Life on the Road - Brazil and PA

Well here we are and it’s May already. We’re getting everything wrapped up so we can leave for a week and go on the fabulous Ranchero Visitadores trail ride, which is a highlight event for me and any of the other participants that go. It’s a wonderful time to see old friends and to make new friends. To say it’s interesting is a total understatement of what goes on there, and it’s too bad I can’t tell you all about it—it’s top secret! But we do have fun!

I just came back from Brazil as you noticed in the last blog; I thought I would tell you a little bit about it. This was my 5th trip to Brazil. Dr. Enrique Penha and my friend, Flavia and her husband, Oleg met me at the airport in Sao Paulo. I was accompanied on this trip by my friend James Dixon from Moab, Utah. He actually put the Moab clinic on a month or two ago. James is really good to travel with. You know, they say you never know somebody until you either live with them, do business with them, or travel with them. I got to know James pretty good, and he’s a keeper! James and I traveled via Lima, Peru.  It was a long way around. We had some layovers we didn’t expect, so it was about a 30 hour trip each way, which kind of knocks the sap out of you.

When they met us in Sao Paulo, I wondered if they didn’t make those layovers on purpose just to socialize and take us to the most fabulous Brazilian BBQ restaurant and even to a Brazilian-French restaurant. The food was incredible!  The whole town of Sao Paulo was historic and interesting. After a 12-hour layover there, we flew another two hours to a place called Presidente Prudente. Then we drove another couple of hours to Santa Mercedes, to my wonderful friend Menees’ ranch. Menee is an excellent horseman with beautiful facilities in the middle of nowhere! This is truly in the outback of Brazil.

At this clinic we had about 10 riders but probably 200 people including spectators.  Included among the spectators were some gauchos from Paraguay. They had their little yerba mate cups that they sip all day with their silver straws, and they were wearing their bombachi pants, their tall boots, and their blousy shirts. Some of them look a little like Zorro and they are good horsemen. They’re very interested in the ways of the reined cow horse, and they’re modernizing a lot of their techniques.

We‘d work until about noon and then everybody wants to sleep until about 3:00, so you kick back in a big old hammock. It didn’t bother me much! There were a few more flies than we’re used to, but after a few days you quit swatting. They just come back so you get used to it and let them crawl on you. The weather was beautiful, a little warmer than I’m used to. It was their late fall there. 

A Small Favor for Me and Chex A Nic

Performance Horse Magazine, beginning in July of 2008, is going to count-down the top ten horse and rider teams of all time. These teams will be determined by you folks, their readers, and the top professionals. I would really love it if you considered voting for me and the horse Chex A Nic. He is gone now, but we were quite a team in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I took Chex A Nic to the AQHA World Show one time, actually the only time I’ve ever shown there. The AQHA shows have never been where I focused my effort in the past, but I thought we would venture off and try it. So there we were, our first visit to the World Show, and we went home with both the Senior Reining and the Senior Working Cowhorse Championships. It was pretty neat to show them what a California-style reined cowhorse could do, and that a horse could be competitive in both events.

Chex A Nic was quite a horse. I could not even tell you how many different World Championships he won in the NRCHA. He won the World Champion Bridle horse several times. He also was a World Champion All-Around Stock Horse. Chex A Nic was one of those horses you could just kind of point and shoot. When I fired him in a class—that is, when I took him to a reining or a reined cowhorse show—I knew I would be in the top two every time. I just knew I would. He made no mistakes.

The horse was loyal and true. He was the most awesome and spectacular horse a rider could ever be on. He stayed that way forever because we stopped showing him while he was still at his peak. The decision to quit showing him was difficult because he was still performing as well as he ever had; we just didn’t see a point in damaging the horse’s integrity. We started winners, and we quit winners. I showed the horse until he was 14 or 15, and started when he was a 3-year-old. He went pedal to the metal for about 12 years. He was solid as a rock, wonderful, invincible. Anybody that saw him will tell you that he was the greatest. Not only for my sake but for his, I would love to have your vote.

To cast your vote, the magazine is asking folks to submit their top five top horse and rider teams by May 1st (with their favorite pair being number one) to: Performance Horse Magazine Editor Breanne Hill, 2112 Montgomery Street, Ft. Worth, Texas 76107, or you can email your list to: breanne.hill@cowboypublishing.com

Getting behind but I’ll try to catch up!

