Hello everybody,

I am fresh home from my latest adventure, which was nine or ten days in Sweden. I had two three-day clinics there, all targeted towards training the cow horse. They only took ten horses for each clinic so that kept the numbers down. The people were thirsty for knowledge, and they learned a lot. It’s especially fun to go to a country that has really no experience with the working cow horse, or at least very little, and explain traditions and customs, the different styles of creating a working cow horse, and to set standards that they will hopefully uphold forever. They actually save many, many years of mistakes by learning about the refinement of standards while the cow horse sport is young! As always, it was fun to visit with lots of old friends, as I was there last year too!

Of course, many thanks to my wonderful friend, Hakan Bergh and Per Larsson, that put on the clinic. It was at Per Larsson’s ranch, where we had the clinic. We had a beautiful indoor arena, good dirt, and Holstein cattle – actually, they worked pretty well for this bunch of riders! They learned an awful lot about positioning, balancing a cow, position on a cow, rate with a cow, and how to succeed in putting a cow horse on a cow properly.

There were two or three people in the clinic actually riding their horse with a two rein bosal along with their regular bit, in order to help to bridle their horse better. It’s really nice to see people interested and maintaining the traditional standards of perfection and durability that approach can help to create.

The horses there were really nice and the horsemanship is always good. In every foreign country that I’ve been to it’s at least as good as the U.S., and some places I think overall it could be possibly better. They had a lot of really nice horses with a lot of cow - a lot of U.S. bloodlines, of course; and a lot of horses that stopped really pretty and so on. Mind you, we didn’t do anything really big and really hard because I’m always emphasizing the form that creates the function - more than just trying to go fast and stop hard. We like pretty. Pretty’s first!

Surprisingly enough there’s a lot of pretty good ropers there too, so I contacted my friend and roping instructor Dusty Watkins, from Bakersfield, and helped him make arrangements to go over and give roping clinics. Even though they don’t really rope cattle because it’s against the law! If you get caught, it’s a pretty serious deal. They have mechanical cows that they rope and tie the legs on. They are avid ropers, but they just can’t rope live cattle. They rope well though! The horses were real cowy, and the people were especially excited about that. They had a great time, and I had a great time teaching them. Huge enthusiasm. It was just a wonderful success.

One of the highlights of the trip was when I went back to revisit the old church, built in the year 1031. It was the first Christian church in Scandinavia. It was really beautiful. The church had a crypt underneath it and it was pretty cool to go down under the church, into an area which was even older! I’m also posting a bit that was found down there. It was a knight’s bit and pretty darn exciting stuff.

Here we go with some more excitement… another highlight - across the street from the church, there’s a library. Even the locals don’t know it, but underneath the library, in what looks like a bomb shelter, is storage for precious, rare, and expensive old, old books, that are treasures of the country. Some of those books go back many, many years. I think some go back 1000 years or more. Some of them were about the origination of mathematics, some of them were about the solar system, and how it appeared to the astronomers in the 1500’s. There was a diary that they claim was Cortés’s diary. It had drawings in it and the pages were made of parchment paper.

Most of the books were parchment. There were just lots and lots of old books, some of them worth half a million or more. It was in a locked vault that was locked within another vault. There were actually two fire-proof, bombproof, people-proof vaults. There were electronically controlled doors, it was like 007, where they punched all the buttons and the wall opens up. Anyways, quite exciting to see and actually touch some of these old, old books. I look forward to going back again, hopefully next year. There’s still a lot I haven’t seen, and a lot I don’t know about.

That’s my latest. So, here I am at home under a pile of papers and trying to stack them in a way so I can crawl out and have a holiday like the rest of you. Good luck to everybody. It’s show season, I hope you’re all having fun!

Thanks for reading.

Well hello folks. It’s nice to be talking to you again; it’s actually nice to be home even though it’s only for about three whole days! I’ll fill you in as to what I‘ve been doing and who I’ve been doing it with. I’ve had some really fun times lately.

I went to Arlington, Washington, and did a three day clinic for Gretchen Salstrom at Black Raven Stables. We had a lot of cows, cow horses, cowboys and cowgirls. I had a wonderful time working with people that were very hungry for knowledge and everybody got a lot out of it. I was very impressed to have some of my old students back again, some that had been to my clinic as many as six times! I had one person stop by and he strangely enough had been to fifteen clinics! He was quite an individual. He brought two horses to one of the Washington clinics about ten years ago. Both horses, I told him, were basically a waste of time to make show horses out of.  He, being as hard-headed as he is, decided he would show me just to spite me and make these horses into show horses. After he showed up to about a dozen clinics, I began to see where he was coming from, because lo and behold, he amazed me. My own methods, my own theories, my own program actually amazed me also, that it really did work on these horses I considered substandard. He’d gotten these horses really soft and really happy. Their whole demeanor changed and believe me they did perform well. He came by to visit and say hi. I was happy to see him too.

