Terrible Equine Abuse Situation

I hope God judges animal abusers harshly. I think He will and He must have a special place in his heart for horses and dogs as they bring us, His children, honesty, joy and unconditional loyalty. Therefore, when there are animal abuse cases, the most prevalent being dogs and horses, it just saddens the hearts of the vast majority of us.

Most of these cases are a small number of animals being abused or neglected from basic life needs. So the latest case, here in El Paso County, shocked the conscience when the El Paso Sheriffs Office (EPSO) Animal Welfare Unit confiscated 60 equines a few days ago, among them mares with foals, 2-3 years old stud colts, a bunch of minis and a couple donkeys.

Due to a lack of legitimate El Paso Horse Rescues, the EPSO) Animal Welfare Unit placed all with the Gracey Ranch Rescue, which is a startup rescue operation crewed by a two man operation, the owner and one hired hand, with a couple part time volunteers. The day after trailering load after load to Gracey Ranch Rescue, the EPSO Animal Welfare Unit showed up in force to catalog all of the animals and document their abuse and neglect, which included: mares in such poor condition they could not nurse foals; many horses in body score 2; horses with hooves so long they look like skis; and, horses with open sores and cuts.

In the group there are a couple, just a couple of horses in decent body score which tells me that they were recent additions to the abusing owner's herd, and he did not yet have the time to mistreat those few. Prior to these 60 equines arriving, Mike Gracey and his ranch manager Micah, already had 10 previous neglect cases which were volunteer surrenders. There are local people responding with hay, milk replacer for the foals, stock tanks and such, but between appearing in court against the abusing owner and taking care of not only the 70 equines, and an additional 10 rescue pigs, Gracey Ranch Rescue is looking at fund raising. They are hosting an open house for the pubic can see for themselves these abused equines and are actively seeking donations.

They can take donations through the mail sent to Gracey Ranch Rescue, 6400 Charolais Drive, El Paso, Texas 79938. Donations can are also be made through Cash App and through their account at the Better World Organization. The links are below.

Gracey Ranch Rescue Cash App Donation Site

Gracey Ranch Rescue Better World Org Donation Site

National Day of the Cowboy 2026

Today, Saturday 25 July 2026, is The National Day of the Cowboy. The 21st year that the fourth Saturday was recognized by an act of Congress to celebrate the heritage of the American cowboy. Championed by the National Day of the Cowboy Organization, its goal was to dedicate a day to honor the American Cowboy who through the values of hard work, loyalty and self reliance shaped the American West.

While there are many major sponsors who are recognizable to practically everyone such as Wrangler and Ariat, a lesser known company, Show Allegiance Flags, or simply Allegiance Flags produced this very well done short ad to celebrate today, the National Day of the Cowboy.

You can watch this nicely done ad here.

Differences in starting Young Horses and Restarting Old Horses: Jasper, Part 1

A friend of mine stopped by a few days ago and asked what I had been doing. I replied "in the process of starting a 4 year old and just picked up an older horse and will be re-starting him." My friend asked "what's the difference,....starting a horse and re-starting a horse?"

Good question! It's really nothing I have thought about defining or differentiating before. So off the top of my head, as I recall, I said "from my perspective, young green horses are most often a clean slate with less human baggage attached to them, and seem to be trying to understand what you want from them in order to get peace, a break from pressure and feel good and feel safe. Older horses, also want peace and safety, but it seems to me that these older horses, some of them, not all, can be a bit more defensive or appear resistant, based on what they have come to expect from humans. Sometimes they can tell you where they have been. However, I can only get fleeting glimpses of that,...I suspect there is much more to learn about that."

Something bothered me about my reply, so later on I started to unravel that and figure it out. I think most of us accept that horses live in the moment and we have all seen horses that have been handled pretty rough that are still good minded. But we have also seen horses who have been pulled on by their reins, perhaps being ridden for years in a long shanked bit, seated too deep in their mouth and being jerked and pulled on by their rider. And then a rider with soft hands, maybe using a snaffle bit seated just at the corners of the mouth, begins to pick up on the reins and the horse's head jerks up in reaction to a learned memory that a sharp pull or jerk is coming next. So I'm thinking both can be true, the horse can be a product of it's less than refined handling but also live in the moment, and its in that moment that measured asks, good timing on the release, and building that good responses with softness can be built. I am the farthest person from and knowledge about psychotherapy, but maybe this is something learned people call building new neural pathways?

Well, I'm not going to let things I don't understand like that get in the way of starting/re-starting/developing (whatever term best describes it) an older horse. I had just brought the older horse in. He's a 16 year old, solid sorrel gelding, 15.1 hands high. What I was told about him was: he doesn't come to you, but easy to get a halter on; can't hard tie him as he pulls back; doesn't like to be petted or rubbed on; but puts up with humans and is very rideable, but difficult to get into a canter.

This horse, whose name is Jasper, had plenty of old scars on his face, chest and hip. The ranch I bought him from did not know much about him, and nothing about the origin of the scars, but that bodily roadmap made me like him immediately as his face and body are pretty much the same. Another thing that stuck out about him was he had the most intense side eye.....it seemed to be that he was looking at you with distrust. So home he came with me. He walked right into the trailer and I did not hard tie him, instead just fed the lead rope through one of my Functional Tie Rings and closed him in the slant load. An hour later I got him home and he had pushed so hard on the slant load gate latch mechanism that he jammed it up pretty good - and yes, I had put WD-40 on it before I left to pick him up. So, I had to fetch a hammer and piece of wood to free it. The noise gave him some trouble and once the gate freed up, he felt the lack of resistance on his hip and came flying backwards out of the trailer. I was ready for it, stepped aside and grabbed the lead rope feeding out of the tie ring as it dragged past me. Okay got it. That's all fixable or at least getting him much better.

