTexas First Real Estate1116 FM 109New Ulm, TX

(O): (903) 322-3379(C): (979) 583-7305

(E): [email protected](W): www.texasfirstre.com

SPECIALTIES: Residential, Equestrian, Farm/Ranch, Country PropertyTERRITORY: Texas

ANGIE FRANKS - REALTORElite Texas Properties12320 Barker Cypress RdSuite 600-224Cypress, TX

(O): (800) 563-6003(C): (979) 877-5822

(E): [email protected](W): www.elitetexasproperties.com

SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Prop-erty, Country Homes, Farm/RanchTERRITORY: Texas

WENDY CLINE - BROKER ASSOCIATERE/Max Realty Center13611 Skinner Rd., #100Cypress, TX

(O): (281) 213-6200(C): (281) 460-9360

(E): [email protected](W): www.wendyclineteam.com

SPECIALTIES: Residential, Land, CommercialTERRITORY: Texas

YOUR NAME HERE!- REALTOR/BROKERThe Best Real Estate Co.1234 Main StreetHouston, TX

(O): (123) 456-7890(C): (123) 456-7890

(E): [email protected](W): www.bestrealtor.com

SPECIALTIES: Ranches, Hunting & Horse Properties, AcreageTERRITORY: Texas

TOOTIE LYONS RIXMAN- REALTOR, ASSOCIATEHeritage Texas Country Properties605 S. AustinBrenham, TX

(C): (979) 836-3633(E): [email protected]

(W): www.e-countryproperty.com/page-46/tootie-lyons-rixman

SPECIALTIES: Acreage, Homes, Horse Prop-erty, Country Homes, Farm/RanchTERRITORY: Brazos Valley Texas

MARKHAM REALTY - 2715 11th StreetHuntsville, TX

(O): (888) 286-3575(O): (936) 295-5989

(E): [email protected](W): www.markhamrealty.com

SPECIALTIES: Rural Homes, Residential Homes, Ranches, Acreage.TERRITORY: Texas

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Dee Ann BoudreauxTEXAS FIRST REAL ESTATE, LLC.

(979) 583-7305 CELL • (903) 322-3379 [email protected]

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 washwash 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/heelingheading/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.

Wow! What a horse property...Reduced! $749,000

Destiny 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, exexercise area, large master closet with built ins. 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 liglighted roping pen with return alley. 30 x 60 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.

Reduced! $573,000

Glen Oaks Ranch


Real Estate

Continuing a proud tradition of honoring hard-working Texas farmers and ranchers, Agriculture Commis-

sioner Todd Staples invited fami-lies to apply for the Texas Depart-ment of Agriculture’s Family Land Heritage (FLH) program. The pro-gram recognizes family farms and ranches that have been in continu-ous agricultural production by the same family for at least 100 years. Applications are due May 1, 2014. “Family farms and ranches are the backbone of Texas agricul-ture,” Commissioner Staples said. “Currently, more than 98 percent of all farms and ranches in Texas are family-owned. Recognizing this enduring commitment to Tex-as agriculture is what makes the Family Land Heritage program so special. Through generations of hard work, perseverance and love of the land, these families have op-erated their farms and ranches for 100 years or more, making Texas a $100 billion powerhouse of agri-cultural productivity.” The 2014 Family Land Heritage ceremony will be held this fall at the Texas Capitol in Austin, where TDA will recog-

nize farms and ranches established in 1914 or earlier. Eligible farms and ranches must still be owned and operated by the descendants of the founder, either through blood, marriage or adoption. At least 10 acres of the land must be in continuous agricul-tural production for the past 100 years or more. There is no cost to ap-ply for the recognition. To date, TDA has recognized more than 4,800 properties in 237 coun-ties across Texas. In 2000, the FLH program began honoring families for 150 and 200 years of continuous agricultural production. Since then, 133 farms and ranches have been rec-ognized for 150 years of operation and six ranches have been honored for 200 years of operation. Fayette County has been recognized more than any other county since the FLH program began. Applications for the 2014 Family Land Heritage recognition are available for download at www.TexasAgriculture.gov by clicking the Family Land Heritage icon in the middle section of the home page. For more information, email Jill Selman at [email protected].

State to Honor Venerable Texas Farms and Ranches

Application deadline for 2014 recognition is May 1

[email protected]

832.454.2515

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East Texas Equestrian For Sale!

