The bigger shows are easy enough to find but I like to use the smaller shows for my colts and sometimes the older horse to get them more crowd broke.

So, Amanda, where do you get your show info from usually?

So far as I get older I’m not sure when we’re loping circles whether the horse or me slows down first.

When it comes to bits I’m about as simple as they come. Never seeing much difference between a 9 dollar and a 90 dollar snaffle, my horses get made in a 9 dollar snaffle. I’ll do a little work on smoothing them up and such, but if it’s got the features I want then it’s good enough for me. My shank bits are the same designs you could probably find in a 1950’s catalog. Most of them being some type of snaffle/flexible mouthpiece. I’ve had the pleasure of riding a few horses that could truly carry a solid mouthpiece bit but as far as I’m concerned they are few and far between. Horse has to be very advanced for a solid mouthpiece in my mind.

But at the horse fair Saturday I met with Dave Robart. Dave is a trainer and bit designer. Seems everybody these days is a bit designer so that didn’t catch my eye right off. I went and watched one of the clinic demonstrations he had and liked what I saw in his methods and philosphy. So that meant it was time to hunt him down and challenge him.

I had intended on getting after him right away…”so what makes your bits any better than the others?” But when I got to his booth he enthusiastically grabbed one of his bits and said “try this out!” So we went about talking bits. And I liked what I saw. Hard for me to explain but basically the bits are made to swivel and pivot making the “pinchless”. My first impressions weren’t too much concerned about pinching but I really like the way the bit allowed you to really work one side freely from the other. Overall they are very well constructed with nice fit and finish.

So I bought one of his snaffle. It was around 37 bucks which these days is really a good price. Of course for me 37 dollars for a snaffle bit might as well be a wheelbarrow full of money. And he does give a 100% money back no questions guarntee. So I figured I couldn’t lose.

So Sunday I tried it on my “tough cases”. Ginger is a 3 year old mare that has been a challenge for me with her head tossing at times and resistance to the bit. She is just such a darned nice filly that it really bothered me. Parker is a TWH that came to us by way of a boarder who didnt pay their bills. He was started by a young “trainer” in a nylon halter. Which can be ok but thats basically what he kept him in. So he had to be restarted with the snaffle like an unbroke colt.

Well Dave isn’t getting his bit back. I really like it. Both horses seemed to make very big improvements right off the bat. Even Brandy, who works very well in any old snaffle bit, seemed more comfortable.

I talked with Dave about his shanked bits, which are also impressive. He suggested his “reiner” bit as a good next step up from the snaffle. So I’ll be ordering one from him to use on our “shanked” horses.

I still don’t believe in magical bits. All the magic has to come from the rider and horse. But I can see where maybe if I was a little more open minded about stuff things might get done a little quicker.

I’ve said before I’m not much for ground work. I do enough to get the colts where they handle and all that but don’t really work any groundwork program. Basically get them where they’ll do a few things colts need to do…handle their feet, lead, tie, get in the trailer, stuff like that. But that said, I do like working them in the round pen when they’re checked up. It really seems to help them get the idea and makes it a little safer first time I swing a leg over em. Helps the more advanced horses get their softness and some collection a little easier than can be done from the saddle.

Anyways, I got to talk to Tommy and we were pretty much in agreement on the things we do. But he deigned a halter/bridle rig that we bought that is really working out great. It’s basically a leather halter with browband like a bridle. The neat thing is it has rings and straps for the bit which makes it so you can snap the bit on and off in about a second. It’d be really great for trail riding if you had to stop and tie the horses. Just unsnap the bit and you got a halter. I hate seeing people ride with a halter under their bridles. This rig takes care of that.

The nicest thing that sold me on it is I can snap my check lines to the haltler part, through the bit and check up the young ones. This way they feel most of the pressure on the halter part (which they already understand real well), but still feel the bit some as they work things out. Right now I’ve got 4 colts that need to be started . This is going to help me out a bunch.

The rig cost me a 100 bucks. That made me cringe. But turns out it’s been worth every penny to me. And it’s really built well so should last a lifetime.

Brandy had done everything I asked of her. Her ability to learn things is amazing. Truth be told, she probably has 60 days riding on her. And only about a month of serious, consistent riding. She’s that good. Anything we lack in the show pen is my fault.