Anyway, so what am I doing different with him than I would a basically untouched 3 or 4 year old? Nothing really. Pretty much left him alone in his pen for the first two weeks as I transitioned him over to my feed program, put him on Platinum Performance CJ supplement, and worked on him giving to pressure on his poll and his nose with my hands. It seemed to me that he hadn't ever been asked to give to pressure, let alone present any softness, but I was going to need that as I began two days of ground work. I'll continue Jasper's progress in a article in a few days.

New Horses and Good Rope Halters

Before I write about rope halters, I wanted to just note briefly that along with my 4 year old who had a delayed start, I am also re-starting an older horse that I picked up from a ranch in Southern New Mexico. The ranch manager and head wrangler is a young woman who asked to shadow me starting and re-starting horses at my ranch, so of course I said yes, by all means. Anything I can do to help, directly or indirectly, someone who is serious about a life with horses is a no brainer. For the past three weeks, working one day a week with her, I have not had the time to write about that, nor takes very many pictures and virtually no video yet. That will be coming in the near future. So,....about those rope halters.

A good rope halter is a necessity for me. While I have had many different halters from various makers, the 'go to' halter has always been from Double Diamond Halter Company. They still make and offer great halters and lead ropes for that matter, but you have to buy them from a distributor such as saddle shops and tack stores that offer quality gear. Other sources of good halters,...Craig Cameron comes to mind, offer very good rope halters as well. However, if you purchase a rope halter and lead rope for $15, you are very likely not getting a real good quality item there.

Lead ropes usually last longer than rope halters, so sometimes you can buy the halter without a lead rope and just use your old lead rope, especially if it's good quality. I use tied on lead ropes, so I never have the potential problems of a metal snap, such as dirt impinging the spring loaded mechanism, or the snap breaking. I like a 14 foot lead rope, however about half of my halters have 12 foot leads. Some people don't like that much rope to handle but I'd rather want more length than I need in the moment, than not enough. And just the other day, I used a 18 foot lead on a very reactive horse that I was asked to work with.

About a year ago I discovered 310 Ranch Life Halters and Leads. They offer 12 foot lead ropes, which are great quality, albeit without a leather poppers on the running end. But the halters have a long tail (that goes over the bridle path also called a poll latch) to tie through the loop on the end of the throat latch. These tails are longer than all of the other rope halters I have which make them easier to feed through the tie loop, fits horses with bigger heads, and allows a overhand knot at the very end of the poll latch so you can slip it over a horse's head one handed if you are putting a halter on another horse while you are horseback.

310 Ranch Life also offers other products as well as instructional videos on roping and such. And as usually, I do not get paid not otherwise compensated for advertising anything, just passing along gear, equipment and information that I think is good quality and useful.

New World Screwworm Threat to Livestock

You have likely heard of the New World Screwworm recently discovered in Texas and New Mexico. This threat to livestock did not materialize overnight. Animal Health Authorities have been tracking this threat ever since it cropped back up in the Darien Province of Panama a couple years ago, and knew it was only a matter of time before it made it's way North through Central America, then Mexico and into the United States through the Southern border.

The New World Screwworm is a parasitic fly that deposits larvae, on the living tissue in or near open wounds of animals, where they burrow into the flesh and feed on live tissue as opposed to most maggots who feed on dead tissue. In fact, in the old days medical personnel have used maggots to debride wounds of soldiers and other patients to prevent gangrene. The New Word Screwworm is primarily a threat to livestock and other mammals such has pets, but the risk to humans is pretty low. Infected animals usually present painful, worsening wounds that may smell bad and fail to heal. Visible larvae in wounds, unusual discharge, and signs of distress in the animal are other potential indicators. If untreated, the infestation can lead to severe tissue damage, open up other infections, and even lead to death of the animal. Check your livestock and other anials routinely, treat and monitor wounds that you see and get ahold of you Vetrinarian if you suspect infestation.

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) public notice confirmed on 10 June 2026 that it (the TAHC) has designated multiple counties in South Texas as infested zones due to confirmed cases of the New World screwworm. These counties include Zavala, Uvalde, La Salle, Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, and Webb counties (see map below). A quarantine is in place, meaning warm-blooded animals cannot leave these areas without inspection, treatment, identification, and a movement permit from TAHC authorities. Additional surveillance zones surround these infested areas to monitor potential spread. These zones are actively tracked, and updates are provided daily as new cases are confirmed.

Feedlots in West Texas feedlots are feeling the implications of this threat as border closures and restrictions on importing Mexican cattle have severely curtained their business. Eradication efforts are pretty straightforward and have been used for the past 70 years, and recently in Southern FLorida in 2017 by releasing sterile New World Screwworm male flies. Female New World Screwwom flies only mate once in their lifetime, so eggs laid by a female fly serviced by a sterlized male fly produces unfertilized eggs that do not hatch into the flesh eating larvae. Eventually no live larvae are hatched andn the New orld Screwwom population dies off.

