(I Can’t Believe it’s) November Update!

Hi folks, sorry to be so slow with my blog. This time of year has been very hectic, been on the road both working and having fun. I will blog more often now.

Middle of August I went to my friend Luke Jones in Iowa. I visit Luke twice a year to help him with his futurity horses and we have a great time together. Luke has REALLY gotten good, he’s the real deal superstar. Luke’s horses are looking really, really great and we’re trying to make them better. Luke and I went to the snaffle bit futurity in Reno together, and he had it going on. He had the right kind of horses, but just things didn’t fit for him to win the open. I certainly think Luke is a contender. He won some other futurities this year. You can mark my words, he will win the Reno Futurity Open Division. He made the finals and was top of the class in the intermediate open. He rode like a wolf, it was great. He made a heck of a statement, that he was there to win. So we were pretty happy about that especially since he is A COWHORSE U STUDENT.

On August 25 I gave a clinic in Broadus, Montana. Broadus is out in the middle of Montana and it’s definitely cow country with lots of cowboys and cowgirls, it’s a nice quiet area and sure is pretty. Lots of good horses and riders. Rachel put on a really nice clinic there for me, I really loved it.

Went to the Reno snaffle bit futurity, Zip was really good, he was green because I’d only had him about 10 months or so. He was my futurity horse, but we still did great. I was really proud of him, he only lacked one half of one point from each judge to make  the finals. Sparky was really, really good and was easily second place in the open hackamore class,except that I misread the pattern and guided Sparky off-pattern in the reined work.First time I’ve done that since I was a kid. It was quite a wake up call, We hit a speed bump or two once in a while and it makes you pay more attention, that was sure a big bump.

Roy Cole put a clinic on at Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Nebraska. We actually had two clinics .I  had 4 days of fun and work. It was great.

I went to “Woofey”, Carl and Pam Wilkin’s place, then to Billy and Petra Finks ranch to rope and get tuned up for the American Cowboy Team Roping Association finals, in Reno, NV. I had a really good time  and learned a lot.

On November 3, I am in Meridian, MS where the movie Mississippi Burning was filmed. I will tell you all about it in my next blog.

Don’t forget about my Fast Time Bits, Cowhorse U’s, Performax Bits and Les Vogt’s Custom Silver.

Also, I’m still feeding the Grand Meadows and I’m taking the same supplement that they make for people and it sure works on me.

Last, my Jim Taylor saddle is the best and we have a few in stock if you’re interested, let us know or watch the website as there will be info up soon – we promise!.

July Travels

photo courtesy Lori Adamski-Peek

Well folks it’s been going pretty fast here. We’ll start off with the end of June when I went to the Bob Feist Roping and the Perry Roping. I had a lot of fun there and did really well. I look forward to going back next year.

Recently I taught a barrel racer clinic at Steve Smith and Leta Scott’s place. It was my first one and I’ve never done one that way. Steve Smith’s daughter Stevie was the star of the show. She’s the sweetest young lady I’ve ever met. She’s going to be a heck of a hand. Thanks to Kathy Archuleta for putting that clinic on.

From that clinic I went on to have some fun in Alabama where I met up with Amy Smith to put a clinic on for her. Amy really did a good job getting this clinic done. The people and horses were great and I had a good time, but the weather was a little bit warm—but not too bad.

Then I followed that with a LIVE television interview with Lizy Iwersen on Monday July 9^th in Nashville, Tennesee. She is so easy to do an interview with. That interview was very, very exciting. Lizy is a team roper, and a new friend of mine.  You’ll be able to see the interview as soon as we get it posted to YouTube.

After my time in Tennessee, I came home and then I was off to Portland to see my good friends Nancy and Samantha. They put on a semi-private clinic. I really like them—they treat me like a King! I stayed in the Hilton business executive suites, eating at the finest restaurants and we ride and have a great time there. Went to dinner at the Chart House, they had my name on the top of the menu saying “Welcome Les Vogt.” They were all printed that way–don’t know how they did that. That was sure sweet of them.  Then, Samantha gave me a book on California History that was published in 1930 by Joe Morrow, it’s out of publication now. I totally enjoyed it and thank you Samantha!

As usual, I went to the Salinas Rodeo during the 3^rd week of July, I’ve been to Salinas since I was a kid. I’ve won the Hackamore or Bridle class 21 times—there is no place in the world I would rather go. It’s the most traditional, fun and interesting and awesome place to be during the 3^rd week of July.  The arena is big, the cattle are wild and the tomcats are good. I don’t know how many people have actually done this—I don’t think very many—but I team roped and showed in the Hackamore class for the first time this year. I made the finals in the Hackamore, but I couldn’t finish up the Hackamore cow work like I wanted to so I tied for 4^th place instead of first like I planned. I had Sparky there and he was absolutely dynamic. I did pretty well in the team roping. I have never done anything more thrilling or exciting. They score the cattle down the end about 30-35 feet, then they make you wait a long time in the box. The cattle are going as fast as they can go and by the time you get halfway down the arena they’re still pulling away from you. At that point you wonder why am you’re there, but then you catch up and get one caught going that fast you understand what it’s all about. It’s a race that separates the men from the boys—there’s no thrill like the competition at Salinas or even a bigger thrill winning!

After Salinas, I came home to get ready to go to the Valley Cowhorse Association Pre-Futurity in Bakersfield. I went to school Sparky and did some soft runs on him. There were some spots I wanted to work on, but I wanted to apologize for all the hard runs I made. I think that was very beneficial and worth my time. I totally believe in schooling shows and I got to show Zip—my 3-year-old who belongs to Laurie Adamski Peek—for the first time. I wish I would have kept him, he is a show horse. I took him at half speed and he still burned the hair off of both hocks. He lost a cow in herd work, but that was not a problem—it wasn’t for much money, but we really, really, really enjoyed having that horse as a show horse. Certain horses are show horses and others aren’t, but Zip is. He scored a 72.5 in rein work and a 72.5 down the fence at half speed, in schooling runs, so I think we have a promise there for the Futurity.