Breunig Farms is located on the banks of Lake Fork Creek, just east of the quaint East Texas town of Mineola, TX, located on FM 49. The focal point of the property is a state-of-the-art 20,000 SF Equestrian Facility. The equestrian facility features 15 stalls, vet room, tackroom, and judges area overlooking the covered, lighted and sprinklered riding arena.

OverlookingOverlooking the front pasture, is a 2,424 SF ranch style home with a large front and back porch. There are twin equipment barns, 3/2 apartment plus RV Hook-Ups for weekend guests. The pasture and paddock system are meticulously planned with staging areas and lanes for ease of movement during large equestrian events. Adjacent 388+/- with an 8 AND 12 acre lake is also for sale - Lake Fork Creek Ranchacre lake is also for sale - Lake Fork Creek Ranch

Offered At • $1,600,000Conner Wilson • 903-452-3029

[email protected] McWhorter • 469-222-4076

[email protected]

BREUNIG FARMS • 110+/- ACRES

Circle T Ranch is a beautiful equestrian property along with an abundance of water only 75 miles east of Dallas. A 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home overlooks a private 10+ acre bass lake.

There is also a 26+ acre shared fishing lake in addition to another 2+/- acre private lake.

ImprovementsImprovements include a 10-stall horse barn, mature hardwood lined pipe fencing, rustic shop, covered riding arena and covered storage for equipment. This beautiful property is located within 10 miles of Canton, TX home of “First Monday Trade Days”

Offered At • $1,150,000Cash McWhorterCash McWhorter • 469-222-4076

[email protected] Hortenstine • 214-616-1305

[email protected]

CIRCLE T RANCH • 153+/- ACRES


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Estate Home on 27.50± Acres | Walker County

A shA showplace built to the highest standards! This stun-ning property is on 27.5 acres of beautiful, rolling, tree-shaded pastures with excellent horse improve-ments. The focal point of the property is a 2.8-acre pro-fessionally managed trophy bass lake. The home, built in 2010, features over 5,000 square feet of beautifully appointed living space.

The property features are:• Custom pool with water fall• 3 metal buildings (shop, horse barn, hay barn)• Concrete and paverstone drives & gated entry• All underground utilities• Cottage or employee home• 3 water wells with 20KW backup generator• • Premium metal roof

All located just minutes north of Houston in Southern Walker County with easy access to Interstate 45. This once in a lifetime property exists in a superb country location.

Call for pricing and appointment.

Stone Hill

78± Acres | Walker County

78 78 Acres + Barn-dominium. This is a very scenic and functional place with improve-ments built in 2007. The ‘barndominium’ fea-tures a 1020 square foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with a very attractive design, modern kitchen with custom cabinets, stained concrete oors, and corrugated tin ceilings all with a unique Western touch.

This building also houses ve large stalls with turnouts, wide alley, and feed, tack, and hay storage. The land is extremely productive, to-tally planted in Jiggs and Coastal Bermuda. It has a good perimeter fence, long frontage on Bishop Road, three ponds, and an older barn with pipe cattle pens.

This place deserves your attention!Price: $595,000

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2875 HIGHWAY 93 WEST • WHITEFISH, MT 866.828.2900 • WWW.BARWGUESTRANCH.COM • [email protected]

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

Contact Hockley, Texas- Anthony 281-356-7588, x208; [email protected]

Richmond, Texas- Renee 281-344-4308; [email protected] Spring, Texas- Shayna 281-353-6160; [email protected]

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With miles of sparkling coastline, plenty of a c t i v i t y

and entertainment and reputation for fun in the sun, the Houston Bay area is the place to be whether your look-ing for a bay escape or an investment prop-erty. Local commu-nities frame the bay, each with their own personal idenity. From Seabrook, to Kemah to Dickinson, there is a huge variety of homes to choose from. Kelly Paul is the realtor of choice when it comes to Houston Bay area property. From water-front, to golf course, from acre-age to income properties, Kelly not only knows the area, but is hands-on in helping you navigate

the real estate landscape. Her un-compromising service to excellence makes buying a thrilling ex-perience as she helps you hand-pick prop-erties that are a reflec-tion of your personal style. She understands that buying or selling a home is a large trans-action for any family, but with her guidence, it becomes easy. Serving the sur-r o u n d i n g

areas of the Houston Bay Area, this great bay area is just waiting for you to spend long summer days under a golden sun with warm water lapping at your feet.

Give Kelly a call today and find your piece of paradise before the summer starts.

