Running Breeding Stallions Together Post Season

Can it or more importantly should it be done?

The answer is yes and maybe.  Running mature stallions together can be dangerous and in some cases have  fatal consequences. There are a few things that must happen before running them together and this does not guarantee positive results.

1.  Barbed wire...NO WAY!  If you do not have proper facilities, do not attempt this at any time.

2.  Females of any age withing hearing distance when they are first put together is a big no,no....   Herd stallions that have just been pulled from their herd are instinctively territorial.  If any females are around it is only natural that each stallion will want to make a claim on a potential new mate.  This can cause them to become excessively aggressive towards each other as they battle over who will reserve the right to make that claim.

3.  They must be socially compatible.  This means that they both must demonstrate a disposition that will allow them to get along without virtually killing each other first.  If you own two or more stallions that are used to getting their own way (this should not happen anyway in my opinion) they will not be good partners together.

4.  Nose to Nose.  It is important to make sure that again, with no ladies around, each horse gets used to one another.  The best way to do this is to keep them separated by a large distance for one week or so.  This usually means separate pastures or pens that have at least 20 meters between them.  Over the next week put them a little closer; perhaps 5-10 meters.  When the next week comes around you can put them nose to nose across from each other.  Now, some common sense must prevail here.  Do not put them nose to nose with only a barb wire fence between them.  What separates them must be sturdy, high, and will not cause them to sustain injury due to sharp edges or places where they can get their feet caught.  Stallions that go nose to nose will automatically sniff each other out and paw at each other in a fairly aggressive way with much snorting, screaming and so on, so be prepared by having a smooth solid partition between them.

5.  Never turn out more than one stallion at a time.  If you have followed the above process, their should never be more than two stallions in a large solid pen at one time until they are calm and used to each other.

If you have followed the above guidelines you MAY be ready to turn them in together.  Before you do ask yourself this question.  "Is their behavior to a point where they seem comfortable enough to be together"?  If your gut tells you that this is going to have fatal consequences then do not do it.  If the stallions nose to nose seem like they have overall become pals, then you are ready to turn them into together.  Remember common sense will prevail and no other person knows your horses better than you do.

6.  Lastly, you can turn them in together but it must be in a large pen without obstacles where one horse can get away from the other without injuring them self.  If they go at it, stay away as this is where people can get seriously hurt.  They will work it out.

The biggest factors in this equation is; a) how well you know your own horses and b) using some common sense through the process.  Turning in mature stallions together is always risky but running them together in the off season has its advantages including freeing up stalls or pens that each would have otherwise taken up.  You may also experience less chores and feeding along with the fact that they will eventually be great company for each other.  Horses penned up all by themselves for any length of time cause them to become lonely and possibly irritable.  Less areas to clean up.  Stallions will produce a large amount of manure in piles.  They do this to try to cover up the scent of each other.  Instead of cleaning a pen where manure is everywhere, usually there are only three to four places where large piles of manure will be present.

Essential Basic Training May Be the Key to a Successful Colt Starting Challenge.

Our 2013 Rocking Heart Ranch Ltd Colt Starting Challenge and Sale had three key goals; help in getting our youth excited about the horse industry, educate people on the importance of properly and thoroughly starting young horses, and promote trainers, people and operations including our own that care about the kind of product that is sold on the market with a guarantee that allow people to purchase with confidence. This led our family during one of our monthly transition meetings, where we usually discuss succession planning as the folks get older, to talk about how we can achieve our three main goals. We all agreed that it was important that we step out of our comfort zone and come up with something creative and exciting. A friend of mine had suggested a horse trainer’s challenge to which I almost immediately dismissed knowing that those horses normally have a saddle on them within three hours. Later that night it hit me that if I usually take about 60 sessions to thoroughly start a horse, why could we not incorporate that format into a trainers challenge? Over the next few months and meetings we had our model for Western Canada’s first solely owned and randomly drawn colt starting challenge. Starting in mid-March through to May 31st we took trainer applications from all over Western Canada. We phoned references and chose what we thought would be 10 trainers that were skilled but not necessarily well promoted. On June 15-24 they drove into the ranch yard, reached into a cowboy hat and pulled out the name of the horse that would be loaded into their trailer for them to take home and work on for the next 60 days. They left with a horse and a judges sheet showing what was expected of them come event day. On August 24th 2013, 10 of Western Canada’s most promising trainers went through their routines in front of 300 plus people, 30 young 4H members who were mock judging, and three industry leading judges. All of the essentials were part of the deal including things like picking up the horse’s feet, loading in a trailer, standing to mount and dismount, being sacked out with a grain sack, and so on. As each trainer completed their routine I explained to the crowd what was happening because I knew that there were many people in attendance that were not seasoned horse professionals. At the end of the 10 trainers compulsory routines they each were given 5 minutes to demonstrate any additional training that was put on their horse. Was this ever impressive; Trainers were laying their horses down, making them bow for the crowd, opening gates off of the horses back, and cracking a bull whip while standing on the back of their horse on a bridge two feet off the ground. These are only two year old horses! We normally do not see that level of training on most four year olds. At the end of the day three winners were announced by head judge Heather-Lynn Smith and I can tell you that determining the top three was a job that I would not want to have. Jaquelene See of Edson, AB came out as the grand champion riding RHR Ms Blue Pally and took home a prize of $5000, followed by Maria Michelle of Revelstoke, BC riding BB Sonoita Hancock who claimed second place and a new wade tree team roper saddle, with third place being taken by Terrel Oler from Canyon, BC riding RHR Miss Bar Frost winning a trophy buckle by Montana Silversmiths. Several 4H members that completed the judging forms in a mock judging scenario walked away with prizes including a pleasure saddle and a long yearling quarter horse gelding from Rocking Heart Ranch. Although we were unsure what to expect, as this sort of thing has never been done before (our family was thinking that we may see 100 people or so), we were astounded to see the bleachers of the Taber Agriplex full with standing room only at one point. The sale that followed was also an unknown for us as were unsure of what value this kind of training would bring to buyers looking for a future family type horse. Bob Perlich from Perlich Auction along with four ring men took bids on 15 horses including the 10 two year old event horses, two yearlings, two three year olds, and a broodmare all from Rocking Heart Ranch. The sale averaged $3200 on the 15 head with the high seller BB Sonoita Hancock bringing a bid of $7000. The trainers that competed were: Barry Arnestad Claresholm, AB Jaquelene See Edson, AB Jon Blackmore Magrath, AB Terrel Oler Canyon, BC Calvin Bevans Lethbridge, AB Renee Gareau Camrose, AB Maria Michelle Revelstoke, BC Sid Matsalla Yorkton, SK Clem Lowry Perryvale, AB Rod Olsen Cardston, AB Judges included Dr. Heather Lynn Smith from Taber, AB, Rose Perozak from Fort Macleod, AB, and Ryan Smith from Champion, AB. Although our family feels that we missed some of the little things, we have received feedback from many folks who found the event educational and exciting. Several have already been asking about next year. Our hope is that we do what is necessary to continue to achieve what people expect from us. We continue to be proud to promote “made and trained in Canada”. Marc Garner