Karen Lafever sent me something that brought tears to my eyes. She sent me two paintings of Sparky. She’s a fan, and these are big, about 2-3 feet tall paintings. One is a head and neck view and the other is stopping picture. It brought tears to my eyes. He’ll be in front of me for the rest of my life in those paintings. I thank Karen so much for the paintings. She wouldn’t take a dime, but she wants to ride Sparky, so I told her to come on over, we would love to have her, and let her ride Sparky around for awhile.  Sparky would probably like that too! Her work is incredible.

Now it’s the first part of August  and futurity season is creeping up on us fast. I’ve been team roping every day and I think I’m doing better all the time. I know I am. I stopped in to see Rusty Watkins to do some roping and I had a ball there. Now I will work my horses all week here and patch up the leaks in my business system here. Then I’m off to Colorado to work with Carol Robinson this weekend in Colorado Springs. Then on Monday, August 6^th, I do an interview with Aaron Ralston, for a segment on his show on Rural TV.

We’re pretty busy, as you can see, and the Paso Robles Snaffle Bit Futurity—which is a pretty big one—starts on Monday, August 13^th. And here we go…

I’ve been riding in my new Jim Taylor saddle. Jim is going to make saddles for my friends and me. I totally endorse them. I can’t tell you how much better I can ride in my Jim Taylor saddle. I won’t brag on, recommend or endorse anything unless I know darn well that it’s the best and that it helps me to be a better horseman and would help you too. Jim Taylor saddles definitely do.

Cowhorse U Program is doing very well. You can find it on our website. It’s designed to help you and your horse to be the best you can be, so you can maximize you and your horse’s capacity. It’s a step-by-step, very comprehensive program.

I really like Grand Meadows joint supplements for people and horses. I have my horses on Grand Meadows—it has 300 percent more Hyaluronic Acid—plus other ingredients—more than any other joint supplement on the market. It’s also FDA approved. I take it myself in the human form. It’s great.

To sum it up, Cowhorse U is sensational, it gives you the knowledge to be successful; Jim Taylor saddles will give you the physical capacity to maximize your riding; and Grand Meadows helps with the joints in both you and your horses.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  Hope you all have a good day and thanks for reading…

Another quick update

I just finished a couple of clinics, one in Washington State with Ken Floyd, which was a lot of fun.  Then had another clinic in Canada with Brent McClain and family which was a private clinic. Had nice horses, nice weather. They were extremely nice people and were very comprehensive, I very much enjoyed them.

Just finished showing Sparky at the NRCHA Derby in Paso Robles. Thought for sure I was going to have a slot in the Open Derby Finals until I had a bobble in the fence work and it put me out of the finals by a half a point.  But rather than moping around I decided head out for a Jackpot Roping on Friday night and darned if I didn’t win that, so it wasn’t too bad of a day after all!  Sunday I want back to Paso for the Intermediate finals and although our first two events weren’t as sharp as they had been in the prelim’s we pulled off a nice fence run and ended up third there, so all not a bad weekend!

Now I’m in Reno Nevada with my rope horse, Turbo and Zip (this year’s futurity horse), he’s a three year old and a full brother to Sparky. I will be participating in the roping and I will also have a booth there to sell my bits and spurs.  On Monday I will watch the Bob Feist roping, on Tuesday I’ll rope in the Perry Roping for $100,000 to the winner, (kind of exciting!), Wednesday I’ll work in the booth, Thursday I have an all-girl barrel racing clinic for Leta Scott  of Gardnerville, Nevada, (775-742-0293). Then I have one day off where I’ll go visit my friends Billy & Petra Finks – Billy has a futurity horse and he’s a really good roper.  I’ll go hang out with him and see what I can learn and maybe teach him too.  

Then the weekend of the 23^rd and 24^th I have a public clinic for Kathy Archuleta in Reno, Nevada (775-224-8020).

So you can see my plate is rather full.  Sparky looks pretty good and his brother Zippy looks just as good as Sparky, he’s a really nice horse and I like him. I thought he was behind, but we’re catching up quick.

That’s enough for now folks, thanks!

Reunions and Ropings

Hi folks, Les here. I just wanted to give you an update of what’s going on in my world. Right now I’m at the the National Reined Cowhorse Association Derby in Paso Robles, California, with Sparky – aka Nic It Smartly. We got a 216 in the herd work yesterday, but there’s more show to come in the next few days.

I went to the Horseman’s Reunion at Paso Robles, California, in the first part of April. I had a wonderful show, sold a lot of bits and spurs and I really had a lot of fun visiting with interesting old friends.

 April 21 and 22, Nancy and Samantha—my favorite people that host private clinics—had me come to Portland, Oregon, for their private clinic. They had 5-6 people there and it was wonderful. They are wonderful hostesses and Old Town Portland was beautiful. You can see a calendar of my upcoming public clinics on my website.

I had some very interesting clinics since my last blog. I had a clinic in Bloomfield, New Mexico, with Betty and Sam Holler. I had a ball with them—Sam and Betty are some of my other favorite friends. Sam’s horses look really good. There were some people at the clinic with a higher level of experience than usual. We had wonderful horses and great students. We had a comprehensive group, great weather and I really enjoyed it.

