Horseman’s Corner Radio

We asked Larry Reinhold from Lone Tree Ranch, what age of horses do you use there?    "I've said for years it takes about a seven year old horse because there's a lot of fellas, a lot of people can sure turn out a good broke horse, you know, and the horse is three or four years old. A good rider can get on them and keep them going the right direction. But, you know, when you're putting kids on them, and some of these kids might be good riders, but you've got a horse that you're putting three or four different riders on each day, it's pretty easy to mess up a young horse. And, you know, because they get so many, so many miscommunications from the different riders that it plays with their head and it seems kind of like the old adage, an old dog, new tricks. It's really pretty handy to have something that's been, you know, got some age on it. We like what would make just about any outfit a good ranch horse."   The Reinhold family lives on and operates the Lone Tree Ranch and Rainbow Bible Ranch, a well-known and well-loved summer ranch camp for kids and teenagers.    https://www.facebook.com/larryrobinreinhold/ https://www.lonetreeranch.net  

The same question today that we've been asking the rest of the horsemen this week, what age do you start your horses?    Today we're going to dig into the Howard Hale archives, and pull up an interview from Bruce Sandifer.    So how old do you like to start your horses, Bruce?    LISTEN IN!

Now let's check in with this archived interview with the late Howard Hale and Oregon trainer and horseman Mike Bridges. The same question today that we've been asking the rest of the horsemen this week. What age do you start your horses?   "When I was a kid and a young man, you didn't start horses till they were five, six years old. Sometimes four, but most horses were five or six when they were started because they had to go do a day's work. You rode every place. We didn't have trailers and you rode to your work and you rode back. So horses had to be older when they were started. They were much tougher to start because their mind was set. They already knew where they fit in the herd and they were more reluctant to step down."   "Today, we start these horses at two. You have to be careful not to ride them very much and to be cautious of them until they're four. But the mind is much more pliable when these horses are two-year-olds. They don't, they don't, they have no idea. They don't know where they fit in the herd yet. They're still trying to shake out their position and depending on their personality. So they're much easier to create the starting process of it."   Oregon horseman Mike Bridges.   Mike has a clinic going on this week. Find the information below!

The Horseman's Corner is an original production of Howard Hale Broadcasting, on the air since 1994 with over 7,000 episodes with people involved in the world of horses. I'm Howard's son, Brian, and we welcome you to The Horseman's Corner. The Horseman's Corner is brought to you by Mantz Creek Horses of Douglas, Wyoming.   On today's program, Craig Carr from Colorado. So Craig, when do you start your horses?    "Usually get mine going when they're late two-year-olds and ride them some as they're three. I don't really have deadlines on my horses.   We don't really have any age limits in this Rocky Mountain deal. We have a rookie class, a cowboy class. Cowboy class is like a $500 limited winnings, and then you'll go to a Snafflebit-Hackamore class, and there's no age limit on how old that horse will be, because some of these cowboys might have an eight, nine-year-old Hackamore horse, a horse that might not have got started until he's five, six years old.   I think part of the longevity in these horses is we ride them, we might do some ranch work on them, but we're not pounding them. They're not really being called on hard until they're about five years old. Instead, so many of these three-year-olds and four-year-olds are pretty much burnt up in the show world by the time they're five or six."   It's always great to hear from Craig Carr.    Hey everyone, this is Brian Hale. If you've heard this program before, you know I have been offering website help for many years.   In fact, we've been in the business for over 20, and we'd love to help you. For anything website-related, even if you just need some advice, it's free. Email [email protected] or call 940-224-6315.   Portfolio, pricing, and contacts, all on halemultimedia.com. That's going to do it for today's Horseman's Corner. There's more on the web at horsemanscorner.com.    Thanks again for listening, and may God bless. I'm Brian Hale.    

You bring those babies in, you ween them off their mom. First thing we do is toss a little rope around their neck, their foot, but just toss them that rope on there, start and roll the hind quarters in the beginning and allow them all the horses to learn how to come off of the feel to understand that that rope can touch them and it's not the end of the world and just start that mind kind of coming your direction. Working off of pressure, understanding a release of pressure, starting to get them to hunt that release and start drawing that mind in the direction you want it to go. What age do you start working them? They're born in May and they start getting halter broke sometime in the November timeframe. We'll be done halter breaking hopefully end of the December timeframe, take a couple months. Once we go through that process, they get bumped out. We'll bring them back in as two-year-olds, they have a crew of guys that come in December. They'll start anywhere from right around 40 head of colts in December as twos, put a handful of rides on them, they get kicked out. So then the threes from the previous year come in at the same time and then from then on they really kind of get camped on as three-year-olds and they get ridden and more moving forward with them into the five and six-year-old mark. So as a three-year-old, three and a half-year-old, they're getting used more, we start introducing to the feed yard, start introducing them to the outside ranching and then really by the time they're five and six they're pretty mature and they're working full-time. Horse trainer Ricky Quinn with some great information. Find that full interview on Horsemanscorner.com.

On the program today, bitmaker Tom Balding is gonna walk us through how to make a good snaffle bit.    "Well, you start with some quality material."   "When I had my welding shop in California, I did a lot. I was certified and did a lot of welding on aircraft parts and did a lot of fabricating of government aircraft parts and actually a lot of race car and motorcycles. I bought a lot of my material from kind of a specialized distributor of steels out of Los Angeles, and it's all certified quality steel and different alloys."   "Whenever I can, use as much iron in the mouthpiece. I use a mild steel. So you select the 7 16th is the diameter of our standard snaffle mouthpiece, and you would cut it to length and you would grind a taper in it, and then you would machine little slots. We actually weld in the copper."    That was Tom Balding on the old snaffle bit. For more interviews like these and longer extended versions, visit our website at horsemanscorner.com.