Additional Resources:

Texas Animal Health Commission

U.S. Department of Agriculture National Invasive Species Information Center

Colt Saddle

A fella named Jerry M. contacted me to ask who made the saddle he saw on my 4 year old Curly Zeke that I have been dropping articles on, so I thought there maybe another one or two people who are interested in the particulars. BTW, I'm not selling it. The interest would be in a good quality saddle, from a well known maker, for such as reasonable price.

The past 18 months, after the passing of my wife, have been really different than preceding years. I have seen more young, green horses in the last year and a half than I have in 10 years. So I was looking for a bit lighter and less expensive Wade saddle that I can put on green horses and save my best custom saddle for my horses that are further along and a little more trustworthy. This likely stems from an incident years ago (sometime in 2004 as I remember) where I had a young horse's feet go out from underneath himself and he tumbled resulting in a completely torn stirrup leather and a torn out breast collar D ring.

Thankfully the horse was fine and as a result of this accident a friend of mine introduced me to an 80 year old Mexican gentleman, who was the last of the S.D. Myres saddle makers, and he repaired my saddle. This was actually a pretty funny story as he reattached the breast collar D ring, put a new stirrup leather on and replace the fleece and he wanted to charge me $75, which was like 1940's prices. I gave him $250 and we ended up bringing him a load of wood for his wood stove in his shop as we discovered that his wife had long past kicked his out of the house and he was living in his shop of all things. br>

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The saddle on Curly Zeke that Jerry wanted to know about was made by Heritage Horseman Supply, the saddle making and tack part of Scott Grosskopf's Buckaroo Businesses in Billings, Montana. They don't know me from Adam, and likely only saw my name once - on the purchase invoice - so there is no relationship between us, I am just pleased that they offer a line of quality saddles for a very reasonable price. On the phone with them I was told their idea was to offer a good saddle that working cowboys could afford. And they achieved that. The saddle (see photo above and video below) is the Yellowstone Series Classic 15" Wade.

I like smooth, unpadded seats, but on this saddle I wanted the seat and fenders in rough out as I can use all the help I can get to stay on board if a green horse thinks he has a little bronc in him. I also wanted a Cheyenne roll on the cantle to give myself something to hold on to as well. The Wade saddle with a deep seat and big diameter, low profile horn is a good design if you are going to work, rope and dally cattle.

Anyway, here you go Jerry and any others interested - This is the link to Heritage Horseman Supply.

Third Ride Outside the Pen on Curly Zeke

I really, really like a horse that I can smoothly open and close gates on. In fact, it's manditory, although when I ride a green horse out of the round end for the first few times, I'll usually ride the horse out through and back into an already open gate. I'll open the gate and push it open then ride through. If you are some people who have had their knees or legs banged up against the gate posts going through or coming out, you know what I am talking about. Going through an open gate a few times gives me a pretty good idea if I can keep him in the middle.

I have had some video camera malfunctions on the first couple rides. Okay, not really malfunctions, but I either didn't orient the camera properly or have a charged battery in place. So the video below is Zeke's third ride outside the round pen. He still is bracing on left and right lateral flexion, more so on the left, so we're working through that. At the walk, I concentrate on giving him a fairly loose reins when he is straight, even for a moment, all rein and leg pressure are non-existent and eventually he will understand that and seek that feeling. When I ask Zeke for a transition into the trot, I don't force him to keep the trot. If he needs to go back to the walk that's fine. Soon he'll keep the trot. You can get into trouble asking the horse for something he's not mentally prepared for and if you let him take his time to be comfortable, it'll be no time at all until he is.

The same is true, I believe, about a horse speeding up. We have a tendency to rate them down, but it's confusing to a green horse, and unless he's a run away horse, the horse will soon rate himself back down. We can direct them, but pulling on both reins is confinement and invites a troubled horse. I only have a little over five acres to ride on without getting on the county road to get to the open desert but I have all sorts of new things for a green horse to explore, so that's what we are concentrating on in the short term.

The first video below is an initial ride out of the round pen and spending a short amount of time doing some 180 degrees turns at a walk. This builds confidence in each other outside the round pen where he horse not may be as comfortable. I'll try to go back forth the round pen gate a couple times. I didn't expect to have issues with Zeke, and nothing came up. So the next time, or even the time after, I can work on opening and closing the gate on horseback. To have a good chance of doing so without any troubles, I'll rely on the work we have did on bringing his front end over, controlling the front end independently of his hind end, and his hind end over, indepndant of his front feet, so I can position the horse up on the gate without having to lean too much to access the gate latch. Side passing over to the gate will come later.

In the second video (below), I'm asking him for a trot so the asks for lateral felxion and a change in direction come a bit quicker. I have to be cognizant of his compromised hing end (missing lateral patella ligaments) and am trying to ask for wider turns so it's easier to keep his momentum up. That'll soon lead to asking him to step undernath himself with the inside back foot, building him up to turing like a cow horse.

Continuing the Starting of Zeke

I am continuing starting Curly Zeke which I began as a long 3 year old, after the diagnosis of this gelding missing his lateral patella ligaments on both back legs. So the plan is to work him on the ground to build up his endurance and muscularity and minimize or at least carefully watch how much time I spend on his back as to reduce the burden on him. I give him one to two days off between sessions to let him rest and any residual inflammation from his patella joint injections and Adequan IM injections, I am reminded every time I work him that it's a shame that such a good minded horse, with otherwise great conformation, had the bad luck to born without these ligaments.

