horseback magazine april 2012

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE - April 2012 www.horsebackmagazine.com2

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www.horsebackmagazine.com February 2012 - HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 3


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www.horsebackmagazine.com April 2012 - HORSEBACK MAGAZINE 9

Volume 19, No 3. Horseback Magazine, P.O. Box 681397, Houston, TX 77268-1397, (281)447-0772. The entire contents of the magazine are copyrighted April 2012 by HorsebackMagazine. All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any formwithout the expressed written consent of the publisher. Horseback Magazine assumes no re-sponsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and other material unless accompaniedby a stamped, self addressed envelope.HorsebackMagazine is not responsible for any claimsmade by advertisers. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect theviews 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) 893-1029Email: [email protected] Phone: (281) 447-0772

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STAFF

PUBLISHERVicki LongEDITOR

Steven LongART DIRECTOR

Darryl TracyNATIONALNEWS EDITOR

Carrie GobernatzLIFESTYLE EDITORS

Margaret Pirtle832-349-1427Crystal Shell832-602-7929

[email protected] EDITOR

Leslie GrecoCONTRIBUTINGWRITERS

Jim HubbardSteven LongVicki Long

Dianne LindigRoni Norquist

Pat ParelliLew Pewterbaugh

Cathy StrobelDr. Jessica JahielCory Johnson

Dr. Judith A. ReynoldsLynn Criner, DVM

Margaret PirtleCrystal ShellJohn Adessi

12 HORSE BITES

14 PARELLI - Pat Parelli

16 TACK TALK - Lew Pewterbaugh

18 CUTTING EDGE HORSE HEALTH - Lynn Criner, DVM

20 DREAM BIG & BELIEVE - Kelly Kaminski

22 ON THE ENGLISH FRONT - Cathy Strobel

24 HORSE SENSE - Dr. Jessica Jahiel

26 THE WHITE KNIGHT ON A STEED - Steven Long

28 THE COWBOY WAY - Cory Johnson

30 LIFESTYLE

42 WHOLE HORSEMANSHIP - Dianne Lindig

44 A TRIBUTE TO WALTER FAVEY - Diane Adessi

46 EQUINE DIGESTION - Dr. Judith A. Reynolds

50 COWBOY CORNER - Jim Hubbard

Sixty-three years ago my father put me on Old Paint, my sisterLee’s beloved horse. I was four-years-old and he promptly ran awaywith me. To my credit, even though I lost the reins I grabbed his maneand stayed on when he stopped at a fence line. It was an unforgettableexperience that has remained with me to this day. ‘Scared the livingdaylights out of my parents though”.

I only wish the rest of my rides had been so uneventful.All horse-men, no matter who they are, inadvertently go off the back of a horseat some point. Some, like me even get hurt. I’ve had two broken arms,a fractured coccyx, four broken ribs, and a pulled hamstring. Once rid-ing on a ranch in SanAntonio a runaway took me under a low oak treelimb that caught me full on across the chest. Other folks, even mostothers, are more fortunate than I was and aren’t injured. Still othersthrough inexperience, ignorance, or misplaced bravado, are badly hurt.We are now going into high season for injuries on a horse as throngsof folks hit the trails and even city streets on horseback.

And that brings us to the point I want to make, and it’s an im-portant one. What is the proper way to stop a horse?

I spent decades pulling back hard on both reins to halt a horseat the run or canter. I never had a riding lesson in my life, and nobodyhad ever mentioned stopping. We were always just having way toomuch fun riding. That was until the superb horseman and trainerWesWhite came into my life. He literally took apart my riding techniqueand put it back together. And the first thing he did breaking my badold habits was to insist I use the one rein stop.

It’s so logical I wonder sometimes why I never thought of itmyself. If you take the rein and pull the horse’s head to the side,whether he is at the run or even an easy walk he can’t go forward. Ifhorsemen will use this simple technique the number of trail accidentsthat happen this spring will drop dramatically.

With a little luck, we will have saved a reader from getting hurt– or worse, killed.

From The Publisher’s Desk April 2012

Give Your Horse a Hand,One at a Time

By Steven Long, Editor


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True Blue Animal RescueAwarded 15 Starved & Neglected

Tennessee Walkers

On Monday, February 27, 2012, Washing-ton County Texas Judge J.P. Judge James Mc-Cune awarded 15 Tennessee Walking Horses toTrue Blue Animal Rescue (TBAR), a centralTexas animal rescue and rehabilitation organiza-tion. The horses were seized by the CountySheriff's Department who investigated in re-sponse to reports of neglect from caring citizens.The investigation showed these horses were liv-ing in deplorable conditions (including deadhorses on the property). The group was made upof stallions, mares (some possibly pregnant) andtheir yearling and 2 year old fillies from past

breedings. The horses were being bred withoutthe benefit of adequate food or care to their basicneeds. Many had overgrown , curled hooves andteeth needing attention and all are severely un-derweight. The Sheriffs department immediatelyseized all 15 horses and took them to a tempo-rary holding facility to receive care and await theJudge's ruling.

Tennessee Walking Horses are famous fortheir gentleness and affectionate personalities.Despite their hunger and desperate need to es-cape their filthy holding areas, each horsegreeted members of the TBAR rescue team witha gentleness and dignity that was still strong,even if their bodies were not.

True Blue Animal Rescue reached out tothe community to help these horses heal and

find the loving homes they deserve by 1) fos-tering one or more horses 2) sponsoring ahorse, even if you don't have room to keep one,you can choose a particular horse (see theirpictures on TBAR's Facebook page and/or thewebsite - www.t-bar.org) and support it's re-covery, 3) donating money or hay and feed,4) spreading the word among your friends andlet them know these horses need foster and for-ever homes or 5) organize a fundraiser i.e. hosta pancake breakfast or a yard sale or bake saleat your church or club, organize a Bar -B Queor a trail ride fundraiser.

The story of the starved Tennessee Walk-ers touched peoples' hearts and they re-sponded! All the horses have been placed inloving foster homes. True Blue Animal Rescuehas received several hay donations and enoughmonetary donations to cover the initial vet billsfor Coggins, vaccinations and worming. Oneespecially generous anonymous donor gave a6 month's supply of Triple Crown Feed for thehorses! The 14% Senior formula and the 14%Growth formula will give these horses muchneeded nutrition.

Veterinary bills and feed are the two largestexpenses for TBAR in rehabilitating neglectedhorses. The skinniest horses, measuring a '1' onthe Henneke Body Scoring scale - extremelyemaciated - will need 6 months to reach their full

weight and restore mus-cle tone. Once the horseshave gained someweight, they will need asecond round of worm-ing, rabies vaccinationsand possible teeth float-ing. The horses will alsoneed farrier care to re-store their overgrownhooves. Several of themares appear to be preg-nant (they were runningwith a stallion), so fosterhomes hope to get asmuch nutrition as theycan into these moms be-fore they give birth.

These sweet,friendly, handleable

horses were named on a Candy theme: Licoriceand Clark for the two boys; Nougat, Reese, Taffy,Wrigley, Snickers, Pixie, Starburst, Dot, Twix,Twizzler, Tootsie Roll, Dove Darlin, HersheyKisses and Sugar Babe for the girls. They range inage from 6 months to 22 years old. They're affec-tionately being referred to as "The Candy Group".

The foster homes shared their initial expe-riences with the horses - when unloading thehorses from the trailers, they didn't even havefour feet on the ground before they had buriedtheir noses in the grass. Nutrition they had beendenied previously for many, many months.Horses this starved have to be slowly re-intro-duced to grain so as to not shock their systems.They have been getting coastal hay 24/7 for the

first couple of weeks to get the digestive systemson-line and minimize colic.

All the horses are expected to make a fullrecovery, except one, sadly. The beautiful, sen-ior black stallion, Licorice, had noticeable dis-ease in both eyes. Brenham VeterinaryHospital's Dr Amy Walton diagnosed it as ad-vanced chronic *untreated* uveitis ("moonblindness") - a very painful condition. Licoricewas completely blind in both eyes and yet hetrusted his rescuers and easily loaded into thetrailer and followed them to a stall. Unfortu-nately, no medicine could reverse the long-term neglect and damage to his eyes, restoreany sight or relieve the pain, so the difficult de-cision was made to euthanize him and end hissuffering. Licorice enjoyed an afternoon ofpampering, lush green grass and strong painmedication before being laid to rest. Thank-fully, he was saved from his miserable life,starving in an 8x10 pen, and dying in pain.

Though these horses will need special feedand attention, the equine rehabilitation experts atTBAR will provide guidance and support tofolks who foster and / or adopt one of thesesweet TennesseeWalkers . To see the horses pic-tures,' friend' True BlueAnimal Rescue on Face-book or go to the website: www.t-bar.org . Youcan download applications to adopt a horse viathe links on the website. And you'll find guide-lines for TBAR's foster and adoption programand how to sponsor a horse on the website aswell. Feel free to call TBAR at 936-878-2349or email: [email protected]

To send a donation by mail, addressyour envelope to: TBAR, P.O. Box 1107,Brenham, TX 77834 - or use the pay pal linkon the website.

True Blue Animal Rescue is a 501 (c) 3non-profit - donations are tax deductible -TBAR is 100% volunteer staff, so your dona-tions go directly to the animals.

The Carriage Horse Wars, NY AnimalRights Group Allegedly ReleasesFalse Story About Carriage Horse

With A “Broken Leg”

“One of the carriage horses who waspulling a carriage within the park fell and brokehis leg….probably got a bullet through the head”~Elizabeth Forel, CBHDC

NEWYORK, NY (HCANY) –An anti-carriage-horse group, the Coalition to Ban Horse-DrawnCarriages, is again fabricating stories about theNew York City carriage industry, the Horse andCarriage Association of New York City an-nounced. The Horse and Carriage Associationhas responded to allegations by the group that anunnamed carriage horse fell and broke its leg inCentral Park in February and is no longer in thebusiness.

“On the contrary, the carriage horse in ques-


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tion is alive and well, and the Horse and CarriageAssociation dismissed CBHDC President Eliza-beth Forel’s assertion that the horse has been shotand killed,” the association said in a press releasesent to Horseback Magazine.

“This is absolutely untrue, unequivocally acomplete fiction,” said Horse and CarriageAsso-ciation President Stephen Malone. The Horseand Carriage Association, says the horse did notfall or break her leg, but merely sprained herankle, while walking through the park. She isagain healthy and sound, and is happily back atwork in New York City.

On February 14, 2012, the black-bayPercheron-cross mare took a bad step in CentralPark and sprained her hind fetlock. Her driver

pulled her over to the side of the road andawaited assistance from an industry horse trailerto transport the horse back to her stable on 38thSt. where she was examined by both her regularvet, Dr. Dennis Farrell, DVM, and the ASPCA,which had arrived on scene in the park.

Dr. Farrell initially suspected a hairlinefracture in the mare’s left hind P2, but x-rayswere negative. “The horse presented with onlysoft tissue damage, so she was prescribed rest,”says Dr. Farrell. “She was sent to a farm outsideof the city, and was sound within 10 days. Theowner wanted to give her more time to recuper-ate, so she remained on the farm for an additionalfour weeks, and passed her follow-up health ex-amination with flying colors.”

After Success in the Courts LeighFiles Motion

to Hold BLM Feet to the Fire

RENO, (Wild Horse Education) – OnMarch 20,2012 a Motion to reconsider the decision in theTriple B wild horse roundup “Inhumane” casehas been filed.