Hard to believe it’s already April, but I will tell you a little bit about my year so far. For one we did a clinic in Hawaii again. We had a wonderful time there. My son Brooks and his wonderful wife Jeannie live in Hawaii, and Brooks has a boat so he took us boat hoping around the little islands and bars and so on. We had a fine time visiting and playing after work, and we also had time to visit with some old friends and do some team roping too. We roped every night after the clinic. What’s more fun then working with our cow horses all day, then roping in the early afternoon, and then cruising around in a beautiful boat in the evening. It was just a fun time. We like to go places that are interesting and fun, and this proved to be one of those spots!

 

The next spot that Kay and I chose for a clinic is Moab, Utah. The trip for Moab was sort of tough. It was around 20 hours because of blinding snow storms we drove in after we landed in Salt Lake. It took us many hours in blinding snow to get to Moab, to the beautiful Red Cliff Ranch. It was a very nice climate in that area thank goodness! The reason they call it Red Cliff is because there are pinnacles and rocks with giant holes in them. There are a lot of old Indian ruins up there also. We had a good time giving the clinic and Red Cliff Ranch is nothing but pure luxury. Red Cliff and my friend James Dixon put the clinic on. Then of course, we went back to Salt Lake and by gosh, the ski hill was calling us there. So, we took three days and compliments of Red Cliff Ranch, went to Deer Valley. I have never skied in Utah snow before but it was a spoiler! Everybody is a hero in that snow!  We had a great time - couldn’t have been any better. We stayed in a wonderful condo near the slopes, skied until we were tired each day, had lots of good food and watched lots of good movies!

 

Some other exciting news here, we’ve bred two of the fillies that I showed at the Snaffle Bit Futurity a few years back to a really good stallion by the name of Tomcat Chex. Tomcat Chex is by Highbrow Cat, and out of Miss Reed Chex, a Bueno Chex mare that I sold a long time ago for a lot of money. She is also the top money-earning producing mare in the history of National Reined Cow Horse Association. I think that cross, with the strength of the leg and hocks that the King Fritz and Bueno Chex horses have, crossed up with the stopping power of the King Fritz’s and the High Brow Cat’s, is going to be magic cross for me. So, I did breed Millie and Bella, two really nice mares that I showed and really liked, to Tomcat Chex for 2008 foals.  Millie has already foaled and somehow he ended up sorrel with socks and a big blaze, almost a Paint!  Don’t know where that came from because she’s dark and he’s dark, but no complaints from me!  If you want to learn more about the stallion you can find it here:  http://www.valleyoakranch.net/tomcatchex.htm 

 

Just got back from a great clinic in Brazil, an when I get caught up a little more I’ll tell you all about it! 

 

 

Beefing up the website

We’ve had a lot of questions lately from folks wanting recommendations tack other equipment.  I’ve been pretty particular about what I’ve promoted in the past in that first of course, it had to be something that I used and believed in, and second, it had to be unique, that is something you wouldn’t find anywhere else. But as I talk to more and more people wanting recommendations on things like strap goods, hackamores and mecates, we decided to get with the folks that I buy these things from, and add them to the website.  I visited with some of these guys in Denver and you wouldn’t believe the quality that they’re producing.  Strap goods that are so soft that when you feel the leather, it makes your socks roll up. I can’t believe it. I’ve never seen anything such nice quality.

So as you see items added you’ll know that everything there is a special product and one that I would use myself, if I don’t already.  We’re also going to try to put together an assortment for you too, so you can get the best that’s available in your price range.    

We’ve been working a lot more lately with awards and trophies as far as bits and spurs go. For instance we just did the awards for the California High School Rodeo Association.  We are working on team roping working awards for a couple associations and some horse show awards for year end, and for just for regular shows. So keep that in mind. We do some really beautiful stuff. For the awards, I’ll sell them at wholesale price which gives you a good deal and a really good trophy. Something you can keep forever.

