My little girl? A bully? Oh yes, indeed!

Buster McLaury

As promised, more on the colt-starting clinic with Buster McLaury.

It was early October when “Zen” and I took a five-hour jaunt into the Flint Hills of Kansas, where Rex Buchman, a friend of America’s Horse and a good cowboy in his own right, was hosting the clinic for Buster. Rex had invited me to come cover the clinic (watch upcoming issues of the print edition of America’s Horse!) and had said he could probably find me a lightly started colt to ride if I wanted to.

“Or,” I said, the wheels spinning in my head, ”I could bring my own.” I’ve long thought Buster was someone I wanted to ride with, and it sure would be nice to start riding Zen again under some expert supervision. Buster is a lifelong ranch cowboy and a student of Ray Hunt; he has got an unbelievable amount of experience to share.

The colt-starting portion of the clinic began with Buster working with colts who had never been saddled before. (The clinic horses were fairly evenly split, with some first-timers and others, like Zen, who had been ridden only a little.) It’s so interesting to watch someone who really speaks “horse.” It sure was worth standing out in the rain for. It wasn’t long before Buster and the colts’ handlers had introduced flapping ropes, saddle blankets and the saddle.

As the rain continued, we decided to haul all the colts to a nearby indoor arena to continue working. Once there, all the handlers saddled their colts, and Buster instructed us to turn them loose in the spacious arena. He was on his trusty saddle horse, and he’d move the colts around to help them get accustomed to the things on their backs.

The herd of 10 colts were at times like cats — one meandering here, one there — and at other times were a packed school of sardines, galloping madly around and throwing in an occasional buck. The common denominator, no matter the configuration: one filly quickly asserted herself as alpha mare. Make no mistake about it, she was boss. Anyone who doubted it got a double-barrel kick in their direction, or maybe a ears-pinned-snaky-head dive bomb.

This was my little dumpling … the sweethearted peacenik named Zen.

When we repeated the scenario the next day, Zen repeated hers, too — really to the point of embarrassment. She’d run across the arena to assert her dominance over a couple of colts who were trying their best to stay away from her. She even marched smartly up to Buster’s saddle horse, wondering if she could cow him. Buster shooed her away with his flag; she wasn’t bigger and badder than that noisy, scary plastic.

“No,” I told the other horse owners, “she really isn’t like this at home.” Willow, my other 3-year-old, is much higher on the pecking order than Zen is. She’ll steal Zen’s food if given a chance, and she likes to move Zen out of her way sometimes “just because.” But, nevertheless, I felt like the mom whose kid just shoved a playmate off the swing set at day care.

By Day 2 of the clinic, when even the newbies had gotten more used to wearing a saddle, it was time for us to mount up. Now normally, that wouldn’t have been an issue with Zen. She’s good about saddling, and she’s not bothered anymore by someone on her back. We had walked and trotted a little; we just hadn’t progressed much past that. So getting up on her back, not a problem. Walking around nine targets, er, colts — all of whom had limited steering — without Zen dive-bombing anybody … I wasn’t so sure about that.

At this point, we were riding in rope halters, and Buster recommended that we not tie the lead rope around to make one connected rein (which is what I’d done at home). It was better, he said, to flip the lead rope over the horse’s head, from one side to the other, because it helped prepare the horse for a lot of things, such as roping — or just anything passing over their head.

It’s my goal to prepare Zen for as many things as possible in life … so sure, we’ll give it a try! Unfortunately, though, my rope-handling skills aren’t quite up to snuff, and more often than not, I hung the lead rope on an ear and then had to flip it off. (My apologies and thanks go out to Zen for her tolerance.) It certainly did desensitize her to things passing over her head. But steering left and right? We weren’t going to make any quick changes of direction — at least none that were my idea.

Stay tuned for the next installment…

Happy riding!
Holly Clanahan
Editor, America’s Horse magazine

Don’t miss the fun, educational and heart-warming stories in the print version of America’s Horse! It goes to all members of the American Quarter Horse Association, and it’ll also keep you in the loop on Association news. We want you to belong!

Just as in poker, four of a kind is a good thing on the race track.

By C. Reid McLellan

In poker, four of a kind usually means the player wins big.

Similarly, horseplayers that hit a pick four generally win big. As it sounds, the pick four is a bet that you can pick the winner of four races in a row. Los Alamitos makes its early pick four a worthwhile playing opportunity as the track guarantees that the pool will be a minimum of $50,000 on most Thursdays and $75,000 every weekend night! The pick four is not easy to hit, but with a minimum unit wager of $.50, we can bet several combinations and keep the size of our wager within bankroll limits.

To bet a pick four, go to a mutuel window prior to Race 1or Race 6 (at Los Alamitos when there are only 9 races), and say “$2 pick four 7 – 6 – 1 – 5. If 7 wins the first race, 6 wins the second race, 1 wins the third race AND 5 wins the fourth race, you win the pick four.

If a huge longshot wins one of those four races, there is a chance that no one will have correctly picked all four winners. In that case, every player that picked three winners will share the net pool. We are all aware of how hard it is to pick one winner, let alone several in a row, so betting just one $2 ticket is a bit like buying a Read the rest of this entry »

Twins pose a difficult challenge to dam, foal and owner alike; find out the best way to avoid having “double trouble.”

By Lindsey Domer in America’s Horse

This article is a continuation of last Friday’s article on the difficulties posed by twin foals.

Conformation Crisis

Another financial burden twins impose on their owners is the cost of correcting their deformities.