On January 26 in Reno Federal Court, Hon.Judge Howard J. McKibben denied a request forInjunctive Relief sought by Laura Leigh,

Horse Bites Continued on Pg 47


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Taking the JumpThat First TimeBy Linda Parelli with Steven Long

Horseback Magazine: When the LondonOlympics hold their opening ceremonies onJuly 12, 2012, the world will be glued to televi-sion sets to watch the spectacle. A little later theequestrian events will begin and we suspectthat’s when Horseback readers and Parelli fanswill tune in. Watching the magnificent jumpingevents is certain to inspire a new generation ofwannabes to try their hand. How do we deter-mine if our horse is suited for this demandingsport?Pat Parelli: This is one of the most perplexingquestions people face who aren’t into natural

horsemanship – when is a horse ready for par-ticular work? My viewpoint is that most horseslack foundation, pretty much across the board,for all sports and disciplines. A horse that doesanything and everything with confidence iswhat we are all looking for. This is a horse thatuses his instincts and skills at the same time,knows what he’s doing, and uses the left (ratio-nal thinking) side of his brain. This confidenceneeds to be developed on the ground.Horseback: So as with all things in the Parellimethod, even judging if a horse is suited tojump begins on the ground?Parelli: One way to test the readiness of ahorse to see if he’ll jump over barriers is to seeif your horse will go over a jump on a halterand lead line. You must next consider if thehorse is taught to do things with impulsiveness.Impulsion is when “whoa equals go.” And “goequals whoa” when it comes to emotional fit-ness. Impulsiveness is something that comesfrom horses who aren’t confident, and who arestill in a “flight from fear” mode and feel theneed to do everything with speed.Horseback: So we want the horse that has a lotof “go” in him?Parelli: Traditional equine sports methods areusually based on having horses with more “go”than “whoa.” If the horse has enough “go” orsteam, then he’s going to get over the jump. Ifthe horse is not jumping with confidence, how-ever, then the horse is still in a flight from fear

mode, and that’s when opposition reflex comesinto play. Opposition reflex is when the horseactually pushes against pressure. For instance,when a horse rushes up to a fence, suddenlyslams on the brakes, throws the rider and turnsright or left – that is opposition reflex.Horseback: Been there, done that, more timesthan I can count.Parelli: As I recall, that is what happened tothe late Christopher Reeve. I was one of thefirst persons the media called after hisaccident. They asked my opinion, and after re-viewing the video of the accident, that’s ex-actly what happened – his horse experiencedan opposition reflex and refused the jump,stopped, and turned. Christopher, of course,went off. Again, what happens when a horseexperiences an oppositional reflex is that thehorse puts on the brakes, stops and turns – it’sa lot different from just stumbling or tripping.Horseback: So it’s like the old adage abouthow a stranger to New York asks a musicianfor directions to get to Carnegie Hall, and theanswer is – practice, practice, practice.Parelli: To address when a horse is ready forperformance, first get him confident on theground – that’s what my program does, and itgets the horse confident and brave through astep by step foundation program before weever ask anything under saddle. The crux of the


Parelli Continued on Pg 48

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BANDERA, TEXAS (Horseback) – “What is thedifference between a Squeak and a Creak”?

That was an interesting question brought upby Phil of Cold Springs, Texas.Well, of course, it’sdifficult to diagnose over the phone, because asqueak to you might be a creak to me. This is theway I summed it up.Asqueak is, in the case of sad-dles, usually the rubbing together of two pieces ofleather. A creak is often made by two rubbing

pieces of wood. So, I’m thinking the creak couldbe from a broken or stressed tree, while the squeakis from a dry or not broken in saddle. When I wasyoung, in another time and another place, I believesaddles were all better built. Sure there werecheaper saddles and more expensive saddles, butthey all used fairly decent, to great leather, and noone was trying to cheat anyone. They wanted tomake a good product so that people would remem-ber themwhen theywere ready for another product.Even companies that were once on top havesearched for ways to make things more cheaply toenhance their bottom line, rather than makingthings cheaper for the consumer. You may have toread that line twice, but I hope you seewhat Imean.A lot of companies are trying to increase their bot-tom line so theymake thingsmore cheaply, but notcheaper. O.K. that was from the department of re-dundancy, but I felt it was necessary.

Everyone knows about the high cost of livingand it’s no different for businesses. Taxes, paper-work, regulations, governmentmandates, fuel, serv-ices, everything has gone up for everyone, and ofcourse, costs have to be passed along. The EPAhasregulated most of the leather tanneries out of thecountry, driving up the cost of domestic leather andforcing tanneries that couldn’t adapt to either sellout or leave the country. The high cost of laborforced a lot of the jobs out also. When tannerieswere left alone to do their business, there was verylittle poor leather available to make really cheapsaddles. Even your bottom end saddles had fairlydecent leather. Today we have imports from coun-

tries that have no stake in the quality of the endproduct, so if a company is looking to cut cornerssomeonewill provide themwith an inferior product.Some of those leathers and some of those trees willnever be any good no matter what you do withthem. The leather is either going to squeak or thetrees are going to break, and no one is going to standbehind them.

We’ll just leave all those inferior saddles be-hind. Because a saddle squeaks doesn’t meanthere’s anything wrong with it. When a good sad-dle is made, most of the parts are wet formed tothe new tree. It doesn’t hurt leather to get wet aslong as the oils that are washed out of it are re-placed. Usually when a saddle is new, it has beenlightly oiled, and the pieces have not reallyformed to each other like they will after being rid-den for years. I had an old BonaAllen saddle thatI loved the looks of. It was uncomfortable as allget out. I kept it as a spare until my kids broke thehorn out of my favorite Simco saddle, and I wasforced to use the Bona Allen as my main saddle.In the heat of a summer ride, we decided to tres-pass in a reservoir and cool off. The horses stoodin water over their backs while we climbed up onthem and dove off the saddles and generally hada fine time. We were in the water for an hour anda half, when we continued our ride. The next day,we rode for about four hours. I put my saddle inthe tack locker at the stable, and when I came infrom the road five days later, my saddle was greenand fuzzy. I cleaned it with saddle soap, gave it agood oiling, and then gave it a coat of Blackrock

Horseback Magazine Saddle & Tack Editor

ASqueakand a Creak


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and then we rode. I said to my girlfriend,”It surefeels good to be back in the saddle!” The next daywe rode several miles and I was amazed howgood it felt and then I realized, it felt good becausethat saddle was finally broken in to me. Riding itwet had allowed the leather, which was thick andstiff, to finally form to my seat and to mold to thetree, and for the stirrup leathers to move comfort-ably to my moves.

Now, this brings up a different problem. Agood rawhide covered wood tree has a varnishedfinish that protects the rawhide from moisture. Asaddle can take a good dunking, or in a hard rain,not much water will actually get to the tree, but ifthat tree is submerged for a long period and therawhide gets soaked, that rawhide will shrink, theseams can open up, the tree canwarp, and all kindsof mean nasty ugly things can result. If yourrawhide is shrunken and your saddle is understress, youwon’t have the strength your saddle wasdesigned with. It may not break, but might loosen,in which case you could develop a creak as thewood rubs against itself.

If you have a chronic squeak, I recommenddunking your saddle in the water tank for about 10minutes. This can vary depending on howmuch oilis in the leather, but if you’re heavily oiled, youprobably don’t have a squeaky problem.When theleather iswet all theway through, saddle up and rideit dry, or ride for a few hours two consecutive days.Get your saddle soap out (I use Murphy Oil Soap)and clean your saddle well. If your saddle is stilldamp, Lexol works well, or even better if you can

find it, Kali Leather Life. If your saddle is pretty dry,pure neatsfoot oil is still the best, although it maydarken your leather from a little to a lot. It seems todepend on the age of the leather. It’s important notto over oil. I warmmy oil to body temperature andapply several light coats. When the oil starts to layon top of the leather without drying in, wipe off theexcess and let the saddle set overnight.The next day,I like to apply a coat of Blackrock Leather n Rich.Rub it out the best you can, doing a small area at atime and buff it good before going on to the nextarea. Other products work well, too, like Williamssaddle dressing, or somethingwith a little wax in it.Lacquer is for cars. Don’t use it on leather.

To check for a broken tree, stand it up on theback of the skirt, cantle toward the ground, withyour knees between the fork. Put a hand on eitherside of the horn (or the gullet with an English sad-dle) and spread your knees. If the fork is broken,you’ll feel it flex.To check for a broken bar, turn thesaddle over on its fork/gullet, and push down on thecantle from each side. If one side flexes a lot morethan the other, that bar is broken.Youmay even hearit creak.

I appreciate the calls and emails. I can still an-swer everyone personally so far andwill as long asit’s possible. I’ll try to make a general column outof those questions I think have a broad appeal.Thanks for your input!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LewPewterbaugh is one ofAmerica’s top sad-dle and tack experts.He lives ona ranch inBandera,TX 830-328-0321 or [email protected]

Horses are living longer and enjoying abetter quality of life. But as with all things thatlive longer there are more disease processes de-veloping that need to be managed. For horsesPituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID)commonly known as Equine Cushing’s Diseaseis being recognized and diagnosed more fre-quently.

The mean age of horses affected withPPID is 21-years-old. The youngest recordedhorse affected is 7-years-old and the averageage is 15-years-old. It has been estimated that15% of the horse population is in the country iscurrently over 15 years of age. Therefore, thisdisease may become more prevalent as the geri-atric horse population increases. This diseaseaffects all breeds and both sexes.

PPID is a slowly progressive diseaseprocess caused by a functional endocrine tumorcalled an adenoma or by adenomatous hyper-trophy which is overgrowth of glandular tissue.

The pituitary gland is an endocrineorgan that is located at the base of the brainand suspended by a stalk from the hypothal-amus. This gland is a major regulatory organof the endocrine system. The endocrine sys-tem is a system of glands that secrete a spe-cific hormone directly into the bloodstreamto regulate a specific body system. The pitu-itary gland has two major parts, the adenohy-pophysis also referred to as the anteriorpituitary lobe and the neurohypophysis re-ferred to as the posterior pituitary lobe. Thepars intermedia is one part of the adenohy-pophysis in the horse.

The pars intermedia produces and secretesseveral hormones and is a source of melanocytestimulating hormone (MSH), corticotrophinlike intermediate lobe peptide (CLIP) and betaendorphin peptides and small amounts ofadrenocortiocotropic hormone (ACTH). .

ACTH maintains plasma cortisol concentra-tions at levels necessary for homeostasis in thenormal horse. Cortisol is inhibited via negativefeedback by increased glucocorticoid levels inthe blood. But in horses with PPID there is asignificant increase in the release of largeamounts of MSH, CLIP and beta endorphinpeptides along with a small yet increasedamount of ACTH.

The significance is that the MSH, CLIPand beta endorphin peptides induce a six foldincrease in the cortisol producing properties ofACTH. Thus a small increase in ACTH can re-sult in a significant increase in plasma cortisolconcentrations and loss of the circadian rhythm.

The most common clinical sign of PPID inhorses is hirsutism - abnormally long curly haircoat that does not shed out in warm weather.This sign is seen in 94% of the horses who arereported to be diagnosed with pituitary pars in-termedia dysfunction.

Other signs include redistribution of fat es-pecially over the eyes, laminitis, infertility,chronic infections, hyperhidrosis (increased

sweating), increased water intake, increasedurination, hyperglycemia, muscle wasting,weakness and behavioral changes. High cortisollevels lower immune system making horsesmore susceptible to infections and results in de-layed wound healing.