Well my horses are still a little hairy. They look pretty tough right now. But we don’t show until July. We’ve always been late starters because of my clinic schedule. We wait until July, and then we show for the last part of July until the last part of August. We start with a Salinas rodeo. I love the rodeo. It’s just something I never miss. So Salinas first, then we go to Santa Barbara rodeo, then the Paso Robles fair grounds. So our poor ‘ol horses, we let them hair up in the winter and enjoy themselves even though we are riding. I think it keeps them warm and happy.

My clinic schedule to date posted on the website and there are new clinics being posted all the time. Please take a look at it and if something is near you, stop by and say “hi.” I would love to visit with you. Hopefully we can transfer some knowledge.

February update

Hi Folks! Here we are again. It’s already February and everybody is starting to wake up and look outside and see if there is a little of sunshine. We are all starting to get a sense of what we would like to see happen with our horse life in the spring. We are always anxious as it nears time to thaw out. Of course, where we live here on the central coast, 50 degrees is tragedy and 90 degree’s is over the top. We don’t have too much to worry about. We can ride most of the time. However this year has been rainy and what we call cold, down around 55 degrees. But the grass is green. We’ve had a lot of rain. The horses are hairy and standing in mud if they are outside. They are doing well.

We have had a really good year so far. As you know Linda has finished with Cow horse U Maneuvers level and that picks up where Cow horse U Fundamental leaves off. It brings you into the finishing touches of how to put the maneuvers together emphases higher level performance. If you have done your homework correctly with the Fundamentals level of Cowhorse U, you have the steps to follow, and a way to recover from the mistakes you might make at a higher level. Without the Fundamentals level, if you went straight to Maneuvers you are probably looking for a wreck. We’ve had really, really good response to the new level. Sold a ton of them! Having a hard time keeping up with the demand however it is really, really working well for folks, and that’s what counts!

We lived through the Denver Trade show last month too. We went there with a whole new line of silver bits. You can see them online at lesvogt.com just click on Les Vogt silver bits. We had a wonderful trade show. Every year that I go to that show, I always forget how big it is. It’s just overwhelming. It’s kind of fun to see what new trends are out there before they have actually hit the market. To understand a little bit about marketing and how it really does influence your mind, as you the consumer goes. Crazy things like we saw angora hair hanging the brow band of headstalls, real angora hair hanging from collars. I thought it was a joke of some sort at first then they said no, no they are buying it on the wholesale and the retail level. The ropers seem to like it. All I have to say about that is if you are going to wear something like that, you better be damn good at whatever you are doing because you are certain to draw some attention! We saw some saddles in camouflage colors; we saw saddle seats in leopard skin, zebra skin, everything you can imagine. The industry is full of surprises for you this spring!

Our silver bits were a grand slam home run. We actually sold every single bit that we took to the Denver Trade Show. We’ve never done that before, came home empty handed. It was a great experience. The Performax line also exceeded the numbers that we’ve ever established before. We had the highest sales ever there. All our hard work is finally starting to pay off. We’ve having a good time with it, and you’ll be able to find our products closer to home as more stores add them to their inventory.

I have to tell you a little about my experience with the new Performax saddle pads we are carrying now too. In my tack room, I have really good wool pads, and Navaho pads, the same things all of us have grown up with. The Performax saddle pad is by far the best. I’ve got some saddles that I like to ride but I think they are a little worn out and maybe they don’t quite fit a horse like they use to. But I’m finding that with this pad, I can use these older saddles and get along just fine. A lot of times if I am going to ride or rope, I will saddle up and haul my horses saddled and go use them, then come back with the saddle on too. They’re saddled for three to four hours, which is not a sin anywhere, but show horses are a little thin skinned. With this new saddle pad, I never have any worries with sore backs on my horses.. I have not had one sore back with it yet, which thrills me!
More to come soon stay posted!

Still catching up but in the meantime……

The Denver show was great and always an eye-opener!  A lot of interesting new things and a few new styles that I wouldn’t put on a dead horse!  I bought a new camera in order to get really good pictures of our new silver bits, and picture number one out of it was something that was asked for here a while back - the fancy diamond ring that the NRCHA gave to its Hall of Fame members at the Snaffle Bit.  Pretty fancy!

As usual - my year starts at the Denver Trade Show

Hi folks! Well it’s Happy New Years time. I hope you all have a safe and productive 2008.