In exposing a horse to new things it is easy to overload the horse and when the fear and flight instinct dominate it is practically impossible to change his thought or reaction process until he can come down from the height of his fear. Generally, when beginning to expose the horse to a scary object, his body language lets us know that the horse is beginning to exhibit concern or even fear, and, it lets us know when to stop, retreat if necessary, then proceed (sometimes by inches). Such body language is stopping forward momentum; tension in the horse's body and even weight leaning backwards about like he's going to do a turn on the rear end; head comes up to elevate line of sight and see directly of the center of the eye; ears turned and pointed forward; and, the horse quickly and nervously looking left and right and to his rear. These are major things the rider or handler on the ground can observe.

So the reason we expose horse's to things that are bothersome or fearful to them is to try and exercise the thinking side of their brain as opposed to the reactive side. Horses are doing to be different and the level on what scares them. Working in our favor is the horse's natural sense of curiosity. One of Zeke's really good points is his curiosity and acceptance of new things. In between short session of lunging or riding him I have been experimenting on what he accepts and just how fast he does it. The ever present West Texas wind was blowing a meal bucket against a tie rail making a lot of racket when I had him tied to the trailer using a Functional Tie Ring. Zeke would glance between himself from time to time, so I untied him and led him to the offending bucket. And even though the noise and movement of the bucket was pretty loud, he walked right over and punched it with his nose. We just stayed there for maybe 30 seconds until he was distracted at something else, then we went back to what we were doing.

During breaks in the working sessions, I have sacked him out with a crinkly bag, pulled a cans of tin cans and with minimal ground work with ropes all over his body and legs, I have thrown loops off of him. The videos below of exposing him to the crinkly bag and pulling the sack of cans were the first time each that he had been exposed to that stimulus. In the video throwing a loop off him, that was the second time I had done so.

Equine Dental Exams and Floats

I have written before on the importance of getting horses' teeth checked regularly. All my horses over the 26+ years have had dental exams and some level of teeth floating - which is basically correcting the uneven surfaces of the teeth.

As a horse chews forage or other feed in like a circular motion with their upper and lower jaw, uneven surfaces of the teeth can and usually result. This creates sharp points or waves that starts to decrease their ability to chew feed properly, and uncorrected can cause the teeth to cut the inside of the mouth causing pain, and can show up in many other ways such as resistance to biting, riding or turning/rotating their head. You may see partially chewed feed dropping from their mouths or laying on the ground or in the bottom of their feeder. Bad teeth can also cause partially chewed feed to be swallowed increases chances of a intestinal blockage (colic).

The actually floating of the horse's teeth involves using a speculum to open the horse's mouth then a hand rasp or a power rasp is used to draw across the surface of the teeth to correct the issues. It takes training and skill to know what you are seeing in the exam and to use the tools to correct the teeth. It may be hard to find an equine dentist, but if you can find a good one, it's worth the relatively small cost for a dental exam and floating. I have seen non-sedation floating, where the equine dentist works on the horse's mouth without the benefit of the horse being sedated and did not like what I saw. I have viewed videos of what was claimed to be non-sedation floating as well with better results, but it hard to trust videos, and I just can't imagine a horse getting their teeth floated without sedation. While some states do not allow equine dentists that are not Veterinarians to sedate horses, I think it's more common than not for some equine dentists to access sedation drugs and use them. I prefer a Veterinarian to sedate my horses and float their teeth, or to sedate and monitor the horse for a non-Vet equine dentist.

For twenty years or so, I have had my Veterinarian to do the floats, but this year she has partnered with her daughter who is a equine dentist and body work specialist. These are two of the most awesome people anyone could every meet. As a bonus Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF), also known as Magnawave therapy, was performed on my 4 year old with the missing lateral patella ligaments.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy or PEMF, if I am not mistaken, was pioneered by NASA, and uses electromagnetic fields applied through tubes, paddles or mats to increased circulation, decrease inflammation and pain, and enhance cellular repair. I've actually had it done on myself and know it to be effective. It's not a cure, but a therapy. The picture above is Magnawave being applied across the withers and shoulder of my 4 year old, but he also had the Magnawave therapy on his stifle and upper hind legs as well, where he has inflammation in the patella joint due to the missing lateral patella ligaments bilaterally. Horses stand well for this treatment and in the past I have had horse's drop their heads, drool and seem to fall asleep, so I'm pretty sure this therapy works.

      This is the Equine Dentist and Body Care Specialist, She works out         of the greater Phoenix area but does travel like she did coming to El         Paso to service 7 or 8 days worth of clients. If you are going to                 contact her, I suggest text messages.

       Casey Orduno
       915-543-1455
       KC Equine Dentistry and Body Care, LLC

Cowboy Knives - Custom v Production

These days you can't hardly find anyone not carrying a knife, usually a folding knife with the ever recognized clip showing outside a pocket on their wranglers. Folders are very utilitarian excepting that maybe they are hard to open one handed by some people, especially when wearing gloves. Folders are safe too, providing you have a manual opening or spring assist mechanisms. The auto opening folders, using a push button to fully extend and lock the blade raise the potential of accidentally opening and cutting yourself, in my opinion, which comes from experience as I had one 25 years ago and spent hours at Urgent Care waiting to get my thumb sutured up. But then again, most people aren't as accident prone as me. In fact, sometimes I wonder why God hasn't just let me die yet for my ignorance.

Back to knives.....I have been carrying small fixed blade knives for practically all my life. I had a local custom knife maker build a couple of small fixed blades to my specifications. But Joe passed many years ago, however not before I sent several guys his way who rode with me and admired by knifes he made for them.

