Our Horses

Horses for the most part are here for our enjoyment, companionship and some play a role in the day to day work on a ranch or riding pasture. And depending your choice of sport a horse can range anywhere from 6 to 7 figures all the way down to a good trade. My family has enjoyed the sport of rodeo for quite some time now. We've bought colts and started them ourselves and have bought the odd finished horse. In our string there are horses that you couldn't offer enough money for, they are priceless and the others are ready to go to their new family. So how do you put a price tag on something you put your heart and soul into?

There's no black book to reference. You can go to horse sales, look up stud registries, various breeders, or what you neighbour spent on his good horse. And really it's all perspective and what a person can justify. My husband figures stick with dealing cattle, you get a better return on your investment, which is a fair statement, but I think it's time to raise the bar on horse deals. Because if you can load a horse in a trailer go pay an entry fee and you and your trusty steed come back home alive, the starting bid has to be no less than 5 figures.

We are a Rodeo family so we are looking for a horse that is cowey, is a willing partner and has a good work ethic. We want horses that have great instincts and learn to do a job quickly. When we say cowey, we mean we want them to have natural 'cow sense' and to have an interest in the cows right from the get go.

Around here horses get to experience a variety of activities from working cattle, turning barrels or long trotting the trails. When we are in a conditioning phase we do a lot of trotting around the section, interval training and circles. We consistently do a warm up and cool down just like we would for ourselves during a work out.

We start all our horses with ground work, even the mature ones. It's so important to have that level of respect and feel from the ground first.

Once a horse has great ground manners and is conditioned then we start training exercises in a specific sport. For example, barrel racing drills and roping the dummy.