These clinical signs can be found singly orin any combination. However, clinical signslike hyperglycemia and increased urination canbe part of a broader list of differential diagnosesthat owners and veterinarians need to rule out asproblems first.

What causes the long curly hair coat maybe the compression of the pituitary adenomaon the hypothalamus. One of the multitudes ofbody functions that the hypothalamus regu-lates is body temperature. Damage from pres-sure on the hypothalamus may cause adecrease in body temperature thus necessitat-ing that the horse to maintain a long non-shed-ding hair coat to stay warm.

Polyuria and polydipsia, which is in-creased urination and increased water intake,may be signs associated with damage to thepars nervosa of the posterior pituitary gland

from compression by the pars intermedia ade-noma. The pars nervosa of the pituitary glandstores vasopressin that is produced in the hypo-thalamus. A decrease in the vasopressin resultsin the kidney’s inability to concentrate urine re-sulting in an increase in urination.

Not all horses with pituitary adenomashave obvious clinical signs of disease. Manytimes the signs go unnoticed. At this time theonly absolute definitive diagnostic evidence ofa pituitary tumor is during a post mortem ex-amination generally done at a university hospi-tal. The tumor will appear as a firm lobulatedmass at the bottom of the brain and there maybe evidence of compression of the hypothala-mus or optic nerves.

Untreated horses may develop neurologi-cal problems, have problems maintainingweight, develop behavioral dementia type ofproblems, have loss of vision due to compres-sion of the optic nerves, and become recumbentand unable to stand up due to weakness in theadvanced stages.

Testing for PPID can be done using thedexamethasone suppression test (DST) or byevaluating baselineACTH levels. Testing usingthe DST will give accurate measurements ofcirculating cortisol. Normal horses will have</= 1 ug/dl cortisol and affected animals willhave >/= 1 ug/dl. The drawback is givingsteroids to a horse with elevated endogenoussteroids already in the bloodstream and the po-tential to induce a laminitis where one mightnot currently exist. The ACTH baseline canonly be done at certain times of the year as thereare seasonal variations in which all horses havehigh levels of ACTH and the baseline thenwould be inaccurate. Your veterinarian can bestdiscuss diagnostic options for your horse’s indi-vidual situation.

PPID horses require good nutrition, de-worming, regular hoof care, routine vaccina-tions and routine (yearly) dental care. The mostcommonly used drug to treat PPID is pergolide.In the fall of 2011, the FDA approved the firstveterinary product Prascend - pergolide mesy-late - for use in treatment of horses with PPID.

Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction(PPID) is manageable but not curable. The goalis to slow the progression that is often unrecog-nized in the early stages. Once the clinical signsare more advanced PPID is more easily diag-nosed. When caught early treatment is verysuccessful in reducing clinical signs and allow-ing PPID affected horses to live fairly normallives. Even in advanced stages of disease, treat-ment offers improved quality of life. PPID canbe managed and owners should not fear treat-ment nor should they consider the problem adeath sentence.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Lynn Criner is a large animal veterinarianspecializing in horses with a mobile practice inthe greater Houston area. She may be reached at832-264-6444.

Equine Cushing’sDisease – A PPID

Primer


The most common clin-ical sign of PPID in horsesis hirsutism - abnormallylong curly hair coat thatdoes not shed out in warmweather. This sign is seenin 94% of the horses whoare reported to be diag-nosed with pituitary parsintermedia dysfunction.

I got a nice compliment from a ReiningHorse Trainer not long ago. He had stopped byto check out my clinic for the day. It was after-noon on Saturday of the class and he told me thefirst thing he heard over the speaker system wasme telling a student, "Stop leaning in your turn"as he was getting out of his truck.

The old man dressed in a blue denim buttondown, beat up straw hat, with craggy features onhis weathered face, made a point to find me after

class had concluded that day. He told me that hehad watched a procession of barrel racers overthe years - the leaning in the turns that manyseem to do. I'm not saying we all haven't done itat one time or another due to ground conditions,horse slip, etc.

I took this all in and thought about it. Ithought carefully when I answered that many ofmy students over the years do what I call, "TheHigh School Lean." I don't know when thisstarted with them; maybe it was in the earlyformative years of riding. It could also be thatone girl saw another doing it and it looked reallycool so she started doing it to emulate her peer.I don't really know. I just know it's a really hardhabit to break.

I consistently teach all about being centeredin your riding. If you rode a couple of the horseswe have around here, you'd never lean again. A"quick" horse that turns really fast heals that par-ticular problem. If you study a horse goingaround a barrel, you help it by staying centered.If one leans toward or into the barrel, the balanceof the horse is thrown off slightly and afterawhile he will begin to knock the barrels down,not to mention what it does to your legs. Young-sters can get away with this habit in the earlyyears because their weight is so much less thanan adult, but as kids grow and develop, you willsee the kids that may have won early on in lifehave problems that are extremely hard to breakas a teenager or adult.

At my clinics I tell my students to point

their belly button in the direction they want theirhorse to go. This will generally help eliminatethe problem of lifting their hand and crossing theneck of the horse, keeping the riders shoulderturned and in the correct position.

Like I said this sounds like and easy fix,but it's an extremely hard habit to break. Goingback to my article about taking 20 positives tobreak one negative, will help understand break-ing bad habits.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Kelly Kaminski has twice won the WPRA WorldBarrel Racing Championship, and has also wonthe Reserve Championship twice at the NationalFinals Rodeo. This great American horsewomancontinues to compete, hold seminars, and trainworthy horses. She is currently accepting a lim-ited number of horses for training. kellykamin-ski.com.

The HighSchool Lean

By Kelly KaminskiTwo Time WPRAWorld Champion Barrel Racer


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Professional horsemen are all around us.They help us to learn how to ride, how to carefor our horses and work through problems. Theybreak horses, school them and even show themfor us. Sometimes they help us find the perfecthorse or sell a horse that no longer fits our needs.But where do these professionals come from?There are many answers to that question! Everyprofessional’s story is totally unique to his or herown situation.

There are a number of horse colleges andequine programs at universities that can givesomeone a degree to become a horseman ofsorts, but there is a lot more to it than what youlearn in a classroom. Since every horseman

started with a love for horses, most horsemenstarted by learning how to ride first. Lessons, for-mal schooling or apprenticing is usually a partof the equation, helping them to gain more di-verse knowledge on the subject of horses. Manyprofessionals have simply earned their degreesat the “school of hard knocks”. There is no quickand easy way to become a knowledgeable horseprofessional. It takes years of hard work.

Because there are so many ways horsemencan be considered professionals, there are a num-ber of avenues for becoming certified for spe-cialty areas such as giving instruction for specificriding disciplines or offering any number of in-

dustry related services. As you can imagine,when you hire a professional to help you, it isworthy of investigating his or her backgroundand getting some references from customers who

have used their services. Since there is such a di-verse path to each individual’s professional sta-tus, make sure you look at the whole picture andassess the working knowledge will serve yourneeds. Don’t simply ask for a list of degrees orcertifications. I have known some horsemen withno degrees who knew tons more than those whohad graduated from well-respected universitiesor horse programs.

In the horse show world, the definition of aprofessional has been an issue of hot debate foryears. Since many classes are limited to amateurriders, the status of amateur versus professionalmakes a huge difference to those competing.Professionals masking themselves as amateurscan be denied the right to compete and severepenalties can be imposed on them.

The United States Equestrian Federation,who governs the U.S. horse competitions statesin its 2012 rulebook the following general rulesregarding the definition of a professional:GR1308 Professional Status .

1. A person who engages in the activitiesdescribed in GR1306.1 is considered a profes-sional for all competitions conducted under Fed-eration rules.Subchapter 13-B Amateurs and ProfessionalsGR1306 Amateur Status.

Regardless of one’s equestrian skills and/oraccomplishments, a person is an amateur for allcompetitions conducted under Federation ruleswho after his/her 18th birthday, as defined inGR101, has not engaged in any of the following

Who are theProfessionals?

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Because there are so manyways horsemen can be con-sidered professionals, thereare a number of avenues forbecoming certified for spe-cialty areas such as giving in-struction for specific ridingdisciplines or offering anynumber of industry relatedservices.

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activities which would make him/her a profes-sional.

Exception: In the Dressage Division, indi-viduals are only eligible to compete as amateursfrom the beginning of the calendar year in whichthey reach age 22. See DR119.3. In the ReiningDivision, amateur status will be determined perReining Division Non Pro Conditions; see ama-teur status RN105. (For professionals wishing tobe re-classified as amateurs, see GR1308.2a):a. Accepts remuneration for riding, driving,showing, training, schooling or conducting clin-ics or seminars.b. Accepts remuneration for giving riding ordriving lessons, lessons in showmanship, in-structions in equitation or horse training. (Per-sons acting as counselors at summer camps, whoare not hired in the exclusive capacity of ridinginstructors are excluded and persons giving in-struction and training to the handicapped).c. Accepts remuneration for employment in othercapacity (e.g., secretary, bookkeeper, veterinar-ian, groom, farrier) and gives instruction, rides,drives, shows, trains or schools horses, otherthan horses actually owned or leased by him/her,when his/her employer or a member of the familyof said employer or a corporation which a mem-ber of his/her family controls, owns, boards ortrains said horses.d. Accepts remuneration for the use of his or hername, photograph or other form of personalassociation as a horseman in connection withany advertisement or article (including but not

limited to clothing, product, equipment, etc.) tobe sold.e. Accepts prize money in equitation or show-manship classes. Prize money may be acceptedby amateur riders in Dressage.f. Rides, drives or shows, any horse for whichhe/she or a member of his/her family or acorporation which a member of his/her familycontrols, receives remuneration for boarding,training, riding, driving or showing. (A familymember of a trainer may not absolve themselvesof this rule by entering into a lease or any otheragreement for a horse owned by a client ofthe trainer).g. Gives instruction to any person or rides,drives or shows any horse, for which activity an-other person in his/her family or corporationwhich a member of his/her family controls willreceive remuneration for the activity. (A familymember of a trainer may not absolve themselvesof this rule by entering into a lease or any otheragreement for a horse owned by a client of thetrainer).h. Accepts remuneration, as defined inGR1306.2e, for selling horses/ponies, acts as apaid agent in the sale of horses/ponies or takeshorses/ponies on consignment for the purpose ofsale or training other than those owned whollyor in part by him/her or by a member of his/herfamily or farm/ranch/syndicate/partnership/cor-poration which he/she or a member of his/herfamily controls.i. Advertising professional services such as train-

ing or giving lessons by way of business cards,print ads, or internet.j. For Amateurs in Jumper Sections, see JP117.k. For Amateurs in Eventing sections, see EVAp-pendix 3 - Participation in Horse Trials.

As you can see there is a long list of activ-ities that classifies someone as a professional.You might notice that the number one issue thatdefines a professional horseman regards moneyand not level of skill. So, if you are looking forassistance from a horse professional, make sureit is a professional who is knowledgeable in anarea that will benefit your needs.

If you enjoy competing in the amateurclasses, carefully read the rules and make sureyou are not violating any of them.