Texas Horseman and clinician Craig Cameron is our guest today on an archived interview with the late Howard Hale.   You do a lot of clinics, Craig. See a lot of different people, and what are some of the things that they're doing with the bits that you think need to be maybe changed?   "I think they're trying to take that old shortcut there, you're going to try to get a bigger bit to try to make it happen, but most folks are asking for way too much, way too fast of not only the horse, but of themselves. I think an understanding of the bit, in other words, we're going through the mouth to try to get to the feet. So I'm not trying to see how much bit I can use, I'm trying to see how little."   "And as I go up in bits, see, it's not so I can pull harder, it's actually so I can be lighter with my horse. And again, that's the old Vaquero style right there, see how little it takes, not how much. If I could only have one bit in my barn to use on my horses, what would that be? If I only had one bit, I believe I'd just have to go with that old snaffle bit."   "I think that's the old true training bit, and I've known some great horsemen that never used a snaffle bit, but they were really good with their hands, they had the experience. But I think for a lot of great trainers, and anything from intermediate to advanced to beginning riders, that snaffle bit, when you learn how to use it."   Craig Cameron with the late Howard Hale on today's Horseman's Corner.

Bill Oliver celebrated a birthday yesterday, and he has been a frequent guest on the Horseman's Corner Radio program sharing over 45 years of experience on horsemanship, education, covering the psychology and natural language of horses. Let's listen into an interview that Howard Hale did with them years ago, but still applies today.   Howard asked Bill what kind of bits he prefers.   "As far as bits go and all that, we ride all of our young colts and stuff in a snaffle bit. It doesn't really matter to me if it's a D-ring or O-ring snaffle. And of course we're focused on direct pressure, a horse coming to direct pressure. And so everything's pretty much at that point in their training. A direct rein. You know, you're typically pulling the horse. And then as we transition to the training where the horse, you know, we'll work into, I write quite a bit with a bosal. Three different sides of bosals, but also ride my horses in a transition bit, which would be something like a short shank. An Argentine snaffle or a Tom Thumb or something comparable to that in the transition phase there. And of course at that point, we're starting to introduce a support rein and a support foot and some things like that. And so that's really where we start to push the horse a little bit rather than always just pulling on him."   Wyoming Horseman Bill Oliver.

Listen in for a few different perspectives on the old Snaffle Bit.

Good morning everybody, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship and welcome to the Ranch Road. "For years I've earned a reputation of getting horses to be good stoppers at a fairly young age and people have always asked, well how do you get those little young horses to stop so big? And number one, I don't really work on it in particular, I just work on the basic fundamentals. Number one, I want every horse to understand first and foremost why they're going. It's less of all, you used to say all the time, you make them going and let them whoa. So I don't really force a horse or ask a horse to stop, I just simply let them. And number two, I really believe in what I refer to as my three steps to stopping, which is number one, quit making them go. Number two, the magic word, whoa. And then lastly, we support with our hands to reinforce what the first two things indicated. And then every time I back a horse up, I actually say whoa, and then I draw them backwards. Whoa, and then I draw them backwards. After about 30 rides or so, what whoa means to the horses back up. So now let's move forward to say you're loping them out. And then you say the magic word, whoa. Now what is a horse thinking? Not whoa, not stop, but they're thinking back up. But what have they got to do before they back up? They've got to stop. So to me, just working a lot of backing a horse up, working a lot on getting a horse very come about backing, both on the ground and in the saddle, and then reinforcing the word whoa when we go to back them up. And they stop thinking about what it is we're asking to do next, which is in this case, to back. Appreciate you guys. Until next time, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship."   For more equine podcasts, visit Equine Podcast Search, made possible by Van Hargis Horsemanship.   www.equinepodcastsearch.com

It's time to check in with Van Hargis and Van Hargis Horsemanship in Victoria, Texas. Van has a program called The Ranch Road. Here's an example.   "Would you consider yourself a good risk manager? I think about that every time that I work with a horse at any level. I don't care if I'm just tying one up to the hitching rail or if I'm putting one on the horse walker, if I'm about to step up in the saddle for the first time. Any time that I do anything with a horse in my mind, I'm managing risk.   A few years ago, I was asked, you know, what was one of the most proudest moments of my Horsemanship career. When I was asked that question, I thought for a moment and I thought, yeah, I went 43 years without a time loss injury. And what I mean by that is, oh, I've been bucked off. I've been stepped on, all that stuff, but nothing really stopped me from doing my job. And so everybody said, well, what led to that? I can only answer good risk management. In other words, I always thought about what I was doing. I was very deliberate, very intentional. I'm very aware of the horse being bigger, stronger than faster than me. And I just mainly just took precaution. And I don't mean I was scared, paranoid or worried. I just took precaution. In other words, I managed my risk. I thought about what I was doing, made sure it was safe for me and then made sure it was safe for my horse. And as a result, 43 years without a time loss injury. Ask yourself, are you a good risk manager?"   Victoria, Texas Horseman, Van Hargis. For more great interviews and podcasts like this one, be sure to visit equinepodcastsearch.com made possible by Van Hargis Horsemanship.