Now, as far as what I’ve been doing I have some interesting things to talk to you about. First I went to the Rancheros Visitadores ride for a week during the first week of May. That was one of the first things we mark on our calendars every year. There’s a thousand guys there—very, very interesting guys from all over the U.S. and a few other parts of the world. It’s a weeklong play date for grown boys. We rope and do a lot of fun stuff. Mostly, we develop good friends and preserve the tradition of the California vaqueros.

Other good news—I’m really fired up about Grand Flex by Grand Meadows. My friend Angela Slater owns the Grand Meadows company. Beginning in 1982, she has been developing FDA-approved joint supplement products that have 300 percent more hyaluronic acid than any other product. The other products I’ve used in the past have had much less results, since they did not have these ingredients in as high a quantity. Angela is using human grade products, which are the only kind you should have to get the best result.  I’ve been taking the Grand Flex, which is the joint supplement. It has done wonderful things, and there is no comparison between Grand Flex and any other joint supplement products from Platinum Plus, Lubrisyn or to anything you can buy over the counter. Grand Flex is where it’s at; I can’t tell you how much better my body functions on Grand Flex. I’m really sold on it.

I’ve learned a few things about my horses lately. With Sparky, I was having a little bit of problem bringing him back. He was laid up for 30 days. I put a different bit on him and it was a little bit stronger than he was used to. He got to where he was running hotter in his run downs to his stops. If I would listen to what I teach, I would be better off. As people do, I put a little bit of a stronger bit on him to slow him down. Wrong way to go! Just for your information, when put a bigger, softer snaffle on him, he slowed down, was more relaxed and we’re on our way to feeling like I want him to feel. And now he really feels good.

Some fun things have happened lately. H.P. Evetts—a friend of mine from Hanford, California—asked me to rope with him in the team roping at the Salinas Rodeo. H. P. is a Paso Robles champion. I’m not at that level, so I don’t get the opportunity to rope with that caliber of ropers that often. I’m very excited, and I told H.P. let’s go for it. I’m working really hard to get sharper on my roping.

I’m also sending in $2,750 in entry fees for the Perry Di Loreto Ropings held in Reno, Nevada, during the middle part of June. It’s part of the Bob Feist Invitational Roping and Reno Rodeo. This event will pay about $100,000.

Doug Williamson and I are going to rope in the World Series Finals Team Roping in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the National Finals Rodeo. That also pays $100,000 and the entry fees are a couple of thousand dollars. I don’t have that kind of money to throw around, but I have two of the best horses I’ve ever ridden in my life, and I’m healthy, feel good and riding good, so this is the time to start doing these things. I sure don’t want to look over my shoulder some day and say “gosh, I had the opportunity with a great horse to go to these contests and I had a great team roping partner that asked me to rope, and I didn’t do it.” I think those are bad mistakes. There are times in your life whether you can afford it or not, even if you have to borrow the money, you better go for it, because those experiences on that level are rare.

So that’s what my plans are. Again, let me remind you, I’ve had it happen to me before, that a bigger, softer bit sometimes really solves some of the problems.

I’ve had a lot of fun working cattle on Zippy, my futurity horse this year. He got a little fast on his turns to the left—a little faster than I want. So I used him only on the buffalo and not the cattle for the last two weeks, and I’m slowing him way down on his turns. The buffalo is an incredible tool to teach the horse things. I like to use them to create the form, or the way you want your horse to come through those turns. It really seems to be working. Zippy is doing some wonderful stuff. Whether he’s going to be as good as Sparky or not, he well could be. He shows like he has all the right stuff: he’s real confident, he’s a happy horse, he’s fast and he looks good, he’s real sound and his attitude is good. Both Zippy and Sparky are having fun, and I am too.  That’s a real good combination. Turbo is an A+ super world class heel horse at this point. I showed him and he won at the California Rodeo Hackamore Class at the Salinas Rodeo. He’s a show horse crossed over to a heel horse and back to a show horse. I’ve been bridling him while I’ve been roping on him, which takes out the boredom for me.

That’s probably enough for now, so thank you so much for reading. Bye folks! 

Ready for that Arizona Sun!!

Hi folks, March 16^th, just wanted to give you an update on what is going on in my life.

Sparky, is getting ready for the Arizona National Reined Cow Horse Association Stakes, which is a good paying show and it’s in Arizona so I’m excited.  It seems like everywhere I’ve been in February and March for clinics, the weather has been cold, windy and stormy, it’s been tough, but it’s my job so I better like it, and I do. I’ve had really nice clinics and met really nice people.

Sparky is ready to go, he’s so good at this point!  He’s fatter, fitter, happier, and sounder than ever! He’s always been sound but he’s really, really on track. I expect him to be very competitive in Arizona. I worked a cow with him one time this week, and he’s really sharp.  When I showed him last at Red Bluff, the weakest link I felt he had was to be able to track a tough cow really close in tight curves or corners away from the fence at high speed.   Most horses kind of float to the outside of those turns, and I felt like he had a little bit of that tendency, which is normal for younger or inexperienced horses. So I’ve been tracking lots of cattle. I’m not going to turn one down the fence with him, because I know if I put him by one he’ll come back if I ride him right. So I’ve tracked 3-4 cows with him across the pen and made him stay right on that hip no matter where that cow went. That’s been really good for him.

Sparky’s little brother Ziplock, we call him Zip, has been coming right along too. He’s a really nice horse, reminds me a lot of Sparky. He gets in pretty deep on cattle, probably deeper than Sparky did. I think he’s got to learn to get up a bit quicker, because he gets in so deep he has a little bit of a problem getting out of the hole. I think that will come though, I’m afraid to hurry him, I think that will happen down the road. He’s really turning around and stopping pretty, he’s got all the stuff, it just a matter of getting him to the futurity in time, in other words, getting the job done. Laurie isn’t putting any heat on me; she just wants to have a really nice horse, which is the smart thing to do. If Zip wants to make it to the futurity, he will, and at this point he seems like he does.