If you are someone who wishes to becomea horse professional, take the time to learn allyou can from as many sources as you can.Whenyou are ready to step out as a professional, learnfrom someone who is already acting as a suc-cessful professional in the discipline or area ofservice that you would like to work in. If you arefortunate enough to work as an apprentice or as-sistant to someone you look up to, count yourlucky stars. It’s a great way to learn the businessand offers a lot more security than striking outon your own.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cathy Strobel has over 30 years of experi-ence as a trainer, judge and clinician and can bereached at Southern Breeze Equestrian Centerat (281) 431-4868 or www.sbreeze.com

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Q. I’ve got my two nephews (13 and 11)and my niece (10) coming out to my ranch thissummer. I told them they could each have theirown horse to look after and ride all summer.They are good kids and they’re welcome here.But I was at one of your talks when you hadsomething like Ten Commandments for TrailRiders, and I’d sure like to put up somethinglike that on the wall so I can point to it when Ineed to.

A. You don’t mention whether these threechildren will be riding alone, together as a group,with you, with someone else… you had better

think about those questions now, long beforethey arrive. Even if they’ve had significant ridingexperience, I strongly advise that you accom-pany them or assign someone else to accompanythem, at least for the first week or two. Theyneed to learn about your horses and trails; youneed a chance to evaluate their abilities. Somekids have great instruction at home and are nat-urally gifted for sports, and in those cases a fewlessons may go a long way. Others have bad orno instruction at home and are less naturally ath-letic, and even a year or two of weekly lessonsmight not be enough to bring them up to a levelwhere you could let them go out alone. Whetherthey’ve had five lessons or five hundred, youhave to watch them “up close and personal” be-fore you can evaluate them accurately.

I’ll gladly provide a short list of essentialideas – “Ten Commandments” - for your sum-mer guests. Feel free to customize it.

1. Ride the right horse – ask your uncle towatch you ride and choose a horse for you. Don’tworry if it’s not the tallest or the prettiest horseon the place - if your uncle says that Ol’ Blue isa reliable trail mount, just be glad that someonecares enough to keep you as safe as possible, andas comfortable on the way home as you were onthe way out.

2. How’s your riding? If it’s okay but notgreat, say so. You might get the chance to take

some lessons while you’ve got a horse for thesummer. If that opportunity is available, forheaven’s sake take advantage of it! Even ifthere’s no chance of any formal lessons, ask youruncle for some hints, tips, and advice.

3. You probably haven’t ridden manyhorses that are as fit as these ranch horses, sothink about your own fitness and work to build itbefore summer arrives. You shouldn’t be a bur-den to your horse! If your muscles, breathing,balance, coordination, flexibility, strength, andendurance are already impressive, that’s great. Ifnot, work to improve them – you will have a bet-ter time, and so will your horse.

4. Learn what’s normal for horses and whatisn’t. Would you know if your horse were in dis-tress? Learn how to measure your horse’s TPR(temperature, pulse, and respiration), so that youcan check periodically. If you think somethingmight be wrong you won’t have to wonder“Does he always breathe that fast?” or “Shouldhis heart be hammering like that?” You’ll knowif it’s normal, and if it isn’t, you’ll know how faroff normal it is for this individual horse.

5. Ranch riding won’t be a nose-to-tail, or-ganized, guided ride – if you take your horsesout for the day without supervision, pack someessentials in your belt bag: A compass and map,your cell phone, and a whistle. Before you leave,ask where your phone will and won’t get a sig-nal. Although you’re unlikely to be riding aloneor very far from the ranch, observe some basictrail riding safety practices: File a “flight plan”before leaving, so that folks at the ranch canknow when you left, by which route, and whichway you plan to return. That way, if you get intotrouble you’re already halfway to being rescued.In case you do get into trouble, the whistle willattract attention long after your “yelling for helpvoice” gives out.

6. Remember the horseman’s first rule:Walk the first mile out and the last mile in.Never leave the ranch at a dead run – even ifyou’ve seen it in a hundred cowboy movies.Hollywood “ranches” and real working ranchesare very different. Never return to the ranch at adead run – again, in real life that’s the mark of apoor horseman.

7. If you’re going to do any running, be sureyou’re going uphill, and only on trails your unclehas identified as safe. You and your horse willbalance more easily and be more comfortablecantering uphill. When you go down a hill, walk.On the flat, walk and jog; trot only if you arecomfortable posting the trot. A horseman alwayslooks after his horse, and horses’ legs were notdesigned to go downhill at speed, carrying riders.It’s hard on their legs. Don’t think of your sum-mer horses as rented bicycles, think of them as

Trail Rider’s TenCommandments


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members of your uncle’s family and take care of them accordingly.8. Give your horse a break. When you become tired and thirsty and

want to relax in the shade with a bottle of cold water, remember that yourhorse would like a break too. Before you open your own cold drink, besure that your horse has a loosened cinch, a drink of water, and somewhereto graze – preferably in the shade.

9. Horses are great weather stations. Listen to yours. Storms cancome up suddenly; horses will usually let you know if something isbrewing.

10. Ideally, at the end of the summer your horse will be uninjured,healthy, bright-eyed, cheerful, and in excellent condition – a clear reflec-tion of your horsemanship. Have a great time, and look after your summerhorse in a way that will make your uncle want to invite you back.

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HOUSTON, (Horseback) – Formerapprentice jockey, Thoroughbredracehorse owner, and winning rider,Davy Jones, remembered the firsttime he got on a horse.

“A lot of people call me “Cow-boy,” but the first time I was onhorseback, I had a lump in mythroat the size of my fist, and myheart was almost bouncing me outof my saddle,” the British bornsinger, actor, and television star re-membered. Then he learned hecould actually ride.

The Internet is filled with snipsof remembrances of Davy, but it takesa degree of work to ferret out storiesand his quotes about his first love inlife – and it wasn’t being a pop starthat was his passion – it was horses.

He continued, “As I grew used toit on that ride, I thought, ‘Oh, myGod, it’s going to happen…I’m can-tering! I’ve been a cowboy eversince.”

Neither Monkees Mickey

The only thing wrong with dying when you are doing whatyou love best is that you have to stop. Such was the case withlegendary performer Davy Jones, who spent a weekend withhis horses, then collapsed in his barn after a ride. He waspronounced dead at a nearby hospital.


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Dolenz, Peter Tork, nor Michael Nesmith cameto the private closed door services at HolyCross Catholic Church in Indiantown, Florida.Jones and his family had settled in the former1920s boomtown that time passed by aftertrains carrying Yankees south didn’t stop thereany longer. That was just fine with Jones. Thetown held an amenity that made him want tomake it his home.

Indiantown, population 5,588, isn’t abig destination for throngs of sun starvedresidents of the East Coast. But what it doesboast is the race training facility, PaysonPark. Some of the top trainers in racing alongwith their champion horses who have usedthe facility are William Mott, ChristopheClement, Roger Attfield, Shug McGaughey,John Kimmel, and Tom Albertrani. It drewthe former Monkee to the coast to settledown with his third wife.

Jessica Pacheco, Jones’ widow,brought his cremated remains to thechurch where family members, horsefolks, and his band listened to Fr. FrankO’Loughlin deliver a homily in which hesaid, “He wrote about a quiet, gentle,contented people…a people for whomlife was bright, neighbors friends, day-dream believers with an absolute ab-sence of burden who took themselveslightly – lighter than air. Wasn’t thatwhat David conveyed to the world, ablissful lightness of being.

Well, yes. Actually he did, didn’the?

Born in 1945 in Manchester, Eng-land, Jones was an apprentice jockey atNewmarket Racecourse in Suffolk afterhis father had decided that Davy, smallfor his age, wouldn’t make it in one ofthe trades such as carpentry or plumb-ing. A horse racing fan, he looked at theboy and concluded his son was just theright size to become a jockey. The senior Jonescontacted theManchester Evening News abouthow to get the small boy into racing. The news-paper put the two in touch with steeplechasetrainer Basil Foster a middling successfultrainer at the local track.

He left home at the age of 14 to begin hisapprenticeship at the track. But it wasn’t racingwhere he first gained public attention.

Lyndon B. Johnson was president, andHarold Macmillan was the British Prime Min-ister, when Davy Jones first came to the publicconsciousness in 1963 as he was nominated fora Tony Award for his portrayal of the ArtfulDodger in the hit Broadway musical “Oliver.”That same year, Arnold Palmer won his secondBritish Open, the Yankees beat the Giants inthe World Series, the “credibility gap” came tobe the tag line for anything the governmentsaid about the War in Vietnam, and a horsenamed Chateatugay won the Kentucky Derby

and the Belmont Stakes.Three years later, Jones was catapulted to

fame far beyond Broadway when he was castas one of the four Monkees for the TV seriesas the heartthrob lead singer.

Yet horses and racing never left the 5’4”128 pound actor. He held a British steeplechasejockey’s license for decades hoping to returnto the track. Jones often told friends and re-porters that he would rather ride a horse thanperform.

He had a deep appreciation for exerciseriders as superb athletes telling an interviewer,“It’s a thrill; it’s always been in my blood to dothis kind of thing. But these guys do it everyday, so their morning is like me going to thetheater at night.”

And Jones lived a dream when he gal-loped a 3-year-old filly called Love Dancing

around the storied track at Churchill Downs atage 49. A waggish reporter for the LouisvilleCurrier Journal quipped in a headline thatJones had made history by being the only Mon-kee in Churchill Downs venerable history toactually ride a horse. The ride came about afterhe had met exercise rider Deborah Keene andshe asked her boss if Jones could ride. The fol-lowing day, Davy showed up in full jockey re-galia and galloped the 1.25 mile length of theKentucky Derby.

Throughout his life Davy Jones was aracehorse owner and fan. His biggest splash onthe track was when he campaigned his filly,T.E. Jones, a daughter of Grand Slam, to a winand a second place finish out of ten starts overa three year period beginning in 2003. He hadbought the horse at the 2001 Keeneland fallyearling sale.

“Horses train themselves,” he said at thetime. “If you’ve got an animal that can run and

win, it will run and win.”Jones made brief appearances in and out

of show business, and members of the Mon-kee’s re-formed, performed, and again brokeup several times. But even in his show businesscareer, racing beckoned. In 1991 he appearedas a jockey in the BBC show “Trainer.”

In 1996, more than 30 years after hesigned on as an apprentice jockey at Newmar-ket, Davy Jones got a leg up climbing into thesaddle at Lingfield Park where he finally en-tered a race as a jockey at a major track. At age50, he mounted Digpast, a horse like manyother Thoroughbreds that boasted a pedigreeincluding Nasrullah and Native Dancer. Therace was the One Mile Ontario Amateur Rid-ers’ Handicap. The horse was owned by hisdaughter Sarah and trained by Roland O’Sulli-van. He won by two and a half lengths beatinga horse named Four Of Spades.

Davy Jones never forgothis mentor Basil Foster, now 85, be-cause he would never have had acareer in show business had theEnglish horseman not recognizedthat the apprentice jockey had whatit takes and pushed him onto thestage where he made his debut in a1961 episode of “CoronationStreet.” The two stayed close overthe years as Foster left England for acareer in Canada and later Florida.When age got the best of Basil, Jonesbrought his elderly mentor to Florida,put him up in his home, and virtuallyadopted the elderly horseman, finallypaying for him to live in a facility forelder care.Up until his death, Jones took Fos-

ter to watch his racehorses work.“He’s still showing me how to long

rein horses, still showingmewhat to do,”he quipped during a recent interview

about the relationship between the two men.In a life filled with magic, Jones had one

regret to the end. After the Monkees broke upin 1970 he recalled, “I should have got awayfrom Hollywood and got back into the racinggame. Instead I waited another ten years.Everyone makes mistakes in life and for methat was the biggest.”