The Horseman's Corner is brought to you by Mantz Creek Horses. That's M-A-N-T-Z Creek Horses . com.   More from that conversation with New Mexico custom cinch maker Tray Pelster.   Well, the custom cinch work that you're doing, is it unique? "I will say I've been to quite a few trade shows in my life.  I have not seen very many if at all custom cinch booths just that are strictly custom cinches, colored cinches. I have seen a few just generic cinches that people make on the loom in front of the trade show people, but they're very basic cinches. We've read ourselves in giving people what they want. They can go to the trade show and shop off the shelf for these wonderful, cool, colorful or just more classy cinches that are not what people have seen before. We get quite a bit of business because I have not seen people who do that kind of thing in a trade show. We are wild kyu cinches. Go to my website. It's just wildcayusecinches.com. Pick out color, your size, your buckles, your beads and pick out a design or message me with a design idea. Put it in the comments. Put it in the notes. I will get in contact with you. Confirm your order and we will get that made for you."   That website featuring Tray Pelster's work will be available soon at wildcayusecinches.com. Website by Hale Multimedia.   Find this interview as well as longer extended versions of our program on horsemanscorner.com.

Many farmers and ranchers, especially their wives, have second jobs or businesses that they run from their ranch. One such individual is Tray Pelster, a New Mexico horsewoman and entrepreneur who is creating customized cinches for your horse. Let's rejoin that conversation and learn more about Tray Pelster and Wild Cayuse Cinches.   It must be difficult to keep that balance of top quality with competitive pricing.   "I really shoot for that. I really try. We have had to raise our prices recently because mohair, I mean everything inflation has just been outrageous. But we tried to keep it minimal. It's enough to keep us alive but it's not enough to completely drown the consumer. I haven't had anyone really say much to me about it. I do have a lot of people who approach me saying you need to charge more for this. I just say why? We're making it just fine. We're doing okay. It's people like you who make that happen. So I don't worry about the profit margins. I worry about the people. And that's important to me."   I understand you're going to have a website put together. Can you go ahead and give us that domain name please?   "It'll be wildcayusecinches.com and my dream come true is to have our own website and to be big enough to be able to run and maintain a website and have people use our website. It is absolutely wonderful."   Tray Pelster, New Mexico Horsewoman. 

Tray Pelster began training horses at an early age. Learn more about the New Mexico horsewoman who also operates her own business from the ranch! LISTEN IN!  

Equine Podcast Search Made possible by Van Hargis Horsemanship

Calf-Roper Tim Malm has big dreams. His goal is to once again compete horseback in the arena in the sport he grew up loving and excelling at.   Here is Tim's Story from his website at www.stronger413.com Hi! I am Tim Malm! "Welcome to my website. I was a 3x qualifier to the National High School Finals Rodeo and the 2009 National High School Reserve Champion Calf Roper. I suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2010 and am working hard to make a full recovery back to roping. I have made so much progress, but I am still working hard each and every day to reach that goal. My Stronger line comes from my favorite Bible verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens Me" (Philippians 4:13). I want to thank you in advance for taking time to look at my website and new clothing merchandise, along with the continued prayers!"   Tim has found a unique way to share his story of God's amazing grace through the sale of his coffee line.   We look forward to having Tim on our radio program one day.  

Warren Thompson from Colorado has been training horses and mules for years and has a stellar reputation. I was just looking on our website and it looks like Warren has several really good-looking mules and horses for sale currently. Visit those listings on horsemanscorner.com. Just click on sale horses.   Meanwhile, let's check in with Warren and find out what he does different when it comes to getting those horses ready.   "You want to calm horse out on the trail but you don't want them to be a dead horse, right Warren?"   "No, you don't want to desensitize. You just want them to accept and I call it willing acceptance that they accept an object or a situation willingly and so much of that is the horse trusting the rider and people blame the horse for being skittish or spooking and too often the horse reacts to the rider and the rider is the one that got spooked and so you have to understand that horses are prey animals and they react like prey animals." - Colorado trainer Warren Thompson.   If you want to see those horses for sale, visit horsemanscorner.com. You'll see a variety of horses from Warren Thompson as well as other sellers... looking at some of those trail horses Warren has; there's a 2016 Dunn Gilding, a 2020 Palamino Mare, a 2022 Missouri Fox Trotter, a 2024 Bay Tobiano Philly Paint Horse and a 2019 Sorrel Gilding Tennessee Walker.   See them all at horsemanscorner.com.

We have Tray Pelster on again today, New Mexico Horsewoman and Businesswoman with the Wild Cayuse Cinches business. Tell us what ranching life is like, what's the experience like there?   It's a wonderful experience. Every day I learn something new and I'm starting to build more things that aren't just cinches, cinches and breast collars and the different varieties and cinches and breast collars and women's apparel like purses, purse straps. And now I'm getting more back into leather. My father did it for a long time because he couldn't afford to. It's along the same concept my father could not afford to buy tack so he just started making it. So he makes all of his own head stalls and rains and breast collars and anything he needed he just made. And that inspired me to have the same concept of if I need it, why can't I just make it? It's available to me, it's cheaper and I can make a good quality product so why not? Just challenging yourself to do this. And since I've had my kids, this business has been a godsend. My children love helping me with my cinches. They love going to trade shows and meeting new people and learning the trades of other things and it's really a family based business. It's a true blessing to be in this community of people who care enough about other people to be supportive of that.

I recently asked New Mexico Horsewoman Tray Pelster what it takes to be a trainer.   I think a horse trainer is a horse trainer. You have to be, it's like a runner, people who run for fun. They're like, oh, you gotta be special. It's gotta be chasing you if you want me to run. It's the same concept to be a horse trainer and do it for the public and really enjoy doing it or just stay in the business for that long.   You really have to be a certain type of person. You have to be self-sufficient. You really have to check yourself but also be confident in yourself that you can do this. The horses are one of those animals. They're like kids and dogs. They will always put you on your butt. They will always prove you wrong and humble you in some way, shape or form. But horse trainers that are successful, they understand horses but they also understand people. So as far as differences between pleasure horse trainers and like I've worked for rope horse trainers, I've worked for all these different disciplines, types of trainers, there's really not many differences as far as like just a horse trainer is a horse trainer. They're all the same concept. They are very driven. They expect you to go out there and do your job and do it well. They expect for you to not have to be told what and how to do things. Also there's a certain level of learn but also ask if you don't quite understand. If you see growth in horses throughout the years with these trainers, you see growth in that trainer.   New Mexico horsewoman, Tray Pelster.