I’m still booking clinics too; I still have some open dates for either public or private clinics. I’m going to take a good part of April off; I’ve got some things I want to do, rope a bit, and other things.  I just need to take time to regroup, I’ve been going so hard, and it takes its toll on you.  But I’m so enthused about going to Arizona. It’s going to be warm, 80 degrees, believe it or not! I like Arizona in the winter. I was going to take a rope horse with me, but I’ve decided against it and I’m taking Zip along with me instead. He needs another outing, needs to get seasoned a little bit more and they do have a practice pen there.

March 3^rd and 4^th, I went to Luke and Erin Jones’ in Iowa, and helped Luke with his futurity horses. I think we got a lot done there, we talked a lot and worked things out. I always learn something new from Luke when I’m there. He’s a good hand, he’s got such great horses, and he’s going to win the futurity one of these years, hopefully soon. I was very impressed with the job he’s doing, most of all impressed with Luke and Erin. They’re wonderful people, I really enjoy going there. I just wish that they could turn the temperature up a little more for me, it’s kind of cold, and they called it warm, but I was freezing!

March 10^th & 11^th, I went to Roger, Sue and Willy Hart’s place, in Yakima, Washington. That was last weekend, they’re like family to me, I’ve given two clinics a year there for about 20 years, that’s a lot of clinics. Sue Hart is a genius when it comes to selling clinic slots to people who want to participate. She’s the best sales woman I’ve ever known.  It’s always fun to go there, but again, wind, hail, and I don’t know how it happened, but the dust was blowing in-between those storms. That was all fun.

Now I’m home and getting fired up to head off to Arizona. We’ve had threats of rain, but it didn’t rain. My trailer is loaded and ready to go, all I have to do is back up and hook up the trailer, throw a few pieces of tack that’s not in there right now and I could be out of here in 2 hours. If it rained, I could go south like the birds, find some place to go work cattle and hang out.

That’s about all for now, hope all of you are having wonderful rides on your horses, and if I haven’t helped you out before I will soon.  Take care and stay safe…

Spring update: Hawaii, Grand Kids and Good Company

Been having a great time this Spring and wanted to fill you in:  February 17 & 18, I did a clinic in Hawaii, that was for Jimmy Miranda and his wife Janine, it was really fun, they were really nice people. They had an arena on the beach; it couldn’t be any nicer, new arena, great people. We did that, then I went to see my grandkids Tyler and Travis, and they got to see what their grandpa looks like. They were really fun, Travis is still a little young, he’s a year old, and Tyler is 3. When your grandkid runs up to you at a dead run, the first time he’s ever sees you, hollering Grandpa and puts his arm around your leg, you would have to be a stone without a heart if you didn’t shed a tear. It was pretty emotional and interesting, and really fun to be around them, only wish I could be there more.

My horses are incredibly great. Sparky is doing things I’ve never had a horse do. Hopefully I’m showing to his capacity. He’s not perfect every day some days we have what I call a little bit of controversial day, where things become slightly challenging and I know better than to step up and end up taking a challenge from him. I just figure out a way to use a little reverse psychology and get things fixed, so I know everything will work my way the next day.  A few days ago I wasn’t as happy as I could be with him, then the next day he was fine and the day after that he was great – a real Cow Horse!

I got home from Hawaii for one day before I go to the Red Bluff Derby, which is good; if I don’t ride them I don’t ruin them. Before a show I don’t want to put too much pressure on them, if you’re smart you won’t. I always find if I’m gone for a few days before a big event, my horses are better than if I pick at them or get anxious.

Red Bluff is 500 miles from where I live, long way to go by yourself in one day. I did it, got to Red Bluff. Was tied for first in the herd work, marked 75 on Sparky, he was pretty incredible. He cut three cows in the middle of the pen and he just drilled them, he was really on. The next day Saturday, the 25th, we did the rein work. After two events he was tied for the lead, so basically I needed a decent cow to be in the top 2, I didn’t get that cow, I had a tough cow. I only marked 71 on the cow, but that still put me in as Reserve Champion in the intermediate division and tied for 4^th in the open. For a 1,000 mile drive, and a $2200 entry fee I made almost $3800 for about 5 days’ work. So it wasn’t what I hoped as far as the payout, but no o sense in crying over spilled milk, it’s done.

Making plans booking clinics. Folks I have a couple of really good dates, one just came open which is June 30-July 1^st, and this is a prime time date that kind of fell open by accident. I’ve got a few others; people are booking still, so if anybody is interested in hosting a clinic, I’m anxious to talk to you.  It’s like putting a puzzle together, I’m anxious to get it done.

I didn’t get to tell you, but last month I had Nancy and Samantha from the Northwest here riding with me. Nancy rides a mustang, he’s a BLM horse. He’s solid gold and does everything anybody ever wanted a horse to do, but at his speed of course, which is not real fast, but that’s great.  He stands while she climbs up the fence or mounting blocks to get on him. He’s the real deal as far as a nice horse goes the other horses that Samantha rode, she has one that’s a bay horse, and she spent a lot of time on him. He stops and turns and does real cute things, of course both horses do, but she also road a Lusitano, and he stops and turns a little too.

We had a wonderful day; we had a private clinic, which was just Nancy, Samantha and myself, all day long. We worked the buffalo, we did this and that, we did everything all day long, served them some lunch and we had a great day. She said that I probably tell everybody that, but I never complain, I tell you I enjoyed these ladies, we had a fine time.

