Hackamore Classic and more

Hello folks! It’s May 18^th, it should be the time of year that the sun should be shining but we’re still getting rain.

The news is, I showed Turbo at the Hackamore Classic.  Turbo was really good and he did his best, he’s such a good horse, he’s easy to show and I enjoy showing him.  Coming out of the herd and had one good cow and two cattle that weren’t too good and he still marked well, and was in the hunt – landing in the top 10 of the whole open division. In the reined work, he was really good in the circles and I thought we should have marked better than we did in that category.  I felt that he gave it up a little, not much toward the end of the rein work as far as going to the bottom of his stops.  And the same thing happened down the fence, he was good but not as good as he could be. I had him checked out, his hocks and everything else were great, but his sacroiliac was sore, so we took care of that, and Turbo is better than ever.  So we placed at the Hackamore Classic and we got our money back.

The entry fee there including my stall about $2,800 – $2,900, it’s a steep hill to climb, to lay out $2,900 for a weekend show even though it does pay fairly well, I’m not really sure, but to just win the open it pays about $15,000-$16,000, but if you draw a bad cow,  you lose that $2,900. Maybe I’m old fashion, I don’t see the point, I thought this was about tradition, preservation, creating a really nice horse and having the time and the place to show it, so that people who like really nice horses could watch us. However, it’s gotten totally out of hand and we’re losing a lot of participants, who can’t afford the $2,900 that I spent.   So I came home from the Hackamore Classic, winning just about as much as I spent – then I took that same money and foolishly added $300 to make $3,200 and entered the Derby which is on June 14^th in Paso Robles, California. 

Had I lost that money at the Classic, I sure wouldn’t be able afford throwing $3,000 for weekend fun. For that money I can go anywhere in the world and have a nice weekend!  However, being me, I chose to roll the dice again, the way it works is I basically gave Turbo $3,000, and I told him as long you’re a good horse and you keep winning it back or making some money then that’s great.  If he gets the breaks I know he’ll win more than that, but without the breaks, there is no horse that can win.  If you draw badly or something happens like the horse slips and falls, one thing or another, then you lose all your money.  Soon as Turbo’s  $3,000 is gone if it ever is, then Turbo is strictly a rope horse except for some of the good weekend deals, such as the $350 entry fee at the Salinas Rodeo.   There I can usually get him in and out in one day and I’m able to win over $3,000. I think the better deal is Salinas.

The Reined Cowhorse Association which has changed so much in the past 10-15 years and with these high entry fees, a good part of the California people who used to partake in the Reined  Cowhorse events, they don’t do it anymore -they’re doing something else that they can afford!  But Turbo and I are going to the Derby and see how we do.

I went to the Rancheros Visit adores  ride recently too –  that is 1,060 guys and their horses and then another 1,000 others that are there as guests, cooks, camp hands, wranglers, bartenders, so it’s a really well done ride, a lot of fun. I took Gary Brooks, Andrew McArthur and Mitch Jacobs as guests; they had no idea what they were in for. The funniest thing I saw was that one of the camps did a skit on American Idol, they of course had someone acting as Simon, had guys dressed up like girls auditioning, and oh my gosh, it gets close to rank at times, they’re a fun group – the boys will be boys.  While we’re there we do some cutting, some reining, throw horseshoes, shoot trap, we even have a cannon shoot.  We team rope a lot and there is a fun event going on all the time throughout the six days.  You find yourself getting tired by the end, but you get to visit with really worthwhile inspirational people that have a lot of character.  I very much enjoy my Ranchero friends and feel blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the group.  I’ve been going for 38 years now.

I did pretty good at roping at the Rancheros, and believe it or not I’ve placed in 4 ropings in a row.  Hey, I think that I am a roper now. Maybe I should quit my day job – no more clinics! Just pick up my rope, put my horse in the trailer and head on down the road – nope, not quite yet.  I’m getting it together and having fun doing it.  I’ve had nothing but the best teachers and tutors on pretty much a daily basis.  I’ve had some world champions and some great guys helping me for about 3 years, and it’s finally sinking in.

My Futurity colts are really coming along good. Sparky my little bay horse, I think he’s a winner.  He’s just got the attitude and ability and the charisma, the appearance and he’s styling.  He does things other horses can’t do and he does many things that you can’t teach a horse to do. He’s freaky in a really good way and that’s what it takes to do well there. I’m not sure how many years I want to do this futurity thing so I hope it works really well for me.  In other words there are a lot of other things I plan on doing. If you’re going to do futurity horses you have to dedicate yourself, because you know if you’re not riding someone else is – and they’ll beat you!

Rango which is the Tomcat Chex is such a nice horse but he has a few little problems that I’m trying to get past and I’m sure he’ll be a really good horse.  I hope it’s in time for the futurity, he tries hard, he’s a speed horse, I mean he can run and get cattle!  We’ve been going down the fence a lot with these young horses lately.  Cody’s futurity horse is super cool, he’s a Dual Pep and I’m going to tell you that this one has the appearance and a way of moving, and he’s got style.  We’ve got some real nice horses this year.

The Double Dollar Team from Utah and I are coordinating in a partnership what we call High Team Bits for Ropers. They’re created specifically for rope horses, and they are a very different bit than has ever been in the roping arena. I’ve been fortunate enough to learn about leverage position and it doesn’t seem like other bit makers really capitalize on that, but I really believe in it.  I’m very happy with the leverage positions, mouthpiece powers and the specific mouthpieces that we’ve come up with after two years of research. Our High Team Bits should be available for under $100 per bit. They’re classy looking, and we’ve tested them everywhere. They should be available July 1^st, so anybody looking for a better bit than you got save your money so you can get one of these.  I don’t care what you’re riding with now, these are better for rope horses – they do some things other bits have never done.

Year end awards, please don’t forget, if anyone needs year end awards, as in custom mad bits or spurs, you need to contact me pretty soon so we can get them going.  I can make just about anything you want, the price of silver has gone up a little so that affects our prices, anyways we’re still plugging along.

Some more excitement! I leave on the 23^rd for Redmond Oregon to work with Dean Tustin. Dean was 2^nd in the world as a heeler at one time. He has a pretty unique rope horse breeding program.  He’s breeding rope horses that could be show horses as well, so he’s going with the top of our show horse lines and looking for the most durable ones and the ones with the most speed. He’s got a lot of them about 20 young horses, I’m going to work with Dean and his crew and get to know them and have a lot of fun roping, I’ll be there about 3 days and will really enjoy that.  So far I’ve worked with Speed Williams, Ricky Green and now Dean, I guess these guys must think I know some secrets, I hope that they’re not disappointed.  After I leave Dean’s I’ve got another one that is kind of interesting, I’m going to Damascus Pennsylvania, to do a clinic there. I have never been to Pennsylvania; I hope I enjoy it like people say I will.

Well that’s the update, thanks for reading!

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