Today we talk to Tray Pelster again, this time about her Wild Cayuse Cinches business. Tell us more.   "I started this cinch making business with my mom probably seven years ago. I knew at some point I would be pregnant and having kids and that was my ultimate goal with my husband was to start a family and get to do this with a family. So I wanted to have a little bit of extra income and like a backup, but also I just really like building things and creating good quality tack for your broke cowboys out there. I felt like spending $200 on a cinch was just outrageous for it to go bad in six months, and I needed like four cinches I think. We could not afford it and my husband was working at a feed lot at that time and he'd been in a feed lot for a while. The feed lots just eat up your cinches, especially the cheap ones, and I just decided well, how hard could it be to make something like that? And my dad, he does leather work and he braids and he made his own tack for a very long time but cinches was one thing he never learned to make. And so I asked around in the area and I was like if I started making cinches would that be something you guys would be interested in buying? Probably 80% of the people that I asked said yeah like that's something we need. And it's good to know that we make a product that can help somebody like that because tack is extensive."   New Mexico horse trainer Tray Pelster. Find Wild Cayuse Cinches on Facebook or look for their website coming soon at wildcayusecinches.com.

New Mexico Horsewoman and trainer Tray Pelster on how she likes to start horses.   "I like to do a lot of ground work so I don't have to deal with as much crap on top of them. I have the time to spend with them when I was training horses under people. You have 30 days so you spend across the board from a lot of my trainers on average about a week, week and a half in the round pin and then you just get on them. You learn how to take shortcuts and you learn how to do it quickly and I would rather start them on the ground for about a month and just see where they're at. I was raised on hand cocks and that's slow, start them on the ground thing. They don't look near as hard. It's mostly a scared thing or a fight. I don't trust you situation and the majority of the time I've found that hand cocks that get a bad rap for things because they're smart and they're smarter than most people. But if you can teach them that this is not a fight or fight situation and that you can trust me and they won't want to try anything when you're on their back. So I've had great success with starting them slow on the ground and just covering all your bases and moving with the horse. See my dad, he's a firm believer in starting them three or four. I am like 125 pounds. So for learning from horse trainers, honestly I like to start them at two. Some horses with exception just because they're not mentally ready or they're not physically ready."   New Mexico horsewoman, Tray Pelster.

Meet Tray Pelster, Ranch Wife and Businesswoman from New Mexico Tray Pelster grew up deeply involved in the world of horses and ranching, particularly influenced by her father, who was a reputable horse trainer, and her grandfather who raised Appaloosas and competed at a national level in various disciplines like rain cow horse and cutting. Tray began her training under challenging conditions often working with horses that weren't particularly kid-friendly. Over the years, she has involved herself in various disciplines including English riding, roping, and cutting. She has had a passion for training horses and learning various aspects of horsemanship, specifically valuing starting horses from a young age with a focus on groundwork for long-term success. Diverse Experiences in Ranching and Business Ventures Tray and her husband have moved multiple times across different ranches, gaining diverse experiences in cattle ranching. They currently operate on a ranch in Folsom, New Mexico, where they run about 500 Red Angus cattle and manage challenging terrains. Trey shares insights into the daily operations and the beautifully rugged landscape they work in.  

For the listening publics we're talking to Brandi Iverson. I met Brandi at the Montana Cowboy Poetry gathering in Lewiston, Montana. You were a vendor. Tell us what you're doing there.   Yeah, so I sell wild rags, which are cowboy neckerchiefs. I bought the business about three and a half years ago to be able to stay home with my three kids more often on the ranch. I was previously a teacher in our local school, only school in the county and it has about 55 students kindergarten through high school.   That is the grand old cowboy tradition. You didn't come in from somewhere else like so many of the school farms back in the old days, did you?   No, I grew up in Montana. I've been here all my life and don't ever plan on moving. And so how far away did you have to move when you went to the school there? I grew up in Billings, which is about two hours south of Winnet and my husband dragged me up here. We just had our sixth anniversary. So six and a half years ago we moved out here. And I never really felt grounded until I came out to the ranch the first time and I was like, I am never leaving. I have been able to replace my teaching salary completely. I package all of the scarves and all of my scarves come with a lifetime hem guarantee. All of my materials are domestically sourced. And so that's really great that I'm doing my part to keep our economy going. Brandi Iverson with Montana Wild Rags. Catch our full interview on halebroadcasting.com or anywhere your favorite podcasts are found.

Some great advice from Alturist, California horseman, Buck Brannaman...

Now let's get to today's interview with aaster horseman and clinician from Texas, Mr. Van Hargis. On our last program, Van covered what he prefers in a bit. Now we ask him the question about saddles. So Van, what do you look for in a saddle? Is it fit or is it comfort for the horse? What is it?   Yes sir, what I'm looking for in a saddle of course, you hit the nail right on the head and I want to find a top quality saddle made by a very reputable and very top quality saddle manufacturer. And the reason why is that they're generally going to work a little bit harder with the saddle tree manufacturers to make sure that all points of that saddle to be even. In other words, it's like everything else and you've got to start with a great foundation. That saddle tree is the absolute most important thing there. After that we want to make sure we're using top quality materials. The best leather possible, those are things I look for. But really what I'm looking for outside of those things, I'm looking for something that fits my task. I really have to ask myself, what am I going to be doing in my horse the most? If all I do is race, barrels and the barrel racer, then by God it might just pay for me to go find me a barrel race in the saddle as opposed to a cut and saddle. So I want to match the saddle to the task that suits my need.   Master horseman and clinician Van Hargis; be sure to follow Van Hargis Horsemanship on Facebook.