Plus, I’m in the process of bridling Turbo so I can show him, and I thought what could be better than hanging out for 4-5 hours on him, with a 2 rein bosal and good bridle and silver bit, so that he understands the communication better. The better your bit is the better the communication is. A great bit has all these pre-signals that make such a big difference but it takes time for the horse to learn and understand them.  So I got to hang out and got him bridling a little better.   Anybody that wants to sign up for a private clinic, here at the ranch, I do that. You can reach me at 805-343-9205 to talk it over.

My horses were good that day, but I didn’t do a lot with them because I was spending most of my time with those gals. So the next day I spent more time with Sparky, we had fresh cattle. I tell you what – fresh cattle do wonderful things for horses!  Of course I don’t let him do too much, but I mean he was amazing, he’s an amazing horse.

Little Ziplock, the full brother to my futurity horse Sparky, has been amazing. His first time on a cow, well actually on a kind of soft, slow buffalo we have, he really took a hold. He stopped, backed up, bent his neck, and came across just as polite and cute as he could be with the slow buffalo. Couldn’t be any better, and that was on slack, I mean I really let him have some fun and he did things his way but they were my way too. We filmed it, and I’m sure Linda will get it up where you can see it soon.

Cody rode this colt for two months or so for me, and he got this colt moving just the right way and got his neck just right, got him where he had a lot of body control. I had all the lateral and horizontal control I needed to create maneuvers. The big part of the foundation job is done for me, so I get to go have fun with him. 

He kind of challenged me in some spots – they pick spots once in a while, like going from a fast to a slow circle – and in that transition to the right he was perfect, to the left for some reason he was challenging. He kind of was showing lack of respect to some degree but not bad. I changed subject and went and did some other stuff, then I started turning him around, he was weird at turning around to the left. I liked his neck down but he wanted it down further than I did. He was pulling on my hand a bit in the turn. So we spent some time – we had what I call quite a “chat”.

I didn’t make it a big deal. I don’t want to make a big deal out of anything, because I don’t want anything to become a big deal to the horse. He got to sweating a little bit, so I just tied him up and went and rode Sparky. Then I came back to him and guess what? He forgot all about the challenges!  He was great! I worked a cow with him too and he was the best he’s ever been. So we turned a controversial day into a really, really, really good day, by backing off rather than stepping up. There’s your little lesson for the day.

Cody rode this colt for two months or so for me, and he got this colt moving just the right way and got his neck just right, got him where he had a lot of body control. I had all the lateral and horizontal control I needed to create maneuvers. The big part of the foundation job is done for me, so I get to go have fun with him.  Cody in my opinion is the best there is. I keep getting into these superlatives, I wouldn’t say them if I didn’t mean them. Cody is as good as there is at starting colts, I’ve never seen anybody better at that and he can go on with them too.  I’ve ridden with Cody four years now and Cody is going to be really well known one of these days soon – he does a heck of a job. Cody returns the phone calls, has a clean operation, his horses look good, and his stable looks really nice.  I mean who else has a stable with statues and fountains and manicured lawns, even tight fences!   It’s gorgeous! It’s Club Med for horses.  The best part is Cody rides every horse five days a week and he rides them himself. Anyways, Cody’s the deal, so if anybody wants to get in touch with Cody, let me know. 

That’s it for me right now, wanted to keep you up with what’s going on in my life, and hope your life is exciting, you’re happy and healthy.

Thanks for reading… Bye!

 

Can you tell I’m having fun yet?

Hi Folks, Les here, it’s Monday, January 30^th.  Absolutely a fantastic day here, the temperature is 72 degrees, couldn’t be any better.  The dirt in the arena is literally perfect, there’s really nothing wrong.  There must be something I don’t know because it was too perfect. Temperature perfect, arena dirt perfect, cattle I worked were perfect, the horses I worked were perfect, and I even roped pretty good.

Life is wonderful at Rancho Arroyo Grande

Started out riding the new colt doesn’t really have a barn name yet, but if you look on my Facebook page, you’ll see there is a contest, I will give a Performax bit of your choice if you submit the winning name for this colt. On my Facebook page there is a description of him so you have a little something to work with.  We will choose a name and whomever name we chose will get a free bit of their choice from Performax.

This particular colt was so exciting today; my blogs aren’t going to be very long, but more often. Today was a fantastic day, I want to say, Cody did so much with fundamentals for about 2 ½ months, he worked on fundamentals, fundamentals, this colt’s fundamentals are so strong his body positions are so great. His neck, his mouth is perfect, everything is right, he moves right.

I put him on a cow today, it was a fresh cow. First time I worked a fresh cow with him, in fact any cow, I work buffalo. This little colt put his nose down to the ground, he wanted to be a cow horse, he did it so pretty, so light-footed, so limber, so light.  He thought he could use his mind, he was very attentive, it was so exciting. I know it totally sounds crazy to you, but where I sat, it makes my heart beat fast, and it gives me one heck of a big rush. Some of the things I live for most.

This colt puts his head down and looks at the cow and says bring it, come on… he doesn’t do anything radical, because I certainly don’t let him. I keep it really slow, I keep a lot of draw on him, I back him, bend him perfect and if he’s soft we let him turn. I kick him up to the next stop so he stops the cow. He really showed what he was made of and on top of that, I could literally lope this colt around the arena today on slack with one hand and his neck was perfect. I couldn’t hardly see the poll of his head; his neck was arched slightly and was way down low. He galloped so collected and so pretty. He has it going on, I’m really excited about him. I hate to brag about these winter horses, but at this point of time I can’t help it, it’s just the way it is. This colt I really like him, today his first day he really put the brakes on and I didn’t have to ask, I just been setting him up getting his form right, getting him so he moves right, sending him down the arena twice and said Whoa, and just moved my hands a little bit. I tell you this colt just went to the ground, really surprised me.