“Racing is never going to go away. It’slike the Mafia,” Jones remembered. “I’ve stillgot my first pair of riding breeches, which Ishowed Basil the other day. He was shockedI’d still got them but I remember him sendingme down Newmarket High Street to buy themlike it was yesterday.”

Now, a month after his untimely death, abrief line from a Monkeys song may serve asthe tribute to Davy Jones, the horseman. Itgoes:

“You once thought of me, as a whiteknight on a steed…”

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WALLER, TEXAS (Horseback) - I wrote aboutDennis and our adventures riding the long year-lings in “Drawing the Right Straw” (HorsebackApril 2011 issue). That was a lot of fun to do,think about again and write down. Sometimesthe best times are the some of the biggest wrecks.During that same time frame when we had thetwo mares that the owner wanted to turn into astagecoach team (I wrote about them in the“Honestly She Never Bucks with Me” story inthe March 2011 Horseback issue) was the inci-dent of one dark prairie night.

As these two mares got to handling better,Dennis and I made longer and longer rides on

them, sometimes getting in just before dark. Wecovered a lot of ground and chased a few corri-ente steers around. Just generally whooped it up,a couple of college cowboys getting paid to dosomething they would have done for free! I wasjust glad no one told the ranch owner that backthen! It was a good time, but if you push thelimit to much…sometimes it will bite you!

This particular day we had chased the steersa little too much (as wild young bucks tend todo!) and had ran some through a fence. Ya, Iknow…not very responsible, but we were a cou-ple honyaks - that’s the only excuse I have, so Iam sticking to it. We finally rounded up all ofthe steers, could see no major injuries, and hadfixed the fence. Try doing that with nothingmore than a lariat and a pocket knife!

Dennis finally says, “since it’s so late, let’sjust ride to Buck’s (the ranch foreman’s) houseand have him trailer us back to my truck…it’snot very far as the crow flies.” Oh, how thosewords came back to haunt us.

So we headed out. Not really thinkingabout fences, arroyo’s or lack of gates (as youngcowboys only tend to think in the moment andnot very much past the end of their face). Wehad not gotten too far when we came to a crossfence, we figured there had to be a gate and madea scientific decision as to which direction to goto get to it. We flipped a coin, heads we go tothe left…tails to the right. Off we went to theright, heck for all we knew that gate could have

been just over the hill going to the left…we justdidn’t bother to check.

We rode for about an hour and came acrossa deep arroyo (down in south Texas they arecalled bayous’ and up north they call them coo-leys’….how’s that for this being educated?). Itwas too deep and steep so we had to find a waydown…again the scientific decision. We wentto the right again and finally came across a littletrail that led to the bottom.

As we got to the bottom we discovered ithad a little water in it, and followed that for awhile. We finally got to a point we could nolonger go forward as it got narrower and aftermuch scraping of hides, ours and the horses; wegot turned around and backtracked to anothertrail going up the other side.

When we finally got out of the arroyo, wecould barely see each other. At this point Ithought we were pretty much lost, but Denniswas sure it was only a couple more miles. So weheaded out again, finally coming to a gate. Weentered that pasture and by then the only wayyou even knew you had your hand in front ofyour face was the heat from your breath. To sayit was dark was an understatement, you couldhear the other horse…but you couldn’t see it.

We decided we needed to stick together, butat some point we both got on different sides of anarroyo. At first we tried to get closer together,not knowing there was an arroyo there, but thehorses would have none of it. It appears they

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were smarter than we were, they wouldn’t juststep off into a hole! Once we figured out whathad happened we just rode along the sides andin the quiet and dark, waiting for it to narrowback up or get shallower so we could cross. Theonly problem was it appeared to be gettingwider; it was getting harder to hear the horse onthe other side.

One of the things that happen when you areriding alone in the dark and quiet is that you tendto just be alone with your thoughts. Now mythoughts were running along the lines of howstupid we were and I was looking to lay theblame on Mr. As-Crow-Fly’s. I guess he musthave had that “alone with your thoughts feeling”too, because all of the sudden out of the darkcomes a small, somewhat shaky voice…saying“Cory……Cory…..are you still over there?” Atfirst I thought about punishing him a little andletting him think he was by himself. But just theway he said it was hilarious, and hilarity is con-tagious. So we laughed over that for some time!

We finally came to a road and again with thescientific decision. We went to the left this timeand somewhat anti-climatically arrived at Buck’shouse. So while I sat outside holding the horses,Dennis goes in to ask Buck to trailer us back tothe truck. He was in there for some time andcome to find out he ate while he was in there andbrought me a sandwich to eat on the road. Buckfinally came out, and said “what are you boy’sdoing riding around at 11 at night?” Of course,

since the sandwich thing, I just looked at Mr.As-Crow-Fly’s and kept my ill thoughts to myself.

Needless to say the rest of the night waspretty uneventful, we loaded the horses and in20 minutes Buck had us back at the truck. Weunsaddled, put away horses and headed back tothe dorms. Of course being ten feet tall and bul-

letproof had its benefits and we still went out thatnight. Heck we even had a funny story to tell!

If there is a moral to this story, it’s this:Don’t go riding around in an unknown area afterdark. Also, young cowboys should think pastthe end of their face, saves a lot of time downthe road.

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It's was late afternoon when I caught upwith Ann Groves at her eclectic store and artgallery in Tubac, Arizona. You would think thatafter minding a busy store for most of the day andconversing with collectors from around the worldabout her father's artwork she'd be exhausted andready to call it a day. But Ann is energetic, andalways eager to talk about her work and her fa-mous father, artist Hal Empie.

"I am the daughter of the well known west-ern artist and cartoonist, Hal Empie," she told me."And I have been introduced as the Artist'sDaughter all my life."

Ann's father Hal was born in 1909 whenArizona was still a territory. It was a rough life inthose days, and boys were supposed to earn theirkeep. Hal did so through a number of jobs rang-ing from animal trapping, to sales of homemadecheese. He even tried his hand at a mail ordersalve.

But at the age of fourteen, fortune shined onhim and he was offered a job at Best Drug Store.He then attended Capitol College of Pharmacy inDenver and becameArizona’s youngest licensedpharmacist in 1929 at age 20. He was issued aspecial license.

Now married to his childhood sweetheart,Louise, he began his professional career as resi-

dent pharmacist/manager of theBest Drug Company inSolomonville during the GreatDepression. But the drug storeburned down and the DuncanDrug Store in Duncan, Arizonaasked him to become theirmanager. He accepted, madethe move, bought the store andstayed 54 years.

It was at this new storethat Hal began drawing car-toons in between filling pre-scriptions, his easel was in hispharmacy department. Halwould sketch out the cartoonsthat captivated Americans who were travel-ing to western states for vacations. His abil-ity to capture western humor made hiscartoons a favorite for old west post cards.

Hal's productive hand came from awell-spring of experiences. His artworkranged from cartoon post cards to canvasesthat captured the beauty of Arizona and itspeople. He never copied one painting.All ofhis works came from his mind's eye in colorsand textures that were as great as the vastland he lived in. His canvases are of a time-

less nature and have appeared in countless publi-HORSEBACK MAGAZINE - April 2012 www.horsebackmagazine.com30

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cations, exhibitions as well as in the permanent collections of prestigious collectors,museums and cultural institutions throughout the country.

Ann's store, The Artist's Daughter was built by her father to help her run andmanage her dad's western postcards, Empie Kartoon Kards in 1986. From that smallbeginning it has grown to become an old-time western general store that engulfs youin nostalgia. From hundreds of porcelain, old west, gasoline, and railroad signs towestern gifts, birdhouses, bandanas and more. She and her husband Peter also ownthe Hal Empie Studio-Gallery next door.

As our talk about her father drew to a close,Ann was animated and full of ideasabout her father's paintings and the many sold artworks she hopes to see again. Welaughed about birdhouses made from boots, (which had drawn me to her store andher father's story), and about how the old cartoon postcards that began selling in1934 can still be purchased. The experience of talking with Ann brought me to therealization that it is through art, in all its forms that enable us to explore who we are,where we came from and how we relate to the rest of our world.

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Nestled between the towns of Globe and Showlow in Ari-zona lies a sever in the landscape, a deep river canyon wherehistory and panoramic views merge. For miles this wildernesslends credence to the nickname, The Mini Grand Canyon. The2,000-foot deep canyon, carved by eons of erosion, tightly bindsin the Salt River as it twists and snakes through the canyon untilit is halted at Roosevelt Reservoir Dam to the east.

With over 32,000 acres located within the Tonto NationalForest there are no maintained trails and travel through thecanyon is typically done by raft or kayak during the short seasonbetween river sport season from March to May. During thesespring months when the river runs deep with winter run-off, thechurning water beckons adventurers to test their might againstwhite-tipped rapids and rollercoaster waves that splash againsthidden rocks.

For those visiting by car, there are stopping placeswhere you can park and enjoy the view. Hieroglyphic Point,where carved petroglyphs from prehistoric tribes are etchedinto black boulders below the road, boasts a foot trail downto the ancient art.

It was in these canyons that Apache warriors found refugefrom the U.S. Calvary troops and now the canyon provides aborder between the San Carlos Apache Reservation to the southand the White Mountain Apaches to the north.

Salt River is the only ratable wilderness river that flowsthrough the Sonoran Desert and the canyon's granite cliffs markwhere the North American and Pacific plates collide at the edgeof the Mogollon Rim. It is one of the natural wonders of Ari-zona which allows you to combine the solitude of the wild withthe adventure of the river. It is a place where Bald Eagles soarabove you and cactus and wildflowers bloom on the riverbanks. Here, nature's pallet changes shades around each newbend and at night a glittering canopy of stars blankets the nightsky.

Travel Time: About 2 1/2 Hours North of PhoenixActivities: Hiking, camping, fishing, exploring, white-

water raftingInformation: Greater Globe-Miami Chamber of Com-

merce, 1-800-804-5623. www.globemiamichamber.com

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Lifestyle

Did St Patrick’s day makeyou long for the luck of the Irish?This year, enjoy the richness andsplendor of Ireland in person, theway the Irish do – on horseback.

The Irish are long known fortheir expertise and knowledge ofall things “horse” and many oftheir businesses and certainlytheir recreational activities are allcentered around equestrianevents. If there is a horse rider inyour midst, they will enjoy a tripof a lifetime as they canter overlush and rolling sheep dottedfields with low lying stone walls,meander through famine villagesand past ancient Celtic Ruins with nothing butthe sound of their horses’ hooves and the creak-ing of the saddle leather before retiring to thelocal pub for a refreshing pint of Guinness andsome local Irish music with abundant fiddles andpenny whistles. Nestled in the villages outsideof historic Galway and Clare Trail Ride offers achance to experience quintessential Ireland.

For families, or folks who prefer a nineiron to a stirrup iron, guests can retire to ourCountry Estate Riding and Golf program andstep back in time to the life and luxury of acountry squire. This program, located at thewell appointed Mount Juliet Estate, featureswonderful instruction or trail riding while offer-ing golfers the chance to play on the Jack Nick-laus designed golf course, which has been hometo the American Express Golf Championshipson several occasions. When not riding, guestscan relax in the award winning spa, catch freshtrout in the River Nore, take archery lessons or

even visit the local Ballylinch Stud Farm, all lo-cated on the property.