I found a mechanical cow in Arlington that they call “Hot Heels”. When a rider drags it, it kind of moves along and makes motion as if it were a steer that had been roped. So I got to practice my team roping heeling while I was there with my buddy, Lyle Hendrickson (his wife Janet was in the clinic). Lyle and I roped that “Hot Heels” thing every lunch hour and every day after work. One of the people watching was a nice lady who had been around ropers a bit. She watched me having my difficulties, miss the machine a number of times, and finally get better. She came up to me and said, “You know Mr.Vogt, there is no dignity in learning to rope is there?” I thought I would steal that statement because it was a great one and there certainly is not any dignity in learning to rope.

After Arlington, I came home and prepared for the Ranchero Visitadores annual ride. That is one of the highlights of my life—I go every year and this is my 35th year to attend. It’s an all male type fraternity; it’s a horseback fraternity is about what it amounts to. I see about 1500 to 2000 men turn into little boys for a whole week. We have dignitaries (President Reagan used to go), Supreme Court Justices, and the Governor of Idaho, Butch Otter, is in my camp. However, when you’re on that ride, everybody’s on the same level. If you’re a good guy, a good person, they like you, and if your not, well I think they kind of run you out of there. We have a huge time. We shoot traps, throw horse shoes, and eat more good food than any one person should ever have the opportunity to have access to. We have a lot of different competitions from bocce ball to team roping to different rodeo events, and even a cannon shoot.  We have lots of really good musicians playing wonderful music. There is a lot of time to sit around the campfires and talk about the wonderful rides we’ve had in the past. It’s actually very inspiring to get around the people that are at the Rancheros.

But you know, there is one thing that happened this year was the highlight of my trip. I actually won the draw pot team roping, that’s where you draw your partner. I roped with a man by the name of Dudley Little. There were about 220 some teams in that draw pot roping and Dudley Little and I beat them all. We got brand new belt buckles and a lot of prestige. There were world champions roping there and lots of funny things happened there and it all worked out in my favor on that particular day. I was pretty proud of that. That’s a picture of my new buckle.

Now I’ve got the 3 horse pull behind trailer, I’ve got a rope horse and ropes, I’ve got a donkey that I practice roping with, and I guess that makes me the real deal. I’m really a team roper! You know what they say, don’t you? They say that the first buckle’s easy in whatever you do and that second buckle costs you $50,000 to get. I find that’s pretty true in horse shows, but I hope it’s not true in team roping!

I’m having a lot of fun looking at my baby colt. I have a new stud horse colt by the wonderful Tomcat Chex horse that is owned by Jalinda Covey. Anybody interested in breeding Tomcat Chex needs to give me a call if they don’t know Jalinda. This colt has four socks and a big pretty blaze. I think he’s pretty unusual. I know everybody that has a baby colt says the same thing, but this colt seems to be a little bit different and better than a lot of them. Of course, I’m a little prejudice! We’re waiting for my second brood mare to foal. She’s actually owned by Kay Williams. Her name is Bella or Bella Rista. She’s in foal to Tomcat Chex too. She was due a couple days ago so we’ll be getting some pictures out of both of these babies for you

I’ve been home for three days now so I guess it’s time to leave. I’m preparing to go to Sweden. I’m going by myself this year. I go to Gothenburg and we go about 3 or 4 hours from there, somewhere in Sweden, to give Clinics. I am really looking forward to being able to explore underneath an old church that we had the pleasure to explore last year. It was built in 1031. There’s a pair of iron doors in the lobby of the church that look like basement cellar doors. I ask what they were, and I was told by our guide, the local historian and curator of the local museum at the time. He said that it was the basement or cellar stables for the Knights. The Knights and Vikings fought for 200-300 years in that area. The Knights hid their horses under churches in stables. According to my guide, this cellar has never been explored and there are a lot of old horse bits and spurs. Just to prove it he showed me one that he had taken out of there sometime earlier. I didn’t have time to go underneath there with him last year because I had to catch a plane. This year I’m taking my lace up boots and my Boy Scout suit and I plan on being the biggest, oldest explorer underneath this church, or at least the most excited one for sure. I want to dig in there and see what the old horse bits and spurs looked like. Hopefully I get some great pictures to bring back for you

Well folks that’s about it. I’m selling my race cars: I have a drag race car and a circle race dirt car,  so anybody that’s interested should give me a jingle  I’m going to be a team roper instead!

Adios for now!

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. 