So I was pretty excited and then I rode Sparky on the same little fresh cattle. They were really sharp cattle, like little deer. Sparky was incredible, he is like a magic carpet ride. Sparky is a wonder horse, absolutely grand and I love him to death. Then I rode Gracie, my black mare, she’s my heel horse, and you know what, I roped pretty darn good. When I do that I open my bag of potato chips on my way home and I put on ZZ Top as loud as it will go on my radio and eat my potato chips, drink my Gatorade, tap my toes, snap my fingers all the way home. And that’s as good as it gets, I hope it continues on, but I thought I would share it with you.  I don’t know if anyone else cares, hope you do!  Thanks for reading… BYE!

Les on Sparky(he looks like a big Shetland) w cody, makin plans for the day

Back in the Saddle Again!!!

Hey folks, Les Vogt here, thought I would fill in the blanks, I’m so proud that I started riding again, last Thursday. I rode Thursday night, I do have to admit I was fairly tentative, not being on a horse in 9 weeks after my back surgery, but it came together really quickly. The thrilling part was my young horse, my 3 year old for this year that will be purchased by Lori Adamski Peek in a week or two. Well Cody Mora, my protege, has been riding this colt for me. I’ll tell you Cody could not have done a better job.
He didn’t speed this colt up particularly anywhere, kept him from going fast in fact, but put such strong fundamentals on him and made him so light, and so feely, and had so much body control on him, it is just amazing. I told Cody going in, I said “Cody if you can just get this colt moving right for me and make it a pattern of habit for him, the rest is an easy thing for me to deal with. I can put the rest on real easy.” But the fundamentals as you have heard me say many times before are by far the most important part. That’s your baseline, the net you fall in when you have trouble a year from now. It’s all about fundamentals.

Cody dedicated a lot of skill, art form, talent, all the right words – I can’t say enough good things. Cody did one heck of a good job and nobody could have done any better for me than Cody did. It was really exciting for me to get on this colt Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I really like this colt; he’s thrilling until I get on Sparky (my futurity horse from last year). Sparky is like a magic carpet ride, I’ve just never been around a horse like Sparky, let alone ride one. Sparky is the dream deal, he’s totally amazing in just the way he acts when you’re around him. He’s tuned into you, everything, whether it’s up close or at a distance, when you ride him. When I got on Sparky he acted like I’d been riding on him the whole time. He was a little laid back but I laid him up for 3 months. I hadn’t ridden, or been on his back since the Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity. So he had quite a vacation, something I hadn’t done before. He’s a little more mature, stronger, perfectly sound, he’s anxious to do things for me in a really controllable way. I can’t express the feelings that riding horses like I’ve had the opportunity to ride, its overwhelming, it’s a very passionate situation in where you get to do what you love the most and hopefully get paid for it down the road, but that’s secondary.

Sparky is incredible, I’ve ridden him 3 times, feels like he’s ready to show. I’m going to show him at Red Bluff which is a smaller derby and that will be at the end of February. Then the Monday – Tuesday following the derby, I have a semi-private clinic in Corning, California for Gretchen Salstrom and Craig Boyd. Of course I take a rope horse.

Speaking of roping, I had been really tentative with my roping, since I had been hurting for a while when I roped – before my operation. The first three strides out of the box always meant excruciating pain throughout my back and legs, so it broke focus on what my job was, which was roping. Friday I backed into the box for my first steer, by golly I felt weird, and I didn’t know why. About the second stride out of the box it clicked in my mind. My subconscious was concerned about the pain, but the pain didn’t exist. I roped flawlessly. I only ran three steers because my mare was perfect, I was just as good as I could rope, hammered three steers! I knew it had to get worse so I quit.

So my goal was to jump right out and go to a really good roping in Paso Robles yesterday. The last one of those I went to, the ropings I was interested in entering didn’t happen until 4 or 5:00 in the afternoon. So I thought if I got there at 2:00 I would be fine. I got a call at noon, I was just loading up my horses, and they said it was too late, that I was missing the roping.

I’m so happy, don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’ve got to be one of the happiest guys on the planet. No pain, good horses, life is good. So even though I didn’t get to rope, and I got a traffic ticket on my way up to the ranch, darn it… which should kind of ruin a guy’s day. Not mine, I went out and I rode my colts and I rode about two hours on each one, just doing slow stuff. Very productive, very gratifying day. I turned a day that was a little off centered into a really good one; it’s all in your mind. It’s what you let bother you that bothers you; it’s a skill you have to learn.
One of the sentences my dad said years ago was “It’s never as bad as it seems at first”. So I got a traffic ticket, missed the roping, I kept my chin up and thought I’m going to have a good day anyway. And I did, I really did. Life has its ups and downs, and with some of that you learn that none of those downs – at least at this point in my life – have really changed my life to the point to where I don’t feel good about it. I don’t have cancer, I’m not in a horrible car wreck, I don’t have anything really wrong, everything in my life is really pretty good. I thank God for it, and even went to church. I don’t do that as often as I would like to, because I’m always a little busy.

Anyways, long story short, things are good, I’m back in the saddle, can’t wait to show! I’ve been watching the derby in Texas, on the internet and I’m all fired up. I’m going to go and try and kick some butt in Red Bluff and from there I’ll go to Queen Creek, Arizona, for the Snaffle Bit Stakes. I’ll take my young horse and take one rope horse. Hopefully I’ll have time to lay over and go to a few ropings. Life is good; I don’t know what else I could want right now.
Clinics are filling up fast, if anyone feels like they want to host a clinic, be sure and get a hold of me. My contact info is on the website and I’ll have clinics posted next week.

Thanks for reading and have a good day!

Almost Back in the Saddle & I can’t wait!