Heidi gave me the encouragement to show. She said just use it as a training class. Go ahead and ride her in the snaffle two handed and get her some arena experience. So she got us signed up in the rookie class.

Illinois isn’t exactly reining country. Least not around here. Barrel racers and pleasure horses is most of what you see. And those people that wear black outfits and ride saddles that look like saddle pads with stirrups. So I’m figuring be me and the other 4 folks from clinic and maybe one or two more in the class.

Well we ride out of the indoor arena and see trailers and horses….lots of trailers horses. 26 entries in rookie class alone. We draw number 16 so we got some time to look around, warm up and see some runs.

I’m not much for the warm up pen. Always got some trainer or parent barking out orders like a marine drill sargent to a some young rider. Reminders and some encouragement  to overcome show day jitters is one thing but training day was yesterday. And do they think I’m gonna go over and give em a few bucks because they holler loud enough for me to hear their “expert” advice? If you ain’t settin a horse get the hell outta the warm up pen. Thank you I feel better now.

Ever heard about the power of positive thinking? Great concept and works real good. Goes right out the window when they call our number. Will she balk at the gate? Spook at the banners flapping on the fence? Figure all these folks are here to see a rodeo? Decide this nice big arena be a good place show me she ought to be entered in the Kentucky Derby?

She walks in like she’s done it all her life. She feels confident and ready. She’s come here to play. When we stop in the center she feels relaxed. 4 left and 4 right. A little sloppy but we stop dead center both ways. Large, small, large right, Large, small, large left.  We run the large circles fast…she’s got good balance at speed and felt like she was relaxed enough to stretch out so I turned her loose. Felt good. She slowed a little bit for the small circles but we’ll need to work on getting a little slower  so it looks better.  We hadn’t worked on it too much so I was happy.

Heidi told me in the clinic to go ahead and drop her to a trot for a few steps if I thought she’d need it to change leads. But Brandy’s always been a good natural changer. One of the things I noticed when I bought her. And she didn’t really need to be trained to change…she wanted to to be in the correct lead. Just had to show her the cues I’d give her when we we’re gonna change directions.  So we went for it and she popped em off like an old pro. I knew we had it when I straightened her just before the change…I could feel her get ready for the outside leg to tell her when.

I blew the rollbacks. I hesitated too long between the stop and the turnback. I don’t know why. She’s a good rollback horse. I still don’t know why I did it and I feel like I let her down. And I did it on both of them. Why did I do that?

The stop and back was good. Probably woulda been a plus move if she was in sliders. Slacked the reins for the stop and just a light shake for the back up. Tucked her head nice and came back straight. I liked it.

Our score…59.  We won. No we didn’t win the class. But we knew what we did and how long it took us to do it. We trotted out of the arena, both of us feeling good. That’s what it’s all about. The numbers will take care of themselves with more time. Ain’t no ribbons or trophies for what we done. But there’s horse treats and iced tea back at the truck.

I started her in the shanked snaffle. Didn’t take long to figure out that wasn’t going to work. With only about 2 weeks in the shanked bit, it was just too much with all the happenings going on. Pulled that off and went back to the plain snaffle. I put the training fork on and everything was back to good. Just things she was more familiar with and more relaxed in.

Then into the indoor arena for the clinic. Only 5 riders, including us. They all had pretty much finished reiners.

We each took turns running a sort of pattern and Heidi gave us some tips and comments. Brandy and I were called upon toward the end and she was getting fidgety waiting. First off we went to lope a right circle. What we really did was buck when I gave her the cue and take off like Secretariat on steroids. Nothing crazy, she actually did do a large, fast circle. Key word here being FAST. So we just kept going in the right circle until she settled down. Only took 3 laps. Then we were fine.

Then the spins. She actually did quite well. As expected, her left spins need work. Heidi noticed some things and gave me some good exercises to work with her.

Then a few rundowns and stops.  Sure was nice to be on some good ground. As expected, our rundown was a little squiggly. Only so much you can get done in a month of serious training. But she did real well with her speed build up and the stops were great. I was ready to pull her into the ground, thinking with all the excitement she’d run through the whoa command. Never happened though….just sit on down and say whoa and she put the brakes on. She does have a good natural stopping form and likes to do it.  That proved itself when Heidi asked if she was in sliders…and I told she was barefooted…not even regular shoes.