Between Joe passing and a couple years ago I had no option but to direct people to a couple custom knife makers, but many balk at $200 + price tags. Then I discovered a knife maker who makes several knives I found suitable for a cowboying knife. By suitable I mean a blade length of 2 7/8 to 3 1/2 inches (4 inches wouldn't be too long either), full tang and decent thickness for durability under rough use, and, forged from a steel that will hold an edge. These are the knives I offer on my site. Seven inch total length with a 3 1/2 inch blade, 1/8 inch thick for toughness, Damascus steel forged from 5160 and 4340 steel, finger groove for retainability when hands are slick or when wearing gloves, full tang blade with either cow bone or stabilized rosewood handle secured with five pins, and a lanyard hole where I rattlesnake braid a strip of leather to aid in drawing.

These knives are very reasonably priced at $60 and can be offered at that low priced because they are made from Damascus blanks and cut on CNC machinery, so they are not custom knifes, except maybe for the fit and finish, but they sure look it and perform as well as any knife I have owned.

I recently did a search of custom makers on the internet, which prompted Google to think that's all I wanted to see and be reminded of in the weeks since, but showed me many production knife makers offering alike knives at prices exceeding $250. However, there are other options that offer good value and a good knife. Cow Camp Supply has very reasonably priced quality knifes, fixed blade and folding, suitable for carrying horseback. One the knives that Sparky Wallace, the owner of Cow Camp, offers is a very popular palm knife. On the higher priced side there is the Montana Knife Company who offer very stunning small fixed blade knives suitable as well for the working cowboy, hunter or anyone else who finds a small fixed blade knife a tool they can't do without. A nice fixed blade knife is certainly a great tool to have on hand, as well as being a very nice gift to pass onto someone.

Curly Zeke, Part II Questions on Lateral Flexion

Just a couple days after I published the article on working on lateral flexion on starting Curly Zeke, my coming 4 year old QH gelding, I received a call from Laura who asked me some great questions concerning Zeke and my improvement/non-improvement and issues with him understanding a soft ask for lateral flexion. These question made me think on how I was approaching the whole thing as I had to explain it. While I really don't care what other people think of me,......wait,.....the FBI. I do care what the FBI thinks of me. Or the IRS for that matter. Anyway, I do care what my horses think of me and if I can do something better for them, I need to find that way. Here are her questions, my thoughts and answers to her, and some self reflection on what I could have done different.

How much do you accept? Meaning when I am asking a horse, in this case Zeke, for a soft give to an ask for lateral flexion, how much bend in his head and neck, giving to the ask, do I need from him before I stop that lesson to resume another day, and how much lateral flexion do I need before I can ride him?

I should only ask what he can give at the moment. Going into working with him, I should not have precoceived ideas on how much I watn that day from him. But I'm guilty on not following that. I went back to just asking for a few degrees or inches of flexion, then buildig on that, slowly. Its actually a faster way, but more importantly its more accepting to the horse. WHat also is so important, is the pause givbene between asks. Again guilty of getting in a hurry, so I have to cognizantly recognize that trait in myself.

Laura said she understood the idea of letting the horse find the release when giving to the rider asking for lateral flexion, meaning waiting on the horse to give and find the release, but is there a point when you demand a give such as with bumping?

Demand is a big word. Not really a good word or thought to use with horses. Maybe insisting on a try, but even the thought to try is sufficient. I think poor or fristrated horsemen have an instinct to pull hard. Evne worsea a jerk. While bumping has it's place it's best used sparlingly and differenty on horse to horse. When Zeke braces for an ask for lateral flexion to the left, he like other horses has a tendancy to fade to the right. Sometimes I'll switch to an ask for right flexion and use my right leg to get him back on his line. Sometimes, I'll bump just a bit on that left rein and sometimes I change the angle of the rein slighlty higher as to lift his shoulder and ask for the left leg to step out and forward and use my right leg to reinforce the ask for flexion. You'll just have to experiment with your horse, and even on another horse, do something different. Helping the horse untrack in his hind end as shown in the video below is good for both getting a horse to follow a feel for lateral flexion and to help him untrack his hand end.

Curly Zeke Part II, Getting Lateral Flexion

Continuing with starting Curly Zeke, I have been working on him understanding and following the feel on the lead rope or reins when I ask for lateral flexion. He definitely has a weak side giving to the left with a brace, and on both sides he is tipping his nose and keeping his head low so his ears are not level. Obviously we would all like and need lateral bend of the head and neck in a horse where he keeps his ears mostly level, especially during forward momentum if we want a balanced horse.

I'll work him in halter and lead asking for lateral flexion but not more than he is ready to give. I think there is a tendency to get a horse bending his head and neck round way past 90 degrees, in effect touching his nose to his shoulder or to the stirrup, and that is more lateral flexion than I need or can use. I may change my opinion on that down the road as the horse gets more handy and soft. One of my other horses, a 13 years old gelding, is very responsive and soft when I ask and always gives me more than 90 degrees. I do not intentionally ask him for that much flexion, he just gives it to me. But again, 90 degrees is more than I need to turn or position up a horse, especially starting to ride a green horse.

The videos below of working Curly Zeke in a round pen asking for lateral flexion for circles and 180 degree turns at the walk and trot are pretty much what I have to have going on with him before the first ride out of the round pen, as well as being able to untrack his back end. So the same with any horse, being able to direct him or turn him and untrack his hand end. The four videos go from on the ground with Zeke in a snaffle bit, from the saddle, then at a walk and trot.