Hi Folks! I have to apologize for the delay between my blogs, but I had back surgery.  They fused two vertebras and did something else to two others, then added rods, nuts and bolts and whatever else they could find to through in there too. It got so complicated when the Dr. was telling me what he was doing that I told him that it didn’t really matter, I didn’t care how he had to do it, just to fix it! My Dr. is J. Patrick Johnson – he’s a friend from the Rancheros Vistadores Club that I belong to. He’s a Montana Cattle Rancher and Stock Contractor. He has bucking horses and bulls at the National Finals Rodeo, and in his spare time he’s one of the best Spine and Brain Neurosurgeon’s in the country so they say.  I believe it.  So on November 21^st I had my surgery. Now its’ getting close to 2 months along, and I’m feeling really good!  I’m a little sore now ant then, but maybe he’ll let me ride in a month or so, and at least I’m pain free and totally energetic, it has really changed my life and I appreciate the capacity these fine guys have.

So while I was recovering from the big surgery, I’d been down and not really in the mood to do a blog – not much really to talk about. But here we go I’m back in the groove now.

Horse show wise, 2011 was a really fast year for me, and it was really fun!  It started at the California Rodeo in Salinas and showed Turbo in the Hackamore class and was champion there.  With 20,000 screaming people at the same time all the World’s Champion Rodeo Cowboys are competing in the adjacent pen to the Cowhorse pen. It’s about as exciting as it gets, it’s the big deal.

Then went on to the Paso Robles Snaffle Bit Futurity, I finished ½ point from the lead for Reserve Champion with Sparky, my wonder horse.  Then I took him to Reno and a lot of you saw him there. That Sparky has his own fan club; he’s got more fans than I do for sure. He deserves them, he’s as good as it gets. He was riding in the top end of Reno all the way along. In every section he was at the top or near the top, we finished up either 6^th or 7^th, not sure. Sparky won between $55 – $60,000 for Luke and I between the two shows so we made our entry fees this time!  Turbo has had a pretty lucrative year as well.

Somebody told me the other day, they said, Les, every time you get a new horse, you say it’s the best one you ever had. I thought about that, the truth of it is, as you become older, more seasoned, and get more wisdom, you become a better horseman.  So consequently you’re supposed to have a better horse every time if the horses are good horses. You’re capacities are higher so that makes it look like your horses are better year. That’s the way I feel about Sparky, he’s as good as any horse I have had for sure, but my capacities, dedication and commitment to make him what he could be and maximize this horse’s capacity were 100% and I felt like I rode better than I ever had; not because I’m more athletic, but because I know more about it. That’s exciting and fun.

In November I went to Utah and gave a clinic for my great friend James Dixon, in the Moab, Utah, very beautiful, all the rocks are giant, with peaks that holes in them that look like needles. That’s where they filmed the movie Thelma and Louise. Red Cliff Lodge where we hold the clinic is a 5-Star Resort – it is just a class act. We do a clinic there every year and this year was very special. I made a couple of really good friends there – Lori and Kathryn, they’re both Park City residents and I hope that they will be friends forever.  These gals came to the clinic and it couldn’t have been any more fun, I tell you, I really enjoyed working with them. They are both fine and rare people.

Then I came home, had the Creston California 4-H Club over, I was happy to work with them. We had a bit lecture and taught all these people about bits and spurs, and a lot of things that I wished I had learned when I was their age.

Then I was operated on November 21, so through all of December I’ve been recouping at home. It’s quite a reality check when you live by yourself and all of a sudden you’re helpless, you can’t even roll over in bed.  And you think who is going to take care of me, and you really hate to ask anybody to give up their life style and daily work to help you. Then out of the blue, it’s funny how that happens, some really rare people and great friends stepped up to help me out:  Mary Jane, Beth, Jamie and Glenda. Those gals came and took care of me, and I don’t know what I would have done without them.

Here we are now, it’s the first of the year, and I’m booking new clinics, so anybody that’s interested, I’ll probably have some open dates.  I’m sitting at the table with all these papers in front of me, I’m about to put them together like a jig saw puzzle. So if you’re interested in hosting a clinic, you’ll want to be sure to get in touch with me at 805-343-9205.

Sparky is getting fat; he’s waiting for the next event. He’s kind of a cash cow now – he wants to go win some to win some money somewhere, you can tell just by looking at him.

I just found out about a little derby in Red Bluff and it might be alright, not sure yet.  The entry fees is $1500 and take away pay is $12,000 if you win.  That means you are paying more than 10% of what you could win for your entry fees – compared to Reno where you pay $2000 entry fees to win $100,000. The percentages aren’t really there, so maybe we’ll just go for fun, we’ll see.

In Arizona, the middle of March is the Snaffle Bit National Rein Cowhorse Stakes in Queen Creek, Arizona. If my back heals up in time which I’ll know pretty soon, I’ll load up my ponies and go to Arizona to go to the Queen Creek Stakes and rope for a week or two as well. That would be my dream, who knows if that would happen or not.

The Fast Time Bits are quite a subject these days.  Fast Time Bits are a speed event bit. There are 6 different bits and they’re calculated to really create a better horse performance and control. They give you the tools that a high performance competition speed event needs. So if you get a chance, take a look at my website for the Fast Time Bits, and believe me they really do work.  I sold 140 of them in 5 days at the ACTRA Roping Finals.

The most exciting thing in my life today, is that I bought a 2 year old; he turned 3 at the first of the year, a full brother to Sparky. He looks a little like Sparky but he’s a lot prettier, a little bigger. This horse is an eye catcher, he’s a show stealer. I bought him to keep, then when I had the back operation I decided that I don’t need to keep him, I will take him and show him for whomever. I’ve got a couple of people interested maybe; he’s a big time deal. Cody’s riding him for me, so I go and help every day or two.