Master Horseman and clinician from Texas, Mr. Van Hargis. What kind of bit do you like to use, Van? "Well, to me, I'm looking for something that's going to be extremely simple. I start all of my coats off. The first rides are usually with a halter and a lead rope and then I'll graduate to what I call a glorified loping hackamore, which is just a real simple one step above a halter. But the first bit I put in the horse's mouth is just a very simple smooth mouth snaffle. It's an offset D-ring snaffle. Well, I've got nothing against an O-ring snaffle. Almost every bit we ride a horse with outside of a snaffle is going to have some sort of straight edge on it on the corners of the horse's mouth. So if that's the case, I'm going to go with a mild bit of possibly cans that's got a straight edge on the side. There's probably not a better one out there that prepares my horse for the next bit, the transition bit that I would go to next. So what I tell folks to look for is this simplicity. Look for something very simple. Things that we know already work. Number one, smooth. I want smooth mouth because I don't want to flick more discomfort to a horse and this is what I absolutely have to. So I like a smooth mouth. First type of metal such as sweet iron seems to be very, very simple to a horse. It promotes salivation and it's porous enough that salivation isn't wasted, I guess you can say, for like a better turn. So I'll also look for enough smooth mouth snaffle that's with sweet iron metals. For my laziness aspect of it, I like for the cheap pieces to be stainless steel. And the reason I do is if they're quick and easy to clean, maintain a certain high appeal. And there's other bits out there that are pretty buggo that are stainless steel is just easiest and the quickest to keep clean. I like something like that. Again, just trying to keep my world simple as I possibly can for both of me and my horse." Master Horseman and clinician Van Hargis.

Now here's a special treat, the late Howard Hale with an interview with Van Hargis. This is from an interview that I did with Van a couple of years ago. One of the things and one of the people that he talked about was Jack Brainaerd. Gosh Jack Brainerd is an interesting horseman, isn't he? He's probably in his 90s van but really an interesting individual. "One of my little dreams come true. I had an opportunity to do a clinic with Jack. He had Abilene Texas several years ago, I'll tell you a little bit about Mr. Brainard and his attitude toward horsemanship. He was probably in his mid 80s at that time and we had the arena divided in half and I'm looking at one end of the arena. My students were down there and Jack was looking toward the other arena or toward the other direction of the arena. His students were down on that side and we were standing literally standing side by side. One of my students made some sort of deal and I yelled at them some instruction and I thought at first I must have said something wrong because I saw the corner of my eye. I saw Mr. Brainard shaking his head and I'm thinking, oh, I must have said something wrong." "Mr. Brainard, what's on your mind?" "He said, Van, you know, I'm just afraid I'm going to die before I learn everything about these darn horses that I want to learn." "And at that point I was so humbled to sit there and think, here's a guy that's 86 years old, I think he was at the time who had probably trained more trainers than most of us have trained horses and yet he was still on that journey of learning and horsemanship to the point where he was concerned about not getting a chance to learn everything he wanted to learn. And that's when I realized, you know, at that point in time, you know, I've got a long way to go. We all, it's a never ending journey. It's a journey that yields nothing but happiness and success which stay on it and stay humble." Texas clinician and trainer Van Hargis with the late Howard Hale. That's it for today's Horseman's Corner.

Good morning everybody, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship and welcome to the Ranch Road. "For years I've earned a reputation of getting horses to be good stoppers at a fairly young age and people have always asked, well how do you get those little young horses to stop so big? And number one, I don't really work on it in particular, I just work on the basic fundamentals. Number one, I want every horse to understand first and foremost why they're going. It's less of all, you used to say all the time, you make them going and let them whoa. So I don't really force a horse or ask a horse to stop, I just simply let them. And number two, I really believe in what I refer to as my three steps to stopping, which is number one, quit making them go. Number two, the magic word, whoa. And then lastly, we support with our hands to reinforce what the first two things indicated. And then every time I back a horse up, I actually say whoa, and then I draw them backwards. Whoa, and then I draw them backwards. After about 30 rides or so, what whoa means to the horses back up. So now let's move forward to say you're loping them out. And then you say the magic word, whoa. Now what is a horse thinking? Not whoa, not stop, but they're thinking back up. But what have they got to do before they back up? They've got to stop. So to me, just working a lot of backing a horse up, working a lot on getting a horse very come about backing, both on the ground and in the saddle, and then reinforcing the word whoa when we go to back them up. And they stop thinking about what it is we're asking to do next, which is in this case, to back. Appreciate you guys. Until next time, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship."   For more equine podcasts, visit Equine Podcast Search, made possible by Van Hargis Horsemanship. www.equinepodcastsearch.com

Good morning everybody, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship and welcome to the Ranch Road. We have a lot of students that come out to the ranch, and oftentimes on their applications, one of the first things they do to lend themselves some sort of credibility is tell me two things.   I've been around horses my whole life, and then second is I love horses.   Now, both of those are important, right? But they're not really qualifiers. And what I mean by that is, is I'll just give you an example. My entire adult life, I've owned a welder because a lot of our equipment I hear at the ranch is metal. We've got pipe and sucker rod fencing for our horses. We've got a lot of metal things that we fix and we repair. And even though I've owned a welder my entire adult life, I would never insult the welder by calling myself a welder, even though I've owned one.   When I mention that to my students is that I'm not interested in how long you've been doing it. What I'm really interested in is how well you've performed while doing it. Have you developed your skills enough to where you are making progress toward becoming the horseman that you want to be? But it kind of goes for everybody. It doesn't really matter how long you've been doing something. That just shows that you've got either tremendous patience and or passion, which are both good.   Most importantly though is what have you learned along your journey? How can you perform that of which you've learned? So just take that tidbit, we didn't appreciate you guys. And until next time, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship.