I try not to just drill, drill, drill on lateral flexion. I'm hoping the videos and description of starting Zeke will give people a basis for comparison so if there is any frustration people can see the issues and progression of Zeke and we begin to work through them. While I'm putting a ride on Zeke, first in the round pen, then later outside, I'll also work on the beginnings of good stop, backing up (but just a couple steps), and, bringing a front foot out to the side as in the beginnings of a turn on the hind end. And lastly before I've done really any of the above, I've got Zeke responsive and soft at untracking his back end while I'm in the saddle. He's doing very well with moving his back end that we could move to asking for the untracking and expecting him to pivoting with a front foot instead of taking a step or two forward.

Curly Zeke_Part I

In May 2024 I picked up a well bred 2 year old Sorrel Quarter Horse Gelding. This is his story, so far. At the annual sale, which was a University Horse Program sale, I watched several two year olds being jipped round a round pen while the announcer detailed the colts' lineage and such. After doing a hands on inspection of these 2 year old's after they were brought out of the round pen and tied up for a bit, I decided that I wasn't going to bid on any that I had seen. Nice well bred horses but they were from lineages that cultivated petite heads, small bone structure (even for 2 year olds) and small feet. On my way out, I saw this sorrel gelding in a pen and wondered why I did not see him earlier but realized that I had got to the sale just a bit late so thought he must have been introduced earlier. I asked the attending horse program student what he could tell me about the horse and all he could say was that the horse was a biter. I replied that most colts are mouthy and that didn't concern me. Anyway, I checked the colt out, smallish but big boned and good sized feet, and despite not seeing him move around, when I got home, I made a bid online and won him. Picked him up a few days later and brought him home.

My intention was to do ground work on him and get him gentled to a saddle for a couple short rides, then at three years old put some more understanding on him and at four years old add onto to his work load and riding time. However, that saying "the best laid plans,......." struck again. Last year I noticed that the horse, who I named Curly Zeke for his flowing wild mane and forelock, would often drag a back leg until it was nearly straight then jerk it back up. It looked like what is commonly called 'fixating patella'. I turned him out often so he could move in a bigger area and intended to get images on him to see what was going on.

In January I took him to a Vet, experienced with injuries associated with racehorses and overworked futurity prospects, and Zeke was diagnosed with missing Lateral Patella Ligaments, bi-laterally with inflammation of the patella joint. Those ligament were not blown or torn. He was missing that ligament (on both sides) that was apparently a birth defect. The only good news is that the Vet said that of the patella ligaments, this one was the least consequential for the 'stay' mechanism which allows the horse to lock his legs and sleep standing up. So after injections into the joint, the plan became to put Zeke on weekly Adequan injections, for 7 weeks, to help maintain joint health and build cartilage, and to gradually build him up. However he would never be a horse that could be used on 12 hour gathers riding big circles in a big pasture - the patella joints would just become too fatigued. And after six months, take him back for more imaging. He is, like all my horses, on Platinum Performance CJ supplement.

So Zeke's condition does not make him any else valuable to me. I'm going treat him now as I start him as I would any four year old but with considerations of his hind end which will limit his endurance, and I'll always be looking for signs of discomfort so I can ensure he has as pain free life as I can provide. Starting him as already taught me or re-taught me lessons, and that's the whole point in the horsemanship journey, to never stop learning. Unfortunately, I don't have enough years left to learn to become adequate but I'm still going to try.

What I did with him before sending him around wearing a saddle, and before the first ride, was pretty much standard: I began getting the horse soft in the face and head. Willingly breaking at poll, lowering head, nose vertical to ground, poll on or about in line with the withers. This gets the horse ready for haltering and later bridling, Giving to pressure on the head helping relax the horse, gentles the horse about having ears handled, when you ask the horse to drop his head from your hand pressure on his poll.

Getting a halter on the horse, have the horse get soft and drop his head, use voice commands and pressure on poll to do so.

Broke to Lead; following a soft feel. Becoming increasingly soft and responding to the change in feel of the lead rope (pressure and angle) to move his feet, or to not move his feet. Horse should stand and stay in front of you on a loose lead, until you pickup the lead (pulling the slack out of it) which changes the feel and the horses moves towards you. Being able to back on a wiggle of the lead rope. This understanding also allows you to stop him coming forward. Start him understanding the feel of the lead rope when asking him to step obliquely with a front foot.

Standing near the shoulder or just in back of it, being able to tip his head slightly and ask his hind end to untrack away from you. Before get on him for the first time, I also get him decent as giving me lateral flexion with his head and neck.

Being able to send the horse past you with the lead rope. This should rapidly progress to asking and the horse responding to moving on a loose lead. In the beginning it will likely be necessary to use the poppers of the lead or a flag to get forward movement. I just do so with the least amount of pressure as necessary. This progresses quickly to asking the horse to untrack his hind end away from you, so he ends up facing you. Pretty soon, you ask him to untrack then bring the front over the other way to go the opposite direction.

I'll get the horse ready for a snaffle bit, but putting a thumb or a finger in the corners of his mouth to get him used to opening his mouth. Start with like a half second then build up gradually to keeping your thumb/finger there for maybe 5 seconds. I do the same with the end portion of a lead rope so he can feel something across his tounge.

I'll get the horse sacked out with a flag.

Desensitize the horse's barrel, flank, legs with a rope. I start with the lead rope, then move to a lariat. I make sure he is good at having a rope under his tail which will freak out some horses. I'll work on getting the horse use to the lead rope and later a lariat spinning around him and going up over his head.