I am in the process of getting ready our Denver Trade Show which is the largest western market in the world. It’s unbelievable huge. There will be buyers from retail stores in every corner of the world coming to meet with the manufactures of all types of (mainly) western equipment. In my case, bits and spurs. We take both the silver bits and spur lines and the Performax lines to the show.  In the silver line I have around 200 brand new fresh pieces and they’re all just glittering like gold right here in my room.  It’s a pretty spectacular sight as the lights flash on the silver. I might not want to give it up! It’s very exciting because it’s just beautiful, beautiful stuff. There are a lot of new designs on cheek pieces, and also some new mouth pieces too. We’re very proud of them, and I hope that whoever ends up with them is as happy with them as I am!

We also have the Performax line of bits and spurs. Performax is our secondary line that gives you a great looking and feeling bit without having to pay the price of the silver bits. We’ll have quite a selection there as well. If you want to see them, both lines are available 24/7 for your inspection at www.lesvogt.com. On the home page there is a button for the Les Vogt California Classics (which is the silver line) and also one for the Les Vogt Performax line.

We’re also really excited about the debut of our Cowhorse U Maneuvers Level which is designed to help you finish the process of training your performance horse and the for maneuvers. We are really happy with it. I have to say Linda Boggs has done one heck of a job of editing it and putting thing in the order so you all can understand them.   The feedback from the Foundation Level has been just wonderful, so I’m anxious to see the results that people get from using the Maneuvers Level.  So needless to say, we plan to be busy at the Denver Trade Show!

On another note, I was given the pleasure today of a visit from my friend Sergio Armelin, his wife Lucia and their young adult children. Sergio, Lucia and family arrived today from Brazil and spent the day visiting. They ride cutting horses in Brazil where Sergio has a large feed lot.

We have a clinic planned in the Brazil in April, and this will be the 5^th time I have been there.  I am really looking forward to doing the clinic and visiting with old and new friends there. I find Brazil to be very, very fascinating. The people there are adorable. We planned another clinic in May in Sweden, and those are always wonderful times as well.  I love to visit with horsepeople from all over the world, but two is probably enough times to cross the oceans in one year for me.

 

We’ve got a lot of other clinics that are coming together at this point and time. So if any of your folks are interested in putting on a clinic in your area, get in touch with me right away because the dates are going fast. That’s it as far as our news go. We’ve had an exciting day and hope to have an exciting year. Hope to find you at Denver. Thanks a lot!

Holiday Update

Hi Folks. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we appreciate all of the wonderful friends we have made over the year and all of the wonderful results we have been able to see through all the clinics we have given and products we’ve made up for you.

We had quite a Christmas rush. Our training programs were flying out the door – we gave the local postman a pretty good workout!  It’s exciting to hear the results folks are getting from the Foundation Program and it’s great to see it getting in the hands of more and more people!

The CowhorseU Maneuvers Program, Level 2, is just now being introduced to the public. It takes all the skills that you developed in the Foundation Program and shows you how to use them to create some great maneuvers. Of course we spend a lot of time teaching riders how to evaluate and how to create maneuvers, and helps you troubleshoot different situations to make your horse as good as he possibly can be. In other words, it maximizes performance and teaches you how to ride too!

I’m doing a couple things different this year than I have in the past. I am attempting to be a team roper, I have been a “wanna- be” team roper for a long time, but I have never devoted myself to it. I have always heard everyone talk about how good it can be for show horses. It gives them a diversion, and gives them a job - something to do. They stay real sound (compared to the other things we ask them to do in the rein cow horse world). It keeps them fit, and it’s not boring for them or me. It’s exciting for both of us.

It’s really been quite an experience. It’s been humbling for me at times for sure. I am starting to see a little more progress on my part because I work on it every single day that the weather allows. So, I’ve got my little two horse trailer for sale if anybody wants it. I want $950 for it. It’s an old 89 circle j. I bought a used 3 horse pull-behind and I got a donkey. So now I am no longer a “wanna-be,” I’m a real team roper. Nancy is the donkey’s name. She is trained to gallop in circles. I heel the donkey a bunch on each of my show horses. It’s so awesome. I can’t believe how much it helps my horses and me. I leave the pen smiling - that is if I have a good day. I always feel better after I have roped a little. Hopefully I can share that with you guys. It’s such a healthy sport. I really, really enjoy it. So that’s enough about my roping.