Visit Equine Podcast Search sponsored by Van Hargis Horsemanship to find hundreds of great interviews with top horsemen and women from around the globe. Here's Van with a message from his program called "The Ranch Road"... www.equinepodcastsearch.com www.horsemanscorner.com www.vanhargishorsemanship.com  

Farm Rescue volunteers have been in Nebraska for a week, helping farm families recover and prepare for the planting season. From delivering hay with Operation Hay Lift to planting crops free of charge, we’re here for the next steps.   Know a farm family in need? Refer them online.

In an article by Angie Denton in Drovers, we catch a glimpse of the horror that ranching families went through on that fateful March night in Nebraska. LISTEN IN...     Link to article... https://www.drovers.com/news/industry/through-flames-miracles-heartbreak-and-fight-nebraskas-cattle-country

Now here's legendary trainer, Vaughn Knudson. "If you've opened a circle or you're in a spin, working a cow doesn't matter if you turn the left, you put your hand out there, his eye goes first and then his head. And that's extremely important because all other bits, it's the right eye that goes first and then he turns his head to the left. The best way you can ever work a horse is to have left work left and right work right." "That's pretty amazing to know that when you learn to ride as a kid, they always tell you to look where you want to go. I'm pretty sure that if that works for us, it probably works for the horse too. So if his left eye doesn't go first, well then he's going to be delayed in his reaction." "Oh boy, you've said it all right there, Nelseena. Not only do we have a snaffle bit, but I also found the machine that cuts out chains and we designed different shanks to go on the side of it so you can either have a slow release or a faster release or a medium release. It doesn't matter, but we've also got this mouthpiece of chains. So if I'll go to the website Campus Horse Training, that's where they'll find everything."   That was compasshorsetraining.com or you can always visit horsemanscorner.com for more information about Vaughn Knudson.

Colorado Horsewoman Mindy Bower reflecting back on her experience with Ray Hunt, "But the first moment I listened to him I was, I couldn't believe how amazing it was so it didn't take me but a minute to figure that out. But I just feel like nowadays there's just trainers or there's a million of them. They're everywhere and it doesn't take anything to get a client. I mean I've worked with a lot of trainers too that they have no clue. That just amazes me. And even after I've kind of gone through things with them I'll still get a horse from them that you just think, what? Wait, have you not been doing the groundwork? They just don't carry it forward. They think it's just a day in the life and not like a complete way of living. So I mean I just, everything I do has the groundwork in it. If I'm just walking through the corral with all the horses loose I'm paying attention to what they're doing and how they move around me and whether they want to run past me or run through the gate or run away from me. I'm trying to make sure that they don't have that feeling even when they're in the corral. But I just don't think that if people keep their horses in the stall, they can just walk in there. They don't have to think. I just went and worked this morning that they've been having now, he just, he's just a baby but now he's starting to rear. They can't lead him to the round pin. And I bet I spent, I don't know, at least an hour in this stall area just working on getting him ready to catch. And she said, I said, well how would it be for you to catch you? And I said, oh I just walked right in and catch him. And I said, yeah but you can see he's not ready to be caught." Colorado horse trainer Mindy Bower.

Hi, I'm Bill Gross, founder and president of Farm Rescue. Through the 1980s my parents had some financial hardships, our family was in danger of losing the farm. My family told me to pursue higher education and a career outside of farming. So I went on to be an airline pilot. I've been flying for UPS Airlines as a Boeing 747 captain for more than 30 years. But you know my heart never left the farming and ranching community. Twenty years ago talking to the other pilots they said, what are you going to do when you retire? And I said, well I'm going to get this big John Deere tractor and planter and be this random good Samaritan where I go around and help farm families that are having a difficult time. So one day I was visiting with a chaplain friend of mine and he encouraged me, Bill, don't wait for the future, do it now. The challenges were huge in the beginning. I mean not just that we needed volunteers to be the boots on the ground but you know we needed to raise awareness spreading the word that Farm Rescue is for real and there's no catches that it's a free service and so with a handful of donors and volunteers we set out to help farm families. Our 20th year anniversary at Farm Rescue means a great deal to me and the entire organization. To see the thousand volunteers come forward to help nearly 1200 farm families has been truly rewarding. Visit farmrescue.org for more information.

Do you know about our Equine Podcast Search Engine? That's right, if you're looking for good, Equine Podcasts, you can use HorsemansCorner.com or equinepodcastsearch.com, made possible by Van Hargis Horsemanship. Now here's Van Hargis with his Morning Ranch Road Program. Enjoy! Good morning everybody, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship and welcome to the Ranch Road. Have you guys ever noticed what a horse does when it's in an area with a hot wire fence? I've seen horses walk over and accidentally touched the hot wire fence and the fence zaps them. It's nothing personal. There's no feelings involved. The fence just does its job and the horse respects that. Now when people ask me how do I get the horse to respect their personal space, the first thing I think of is be the hot wire fence. Nothing personal, no feelings involved. It's just that you're telling the horse where your boundaries are. You don't have to be harsh, you don't have to be mean, you just have to be consistent and persistent. So when the horse violates your space, just simply be the hot wire fence. Make your space uncoupled enough that they'll respect it and get out of it. But you've also got to be just as consistent as a hot wire fence, meaning that you can't sometimes ignore it and not be aware of the fact that the horse impeded on your boundary. You have to be very consistent and very persistent. And after a while the horse will respect your space and they don't fear you, they just respect you. Texas Master Horseman and Clinician Van Hargis. Visit Van Hargis Horsemanship for more great tips like these. You can find them all on Horseman's Corner.