Then I’ve also got to sell one other that I hate to get rid of and that’s Millie. Many of you know Millie from the Cow Horse U programs where she was a star!  She’s now 11 years old, and a really nice bay mare.  I’ve roped on her for 4 years, plus when she was younger I showed in her the Snaffle Bit Futurity where she got a check in the herd work and frisky in the dry!  She works a cow really good and she makes anybody look like a star. Plus she’s really gentle.  I put a boy on her a couple of days ago – she hasn’t been ridden in 3 months – and I asked him to gallop her off.  It was like he had been riding her every single day, not a hot bone in her body, she’s as sweet as they get. She had some problems a few years back with her front end but I haven’t seen sign of any problems lately and I’ve used her a lot – but since I don’t know what we’d see in an x-ray these days I’m only asking $3,000 for her – which will be a heck of a deal for someone – so call me if you’re interested! I pasted a picture of her below.

I’ve just got to trim the fat and get rid of a few horses.  I don’t mind riding them, but since I’m working on my own when I’m home, by the time I go and saddle 5-6 horses in one day,  put leg boots on them, then ride them, then unsaddle them, it just takes too much time!

So anyways folks I hope all of you had a happy new year – stay healthy and good luck!

If you’re not fan of our LesVogt Facebook, you’d better join up as my New Year Resolution is start posting to it more often.  Make sure you’re on the main page (http://www.facebook.com/LesVogt)  though as that’s were I’ll be looking for you.

August Update

We had one of the top scores in the reined work!

Well folks happy to be able to visit with you here, sounds like I don’t do it enough for some of you.  It’s been a really fast and busy summer, working very hard to perfect my skills and my horse’s abilities to try to maximize their capacities. I’m really putting my all into it and it’s paying off. We work really hard every day to perfect new techniques, ideas, concepts and add them to our program if they prove to be good.  We are really on the cutting edge, maybe the bleeding edge, with our training program.  Some of the stuff we do doesn’t really work very well, but boy, there is a lot that does and that’s the stuff we keep and I share with you at my clinics.

We went to the Snaffle Bit Futurity at Paso Robles, last week and my little Sparky had a great show – in fact going into the fence work we were in the lead of almost 100 riders!  Unfortunately I drew a cow that didn’t give me a chance to really show him off, so we ended up a half point behind my good friend Jake Gorrell  at the end.  Sparky really worked hard for me and I couldn’t be happier with his performance!  He feels like a real show horse – like he almost gave me more in the show pen that he does at home and you can’t ask for more than that.   So now we’re desperately trying to buy some slots for the Snaffle Bit Futurity! Usually never a problem this time of year, but for some reason this year they are few and far between!

Another big thing that happened lately is that I showed my 5 year old Hackamore horse at the Salinas Rodeo, a 20 horse class, and we WON! That made my 21^st win at the Salinas Rodeo which is more than anybody else.  They do the finals in front of the grandstands during the rodeo right out there on the track.  To win at Salinas is pretty exhilarating. You can feel the electricity from the 20,000 fans. People even follow you out of the stands to congratulate you!  It makes you feel like it’s a really big deal, never gets old. The conditions are tough, the ground is bad, you’re on a track, the cattle are usually wild and don’t manage real well. You’re next to the rodeo arena which is real western in itself, you never know if a broncing bull or roping steer or something might hit the fence on the opposite side of the wall just before you get ready to turn your cow going 30 mph. Everything changes there, you can’t make a game plan, you just have to be reactive and you have to really go for it.  Its real gratifying to beat the kids, so I’m pretty proud of that win, it put me on a roll.

It’s funny, Turbo’s registered name is Nic it and Sparky’s name is Nic it Smartly, so I have two Nic Its, and at school they’re both wonderful. Sparky’s been the most fun horse I’ve trained in my life, he’s so ready to show it makes me real concerned.  It makes feel like I should do something, but anything that I do now would be wrong I’m sure, because he’s ready now!

The other day I went to the hospital too.  About 3 weeks ago something bit me on the elbow, a bug or something, and it was just a small bump, didn’t amount to anything for two and half weeks. Then I bumped it on the fence, not too hard, but it must have activated the poison or whatever was in there, because I got a pretty bad staph infection overnight!  I thought if I put some ice on it, it would go away.  But someone said to me that they had a friend that died from something like it, so I went and they put me in the hospital. They found that it was some sort of infection that was resistant to most medications but they found something that worked on me. They wanted me to stay for a few days, but I told to do what they could, because unless it was life or death, I had to go ride, so we came to an agreement. So they agreed to let me out the next day.

I went to see my friend Luke Jones in Iowa to help him with his horses, he has some good horses.  He has five Snaffle Bit Futurity horses this year that are all good enough to win. I expect Luke to be a star this year.

Now this is a very touchy time of year, more horses are ruined or crippled at this time of year than any other time of the year, so you’re suppose to have them broke ready to go by June, July at the latest.  If you don’t you have to do something very different, like get rid of them. If you have your horses ready, then it’s no big deal if you’re smart enough to let them cruise.

I had some fun at a clinic I gave in New York, very nice people and had nice horses.  Barry and his wife were wonderful hosts. I got to see the Erie Canal on the Hudson River, and a lot of very interesting stuff.

I went to a family reunion in Lake Tahoe, really enjoyed that, there were about 46 people, all related, a lot of younger ones, I didn’t know before, but got to at this reunion.

Also I’ll be looking for help at the Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity.  We have two helpers already but we would like to have one more. There’s no wages, but we need someone to help clean stalls, groom horses, saddle and unsaddle the horses, so if you want to come to the futurity and have something to do, let me know. If we have 3 helpers no one will be stressed. If you are interested, please contact me at 805-343-9205.

That’s about it, watch for me and the results.  Thanks for reading!