Kelly PaulBetter Homes & Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene17250 El Camino Real

Houston, TX [email protected]

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-April 23rd & 24th- 2 d 2 day Booting & hoof protection class

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Internal Foot DevelopmentGeneral...

Hidden beneath the hoof wall, sole and frog are arguably the most important parts of the horse’s foot:

1) The coffin bone, shaped like a miniature hoof, forming the foundation of the front-half of the foot.2) The lateral cartilages, flexible “wings” or extensions of the coffin bone. They form the foundation of the back-half of the foot.3) The digital cushion fills the area between the lateral cartilages and forms the foundation of the frog. (See figure 1)

The soft parts—the lateral cartilages and digital cushions—can make up over half the volume of the horse’s foot, yet few horse owners (or vets or farriers) give them any thought. Although they are usually “out of sight, out of mind,” the health and development of these soft tissues may have more to do with soundness and longevity than any other part of the foot. The good news is that the horse owner is in control of their development. Most of the original research of these tissues came from Dr. Robert Bowker at Michigan State University, and most of the newer research is coming from Dr. Debra Taylor at Auburn University. They found that different horses have widely varying volumes and densities of these tissues that form the flexible back-half of the foot. The theory is that the more a horse uses his foot over time—particularly during the first five years—the better these tissues develop. The result is a stronger, healthier “foundation” for the foot. (See figure 2) Different horses do have varying genetic potential—some horses are blessed with “good feet” and some “not-so-good.” Either way, it benefits the horse and owner to do everything possible to develop the feet to their maximum potential. In previous

articles, I have discussed the nutrition and hoof care at length; the other big part of this puzzle is developing the internal foot. Here’s how:

DEVELOPING THE INTERNAL FOOT TIME

I have worked on numerous large working ranches, where methods and strict traditions have been passed down for generations. Everybody does things a little differently, but with the raising of young horses I have seen a pattern that few working ranches vary from. Foals are usually halter trained at a young age, and started under saddle at 2-3 years-old, but the riding is very

light and very limited. The foals are never stalled. After some brief training periods, they are turned out to pretty-much run “wild” for five years before any serious work is done with them. This wisdom, passed down through generations of ranchers, gives the horse’s body and mind time to mature. Understand that these are probably the most practical folks on Earth. If this practice “wasted” three years of a horse’s useful life, this tradition would simply not exist. Instead, every rancher I have asked says they do it because it adds years to the horse’s useful life—the best years, too, when the horse is well-trained and experienced. Giving time for development

FIGURE 1 This is a section of a horse’s foot (cadaver) cut parallel to the ground. For visibility, the blood vessels were filled

with blue India ink. This is a very healthy, well-developed example of lateral cartilages (2) and the digital cushion (3). Notice how they actually take up a larger volume than the coffin bone (1). There is also more fibrous tissue in a healthy foot, as opposed to the soft, fatty tissue found in an undeveloped foot. Fully developed lateral cartilages are usually up to one-inch-wide, while underdeveloped examples are often less than a quarter-inch-wide. It is odd that these structures have classically received so little attention—their health will “make or break” the foot. Robert Bowker files, from the book Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot.

FIGURE 2 Horses with robust lateral cartilages and digital cushions tend to have tough feet with wide frogs. Also note the bed

of pea gravel in the background. If the bed is deep enough that the horse can slightly sink into it, this is an excellent surface to help the horse develop the internal (and external) tissues of the foot. Photo reprinted from the book Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot.


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(before hard work) is not only important for the horse’s feet, but also for ligaments, tendons, bones, muscles, the mind… every aspect of the horse, really.

MOVEMENTWhile allowing enough time is critical, research on equine (and bovine) lateral cartilages and digital cushions suggests that time is not the only factor involved in fully developing the tissues. They need lots of movement and the right kind of stimulation. Horses evolved to be nomadic plains animals, perhaps covering thousands of miles per year. Wild foals can keep up with the herd on day-one, and this mileage is necessary for them to develop to their maximum potential. Yes, this thinking could be carried too far—to a point that it overstressed the growing horse, but not in a normal turnout situation in a reasonably peaceful herd. Too many young horses, particularly if they are valuable, are raised in stalls or alone in small pens to ensure their safety. But this almost always backfires, with weaker, more vulnerable, less flexible and more insane horses compared to their pasture-kept brethren. Along with these other problems, stall-raised horses have a strong tendency to have weak feet for their entire lives—a lack of internal foot development is the reason. I have to admit, though, if you turn your horse out into a herd, he might get hurt. But if you keep him locked in a cell, he will be hurt for sure. Horses need to roam.