And for those that want the chance to truly“live like Kings”, our Kinnitty Castle TrailRide gives guests the ability to stay in an au-thentic Irish Castle, originally built in the 11thcentury. This is a true castle that has been up-dated to include electricity, conventionalplumbing and period antiques, but not muchelse. Unlike some places that are merely castle“shells”, your room is literally made with stonewalls – making this a true experience for thosethat want a comfortable but unique accommo-dation. After a day of galloping across thefields and through the Slieve Bloom Moun-tains, rosy cheeked riders retire to the libraryfor pint or a cup of tea by the peat fire whilesharing stories of the ancient clans that for-merly vied for this part of Ireland.

Each of these rides has been personally in-spected for quality and to ensure exceptional

riding. And Ireland remainsone of the most beloved of alldestinations for riders. Thereis nothing equal to gallopingdown the beach or along an-cient country lanes that re-main much today the waythey were a several hundredyears ago in the land of Ceadmile failte - the land of athousand welcomes!For more information onthese or any of the 80 ridingvacations offered, contact aconsultant at 800.973.3221 orvisit the website www.ac-tiveridingtrips.com.

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HITCHCOCK, TEXAS (Horseback) – It’s only fit-ting that a fair and rodeo on the Texas Coasthave events and food that are traditional tothe area where it is held. Such is the casein Galveston County.

While most rodeos are knownfor their brisket, ribs and smokedchicken, the local even has some-thing extra on their menu. Thegreat Texas Seafood Cook offbegins the rodeo with pots ofsteaming gumbo, grilled andfried shrimp all doused with tastygulf coast washed flavorings andspices.

The cook off teams line up at theedge of the fairgrounds, and the spicyaroma of Cajun gumbo, ladled on a pile ofrice rises above the brightly lit carnival rides. As

hopeful FFA students parade their livestockand cowboys ready for a night's ride, thefood fest is the official beginning of thenine day Rodeo and Fair on April13th through April 15th.The 35th Annual BBQ Cook-off

is scheduled for the last three daysof the rodeo, April 19-21. Thesmokers are hot; the ribs are bast-ing and the brisket is perfectlycooked. Each of the compet-ing teams are vying for brag-

ging rights, trophies and cashprizes.So mark your calendars and

head out to the Galveston County Fairand Rodeo. It starts April 13, and runs through

April 21, at Jack Brooks Park on Highway 6 inHitchcock.

Lifestyle

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A frontier town is fueled by crime and corruption until a strong-willed heroine and her friends, including legendary lawman Wyatt Earpand gunfighter Doc Holliday, take a stand for justice in “Hannah’s Law,”a Hallmark Movie Channel Original produced by Nomadic Pictures Pro-ductions 3 and Sony Pictures Television, and premiering on HallmarkMovie Channel in Saturday, June 9 (8p.m. ET/PT, 7C). “Hannah’s Law”stars Sara Canning (“The Vampire Diaries”) as Hannah, Greyston Holt(“Durham County”) as Wyatt Earp, Kimberly Elise (“For Colored Girls”)as Stagecoach Mary, four-time Emmy® Award nominee Danny Glover(“Freedom Song,” “Mandela”) as Isom Dart, Billy Zane (“Titanic”) asLockwood, Ryan Kennedy (“Hellcats”) as Doc Holliday and John Pyper-Ferguson (“Caprica”) plays Frank McMurphy.

From orphan to bounty hunter, tough-mindedHannah Beaumont doesn’t take lip from anyone. Onlyin her mid-twenties, Hannah is driven by a soul-con-suming mission to track down and bring to justice theMcMurphy gang who brutally murdered her parentsand young brother. Comfortable as a mercenary, Han-nah’s fierce independence keeps the people in her lifeat a distance: Isom Dart, the father figure who taughtHannah everything he knows about shooting and hunt-ing men, handsome admirer and suitor Wyatt Earp,mysterious Doc Holliday and Hannah’s best friend,Stagecoach Mary. But when Hannah and her friendsprove to the McMurphy gang that getting into Dodgeis easy, but getting out will be hell, a shocking secretis revealed that will change Hannah’s life forever.

“Hannah’s Law” is produced by Nomadic Pic-tures Productions 3 and Sony Pictures Television.Mike Ogiens and John Fasano are the executive pro-ducers. Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev are the pro-ducers. Rachel Talalay is directing from a script

written by John Fasano.Hallmark Movie Channel, the second linear channel from Crown

Media Holdings, Inc., simulcast in SD (Standard Definition) and HD(High Definition), is a 24-hour cable network dedicated to bringing view-ers family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presen-tations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, originalHallmark Channel movies and special events. In today’s crowded televi-sion landscape, the network is a unique and captivating entertainmentexperience, providing programming families can watch together. It isnow available in nearly 47 million homes. Crown Media also operatesHallmark Channel which provides a diverse slate of high-quality enter-tainment to a national audience of 87 million subscribers.

Lifestyle

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Lifestyle

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Plant City, FL– Because you love your horses andwant to give them the best in forage and beddingproducts, check out the new and improved Stam-pede Premium line of equine products. StampedePremium offers a comprehensive selection ofproducts specially formulated to provide maxi-mum nutrition and comfort for your horses.

Hay continues to be in tight supply asmore farmers are replacing hay fields to plantcotton, peanuts, soybeans, corn or other vegeta-bles and taking advantage of prices that haverisen in recent years as a result of worldwideproduction problems. In addition, weather con-ditions have limited the number of cuttings dur-ing the season in drought areas while rain hasdestroyed or limited production in other re-gions. During times like these, processed for-age and pellets offer an ideal alternative to hayproviding a better value that is consistent inquality AND availability.

Stampede Premium processed forages andpellets are consistently consistent. They offerguaranteed ingredient analysis and give you con-fidence that your animals receive consistent nu-

trition and quality feed every day. And, Stampedeprocessed forage products are easy to digest andproduce less waste.

Stampede Premium's Cubes in the Pro-Pakoffer 25 percent more product for your moneythan the leading competition.

Stampede Premium feed selections include:• Alfalfa Cubes, Timothy Alfalfa Cubes, AlfalfaMini Cubes and OrchardAlfalfaMini Cubes - theultimate hay cubes. They are peak harvested andnaturally sun-cured to provide maximum palata-bility in all seasons. Plus they’re easy to store.• Alfalfa Pellets and Timothy Grass Pellets – anideal alternative to hay during times when avail-ability is scarce. Pellets are also a great option forcaregivers seeking the convenience of a processedforage in a smaller form. Keep in mind, Stam-pede’s pellet products are also suitable for othersmall farm animals.Stampede Premium Product Expansion

In addition to the Stampede line of feeds,Stampede offers a full line of bedding products.

Stampede Premium Now Offers a Full Line of Equine Care ProductsStampede Premium Equine Products Enhances and Expands Product Lineto Create Added Value and Benefits for Your Horses and Small Animals.

Stampede Continued on Pg 48

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With the evolution of training techniques, andthe popularization of natural horsemanship and re-lated philosophies in recent years, the idea thathorses are both thinking and feeling creatures hasbecome widely accepted. It follows, then, thathorsemen and women, professional and recre-ational, must employ both technical skill and cre-ativity in order to succeed in their horsemanshipendeavors.

As professional or aspiring competitive rider-trainers, we sometimes forget the creative part ofthis equation; drilling our horses ad infinitude on asingle skill that we need to perfect, in order to wina class. Or by following the exact same routine, inthe exact same environment, day after day evenwhen the horse is clearly bored with it.You’d thinkwe’d know better, since, even those of us who likeour jobs, don’t enjoy facing the exact same task orroutine, every day of our lives.Yet, in our efforts toadvance or win in competition, we sometimes neg-lect to consider our horse’s point of view.It doesn’t help any that, in today’s horse world,

competitive specialists are themost highly rewardedfinancially. The American Quarter Horse, onceprized for its versatile individuals, nowhas separateand distinct lines of breeding for disciplines such asCutting,Western Pleasure, Reining,Halter, andBar-rel Racing, with no economic incentive for horsesthat can bridge the gap from one discipline to an-other. (Ranch Versatility competitions were intro-duced, with some success, to address this issue, buttheir economic rewards are still well below those ofthe more specialized disciplines.)

I can see why, when you have a large invest-ment in your own, or a client’s horse, and a limitedschedule inwhich to prepare it for competition, it iseasy to forget that the horse is not a machine.Whereas structured schooling and thorough prepa-ration are useful in “programming” the horse to per-

form a certainway, it is also beneficial to take thoseskills being taught in schooling sessions, and allowthe horse to use them in a more practical, intuitivesituation. For example, when your Reining horsedoesn’t see the need to push off with power and en-ergy into his roll-back, why not let himwork a cowon the fence for a while? He may not be the nextgreat reined cow horse, but he’ll most likely under-stand the purpose in themovement, and start show-ing more energy and style in this maneuver. Thentake him out on a trail, and use the bends and turnsin it to work his flying lead changes. He can relax,and feel there’smore of a reason forwhat he’s beingasked to do.

Take your Western Pleasure horse out on thetrail, too,( a smooth trail, with good footing, on anice day), and let him do his transitions in someopen space, on some real grass. Feel the stiffnessleave his body as he remembers the fluidity of hisnatural way of going.

And for goodness sake, get your barrel horseout of the arena, and do something besides run bar-rels on him.Take him up and down some hills, ask-ing him to shift his weight back into his haunches,and towatch his footing for a reason.Then take himback into the arena, and do some quiet, slow trailobstacles, or, even work him on the rail for a fewminutes at a quiet lope,with some lateralmovementand balanced circles thrown in here and there. Thenjust stand in the center and do nothing for a fewminutes. You may be surprised at how composedand focused he enters the arena for your next barrelracing run. (I advise you ropers to do the same, inthe off-chance any of youare reading this!)

In English disci-plines, time away fromthe competitive environ-ment is equally impor-tant. Until she and herfamily moved to Dubai,my friend, Lucy Chal-craft, an accomplishedeventer, used to bring hercompetition horses hereat least twice a year fornice gallops over thetrails in the state parknext door and on ourranch, jumping only afew, relatively easy ob-stacles. She would alsogo on walk/ trot rideswith her family along, ontheir, (and our), ridinghorses. She consideredthe relaxed, inviting ex-perience an importantpart of her horses' train-ing, both physically andpsychologically. Herhorses left rejuvenated,strong, and confident fortheir next competitions.On the flip side, I see

many recreational riders

who think that trail riding or ground games alonewill produce a well-conditioned, well-trained, re-spectful mount.As enjoyable and beneficial as trailriding can be, it is equally important that your horsespend some time with just youin an environmentwithout other influences or distractions, learning orperforming skills that solidify the fine-tuned com-munication and discipline that an excellent horseand rider team should have.

In my book, any good riding horse shouldknow how to balance his or her rider’s weight in astraight path, perform smooth, quiet transitions fromand to all gaits, do a balanced stop, back easily,travel in a collected frame when asked to, do basiclateral movements such as leg yield and side pass,and, unless physically impaired, do flying changesof lead. Furthermore,when your body andmind arequiet, so should your horse be.When your body andmind ask for energy, your horse should offer it.

If any of these are not present, your horse isnot really trained, and you need to spendmore timedoing creative, yet consistentmounted exercises, inthe arena, round pen, or training area,which solidifythe communication, trust, and respect between youand your horse. Ground work should include exer-cises that teach your horse to collect, and to engage,not disengage, his haunches, thereby using and de-veloping his core.

When you return to the trail, don’t just sit andlet your horse make all the choices about where todo what. Ask for smooth gait changes at specific

VarietyThe Spice of Your

Horse’s Life!