I'll get the horse good at sending like I described above then into a trot. Allowing the horse to find the end of the lead rope bumping his nose and he'll learn or find a comfortable spot keeping his head straight or at least not positioned to the outside.

I work at getting the horse comfortable about positioning up to the fence as later I'll mount him from the fence or another platform.

I get a saddle on a horse as soon as possible to get him used to the weight and the sounds associated with the saddle. I begin to saddle with the lead rope in the crook of my arm and as the horse lets me know he's good at that, I'll use a tie ring.

So I do all this before I throw a leg over. I plan on doing a couple more articles and videos on Zeke as he progresses.

Blindfolding your Horse

Many years ago I wrote about blindfold training and what prompted me to do so was two incidents (each time a different horse) where I was stuck in a hail storm without any cover and I took off my long sleeve Wrangler shirt off to drap over my horses' heads, with my forearm on their brow and nose in a kind of tenting the shirt fashion, to reduce the impact of the hail hitting them. Another reason to get your horses used to blindfolds is in case you have to lead them through smoke and fire as in evacuation from a wildlands fire.

And yet one more reason to blindfold train your horse is to just add to all the gentling you done on them and add another drop of sand in the trust bucket the horse has for you. For this reason, I drapped a bandana over one of my horse's heads, covering his eyes, and led him around on the ground with the lead end of my mecate reins. It was pretty anti-climatic. The first time, both horses I did this on the other day, was not a big deal. One horse is coming 12 or 13 years that I had been riding for 2 years and the other a green horse coming 4 that I have had about 6 or 8 rides on. Both initially hesitated for a second or two as I asked them to follow a soft feel, but led out quiet and following the direction of the lead. Because it's windy almost year round here in West Texas, I didn't want the bandana blowing off so I tucked the middle or short triangle end under the browband headstall then each of the long tails underneath the headstall check pieces.

And I didn't just wrap the bandana over their eyes and get to leading. I started with covering one eye then the other, then both while standing quiet. Then I started over again and asked for the horse to keep the bandana covering both eyes for a longer period, maybe 15 seconds. Since both were good and conformable with that, I covered one eye and asked for a step forward, and repeated on the other eye. Then both eyes. But the idea is to take the bandana away, in a slow, quiet way, before the horse gets anxious. Petting on them on their neck while the bandana is covering an eye or both is a good idea as well.

When asking the horse to follow a guiding or directional feel of the lead rope, give the horse more time to react to that signal as they no longer can see or read your body language. Ask for one step or even a leaning forward, stop, then ask again building on each progress. Sometimes even on a horse that is not blindfolded, the horse may not react to the soft guiding feel of the lead rope, even if they have been routinely leading and following the lead. It may help to change the angle of the ask of the lead rope, stepping out to the horse's frontal oblique before quietly drawing the lead rope up.

Finally, horses are going to be much better about things moving around and over their heads if you get them used to this early on, such as flipping the lead rope over their heads until there is no response, brushing the sweaty, matted hair behind their ears after a ride, sitting in the saddle and rubbing on their neck and checks with the coils of your lariat, and things like that. I think that all makes better, more accepting horse and safer too.

Does Performance Dictate Training, and Training Dictate Performance?

I was thinking about this subject the other day when I was remembering trail rides I would go with my late wife, and thats been awhile since she was unable to ride for the last few years of her life. But, God Bless her and her thoughts for the horse, she would kind of nag on me for working on things with my horse rather than what she termed as just enjoying a trail ride. So I would go back and forth on the question of 'when is riding just riding, and not training'?

It's been said by many much more learned people than I, that giving your horse a job where he can focus on performing what he needs to do, to assist the rider in getting that job done, is a strategy on making a better horse. When people hear that, like I do, we all nod our heads...that makes sense. But invariably, the thought comes up on what is the difference between teaching a horse or giving him an understanding on something like doing a turn on the hocks or crossing a bridge, and an actual job like moving cows or checking fence?

One of those differences may be the level on which the rider holds himself/herself and the horse responsible for how they do something, as opposed to the focus on just completion of the task. If we are trotting miles to get to a pasture gate, we would very likely be much more forgiving to the horse on their straightness then we would if in an arena trying to achieve straightness. I am not advocating riding with acceptance of poor performance, nor am I suggesting that we have to correct small imperfect movements in the horse, but it does seem to me that 'training' and performance (doing a job) are sometimes, maybe a lot of times, different.

If you are at a competitive event, which is performance, at some point that ends and what you are left with is your memory on what you need to work on. Same thing with doing more traditional work, like gathering or sorting cows, you would finish that and look back on how and what you need to do to improve.

Decades ago, when I discovered that there was more to riding horses than pulling on the reins and kicking them in the belly, everything was learning what my holes were in what I could do horseback. Sometimes giant holes, and today if seems like I haven't filled too many of holes up sufficiently. But those difficulties shaped what I would work on.

When I was an Army Range Rider, my horseback patrols would highlight many things that I would work on when riding for myself off duty. It was just necessity as I did not want to find myself without skills or tools to handle the difficulties I had just experienced. Riding on a narrow trail with a steep drop off into an arroyo (a dry river bed) and uphill on the other side with thick Cholla and Prickly Pear cactus, I learned that my horse and I needed to be able to back uphill a bit, walk forward in a very small circle and/or do short, sharp serpentines in order to get turned around when that trail ended. And through necessity a horse just can't back up hill without being soft in the poll, head down and vertical so his weight is balanced and he doesn't drag his front end and fall with the back. A horse can't do small circles with balance unless he is soft and giving to lateral flexion and the rider has to b able to control his feet with the reins and use his legs to bend the horse and get the hind end to untrack. I'm here to tell you that the first time I looked at a 20 foot drop off and did not have those tools sufficiently to be pretty sure that we could get out of such a predicament, I worked on that until my horse and I were sure.