TERRAINThe primary forces that help develop the lateral cartilages are probably expansion and vertical flexion (twisting) of the hoof capsule. When the foot hits the ground it expands, and when the horse turns or negotiates uneven terrain, the hoof walls twist and conform to the ground like the tires on your truck. This effect is minimal on soft terrain, more dramatic on firm terrain, so to fully develop the lateral cartilages, the young horse needs to spend some time running around on hard terrain.

The digital cushions, lying beneath the frog, are primarily developed by frog pressure on impact. If the horse is on hard, flat terrain, this pressure is minimal-to-nonexistent. This means that to fully develop the digital cushions, the young horse needs to run around on terrain the foot can sink into—not muck or excessively soft arena footing, as this would still provide no frog pressure. The terrain needs to be yielding-but-firm, with a bottom in it, so the frog can sink in and then get firm pressure applied to it. So overall, the best horse-keeping terrain will be variable—with a mixture of rocky sections, hard, flat areas and softer areas. This will help the feet develop to be ready for anything from the inside-out.

HOOF CAREThe most common problem that causes incomplete and/or incorrect development of the feet is often dubbed LOF Disease (lack of farrier). If you want your young horse to develop to its potential, you need to have the feet trimmed on a routine schedule (usually every 6 weeks) from the beginning and throughout life. Sorry, I didn’t make up the rules, I just notice them because I am constantly asked to [try to] repair the results of neglect. When the hoof walls are overgrown (or when a horseshoe is present), the hoof capsule loses all or most of its ability to flex vertically at the heels. As I mentioned earlier, this flexion is key to developing the lateral cartilages. Also, when the heels grow too long, the frog is relieved of pressure. This may reduce the development of the digital cushions. The result can be a weaker, more sensitive foot that is more prone to disease for the rest of the horse’s life. Additionally, I believe that almost all chronic hoof and lower limb imbalances, club feet and high/low syndrome are at least partially the result of hoof neglect in foals. This is a strong statement, but I believe it to be true.

FROG INFECTIONNo matter what terrain the horse is on, or how many miles it travels, heel-first impact is necessary to develop the soft

You can learn to judge the development of the digital cushions by palpating the area between the lateral

cartilages above the hairline. More thickness and density in this region suggests a better-developed digital cushion, and probably a sounder foot. Photo reprinted from the book Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot

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tissues in the back of the foot. Be careful that your horse does not develop a frog infection (thrush) or some other injury that causes him to compensate by traveling around on his toes. As with hoof trimming, routine hoof picking, inspection and treatment of lesions needs to start young, and be a constant part of the horse’s life. This brings up the topic of over-trimming. If the heels, walls, soles or frogs are routinely over-trimmed, causing post-trim lameness, the resulting compensative movement can lead to developmental problems as well. Remember that movement shapes the feet, and the feet shape the movement. This means that good or bad things can snowball and perpetuate.

MATURE HORSESDone correctly, this internal development occurs in the first five (or so) years of a horse’s life. But what about mature horses that never got a chance to fully develop their lateral cartilages and digital cushions? The hoof will usually be narrow and contracted, with a weak frog. Other examples may have a wide

foot, but very thin bulbs and instability (too much flexion) at the heels. Both types are often diagnosed with navicular syndrome because of the resulting pain.Technically, these internal tissues can become fully developed at any age—but it is easier in the foal. For mature horses, use the same techniques already discussed, plus add 4-inch-deep beds of pea gravel (or ¼-inch round river stone) to places the horse likes to hang out (or in a small pen where the horse spends part of the day). This does amazing things for the hooves, inside and out. Riding with hoof boots with foam insoles is very helpful as well, and often it is the only way to get these horses to extend their stride and impact heel-first. For shod horses, turn them out barefoot whenever possible during the off-season, but don’t fail to continue the routine farrier visits—the hooves still need to be trimmed, balanced and inspected for excess wear. Riding in hoof boots can help extend these rehabilitative periods. Be patient, remembering it takes five years in a free-roaming foal, maybe longer in an adult, to fully develop the tissues. Most importantly, don’t make the same mistakes on your next horse—as always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

General...

rying the landscape to assess the current states of the system quantitatively and qualitatively.” “It is disappointing that these contracts are said to be routine” state Marta Williams, Vice President of Wild Horse Education: “we’ve been waiting for the BLM to announce that they are implementing some of the recommendations of the NAS. The NAS also recommended that AML be a flexible adaptive number based on ‘new information’ and ‘so-cial values.’ Perhaps we will hear something soon from BLM that indicates that the NAS report is being taken into con-sideration as well overdue reform of a program intended to protect wild horses and burros is actually created based on science and not administered to protect a few that reap a private profit.”