HORSEBACK MAGAZINE - April 201242

Whole Horsemanship Continued on Pg 49

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The Best Present EverMy husband and I share our barn.

Half for the horses; half for farmequipment.We have a generator to runa table saw but no regular electricity.It's not a problem in the summer, as Ihave water access. But come winter,my horse feeding routine becomestime-consuming and tedious. Foryears, I have fostered senior horses forTrue Blue Animal Rescue and alsohave a couple of my own horses thatare hard-keepers. They require lots ofwarm water added to their feed tobreakdown the feed into a warmmash.

To get warm water into the feedat the barn, I start 30 minutes beforefeeding time by bringing six gallonjugs into my kitchen, and fill them oneby one with hot water from the kitchenfaucet. Then I back the truck up to thehouse and load the gallon jugs into thetruck. One jug in each hand, 3 trips toload the truck. Set them up just rightso they don't fall over on the drive tothe barn. I learned the hard way to usemilk jugs with lids. Even with lids,sometimes a jug falls over and leakswater in transit. Did I mention I drive

an Expedition, so it's inside the backof my truck?At the barn, it's 3 trips tounload the jugs. And I do this twice aday – morning and evening feedings.Dole out the feed, then open a jug ofwater and pour over the feed. Repeat 5mores times. Plus, it's really cold out-side, so it never fails that as I'm feed-ing, my gloves get wet and my fingersare freezing. I love my horses, butwinter care and hauling water is notfun. It takes me twice as long to feed inthe winter – over an hour, twice a day.

That's all changed now. My hus-band bought me the EZ 101 TanklessWater Heater (LP Gas version) forChristmas. It has made my winterfeeding routine a breeze! Now I'm ableto walk over to the barn (vs. drive),carrying nothing. I setup the feedingbuckets with feed, turn on the LPGas,click the switch on the heater, turn onthe water faucet and whoosh – I havean unlimited flow of hot water! TheEZTanklessWater Heater quickly fillsthe feed bucket with warm water. Notonly do I have my six gallons of waterto create warm mash for the horses, I

can now fill the horses' water bucketswith warmwater too on those freezingnights. Horse owners know that hydra-tion is key to preventing colic andhorses won't drink ice cold water.Withthe EZ Tankless Water Heater, prob-lem solved. If my hands get too coldwhile feeding, I just take my gloves offand warm them in the wonderfullywarm water from the heater. With theEZ Tankless Water Heater, it's easy toadjust the temperature from lukewarmto warm to HOT. Even my barn cat isenjoying his warm drinking water. TheEZ Tankless Water Heater has been areal God-send in my life! It is not ex-pensive and I love that it saves memoney by only heating the water whenI use it (vs a regular water heater)."

One of the best Christmaspresents ever! I thank my husbandevery day for the gift of the EZ Tan-kless Water Heater! (Lauren LeeLife Coach for Equestrian Womenwww.laurenlee.com 979-421-6331)---------------------------------------------------------------------For Tankless Water Heaters visit eztank-less.com or call 219.369.4781

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My first love for reading began with thewonderful series of fiction books by WalterFarley. I was, perhaps, between eight and nineyears old when I read his first book. The seriesevolved around the almost mystical horse,‘The Black Stallion’, also referred to in the se-ries as ‘The Black’.

For me, it was a book that I could not putdown.A story about a boy,Alec Ramsey, and hislove for a powerful and beautiful black stallion.Being a city boy at the time, I was lifted to a mag-ical place where the almost impossible wondersof the world seemed to be able to come true. Thestory begins with boy and horse stranded on adesert island after the ship that they were travel-ing in sinks. Trust in each other is slow at first butthey find that there is a natural dependence oneach other and eventually they bond.

Once rescued and brought toAlec’s home inthe United States, Alec meets a retired horsetrainer, Henry Dailey, and they secretly begintraining their prized possession for racing. Thestory culminates with a match race against twoformidable champions in their own right, Cy-

clone and Sun Raider. The ending is as expectedwith victory and joy in abundance.Walter Farleydid a masterful piece in elevating the credibilityof the two challengers and their formidable own-ers, trainers and jockeys approaching the race.This amplified the anticipation of a titanic strug-gle facing Alec and ‘The Black’.

The wonder of Mr. Farley’s talent is that hisfollow-up books; The Black Stallion and Satan,The Blood Bay Colt, The Black Stallion’s Fillyfor a total of sixteen books in the series were allequally enjoyable. His books sold over 12 millioncopies in the United States and untold numbersin at least 15 countries.

Walter Farley was born June 26, 1915 inSyracuse, New York and later moved to NewYork City. He recalls riding in Central Park andattending the three major New York race tracks.It was at age eleven that he began writing his sto-ries of horses. However, he didn’t write his finaldraft of The Black Stallion until he did it as aclass assignment at Columbia University. He re-ceived a B.A. at Columbia in 1941 and enteredthe military the following year. Completing his

military obligation in 1946, he and his wife Rose-mary bought a farm in Pennsylvania and beganraising horses. They had four children; Pam,Alice, Steven and Tim. He encouraged others tofind a career to which one would enjoy for a life-time, having been so grateful for the success thathis own writings brought him.

‘He received his first award, the PacificNorthwest LibraryAssociation’sYoung Reader’sChoiceAward for The Black Stallion in 1944, justthree years after the publication of his first book.The same award was presented to him just fouryears later, along with the Boys Club Junior BookAward for The Black Stallion Returns’.

John Strassburger wrote, "Some three gener-ations of readers have now experienced the BlackStallion because the books are healthy and enjoy-able reading for children. They stir the imagina-tion, they evoke emotion, they teach children tocare and to dream."And Christian Science Mon-itor contributor Richard Brunner concluded,"Today children starting the series may not real-ize they are reading a 'modern classic' but theyare as enthusiastic as their parents or their grand-

A Tribute to Walter FarleyBy John Adessi


parents were when they embarked on this adventure." In Walter Farley’sown words “It may be that horses sense that people truly care about them.Or it may be a form of art itself, as creative as any art can be and just asunexplainable and rewarding”.

Walter Farley died in October, 1989. TheWalter Farley Literary Land-mark in the children’s wing of his Venice, Florida hometown was estab-lished that year in honor of his literary and financial contributions.

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No matter what your horse looks like, orwhat job you ask him to do, he has one thing incommon with all horses – his digestive tract,which must process everything he eats into nutri-ents required for work, growth, reproduction andmaintenance of health (Figure 1).

Horses are grazing animals best suited forgrazing 15-20 hours per day. They have rela-tively small stomachs which begin to emptywhen only two-thirds full as a safety mechanismto prevent lethal stomach rupture, since horsescannot vomit. Feed proceeds from the stomachthrough the 70-foot long tubular-shaped small in-testine, where most of the starch, sugar, fat, vita-mins and minerals and about half of the proteinshould be digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. The remaining nutrients and the plantfibers continue on to the hindgut.

The horse’s hindgut is a huge fermentationvat that holds 23-30 gallons of fibrous materialwhere billions of bacteria and other organismswork to digest the fiber. The resulting volatilefatty acids (VFA), or very short-chain fats, areused by bacteria and horses for energy. Some ofthe remaining protein and some minerals, espe-

cially phosphorus, are absorbed from the large in-testine, along with water, which is recycledwithin the body. Bacteria in a healthy horse’shindgut also produce B-vitamins (including bi-otin) that can be used by the horse.

The unique equine digestive tract is very ef-ficient if horses are fed mainly grass or hay. But,the system breaks down when the horse is fedmore than a few pounds of grain per meal. Feed-ing five pounds or less of grain-based feeds dailyresults in a five-fold reduction in risks of colicand founder compared to feeding larger quantitiesof grain-based feeds. Grains are very high instarch (50-75%) compared to grasses and hays(<12%), which the digestive tract is designed toprocess. Often, the excess grain starch is not di-gested in the foregut because:• The horse does not have enough enzymes,• The starch is too compact to be broken down(corn and barley), or• There is not sufficient time for digestion, be-cause most feed goes from the mouth through theforegut and into the hindgut in less than six hours.Starch entering the hindgut is fermented bystarch-digesting bacteria that produce lactic acid,

which lowers the hindgut pH.Fiber-digesting bacteria can-not tolerate the more acidicconditions, so they die and re-lease toxins into the hindgut,which may result in colicand/or founder.

Horses do very well onforage-based rations. Sincegrain-starch in the hindgut isundesirable, horse ownersshould use premium fats (sta-bilized rice bran and flax) anddigestible fibers (soybeanhulls and beet pulp) to provideenergy rather than grains. Theresult is less risk of over 20Equine Grain-Associated Dis-orders resulting from feedinghigh-grain rations.

For more informationabout the feeding and care ofhorses, visit ADM AllianceNutrition’s online equine li-brary at www.grostrong.com.For free feeding suggestionsfor your horses, call theEquine Nutrition HELPLINEat 800-680-8254.

Equine DigestionBy Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D., P.A.S., Dipl. A.C.A.N.

Equine Nutritionist, Equine Product and Technical Manager, ADMAlliance Nutrition, Inc.

Figure 1 Equine Digestive System

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Founder of Wild Horse Education and VP ofWild Horse freedom Federation against the Bu-reau of Land Management’s (BLM) treatment ofwild horses. That amended complaint sought totake an earlier motion past the end of Nevada’sTriple B Roundup which ended when a Tempo-rary Restraining Order was granted near the endof the roundup in August of 2011 after incidentsof inappropriate treatment toward wild horseswere witnessed. The Motion was denied basedon the absence of the Triple B Complex from the2012 roundup schedule.

The new Motion allowed by the Court isbased on a ruling in another case brought byLeigh on First Amendment Rights issues thatwas a landmark win in San Francisco’s NinthCircuit Court of Appeals. In that case three jus-tices ruled that the roundups are inevitable basedon the current basis of “Appropriate Manage-ment Levels” and BLM’s projected use of repro-ductive rates. The roundup does not need to beon the schedule to consider conduct (in this casethe right of the press to report) based on demon-strated history.

The current Motion, filed by Reno attorneyGordon Cowan on Leigh’s behalf, states: “When,therefore, BLM returns to Triple B, there is noindication the Triple B horses to be rounded up,would be handled any differently than how theywere mishandled previously.”

After the original TRO was granted in re-sponse to inhumane conduct in violation of the1971 Act protecting wild horses and burros(August 2011) BLM did a review of the eventsat the Triple B roundup. That review containedadmission of conduct that noted (among oth-ers): dragging horses by the neck, kicking inthe head, and pilot conduct including an inci-dent where the pilot appears to hit an exhaustedanimal with the helicopter skids. BLM’s re-view included recommendations and outlineda timeline (90 days) for implementation of aprotocol. No written policy has been publishedor implemented.

“Until there is a written clearly defined pro-tocol, with provisions for violation, I have everyexpectation of continuing to document the sameconduct I have in the past” states Leigh, “I havebeen on a non-stop marathon documenting wildhorses and burros for over two years and witnessthe same things over and over. I have every rea-son to believe I will see it again.” The BLM hastwo weeks to answer the motion.

PRCA Announces Hall Inductees –The Etbauers Lead the Pack

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Etbauername, legend in the cowboy sport for a genera-tion, will be stamped in bronze this July whenfive-time World Champion Saddle Bronc RiderBilly Etbauer and two-time World Champion

Robert Etbauer are inducted into the ProRodeoHall of Fame, heading a class of seven.