We’re right in the process of booking all off our 2008 clinic dates now. If anybody is interested in hosting a clinic, call me 805-455-0162. I’m always interested in possible new clinic locations.  It seems like each year, 80% of our clinics happen, and 20% don’t, so that means we’re still 20% open!

Recently we went to Whitefish Montana. We had a private clinic there with my friends Steve Wisler and Brian Murphy, and it was wonderful. We had a wonderful time. We worked with them for three days and had satisfaction of seeing a huge improvement and then we stuck around town as they just happened to have a beautiful big mountain called Big Mountain Ski Resort, so we skied for three days after the clinic.

It’s not easy when you’re not in condition for skiing. Your legs can get pretty sore when you ski 3 days in a row. But, that’s okay. We have to get fitter because we have another clinic coming up in Moab, Utah on February 15-16. Anybody that is interested needs to give me a call. And after that clinic, we are going to Dear Valley in Utah to ski for three more days. It’s a tough life.

In the meantime we’ll be headed to the Denver Wholesale Trade shoe in Denver, January 11 – 15^th.  It’s the largest western trade show in the world.

We have lots of new bits and spurs already designed, and lined out for this years’ show. Each year we try to come out with something new and better. I could not be happier with the feedback we are getting from our ads, our TV show, our clinics and just hearsay. We put our programs and products together because we really feel we have created something that many, many riders can benefit from.  We love to help and we love to hear about the results you’re getting too!  I get so many questions about other products too, that next year we’re going to be scouting some of the top manufacturers to find the best products we can – products that I have used or wouldn’t hesitate to use on my own horses, and make them available to you on our website.  The first of these is the new saddle pad line that I really swear by. I have been through a lot of them and this is the only one I have ever found that is really worth paying for.

Another really exciting line of products that we’ll be adding to the website soon are Don Brown’s handmade hackamores and braided work.  I’ve always thought that Don’s hackamores were sensational, the best I’ve ever used, but since I mentioned his work on one of my RFD shows, we got to talking and worked out an arrangement for us to offer his products for horsemen who really want the best while they can still get it.  If you’re interested in having a hackamore with Don Brown “magic” let us know, and we can help you come up with an incredible tool for your horses.  Don’s hackamore’s start at $500 but they are handmade one by one, buy a horseman-craftsman in his seventies, so in many ways they are priceless.  If you want the best – this is what you want. 

I would like to thank everybody again. We really appreciate having you on the team. Here’s to you. Look forward doing something for you in the year 2008.

God Bless You and Have a Happy New Year!

Weren’t we talking about prospects?

Where does time go - I know it was a long time ago, but I think I left off the discussion on prospects talking about the conformation of the horse we would like to have, and some of the things we really don’t care for toomuch. The last thing I talked about was the head and shoulders, but I’m still not done with the front of the horse.

For one thing, we don’t want to see a lot of room between the horses from legs nor do we want to see them looking like they came out of the same hole. And, we don’t want the heavy bulging forearms that are so popular on halter horses -we want an athletic forearm.

Although, I have heard about open knees, I have never had that cause a problem on any of the horses I have had. Off-set knees are something to stay away from because they will more than likely cause you trouble. An off-set knee is where the cannon bone does not come straight down from the knee and is off-set on the inside or the outside. This puts a lot of stress on the joints during training, performance and any performance maneuver done at speed. As long the cannon bone comes straight out of the horse’s knee, I have never had much knee trouble. Even horses that toe in or toe out haven’t caused me really much grief. I wouldn’t encourage anybody to buy a horse with crooked legs but if the whole structure of the legs follows the same line, I might take the chance if I really like the horse. Not for a whole lot of money though!

The lines and the angles of the front pasterns is something we do want to pay attention to. We used to want a horse with a lot slope and longer pasterns but that is not the case anymore. A reined cow horse has a lot of stress on tendons and ligaments during conditioning, gallops and cow work and the horses that have long sloping pasterns are more susceptible to suspensory injury during high stress activities. Also horses with longer sloping pasterns have more difficulties crossing over in the spins because their foot is too far out in front of them. Because of this we look for pasterns that are slightly shorter, without too much slope. If I had to choose, I would rather have pasterns that were short and steep, rather than long and sloping.