Charity Navigator Posts Top Rating

for U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation GLADSTONE, NJ (USETF) - Charity Navigator, America’s largest and most-utilized independent evaluator of charities, has awarded the United States Equestrian Team Foundation the prestigious 4-star rating for good governance, sound fis-cal management and commitment to accountability and transparency. “We are honored to receive Charity Navigator’s high-est rating,” said Tucker Johnson, President and CEO. “This distinction reflects on our accountability and commitment to remain true to our mission of supporting athletes, pro-moting international excellence and building for the future.”Charity Navigator works to help charitable givers make in-telligent giving decisions by providing information on more than five thousand charities nationwide and by evaluating their financial health. It calculates each charity’s score based upon several broad criteria, including how much is spent per dollar raised, what percentage of funds goes to programs vs. administrative and fund-raising expenses, and the organi-zation’s long-term financial health. It then assigns a rating from one to four, with four being the best rating. Only ap-proximately a quarter of the charities evaluated receive the highest rating, indicating the United States Equestrian Team Foundation outperforms most other charities in America.

Conference delegates give positive response

to Endurance strategic plan LAUSANNE, (SUI) – Delegates from 23 countries reached a broad consensus on the strategic plan for Endurance sport at the one-day Endurance conference in Lausanne in late Feb-ruary. The conference was attended by more 70 delegates, with a total of 20 National Federations represented. Other bodies attending the conference were the European Eques-trian Federation, World Horse Welfare, American Endur-ance Ride Conference and the Equine Community Integrity Unit (ECIU), as well as members of the media. FEI Presi-dent HRH Princess Haya attended as an observer, along with members of the FEI Executive Board. The morning session focused on feedback from the National Federations on the proposals outlined at the 2013


www.horsebackmagazine.com March 2014 2 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 59Horsebites - Con’t. on pg. 61

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General Assembly in November 2013 by the Endurance Strategic Planning Group (ESPG). Of the 47 National Federa-tions involved in the sport, of which 33 run elite Endurance events, 20 Federa-tions returned responses via the elec-tronic survey, a further six sent addi-tional comments. A team of veterinary surgeons also held its own scientifically based review and shared its views with the ESPG. ESPG Chair Andrew Find-ing summarized the results from the survey, in which 32 of the Group’s 37 recommendations received an approval rating of over 80%. “The consultation was never intended to be a referendum, it was de-signed to add value to the work we have been doing and vitally to give every National Federation an opportunity to comment,” he said. “Some decided to comment, many did not but every Na-tional Federation had an opportunity to do so.” Andrew Finding pledged that every comment received would be ad-dressed by the Group and, where ap-propriate, covered at the operational planning level. He also stated that the Group had recommended that mem-bers of the Endurance Committee should be tasked with a specific area of responsibility to cover each of the critical success factors outlined by the ESPG – culture and behaviour; struc-ture and governance; foundation for growth, and communications and mar-keting. Debate during the day focused on the key areas of horse welfare; clean sport and the rules, which were widely accepted as fit for purpose; support for officials on enforcement of those rules; transparent and consistent reporting; the use of technology; rider compe-tence and horsemanship; cost implica-tions; sponsorship; the technicality of courses to help resolve speed-related issues; technical criteria during com-petitions; individual and team perfor-mance; and ensuring the long-term de-velopment of the sport. There was also considerable discussion on the traditional Endur-ance rides, which are now being re-ferred to as Classic Endurance riding, and Endurance Racing. There were

mixed views on whether a different set of rules should be used, but it was gen-erally agreed that the rules cover both elements. The ESPG will now use the in-put from today’s conference to finalize its report, which will be presented to the FEI Bureau for further consider-ation. The FEI Bureau and the Endur-ance Committee will report at a special session on Endurance at the FEI Sports Forum (28-29 April 2014) about the follow-up on the conclusions of the ESPG.