I get questions all the time, "Ricky, in your opinion what does it take to make a bridal horse?" I just kind of shrug my shoulders now where I am in my life and I'm like I don't know the answer to that. I don't, I mean because if you go and you talk to my friend Buck about it, he's pretty sophisticated in what he's looking for to make that horse a bridal horse in the movements that he wants, right? And then if you go talk to somebody who is a trail rider, they may not need to do a honch is in on the trail and if you go back to Brannaman and say well what do you think about a honch is in on the trail? You'll just kind of say well that just means your horse knows more, right? He's more of a sophisticated trail horse. Some people don't really necessarily want to go that far. So just being a good, solid, gentle horse that understands his jobs. And around about way what I'm saying, I love my foundation and I believe every horse needs to understand where it's tying feet are and how to work them, where it's front feet are and how to work them. They all need to walk trout lope on a loose range. They need to come down through the transitions on that loose range end of the stop. I think they should understand things like ropes and tarts so that they can handle some pressure in the world and just have a really, really good, solid foundation. Horse Trainer Ricky Quinn.

Land and livestock owners around the country are facing some really tough conditions right now. Extreme heat watch, blizzards, tornado watches and warnings, freeze warnings, cold weather advisories, wildfires in Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, dust storms in Texas, flooding in the Northeast, severe thunderstorms and hail. Every type of weather possible throughout the country right now. And speaking of those wildfires, there are several organizations that have come together to be the point of contact for fire relief. The official page for Nebraska Sandhills Rancher Relief is the Nebraska Sandhills Rancher Fire Relief Page. Speaking of that Sandhills Fire that has left families, ranchers and entire communities facing devastating losses and the road to recovery will be long. If you're able, please contact any local organizations providing relief. And in Nebraska that would include the Nebraska Sandhills Rancher Fire Relief. In conjunction with the fund that is set up at the Oregon Trail Community Foundation in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, that one is also labeled the Sandhills Fire Relief Fund. And the United Way of Western Nebraska has announced that they can also get funds to individuals in need. There is an official Facebook page for that moral fire, the largest fire in Nebraska history. You can find it on our page pinned at the top. The Morrill Ffire, which started in Morrill County, Nebraska, has now burned over a half a million acres, is the largest fire in Nebraska history and could possibly break into the top 10 for largest fires in U.S. history.

More from Jeter Eisley on his book, The Walking Y... The good guy is based on a grouch that I knew, a make him a rancher. And all the kids are based on, I was a school teacher for a while, all the kids are based on kids that I taught, change names and change the location in the year. But there are kids that I taught either in school or I taught at a boarding school for awhile. And you can have fun. The day to day villain in The Walking Why is a despicable SOB who abuses horses. The Senator is not going to get his hands dirty by using a gun or anything like that. He's much too elite for that. So he hires out the villain. So the day to day bad guy in here is any abuses of horses you said. And you see it in here. We got some for him too. Yeah, he doesn't make it too far in the next book. But you can have fun writing these. The opening scene is based on somebody is the third man sent to the hospital on the third Sunday in a row by the same horse. And that was inspired by the fact that on a ranch at the time called the company ranch, I was the third man on the third Sunday sent to the hospital by the same horse. And so finally, Cass comes off. I said, who do I have? He said, sorely. Anybody rides sorely in that time span? And he said, no.... Catch the rest of the story from Western author Jeter Isely on Horseman's Corner Extended Edition!

Here's our co-host David Woodruff with Anchor Brand Ranch's Ramzi Hughes on using Mustangs on the ranch. What we do is kind of narrow my favorite breeds down to the American Quarter Horse and the regular old Mustangs. It's kind of a mixture of what we've got. Those Mustangs are tough and they go like crazy and the kids can break them and ride them and use them for ranch horses. But they are not the athlete that an American Quarter Horse is when it comes to the rodeo events and team rope and that we like to do in the arena. So everything's got its place and we like our American Quarter Horse for our team rope and our rodeo event. And then for some of the ranch work, these kids sure have fun and do good on some of them hard-footed Mustangs. And Mustangs don't really stand up against the Quarter Horses. Not when it comes to athletic ability, speed, slide and stop and they just don't. They might walk faster like out on the ranch. They walk faster and be a little more sure-footed in the rocks. But just to be honest and realistic and we've tested it out, they just are not the athlete in the arena. They don't have the start and go and stop speed. Each has its place. That was Ramzi Hughes from Anchor Brand Ranch with our co-host David Woodruff.

The AQHA Executive Committee put out the following statement: Effective Friday, March 6, Karl Stressman is no longer employed by AQHA. Incoming CEO Dave Dellin has assumed all duties and responsibilities as chief executive officer. We thank Karl for his years of service and wish him well. Dave will continue working with the AQHA Executive Committee, AQHA staff, the AQHA Board of Directors and many others to move the organization forward and advance the priorities outlined in our Strategic Operating Plan. Our relationships and partnerships are extremely important to AQHA. We greatly appreciate your support of the programs designed to better the lives of American Quarter Horses and the people who ride and love them. You can have confidence that AQHA remains focused on serving our members, supporting the industry and ensuring a strong future for the American Quarter Horse. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to continuing our work together. Thank you, Jeff Tebow AQHA President  AQHA Executive Committee

A classic interview! Listen in to this one with Buck Brannaman talking about how Ray Hunt influenced his career.