Now that we are down the horse this far, let’s look its feet. I am a believer in no foot, no horse. Horses whose heels are under slung instead of growing straight down can cause a lot of problems for the owner. As the foot grows the toe tends to get longer and the heel gets more under slung. This takes the foot longer to break over, therefore putting more strain on tendons and ligaments. That particular horse is more prone to tendon problems and joint disease. And the foot should be wide, especially through the heels, which is getting harder to find these days. We see more narrow heeled horses today then we use to see.

Now let’s talk about behind the saddle on the top line. Most of the power for stopping or starting in a high performance horse should come from the loin. A horse that is short on top where the saddle goes and really strong in the loin is a horse that I am really going to like. I like a long sloping hip with a low tail set, and the tail should sit tight instead of standing out.  As for the tail itself, although, I never turned a good one away that didn’t have one, we all like to see the long, full pretty tail!

As far as the gaskin on the hind legs go, it doesn’t matter make or break a horse but it’s important. I would never take a horse with good gaskin but a weaker loin over a horse with a weaker gaskin and a strong loin. Another words loins are more important then gaskins. I have seen horses without a lot of gaskin muscles that were really top performers.

Working our way down the horse, we know come to the hocks. This is an area that is under a lot of stress in any high performance horse so what we would want to see when we look at a prospect, first of all is low hocks. A hock is a fulcrum between the gaskin and the cannon bone so the lower the hock is set the greater the leverage it has and therefore, less stress within the joints. A high percentage of your Furturity champions have low hocks. The hocks should also be fairly straight and the bones should be good size. The hock should not appear frail or wobbly. Sickle hocked horses can have their hind legs up under them a little more but the stress and the torque on the joints is greater because of the greater angle. Straight hocks are stronger and more durable and if you combine that with a short cannon bone, you’ll have a much better chance of keeping your horse sound. A horse that squeaks or has wobbly hocks can also splay, or spread too much when he slides and that leaves too much from the joints all the way up to the hips.

The underline of the horse, the belly, should be a lot longer than the top line. The horse should have a nice full rib cage for air capacity - in a working horse it is very important. Also, it is very important for mares that are later going to carry foals. It’s very important that this horse has plenty of room for the heart and lungs to work.

So know let’s talk about over all appearance. We have looked at all of the nuts and bolts but where does pretty rank on our list of positives and negatives. A horse with a big pretty head and a kind eye is right up there. Usually, the horse’s eye is an indication of its character. Some horses just have that star quality, a “look at me” way about them that is so important in the show pen. A horse that strikes you in this way will probably get the same reaction from horse show judges.

Now that we have gone through the parts separately, we look at the horse’s silhouette in front of us. Is the total package symmetrical? Is it balanced? Is it slightly uphill in appearance? Not every horse that has this athletic confirmation is a good horse. But most of the good horses do have this confirmation. I’ll choose a horse with a natural slightly uphill build because it makes getting the horse in the correct posture to perform in high performance so much easier. Buying a horse that is built to do the job can you happy in the show pen. Hopefully, it will keep you from having a big pile of vet bills.

So where did Les Vogt go?

If you’re wondering why it got so quiet here, I have to confess that I’ve been doing something really fun - putting the final touches on the Maneuvers Level of the Cowhorse U Program.  Our December 3rd RFD-TV show, on Wide World of Horses is going to feature some excerpts from the program so we’re doing everything we can to make sure that it’s ready to sell on that date.  There’s a lot of material - over 6 hours of video and the book will probably end up at 150-175 pages - but you won’t believe how much is covered!  One of our reviewers said that if this were the mid-evil times, I’d be burned at the stake for giving away all the trainer secrets - I hope that doens’t happen!  Anyway, if you haven’t put your money down on that good prospect because you were waiting for me to finish my thoughts on that subject, I hope he’s still there!  I’ll get back to it, and to telling you more about the new program in the next few days.  I’m also working hard at visiting with my son and his wife in Hawaii, where I’ll also be giving a clinic this weekend.  Anxious to see what they bring - as always.  Hope everyone’s doing great, talk to you again soon!