San Antonio Stock Show 2014 Team Penning

SAN ANTONIO- The United States Team Penning Association (USTPA) hosted the San Antonio Stock Show Team Penning February 19-22. Team

Penning began as a demonstration of ranching skills and quickly became a popular competitive event. Quick horses, determined riders, and a touch of luck are the main components of a winning team in this sport. Riding Bambi, Samantha Stru-hall of Blanco, Texas earned the first ever $10,000 Team Penning scholar-ship presented at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Struhall was the highpoint youth competitor. She is 17 years old and enjoys horseback riding and tubing on the lake. She stated, “Winning this scholarship means a lot to me. It feels great to know that my hard work has paid off.” Struhall wanted to thank Jared and Sarah Lesh for helping her achieve her goals as well as her friends and family for their support. Struhall plans to attend Texas A&M University to study Nursing.



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Saddle Blanket RevisitedHowdy!

Welcome to Cowboy Corner. Hope all is well and folks are enjoying the rodeo’s around Texas. Lots of trail rides going on also. Tra-dition is one of the many things that make Texas great, may it never end. I’ll do my part. Several years ago I wrote about saddle blankets. Am not the saddle and tack editor and Lew Pewterbaugh is. He has forgotten more about saddles and tack than I will ever know. Like when I got asked one time if I was a horse trainer. Nope, I’m a horse user. So I am not a saddle blanket expert, but I am a saddle blanket user. Kinda’ goes along with being a horse user. Guess if you keep the saddle pad and blanket wet you are trainin’ the horse. Just want to share some things I have learned about saddle blankets. Guess the first thing is my blanket pref-erence may not fit your horsin’ around. If you are primarily riding in an arena what follows may not be of great in-terest. Have very little experience with arena riding and the activities associat-ed such as reigning, cutting, pleasure, roping, and steer wrestling. When I am in the saddle am usually at the ranch, on a trail ride, or in the mountains ridin’, packin’, and huntin’. Wrote years ago about going to mule packin’ school in New Mexico. Thought I knew something about pack-in’ until I went to New Mexico, Lew Pewterbaugh wrote several months ago that I was a “fellow who knows how to get away from it all.”

Well “gettin’ away from it all” teaches us to carry only what you need and learn how to “tote it”. First mountain lesson is to stay dry and warm, and the lesson applies to all seasons. A slicker and small tarp handle wet, and the sad-dle blankets help with staying warm. Wool saddle blankets if the right type, can greatly add to comfort and wellbeing. Had an experience elk hunting in which our wool saddle blankets greatly contributed to wellbe-ing. My nephew, Jon killed a nice elk several miles from the hunt camp and a long way from the base camp late in the day. Dark was approaching so the elk was field dressed and the boys knew they were going to have to spend the night on the mountain. I had insisted that the boys use wool blankets under their saddles when the hunt began “just in case”. Sure enough, a big fire and sleeping with the wool saddle blankets on the wool pads, made the cold night bearable. I had a similar experience on a pack trip in New Mexico in the spring of this year. We were up high and a cold front came through, and I slept cold. Next night put the packer pads

on the ground and got my wool saddle blankets on top of my sleeping bag and all was well. Now that we described the blankets uses, let’s focus on the blan-kets and lessons learned. These wool blankets are what I call heavy weight, and measure about 3 feet by 6 feet, and used doubled with the fold toward the head of the horse. I found the blankets at Zapotec Art, a long time exhibitor at the Houston Livestock Show and Ro-deo. The owner of Zapotec Art, Cory McBride, is very knowledge-able and helpful. He custom made me several blankets with my cattle brand woven into the blanket in the corners. These blankets are tough, and made from special wool woven in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The wool, due to the environment, a mountainous area, is high in lanolin, dirt free, and water resistant. If you plan to spend some time horseback and “away from it all” invest in one of these blankets. The life you save may be your own.

Happy Trails...

General...

www.horsebackmagazine.com March 2014 2 HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 63Store Hours: Mon - Sat 8am - 6pm • Sun 12pm - 5pm (may vary by location)

1422 F.M. 2223BRYAN

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4323 Avenue HROSENBERG

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820 Business U.S. 290 N.HEMPSTEAD

(979) 826-3273

6401 F.M. 359RICHMOND

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1331 Highway 6 WestALVIN

(281) 388-0388

18821 F.M. 1488 MAGNOLIA

(281) 356-2530

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(281) 934-2479

228 East Front St.SEALY

(979) 885-2967

NINE TEXAS LOCATIONS!

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Horseback Magazine March 2014