Your Magazine Ideas: Keep 'em Coming, Please

I've appreciated everyone's comments to my previous post, in which I asked for thoughts and ideas related to horse-magazine content.

Now, I'll take it another step and ask for your reactions to/comments on the newest issue (September 08) of Horse & Rider.

* What's your immediate reaction to this cover image?

* Would this issue catch your attention from a rack of other magazines for sale? Why or why not?

* Which of the cover-blurbed stories (if any) would prompt you to pick this issue up for a closer look?

* Any further thoughts or comments?

As one my parents' ranching neighbors would have said, at the end of a contributed-labor project (like helping to round up his cattle): "Thanks, until you're better paid."

Another Road Trip Episode

I'm freshly back from a road trip to the west side of Lake Tahoe--some 780 miles, and about 15 hours of car time, door to door, from where I live in northern Idaho.

Purpose: brainstorming session, with fellow editor, for planning future issues of Horse&Rider.

Accommodations: Her cabin, on the American River, in the Sierra Nevada.

Reason for driving: It beats modern-day flying, and doesn't take much longer when all is said and done. Plus, it affords a lot more in the way of trip control. Not to mention, offers some good think-time.

Best part of the drive: A chance to cross the Great Basin, and be reminded of just how BIG (and empty, in some parts) the American West really is.

Central question: What do readers really WANT in a horse magazine for today's times?

Feel free to chime in on that one--especially since it's fresh on my mind, after thinking about it for many hours of windshield time.

Snapshot from Our Trail Ride

After two days of trail riding, Tank (at left, ridden by a friend) and Riley (with yours truly) were ready and eager for more. Photo by Edward Sala.

No heavy-thinking subject matter today, just a snapshot of our two horses, Tank and Riley, at the end of the camp-out trail ride I've posted about recently.

Both the horses did us proud. No surprise for the Tankmeister--at 29, he's seen and done it all many times over, and is the kind of horse you can loan to a friend (which we did for one day's ride), and know he'll do just great. Riley, who's 5, and pretty green at this hit-the-trail stuff, rose remarkably to the occasion, and was the same "sure, whatever" type of guy he's been for me at horse shows.

Of interest to me: Several riders noted the green sponge hanging from my saddle horn, and wanted to know what it was for. In case you're wondering the same thing, it's for cooling down the horses whenever we make a watering stop. By sponging the sweat from their necks and between their hind legs, I can make them more comfortable, and give their natural evaporative-cooling function a boost. It's an old endurance rider trick I learned back when that was my sport of choice.

And, when you are lucky enough to have a 29-year-old horse who's still going, I think you're smart to take as good care of him as you possibly can. They don't make 'em like Tank anymore!

Horse Businesses--Gone to the Dogs?

As a general rule of thumb, my trendometer goes into "Alert!" mode when I catch three people talking about the same thing in a short amount of time. And I've just had my fifth recent episode of hearing longtime horse pros discuss their plans to convert their horse businesses to dog businesses--at least in part. Only one brought up the topic of BREEDING dogs instead of horses. The rest have training, boarding, and other services in mind.

Some of the reasons I picked up on during conversation:

* Lower overhead. WAY lower overhead. (Quote: "I make as much net profit boarding a dog for three days and nights as I do boarding a horse on full care for a month.")
* Good way to repurpose stall and arena space (picture a horse arena turned into a dog agility course) that's emptying out of horses.
* Viable way to convert one set of animal-husbandry skills over to another species.
* Seen as a business with a solid future. Dog ownership is projected to continue growing, while horse ownership...well, we won't go there in this particular post.

Comments welcome.

Trail Saddles: Got a Recommendation?

I'm thinking I may need to get a different saddle for trail riding on my Quarter Horse, Riley, as the one I have now is just a tad too narrow. He's pretty broad shouldered, and while he has good withers for keeping a saddle in place, I know I don't have quite the right fit.

Anyone have recommendations? Don't worry about sizing just now, but let me know if you have a brand or maker whose work you like.

A Horse's Brain, on Group Rides

Now that our gang of four (Ed, Tank, Riley and I) are back from another edition of the Apalousey benefit ride (see previous posts), I have a few observations and thoughts to share about equine (and human) behavior on such events. Info to be filed for future reference:

* No matter how good your horse is for you at home, or when out on the trail with his buddies from home, he's quite likely to have a few surprises in store for you when he gets out in a group of strange horses for the first time (or two or three). For instance: He may get very riled up, especially at the ride's start, as horses start moving down the trail. He may become almost unmanageable unless he's up at the front of the group. If he's with a familiar horse, he may try to kick or bite any other horses that come near his pal. He may get hysterical if he's not allowed to have his nose right up the butt of the buddy-horse. He may want to "leave town" as you ride through woods or dense brush.