I felt I had a darned good horse under me.  The clinic really helped us with some things that are hard to pick up on when your in the saddle and training. And Heidi’s showmanship experience in the reining arena really helped me to show my horse to the judges.

Brandy…AQHA “Sweet Donna Twist”…She learns things so quick you gotta be ready to move along when you step up on her. It’s sort of a process of show her what to do, refine it so she does it nice, then let her show you what it feels like when it’s done right.

She has tons of natural ability. Even fairly advanced moves seem easy for her. Never really get that clumsy feeling most of them have when their learning. She works with a lot of “float” in the reins and seems very comfortable being collected and flexed. She works in a smooth 3/8″ snaffle. Just a shake of the rein gets a response.

Brandy was originally a Christmas present for my wife Chris. She wanted a baby horse and I found an internet ad for a place selling a bunch of bred mares by their stallions. Well the prices ranged from “yeah we could that” to “people really have that kinda money?”. Brandy was part of the first group. Dirt cheap. Pasture bred to “Joeledojack” an AQHA palomino stallion. I really liked “Joe” because I look for disposition first. But he had everything else to go with it.

So now we have to find out why “Brandy” was “dirt cheap”. Well when they let her out of the stall into a small indoor round pen I found out why….bronc. 3 years old, recently from an Iowa ranch and never really handled. But she showed her athletic abilities in that little pen. Changed leads, spun on her back end and slid to stops. And bucked…a lot. Being that most of the owners clients were halter and western pleasure folks, Brandy’s price fell into the toilet. When the lady told me the price I told Chris not to walk but run to the truck and get the checkbook.

When we first got her home the farrier charged me an extra 10 bucks for her cause she was such a handful…and I gladly paid it. Now I think my 3 year old granddaughter could pick her feet up and trim her. I can no longer say I’ve never seen a horse lope in a 10′x12′ stall. That happened first time with fly spray. Last time I had my granddaughter in the saddle with me Chris sprayed Brandy head to toe with fly spray. My first few rides on her were worth the price of admission. Especially the one where she tried to throw me into a water trough.
The best thing about it is “Jack”, our yearling stud colt is out of Brandy. I’ve always felt that horses get their athleticism from their dad and their brains and disposition from their mom. I think I see that in Jack. He’s got some awful high expectations to meet but I think he’ll be up to it. And I think Bandit and Junior told him about that gelding thing so he knows he better be good.

They say good horses make good trainers. It’s a matter of having one that’ll teach you what it’s supposed to feel and look like. The ones that make it seem easy. Then when another doesn’t quite “get it” you ain’t confused right along with em. I’ve got a darned long way to bein a good trainer. But at least I got a good teacher.

I recently watched a couple videos by Larry Rose. He ain’t much for words. Most of the video is him training…no talking. Great videos and I highly recommend them by the way. But the one thing he does say in both videos is “if you find a good horse, buy it”. Makes a whole lot sense once you know what he means.

Gas prices, grain prices, hay prices, food prices, land prices. Everything that has anything to do with the horse business is through the roof. I don’t make my living off the horse business but I sure enough am getting whacked every step of the way this year. Anybody that can say they are making a living off the horse business this year has really got to be at the top of their game way I see it.

I feel bad when I quote prices for horse transports because of what we have to charge. Almost seems like I’m making mistakes in calculating when I first see the price myself. Feel even worse when I realize I’m making Chinese prison labor wages after paying for fuel. But this year every little bit helps.

Sure don’t see us doing much showing this year. Just too many uncertainties that we’ll have to be prepared for if things get any worse. But there’s a saying I picked up somewhere that kinda fits here. “Are you gonna cowboy up or just lay there and bleed?”

Well there’s a show grounds about 15 miles from us. Can get there mostly by the back roads. Who needs ethanol? I got the best grain to fuel refinery known to man. We’ll be saddled up and leave a little after sun gets up. Get there in plenty of time and not have to rush. Did it that way 30 years ago for my first show and I suppose history repeats itself.

They don’t do any reining there but they got a pretty good trail class that’d be interesting. Maybe enter a pleasure class and scare all the slow horses. And they draw some good hands there so the practice arena will be a good place to have a little fun and do a little showin and watchin.

Actually kinda lookin forward to it. Maybe sometimes things get too complicated. Maybe this here will put some things back in perspective.

