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!