The Etbauers are joined by the late three-time world champion roughstock cowboy FrankSchneider, three-time PRCABareback Horse ofthe Year Khadafy Skoal, five-time NFR barrel-man Jon Taylor, longtime rodeo administratorHal Littrell and the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup,which has nine times been named the PRCARodeo Committee of the Year.

Billy Etbauer, of Edmond, Okla., is the onlyman in ProRodeo history to surpass $3 millionin career earnings in a single event – one of onlythree men to reach that milestone, period – andhe holds the record for most Wrangler NationalFinals Rodeo qualifications by a roughstockcowboy (21) and most overall round wins at theNFR (51).

Elder brother Robert, of Goodwell,Okla., won his saddle bronc riding worldchampionships in 1990 and 1991 and quali-fied for the NFR 12 times (1988-92, 1994-2000). For eight of those years the youngestEtbauer brother, Dan, qualified for the NFRwith Billy and Robert.

Schneider has this in common with the Et-bauers: He too was part of a famous brother actin his era. Elder brother Johnie won two bull rid-ing gold buckles outright (1929-30), shared athird with Smokey Snyder (1932) and capturedthe 1931 all-around world championship whileFrank won back-to-back bull riding world titles(1933-34) and then a bareback riding title in1935 for good measure.

For all of its 35 years, the Dodge CityRoundup has been one of the elite rodeos of thePRCA. Eight of its nine Rodeo Committee of theYear awards came in the days when there wasonly one category covering all 600-plus PRCA-sanctioned rodeos.

Dodge City shared the award in 1985 withPhoenix and Santa Maria, Calif., and shared itagain with Reno, Nev., in 1987, but claimed theaward outright in 1986 and from 1988-92. Itsninth PRCA award came in 2001 when it wasvoted the Large Outdoor Rodeo Committee ofthe Year.

The rodeo is annually the centerpiece of theDodge City Days Festival which is the secondlargest community event in the state of Kansaswith a huge economic impact.

Khadafy Skoal became the first Wyomingborn-and-raised horse to be voted PRCA Bare-back Horse of the Year in 1990 and went on towin the award twice more for Powder RiverRodeo in 1995 and ’96. Starting in 1989, theblue roan gelding went to 16 consecutive NFRsand was voted Horse of the NFR in 1994, 1996and 1999.

He also competed in 15 Dodge NationalCircuit Finals Rodeos (being named top bare-back horse at the DNCFR a record five times)and 12 Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeosbefore being retired with his friend Skoal’s Fron-tier at the 2004 Wrangler NFR to the grassyfields of Riverton, Wyo., where he lives today at

the age of 29.Taylor, 70, was selected to be the NFR bar-

relman in 1974, 1979 and 1983 and served as thealternate in 1980-81. He was the PRCA Clownof theYear in 1979 and developed a reputation asone of the sport’s best-loved entertainers work-ing major rodeo venues in Reno, Nev.; FortWorth, Texas; Pendleton, Ore.; Ellensburg,Wash., and Prescott, Ariz.

He served on the PRCABoard of Directorsfrom 1982-85 and has worked as the NFR saddlehorse boss for 28 years.

Littrell, who turns 80 on March 31, isknown as “Mister Rodeo” in ColoradoSprings with more than 50 years of service tothe Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo and a longrecord of support for the PRCA and the Pro-Rodeo Hall of Fame.

A member of the Hall’s Board of Trusteesfrom the beginning in 1979 to the present day,Littrell has been instrumental in helping securemonetary support for various projects and im-provements for the Hall, most recently to updatethe museum’s lighting. He was selected in theNotables category.

Including this year’s inductees, 226 people,27 animals and 18 rodeo committees have beenselected for enshrinement in Colorado Springssince the Hall opened in 1979.

Walking Horse Scandal Broadens toInclude Drugging – HSUS Urges

More Prosecution

WASHINGTON (HSUS) – The Humane Soci-ety of the United States filed a legal petitionasking the United States Department of Agri-culture to treat the use of illegal numbing ormasking chemicals on horses’ legs as a felonyunder the Horse Protection Act. These bannedsubstances are used to hide evidence of illegalabuse of horses through the application ofpainful caustic substances on the horses’ frontlegs to achieve an artificial high-stepping gaitfor show competitions.

The petition comes after USDA’s Animaland Plant Health Inspection Service conductedrandom testing at various Tennessee WalkingHorse competitions, and the results indicate thata shocking 97.6 percent of the samples testedpositive for prohibited foreign substances in2011. In 2010, 86 percent of samples tested pos-itive. These substances included numbing agentsand drugs that mask evidence of abuse. Mosttroubling, of the 52 horses tested at the Ten-nessee Walking Horse National Celebration, thelargest and most prominent walking horse showin the country, every single horse tested positivefor illegal agents.

“The horse doping data released by USDAis staggering, and shows that animal abuse con-tinues to be a huge problem in the walking horseindustry,” said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, senior vicepresident & chief counsel for animal protection

Horse Bites from Pg 13

litigation at The HSUS. “The use of prohibitedsubstances to hide the intentional infliction ofpain is a felony, plain and simple, and those re-sponsible should be prosecuted immediately.”

Under the Horse Protection Act, any at-tempt to interfere with an official’s inspectionsto determine whether a horse has been sored –the industry term for applying caustic substances– constitutes a felony punishable by up to threeyears in prison, in addition to significant finan-cial penalties.

The HSUS is calling on the USDA to issuea new rule or policy establishing that any use ofbanned substances to avoid detection of underly-ing soring will be treated as a felony, and to referall such cases to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for

prosecution.USDATesting Results from TennesseeWalking Horse Events2011• At the 2011 Celebration, 100 percent testedpositive (52 tested, 52 positive)• At the 2011 Fun Show, 95 percent tested pos-itive (20 tested, 19 positive)

• At the 2011 National Trainers Show, 92 per-cent tested positive (13 tested, 12 positive)Total for 2011 – 97.6 percent tested positive (85tested, 83 positive)2010• At the 2010 National Trainers Show, 90 per-cent tested positive (20 tested, 18 positive)

• At the 2010 ETWHTA, White Pine, TN, 95percent tested positive (19 tested, 18 positive)• At the 2010 Baileyton Horse Show, 100 per-cent tested positive (6 tested, 6 positive)•At the 2010 SSHBEAMid Season Classic, 50percent tested positive (10 tested, 5 positive)• At the 2010 Celebration, 86 percent testedpositive (302 tested, 261 positive)Total for 2010 – 86 percent tested positive (357tested, 308 positive)


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The Stampede line has grown to become anationally respected brand offering animal ownersunmatched consistency and quality at great prices,especially during seasons and times of scarcitywhen other products aren't readily available.

Talk to your favorite equine-supplydealer to learn more about the StampedePremium product line, or visit TheHayEx-change.com/products/stampede for moreinformation.

Stampede from Pg 40

matter is that we need to get people away fromthe traditional military concepts of “making”the horse do things, rather than getting thehorse to become more confident. Once welearn equine psychology and then learn12equine sports psychology, all these problemswill be a thing of the past.----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Learn more about Pat Parelli and hismethod of natural horse training at par-elli.com.

Parelli from Pg 14


Whole Horsemanship from Pg 42

points along the way.Move your horse laterally to avoid an upcoming branch,and insist that your horse stay focused on their job, and engaged with you, re-gardless of what other horses are doing nearby.Whatever your horsemanship goals may be- from excelling competitively,

to strengthening your relationship with your horse, adding variety to yourhorse’s routine can help you to accomplish them, and to Enjoy the Ride in theprocess!Dianne can be reached at Hill Country Equestrian Lodge where she teaches

Whole Horsemanship year-round. www.hillcountryequestlodge.com, or (830)796-7950.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dianne can be reached at Hill Country Equestrian Lodge where she teachesWhole Horsemanship year-round. hillcountryequestlodge.com, or (830) 796-7950.

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Howdy, welcome to Cowboy Corner.Well, thus far, 2012hasbeenon theother endof

the spectrum from 2011. ThankGod for big favors.Understand Februarywas one of thewettest on

record and now in March we’re needin’ some clearweather and to dry up. Sure would like to have someof this rain in June, July and August, but if I couldmake it rain andmake it quit, Iwouldn’t have tochasecows.

Somuch rainhas also created some issues.Mildwinter and moisture has brought the winter grass onearly. Lots of fence rows are pretty grown up espe-cially along the roads andhighways.Theground is so

wet that cattle pushing on the fence to get to “what’sgreeneron theother side,” arepushing the fencesoverand getting on to roads or into the neighbors pasture.Livestock on the public road is a serious public haz-ard and each of us needs to cooperatewith and assistour localSherriff’sDepartmentwith loose stock.Vol-unteering to help the deputies when stock is out inyour part of the country is a great formofpublic serv-ice, also let your county emergencymanagement di-rector know that you are available for lending a handin an emergency.

Now, about neighbors, let’s all be reasonable. Ifmy cows get in your pasture it doesn’t do any goodto run the cows through the hole in the fence until thefence is fixed. If water is standing in the ditch on ei-ther side of the fence, it may be a little difficult to fixthat fence today. If your neighbor’s cattle pens areholdingwater and there is no allweather drive up theloading chute, what purpose does it serve to pen thecattle and try to haul the strays back home? Manypastures are so wet that moving cattle horseback istough, so let’s all just stay calm and be reasonablewith our neighbors, cause he can’t make it rain, orstop either.

And now aword or two to let the rest of Texasand our readers in New Mexico, Louisiana, andOklahoma know about just how big that little rodeodown the road in Houston has become where I joinalmost 30,000 other folks as a volunteer.

Bang, bang, bang goes the auctioneers gavel,“All in”, bang, bang, bang. “All done”, bang, bang,bang, “Sold”. Music of the livestock shows. Therodeos have music, the concerts have music, and the

auctioneers make livestock show music all acrossTexas. I love towatch the livestockshowauctions,heartheauctioneers’music, andwatch theyoungpeople re-ceive theawards for a lot ofhardworkanddedication.

Attended the Houston Livestock Show SteerAuction less than aweek ago andwatched theGrandChampion sell for $460,000.00. Not a record, butstill a lot of bucks.Theyoungowner gets a big chunkof change, and the balance goes to the scholarshipfund.What agreatway to finance a college educationfor theyoungwinnerplusother deservingyoungTex-ans. Attendees at theHouston Livestock Showhavea great sayin’, “It’s for the kids”.

Just a thoughtor soabout theHouston show, thelargest rodeo in the world and the largest event of itskind in the United States. The show has over 26,000volunteers on 105 committees and each committee-man is required towork at least 40 hours. That’s a lotof hours and many committeemen work more thanthe requirement. Remember, “It’s for the kids.”

Word is that Rodeo 2012 will go down in therecord books.Attendance recordswere broken severaldaysandauctionsaleswereupover lastyear.OnTejanoSunday the all time attendance record of over 74,000wasbrokenanditwasraining.What ifwehadChamberofCommerceweather like the first and lastweekend?

TheHoustonLivestockShowandRodeoowesa big thanks to the Hispanic community and espe-cially the Tejano committee for a great job of sup-porting the show. If “TejanoDay” can bring out over74,000 people in the rain, I wonder how many “Te-jano weekend could bring out for the kids?”HappyTrails!

RODEOHOUSTON


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horseback magazine april 2012

Documents

horseback magazine

reynoldslynn criner

broken ribs

broken arms

old paint

sisterlees beloved horse

jessica jahielcory johnsondr

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