I have to say that their horses are excellent. Menee has a horse by the name of Gizmo Whiz. Gizmo is an excellent producer. He’s by Topsail Whiz, and I can’t remember which mare, I think he’s out of a King Fritz bred mare actually, but Gizmo does produce! They’re pretty, and they do stop, and they do work a cow! They’re as good as any horse out here, at least. I think overall the horses I see in Brazil at our clinics, are probably way better than what I would see in a typical clinic setting in the United States. Menee is a wonderful horseman, and there are always many, many other wonderful horsemen in my clinics in Brazil. They’re good reiners, and they are learning a lot about the cattle and show techniques, so we had a great time. I had to work six days in a row, but with the two or three hour lunch breaks, it really wasn’t that bad!

Their cattle are not very good there I can say that. They are an African breed, and they’re not gregarious. They look like Brahmas, but little more leg; they’re dumber than a Holstein, and they get mad instantly. Also, they can jump like a deer. Since they’re not gregarious at all, they don’t hang together—forty cattle go forty ways.

They had the Behancha there too. The Behancha is a guy with a big horn made of a steer’s horn, and he can blow it like a bugle. He told me he was a cow whisperer and could make the cattle come from a distance. Then he proved it to me. He can certainly do that. He’s in big demand with these cattle that they can’t drive—because they go every which way! He rides in front of the herd and calls them and the cattle follow him.  He’s quite the character!

James is a roper (he’s a header), and we were invited to do an exhibition team roping run in the Brazilian rodeo. They packed the people in, there were thousands and thousands of them, and the noise was overwhelming. They make their speakers a little louder than most of us can stand, and they had music going. Their bulls buck like heck. They’ve really got good bulls. Their bareback riding, or bronc riding, is a combination between saddlebronc and bareback riding. It’s like an English saddle with stirrups with a bareback rig and a handle on it. The horses have no halters, so they ride them like a combination.

Now the team ropers, they look, act, and talk just like our team ropers. They all look the same, act the same, and have the same mannerisms. They rope real good there. We weren’t there to show them how good we were, we were just there because we wanted to see the rodeo, and they said “Hey do you want to rope?” Well, we never say no to, “Do you want to rope?” so we went out an threw a few loops. We got out-foxed somehow, got one or two tangled up, but we had a ton of fun doing it!

The food in the middle of Brazil is very different, but really, really good!
Great horsemen, great friends. You’ll never be treated that good, or you certainly can’t be treated any better than they treat us. Dr. Enrique, Flavia, and Oleg took wonderful care of us on the way back out. You have to transfer between airports in Sao Paulo, which is the second largest city in the world, so it’s kind of a big place and a little help there when you can’t speak the language sure is nice. We made it back in one piece and that all well and good!

Now before we went to Brazil, I don’t know that I even mentioned to you, we went to Pennsylvania and gave a clinic. We were not too far Philadelphia, at a very, very famous place called Willow Brook Farms, home of Joe Cody. It’s where Bob Loomis, Bob Anthony, Dick Pieper, and many other guys got started out in their training life. It’s a huge beautiful farm, and we got to give our clinic there, hosted by the farm owner, Pete Fuller. Pete’s a wonderful guy, and he had a wonderful crew to put the clinic on for us. We had a lot of fun there!

It was great because it was the first time I’d given a full clinic in the eastern United States. I’m very interested in civil war stuff, and we were with the Yankees there for sure.  After touring around town, I found out that they definitely do not like the southeasterners still—the rebels! You start talking about it, and they get kind of a fiery look in their eye. They don’t have many good things to say about the southeasterners (Virginia and south of there).  Later on this summer we get to go to Virginia and give three different clinics. So I’m kind of excited to hear the southerners’ version of what went on; I sure got an ear full from the northerners!

While we were there we went to see the Liberty Bell of course, and all the important papers that you’re supposed to look at. We learned a lot about America. We saw old-town Philadelphia, (which was really, really fun), lots of the old buildings from the 1700’s and learned what they represent. Then we saw Valley Forge, where George Washington holed up for winter.

Probably the most fun part for me was Gettysburg. What happened at Gettysburg was pretty important. I’ll put it this way: it was a big turning point in our country, and it is well worth seeing. It was very exciting to us, and again, we’re looking forward to see what the southerners have to say about the northerners.

One more thing that’s kind of exciting and new is that Les Vogt Silver and Performax Bits & Spurs are now the official bit for the American Cowboy Team Roping Association (ACTRA). As the official bit and spur company, we‘ll be manufacturing all of the awards for the ACTRA. That’s exciting for me. There are an awful lot of people that really like to team rope, so we hope to spread the news that there’s a bit out there that can actually compliment their roping.

Anyway, that’s about it for me for now. Thanks for listening!

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

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! 

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!