10 Of Western Canada's Most Promising Young Trainers Selected For The 2013 Rocking Heart Ranch Colt Starting Challenge and Sale

10 Of Western Canada’s Most Promising Young Trainers Selected

June 1^st, 2013 was the day that our family sat down to sift through 31 shortlisted, qualified, and diverse applications from the three Western most provinces. Jim, Angel, Melody and I had no easy task in coming up with who would be riding our colts on August 24^th to potentially win one of three substantial prizes including the first place prize of $5000.

When we first started discussing the idea we expected this to draw only local interest in Southern Alberta.  We have since been humbled by not only the geographical location, but after phoning to verify each trainer’s credentials with their supplied references, the amazing talent each of the selected trainers possesses.  When our meeting was over we selected 10 trainers and 2 alternates for this event.  The trainers are:

Jon Blackmore----Magrath, AB 
Terrel Oler----Canyon, BC
Clem Lowry----Perryvale, AB
Jaqueline See----Edson, AB
Maria Michel----Revelstoke, BC
Rod Olsen----Cardston, AB
Barry Arnestad----Claresholm, AB
Calvin Bevans----Lethbridge, AB
Sid Matsalla----Yorkton, SK
Renee Gareau----Camrose, AB
Marsha Willard----Milo, AB (Alternate 1)
Sam Walter----Turin, AB (Alternate 2)

June 15^th, 2013 is horse pick up day at the ranch where each trainer will randomly select their horse by plucking a name out of Jim’s old gray cowboy hat.  It should be exciting.  Keep up to date by following my blog or visit us on Facebook.  Do not forget to come check them out on August 24^th at the Taber Agri-plex in Taber, Alberta and stay for the sale to follow if you would like to own one of Western Canada’s most thoroughly started two year olds.

Marc Garner

The Decline Of Youth Involvement With Horses

The Decline Of Youth Involvement With Horses

I happened to pick up the Western Producer recently to find that the youth involvement in the horse industry is taking a nosedive.  This was not really a surprise given the stats that AQHA has posted regarding not only the decline in registrations over the last few years but the lack of new horse owners.

There is no question that kids have many other choices to keep themselves entertained in 2013 but I believe that we are now just starting to feel the effects of an economy where the average household has over mortgaged themselves to a point where disposable income, in the way of credit, is running out.   I think the average person is just starting to realize how serious the situation is with living with debt that will take a very long time to pay off.    The average Canadian household has a debt ratio of 1.6 which means that they are really living well beyond their means.

My hunch is that people are being more selective where they spend their money (real or perceived).  Although this spending may not necessarily be ear marked for debt reduction (sadly), it means that owning a horse may be losing out to other expenditures.  Couple this with the fact that the yearly cost of simply maintaining a full sized horse is $500, fewer people are looking at this as a means of entertainment when comparatively a person can book a trip to Cancun Mexico for 4 days hotel, flight, and all meals included for the same price.  No question Canadians are spending more on travelling abroad.

That then begs the question; how do we get people interested in horse ownership?  AQHA has come out with several programs targeted at young girls who seem to be the dominating demographic in the equine world, but what about horse ranches, breeding facilities and other operations that try to make ends meet by way of the interest of others in their horses.  Although I do not have a concrete answer for this, our ranch is implementing several diversified methods to make it easier to own a horse.  Offering customers in house no interest financing over 1 year, as well as providing a 30-day money back guarantee on any horse sold privately or publically at an auction are just two of the ways in which we are trying to attract interest.

This year we are also embarking on the first event of its kind in Southern Alberta by way of a Colt Starting Challenge and Sale that will feature 10 Rocking Heart Ranch Colts, 10 of Western Canada’s most promising young, unadvertised and unknown horse trainers, and 60 days of training with their colt before being judged. The event will produce three winners with first place being $5000.  To get not only the 20-30 year old demographic involved (most of these people are prospective trainers) but also the 5-20 year olds, we are raffling off a colt whereby any 4H youth member that comes to judge the event (mock judge) will receive 1 free ticket into the raffle barrel.  The intent is to not only help them hone their judging skills but allow them the opportunity to get a free horse as a project for training. 

I am not sure how this will all turn out but the event is in Taber, Alberta on August 24^th at which point we will know if these methods will work.  I will keep you posted.