Horsewoman and trainer Sharon Camarillo on the little things. When you're unsaddling your horse, that's the time to look for dry spots, rubbed hairs, soreness when you're brushing that horse's back off. I always like to use just a little alcohol and water or liniment on my horse's back as I brush off that sweat. And you know, you're a good sitting saddle with the right pad when you pull it off, should have an even sweat pattern. If you see white hair starting in an area up on that spine, it's pretty confident that it's a pressure point. When your horses quit working, when they're switching their tail, when they're grumpy, when their ears move, you need to listen to that horse. He's trying to tell you something and a lot of times you can fix it by just paying attention to quality of equipment. It's not how much you pay for it. It's really the fit. How it sits on that horse's back, the type of pad you're using. I said it earlier, I'm going to say it again. When you're around your horse, when you walk to the stall or the pasture to catch him, that's when you need to put your mind in the game. California Horsewoman and trainer Sharon Camarillo. The Horseman's Corner and the Cattleman's Corner have been on the air since 1994, while Howard Hale has passed on to the big pasture in the sky, we are still determined to continue to discover the great people involved in the horse and cattle business. Visit HorsemansCorner.com or CattlemansCorner.com for information on how we can get an interview with you on the radio. On the air in five states since 1994.

Let's join the conversation that the late Howard Hale had with Trainer Sharon Camarillo... The best horse that I've ever took to the national finals, 7, this horse I bought from a cutting trainer, Leon Harold, when he was 3, he wasn't really broke. I got him broke. I was sending some cowboys on ranches to just put some miles on him. He's always a little volatile. My husband used to say if you ever get this one coming around he's going to be a good one but take a deep seat in the far away look. In the meantime, as a 5-year-old he's still trotting through the barrels and if you didn't cue him and show him he just trot on by. I thought, man, this is dumbest horse I've ever seen. I can't even sell him because he's not very smart. I had a horse that I was running. The horse got sick before we went to a big rodeo here in California, Salinas. So instead of turning out, I put this colt in and at that point the colt was 7. I always laugh when the horses are 3, 4, 5. I always say, well, you'll make a nice 7-year-old. This was a horse winning 7. I said he's going to make a nice 12-year-old. That was California horsewoman and trainer, Sharon Camarillo.

Is it important to have a relaxed horse during a competition?   A point to make is you see some barrel racing horses that may be really good. They walk out calm and comfortable. Then it's time to go and they run through their routine and then they come back and they turn it off and they're calm and they're comfortable again. Then you see these other ones that are so juiced up. I don't know. Parents tie that poor little girl like a monkey and she goes through the whole thing and then everybody has to calm that horse down afterwards. I've been asked to speak at race tracks because people have started to learn that a relaxed horse is actually a faster horse than a tense anxious horse because the muscles don't bunch up as much and sprinters as well. You know those guys who really run fast, they're actually relaxed and they're just taking these nice strides one after another. I think we do everybody a service by the rider being able to be comfortable and the horse being able to be comfortable and the more you can get in harmony in that synchrony going then you're not in your horse's way. Then you guys are talking the same language and that's kind of what we're hoping to do. ~ Dr. Steve Peters.   Now let's hear from Mantz Creek Horses... Great horsemanship goes far beyond what you do when you ride. We personally know Annette and Kevin and have been to their ranch. We've seen their progress. We know their experience and we see especially the result of a great breeding program and excellent horsemanship. Visit MantzCreekHorses.com.

Now here's more from Dr. Steve Peters on the question, do the horses have to see us as the leader? Not really because that's one way that you know that people for years have talked about this. The funny thing is, there's different kinds of leaders. There may be that broodmare, that rules the roost around all the horses in the pasture, but you take that broodmare away from it, everybody else and it gets anxious and nervous and its identity is back taking care of the herd and they're all over the place. So a horse knows that we are not a horse. They know we are a predator. Really what we're looking for is more of a relationship than leadership. Leadership, yeah, in terms of you have to be the director and I think that may be a better term is that you know people think we have to teach so much to a horse. Horses know how already how to trot, how to gallop, how to side pass, they know how to do all that stuff. They can already do it. All we're doing is directing that energy.   For more from Dr. Peters and this full interview, visit horsemanscorner.com.

In a past interview, the late Howard Hale once asked Ricky if he had any trouble keeping all those horses sound. We got to keep 50 riders going and then the condition is that we have to ride these horses in whether it's outside or in that feed yard anywhere it's going to be tough to keep them sound. But no, we don't. But as many horses as we have, the kind of lameness that we have are very, very minor. We don't see a lot of long term joint trouble or that kind of stuff. If anything, it's little things and it's short term. One thing that we do at our place is all the shoeing is in-house. I brought a friend of mine in from Oklahoma named Tommy Kilgore. He's been one of the best things for my life as far as knowledge on a horse. He's been really a big deal for me in understanding movement and understanding true soundness in a horse. And I brought him in and I've got two people that I work with, two younger guys that are mid-20s and they've taken into the shoeing. So all of that is done in-house. Having that and being able to trim these horses and balance them the way we want to  balance them from an early age now all the way up into this five and six year old range when we start marketing those horses to the public. We have a really good idea what this horse is, what his soundness is, and we understand it at above normal level. So we give these horses the best shock we possibly can. And if we end up having a horse that's lame, it's usually a chronic thing that was going to happen anyway most of the time.