* Why this happens: His herd-animal/prey-animal instincts have kicked in. He's not trying to be an idiot on purpose--he's just trying to survive in the way evolution has programmed him. All those other horses around him constitute a herd on the move. In a moving herd, the ones least likely to be eaten or captured are the ones up at the front. The ones in the back are on some cougar's menu. Surrounded by strange horses whose behavior he can't predict, he feels safest when he's right next to the horse he knows. He wants to defend that horse so he doesn't lose his lone bit of security. As for being spooky while in woods or brush--hey, he can't see the bad guys (the ones with fangs) coming in those areas like he can when he's out in the open.

* The typical means of dealing with a hypered-out horse--jerking, spurring him around in little circles, yelling, maybe even getting off and kicking him in the belly, or whipping him from the ground with the reins (I saw all the above on our weekend ride) do absolutely nothing to calm him down. They just stress him out more, and confirm his suspicion that out on the trail is a bad place to be.

* As far as I know, the rule still holds true: There's a first time for everything, including a horse's experience on rides with unfamiliar horses. The calmer, more patient, and more understanding the rider, the better the horse's chance of learning and accepting that work he's being asked to do. Most horses aren't perfectly calm at their first horse shows, with all the new sights, sounds, and other sensations; trail rides are no different.

* Horses learn from other horses. A good spot for a rider on a young and/or green trail-riding horse is behind a solid, quiet steady-Eddie--not behind one that's scared and halfway out of control. The best way to have a good time out on a group ride is to be a thinking rider who puts herd dynamics to intelligent use.

Not Many Summer Weekends Left...

....so what'll you and the horses be doing to take advantage of them? It'll be autumn before we know it; I've seen geese flying south the last few days, and our horses have just started to shed their summer coats. Darkness is falling sooner now, so there already are fewer riding hours left in a day.

I'm going to ride as much as I can, even if it's just around home. That'll be good news for the horseless friends who love invitations to come ride our tried-and-true extra horse. That's something else I want to take advantage of while I still can. The extra horse is 29 years old, and this could well be his last summer under saddle. (I've been saying that for each of the seven years we've had him, but still--he's just not going to last forever.)

The blooms are off my backyard roses, so it's high time to take advantage of the last summer-in-the-saddle weekends. And with this kind of right-from-home land to ride on, what excuse could I have not to do so?

Summer's last official weekend includes the Labor Day holiday, and I have plans to push the season out for at least one more weekend after that. A year ago, two friends and I booked a private pack trip up in the Bitterroot Mountains, near the Idaho/Montana border. The Labor Day tourists will all have gone home, and we'll get to pretend we have that great high country all to ourselves. Does that sound awesome, or what? (Cover your keyboard with a drool rag, then check out our outfitter here: http://tripleo-outfitters.com. I've taken two other trips with Barb and Harlan Opdahl of Triple O, and absolutely can't wait to go again.)

OK, so the end-of-summer countdown's underway--whatcha got ticking?

Trail Ride Prep: Kinda Like Going Into Labor

Five days and counting before riders and their friends start arriving for the Apalousey ride that takes place about 20 miles from our ranch. And as I told Ed yesterday we were out getting the grounds ready to go, this period leading up to the shindig has quite a lot in common with the labor stage of giving birth.

There's a lot of hard stuff yet to come, but nevertheless, there's no turning back from here.

As one of the ramrods for this benefit ride, I set a big store on doing whatever it takes to make sure everyone has a super-good time. But that takes a lot of behind-the-scenes effort, and not just by one or two people. For instance:

* A couple of key folks spend many hours plotting, clearlng, and pre-riding the trails. On the ride days themselves, they'll divide up the duties of leading the ride, troubleshooting for riders with any problems, and eating dust as the drag riders who bring up the rear.

* Office staff back at the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center do the publicity, take reservations, make signage and name badges, and do all the other administrative tasks required for putting on an event.

* Volunteer kitchen helpers buy the food, haul it home, spend days preparing whatever can be done in advance, and then haul the whole works out to the woods for everyone else's enjoyment.

* Others contribute the muscle power it takes to bring in tables, specialized vehicles (like George Hatley's authentic 1800s chuckwagon), and other items that are part of the proceedings.

* The evening entertainers get in some last practices, assemble instruments, etc., and pack them up for travel.

* The decorating crew (that's Ed and me) cuts flowers, finds containers, presses tablecloths, and rounds up party lighting.

Well, gotta go--another item on the pre-ride To-Do list is squeezing on my consciousness!