A SCRCHA championship line-up includes (top row, from left) Roy Rich, John Farris, Tony Mendoza, Mark DeForest, Garrell Reilly (second row, from left) Christine Farrar, Glen Aspinall, John Black, Lauren Lynch, Cheryl Harmon, Becky Holman, Sandy Miller, Tia Harari.

The Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association honored its best performers Jan. 22 with an awards banquet that sent home many year-end champions with trophy buckles. The fast-growing group has a full line-up of 2011 events that operate under an innovative system that encourages long-term participation. Learn more on http://www.scrcha.com

HEY RAY: When do you start an Arabian driving or riding?
Teresa Holden
Marysville, CA

HEY TERESA: Your question is very interesting to me because there can be so many answers depending on what your goal or motivation is in getting him started.

Next in a series

After focus on influencing the horse’s head and neck through lateral and vertical flexion in recent issues, we are going to move back a zone and learn to control the shoulders.

Once you can control the shoulders, it opens the door for many of the maneuvers that you’ll be working on in the future.

LOS ANGELES – Representatives of the homegrown Los Angeles Horse Council met with Los Angeles Equine Committee members Jan. 24, reviewing the LAHC’s effort for a “Equestrian Bill of Rights.”

The Bill of Rights is the LAHC’s set of equine specific precepts for use by city and county officials that, if adopted, will set in clearer course for equestrian lifestyle in the future.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has rejected Madeleine Pickens’ plan to create a Wild Horse sanctuary in Nevada according to a written statement from BLM Director Bob Abbey.

The wife of Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens first offered to establish the sanctuary for horses in BLM long-term holding facilities in 2008. Under the plan, 10,000 animals currently residing in BLM long-term holding pastures would be relocated to the sanctuary. The plan requests a $500 per horse per year BLM stipend to fund the nonprofit Save America’s Mustangs Foundation (SAMF) to oversee the horses’ care. In Oct. 2010, Pickens acquired the property necessary to create the 500,000-acre sanctuary in Nevada.

After a year of hearing your great feedback and another seemingly endless time spent building those changes, the new Horsetrader.com search site is unveiled with this issue – so please take a look.

It’s far from finished – in fact, websites aren’t ever finished – they “evolve.” We launched the first version of Horsetrader.com back in 1998, and this is really the third major facelift.

Last time, we introduced a new, easier to used part of the site to help you place your orders – both in print and online. This year, we’ve updated the search part of the site…and we’d love to hear your feedback. The good things you tell us now you’ll see in the months ahead.

AA Equipment
Booth 9A-1, Bldg. 9
See the new John Deere exclusive Riata Rake arena groomer, and take a look at the new Gator XUV utility vehicle. AA Equipment has all sizes of tractors and Gators to fit your needs. Come see for yourself that the John Deere tractors are more affordable than you might think! Your timing is perfect – AA Equipment also has special low-rate financing available.
See ad on Page 18

All American Trailers
Booth 9G/9H, Inside and outside
Be sure you see the Logan Coach and the STS Trailer Series, designed and developed by World Champion Stran T. Smith. The folks at All American Trailers know horse trailers because they USE them.
See ad on Page 12

January 20th Issue

Danielle Paskowitz
San Clemente, CA
Clinics are great because you get to meet a lot of new people who are interested in the same thing you are. At the recent Reined Cow Horse Benefit Clinic for Grant Berg at Casner’s, it was good because there were several different trainers so you got insight from each one individually — Russell Dilday, Todd Crawford, Don Murphy and Jake Gorrell.

Kim Weyand
Fallbrook, CA
I think the most valuable thing I take away from a clinic is experiencing different perspectives, techniques, and exercises to incorporate into my daily riding routine. There are many wonderful teachers and so much helpful information readily available to us. Everyone should take advantage of the “clinic” opportunity. I like to go gather information from all disciplines and combine it into a program that works best for myself and my horses! By far my most memorable clinic I participated in was taught by Susie Hutchison. To most, she is known as a world-class hunter/jumper rider — but the knowledge she offers is diverse and crosses over into all disciplines. Best of al,l the lessons learned are lasting. It’s been an honor to learn from such a special horsewoman.

HEY RAY: My horse stops and rubs his face on his foreleg while I’m riding. I’ve checked the bit, bridle and have had several vets say his teeth are fine. What do I do?
Leo Ortman
Cupertino, CA

HEY LEO: I have to agree with your vet; I don’t think it’s his teeth, bit or bridle. As a matter of fact, I have two horses in my barn that have the same behavior, one of which is my wife’s Friesian stallion.