Watch how the horses interact. How they “train” each other. How the young ones learn from the older ones. How a look and twitch of the ears let’s the others know they are pushing the limits. How they buddy up together. How all the little groups all come together and get along when the weather gets bad.

Watch their footwork and movements. How each foot is placed with precision. How they know when to work off their hindquarters and when to work on the forehand. How each one has a different gait. Their facial expressions and moods.

Now, when you’re training do you think you have to force a horse to do something or show him what you want and get out of his way? Do you think it’d be best to try and refine a horse’s natural abilities or try to rough him into something he probably never can do well? How can you help a horse to do their best to highlight their strengths and minimize their weaknesses?

These are living breathing animals. They have physical and mental personalities. They have likes and dislikes. They’ve got experience…some good, some bad. They can sense your voice and touch. They don’t know about registries, futurities, shows, trophies or paychecks…and don’t really give a damn about em. Eatin, sleepin, and messin in the stall is what’s important.

We have ideas about what horses should and shouldn’t do. They got ideas about what they should and shouldn’t do. Since we’re gonna partner up we gotta have some discussions and work out some compromises. They’re gonna have to tolerate some things and we’re gonna have to tolerate some things. Just like people we gotta deal with it, don’t always work out.  That’s not good or bad, it just is.

Can we make a horse do what we want? Yeah, but do you want to? Wouldn’t it be better if we helped them to want to do it? We can jerk a rein or stab a spur to get them to do something. Wouldn’t it be fair if they kicked us half way across the barn if we didn’t feed them on time? Maybe next time we don’t give them the proper cues they throw us over the arena fence…that’d be fair.

These days we got a lot of information and stuff available. Natural horsemanship, joinin up, round pens, square pens, forty dollar halters, clinics, internet, TV, etc. But their still horses. They don’t give a damn about any of that stuff unless it means better feed, more sleep and bigger stalls to mess in.

We’re supposed to be the smart ones here. Look around a horse show or training barn sometimes and see if you think that’s true. Bits and spurs and all that are training AIDS. The only real training TOOL you got sets between your ears. Try to reach a little deeper into the toolbox before you pull out one of those aids.

Illinois weather gets pretty interestin this time of year. Wear everything you own one day to fight off the wind chill then get peeled down to keep from sweatin the next. Makes for pretty darn bad ground conditions too. Since my “indoor arena” is the 12′ wide aisle of our barn, gotta put up with the nasties when you get a chance to ride this time of year.

Been doin some horse transport..just local stuff. It’s a pretty good gig,  get to meet some new folks and their horses. Chris, my wife, and I are “team drivers”. She does most of the unloaded miles and I slide over when we get loaded up. And I get to do all the miles backin up. A lot of stops are narrow drives where you gotta back into the road around a corner and such. Wish folks would think a little about that when they set up their properties but it’s just part of the job I guess.

Now with everything goin on what do you think is the last thing we needed? How about a yearling dun colt? Yup, our daughter Heather sweet talked Grandma and Grandpa out of a Doc’s Hickory colt. Of course if I was half sane I’d have said “absolutely not, are you nuts?” Course when it came out it sounded more like, “I don’t care”. Which if you know me for a while that translates into…”When can we pick him ip and get him over here???” He’s a good little fella and of course he’ll grow up to be an AQHA Superhorse.

 Time sure does fly. All the equipment maintenance that is supposed to be done way back when is piling up like it does every year. Few nice days here and there remind me better get to it or it’ll be gettin in the way of ridin and stuff once spring starts inching in. Flatbed trailer needs wiring and paint job, tractor needs regular maintenance, truck needs to get tuned up, barn and property needs cleanin after winter. Best get to it I suppose.

Show season won’t be long away. Is there really horses under that winter hair and dirt? How come my dogs and goats can run through a mud puddle and stay clean but the horses could get dirty in a hospital?

MJ’s goin to make me rich and famous. Got me in the first Les Vogt newsletter!! I suppose maybe winnin the World Series or the Super Bowl is kinda nice but, WOW, to get in the Les Vogt newsletter now that’s the big time!!!!! Gonna start carryin a pen with me to sign autographs and stuff.

If you wanna see some pictures and stuff look at our website. www.home.earthlink.net/~accuratedesign