Kate Streifel of Hawley, Minnesota, owns a mare who carried twins full term in 1991. Dakota Michelle, or “Mikki,” birthed a colt and a filly, “Cody” and “Jenny.” Cody was smaller than most newborn foals, and Jenny was even smaller than him. Read the rest of this entry »

A quick guide to help you enjoy Saturday’s big horse races.

Catch the Challenge Championships October 31!

The excitement of the 2009 Bank of America Challenge Championships takes place Saturday, October 31, at Los Alamitos Race Course in Los Alamitos, California.

The Bank of America Racing Challenge is the richest and most successful program in American Quarter Horse racing today – a championship series developed for the “World’s Fastest Horse.”

Downlaod the Challenge Championships wagering guide!

The Bank of America Racing Challenge program provides Read the rest of this entry »

A tick-transmitted horse disease has been detected on a South Texas ranch.

Susan Ellis, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org

From the Texas Animal Health Commission

A tick-borne disease known as equine piroplasmosis has been confirmed on a ranch in South Texas. Additional testing is being conducted to determine the extent of infection. Horses on the ranch are quarantined to their premises, and a thorough disease investigation is under way.

Equine piroplasmosis can affect horses, donkeys, mules or zebras and cause clinical signs common to many diseases, including poor appetite and weight loss. Death can occur. Some infected equines may exhibit few or no signs of disease. Those animals that survive the acute phase of infection may continue to carry the parasite, which has been identified as Theileria equi (formerly known as Babesia equi), for long periods of time. Read the rest of this entry »

Exciting matchups on the racetrack aren’t the only things happening during the Challenge weekend.

Snowbound Superstar. Photo by Scott Martinez.

Fall is here, which means a cornucopia of events featuring the best and the brightest American Quarter Horses. Sandwiched between Congress and World Show, I will be looking forward to watching the fastest horses on earth compete at the Bank of America Challenge Championships over Halloween weekend at Los Alamitos in California.

The Orange County racetrack has a storied history, opening in 1951 under the care of Frank Vessels Sr., and today Read the rest of this entry »

Most Valuable Horse Awards return to World Show in 2009.

2008 World Show Most Valuable Speed Horse Flitin Firin Cash with rider Jolene Stewart.

At this year’s AQHA World Championship Show in Oklahoma City (November 6-21), horses in six of the FedEx open categories will reward their owners with a $5,000 bonus after being named Most Valuable Horse.

The MVH Awards recognize the highest point-earning horses in six open divisions: western, roping, English, pattern/cow, speed and timed.

Read the rest of this entry »

How to enroll in the AQHA Auto-Renewal Program.

In 2008,  AQHA introduced the Auto-Renewal program. In our ever-increasing efforts to modernize your Association, AQHA jumped on the automatic-bill-pay band wagon. AQHA also uses less paper, so to auto-renew is to be eco-friendly!

Read the rest of this entry »

You should never ride a horse in colic distress.

Question:

One day, my young horse was colicking, and I didn’t know it. I took him out for a ride, thinking he was just misbehaving. Since then, I’ve always made sure not to ride colicking horses, but I wondered, does riding affect them at all if they are colicking? Does it worsen the colic?

Answer:

Considering that it wasn’t easy for you to tell your horse was having a bout of abdominal pain, this must have been a very mild colic, something like a gaseous or spasmodic event.

In general, it isn’t safe to get on a horse that is experiencing colic, primarily because the horse is focused on his inner pain and will not notice you on his back if he decides to drop and roll. This puts you in jeopardy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Find out how to keep your horse from taking advantage of you.

If you want to compete with your horse, you should not allow him to take advantage of you.

I have a 3-year-old gelding that I want to train for English pleasure. He was born at my family’s stables so I have been with him just about every day of his life. We are very close. That is where the problem is. He knows all my weaknesses, as I do his, and I think sometimes he tries to take advantage of that. So far, he has learned very fast; he is really smart. But now we are learning somewhat more difficult things, like cantering, and he is getting a little headstrong. I really don’t want to hurt him by training him wrong, and I really feel bad if I have to use a crop. And believe me, he knows it. I am not really an experienced trainer, but neither my parents nor I have money for a real trainer. What can I do?

Thank you,
Kirsten

Read the rest of this entry »

Pete Kyle does not smoke.

Pete Kyle and Gimme Major Bucks performed to "Smokin' in the Boys Room" for their freestyle reining routine.

Neither does his son, Austin. Let’s clear that up right away.

However, when you’re performing a freestyle reining routine to “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” cigarettes are a necessary prop.

You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do when it comes to freestyle reining competition. From burly men squeezing into cheerleader get-ups to winged horses, it all comes down to entertaining the crowd.

And the freestyle reining at the All American Quarter Horse Congress is most definitely entertaining …  so much so that tickets sell out every year.

It’s where Stacy Westfall and Whizards Baby Doll wowed the crowd in 2006 with their brideless and saddleless routine. A video of that performance Read the rest of this entry »

Learn about the importance of your horse’s sight and smell senses.

By Donald L. Kleckner, Certified Horsemanship Association instructor

As riders, we seldom stop to consider or don’t understand that this wonderful, willing, giving horse experiences the world around him in a much different way than we do. Like us, however, the horse experiences the world through his “senses.” Like humans, the horse has the same five senses. As horsemen, we must remember that the horse’s senses are different from human senses in many ways. The five senses are sight, smell, taste, hearing and feeling.

Sight

Sight is probably the most important yet misunderstood of the horse’s five senses. Since the horse is a “prey” animal and not a “predator” and depends on “flight” for his safety, nature has given the horse the ability to see things in the distance. We refer to this as far sighted, so that if threatened or frightened, the horse can flee from the danger. Because horses are far sighted, objects that are close often appear fuzzy and are difficult to clearly distinguish. Read the rest of this entry »