Another time, I was checking wind mill fed stock tanks in grazing units when I saw a dead cow blocking the sluice from the wind mill tank to the dirt tank. To make a long story short, there was no way because of the uneven and steep terrain that I could throw a rope on the dead cow and pull her out of the sluice so I had to dismount, put a loop around the dead cow's hind end, loop the running end of my rope around the saddle horn and ask my horse get his dead cow pulled out by getting my horse to back up with me helping to pull on the end of the rope around the dead cow's hind end. While I had pulled logs on horseback on this horse I wasn't sure we would be able to do it from me on the ground, but eventually did, so what did you think I did at home? I practiced getting my horse to back on a feel on the lead rope from me in front of him and then pulling short logs then railroad ties in the same fashion. Funny thing is that have never had to have a horse pull or drag something with me on the ground since.

More thoughts on pre-ride ground warmup

I have written before about owing it the horse to get him warmed up in both his body and mind before throwing a leg over and heading out. I recently listened to a podcast where the speaker talked about working on a crew at a large outfit where most of the cowboys after saddling their horses would spend the available minutes, before trotting out behind the boss, talking and telling stories rather than warming their horse up then wondered why some of them would be bucked off.

It's also pretty much common knowledge that lunging, or other ground work warming up, won't necessarily get the buck out of a horse by itself, but certainly a quality warmup allowing the horse to operate off a soft lead rope or rein can get him to looking to the handler, getting his mind on following direction, and getting blood flowing to his major muscle groups. It also allows the handler to discern any stickiness in the horse's gait which could indicate lameness. I have never had a problem having to wait on people to saddle up whether they were taking their sweet time grooming, tacking up, warming up,.....whatever. And I can't remember anytime when I hurried saddling a horse when I thought people were waiting on me. Didn't bother me much as I was there for my horse and not to satisfy people I was riding with or people in a clinic. Of course, that wouldn't be proper nor tolerated working for a cowboying outfit as you need to be ready to ride before the Boss is, but being ready to ride before the last man would get you a few minutes to get that horse warmed up and to his mind ass well.

Sometimes, when I pull a horse from his pen, the 2-3 minute walk to the tie rail can become a ten minute walk as I check him out enroute.....positioning up correctly when leading, stopping, backing, coming forward one foot at a time as I ask, swinging a front leg out, untracking his back end, etc.. So if he is not accurate on leading up, we'll correct that. All this reinforces the horse listening to your direction on the end of a lead rope. So if it's necessary to lead a horse, it's worth doing it with quality.

After saddling, and before I throw a leg over, I'll back the horse up using the as soft a feel as I can get by with and ask him to stand quiet, reinforcing ground tying, then ask for him to come forward sometimes using the lead rope of my mecate and sometimes using a hand signal. I'll ask for a front leg to step out laterally and sometimes ask for the hind end to untrack away from me. Again, getting the horse to look to you for direction.

Lastly, I'll direct the horse in a circle, first at a walk then a trot, getting the proper bend for that size of a circle and doing so on a loose lead, then untrack his hind feet with the hind foot nearest me stepping underneath his body and in front of his outside hind foot, then bringing his front end over and heading in the opposite direction.

So I do all this, usually spending 5-10 minutes at maximum, because I think I owe it to the horse to get a it warmed up and prepared for the ride.

The Cowboy and Western Art of Susan K. Guile

I wanted to do something so people other than locals could see the Cowboy and Western artwork of my late wife, Susan K. Guile. Susan, 5 March 1961 – 21 October 2024, was a native Texan growing up in Wichita Falls, Abilene and Del Rio, Texas, and other states as well, in a military family where she developed a love of animals, especially horses. She graduated from Shippensburg State University in Pennslvania with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art. While in Texas, she rode with the Escaramuzas (female Charros) in South Texas, rodeoed in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Alabama, and rode Classical Dressage in Germany with one of the last Prussian Dressage Masters.

She also worked for several years as a wrangler and trail guide at a ranch in Southern California. Settling in El Paso, Texas in 1999, Susan taught horsemanship for over 20 years instilling a love and respect for horses for many adults and children. She used her love of horses and the western lifestyle to paint realistic oil on canvas scenes of horses and cowboys and other iconic western scenes for which she was well known for in the El Paso Art Community. She would only paint from photographs she owned, aside from the occasional commission piece, so man of her painting were of her husband (me) which is unfortunate as she could have had better subjects. These are some of her works below:

This piece (above) is titled "Jubal" of me and a Mustang gelding who proved to be a difficult horse, even dangerous at times, but taught me so much. Took me awhile to make friends with him, but I actually used him to teach a couple clinics off of. The original painting was 30x36 inches oil on canvas.

I'm old, with many wrinkles, but Susan used to accuse me of telling fibs when the corners of my eyes would crinkle up. She called this my tell. So the title of the painting is "The Tell". I have to admit I cannot keep myself from making up ridiculous stories and get gullible people to believe me. She painted this painting of me. The original was 22x26 inches oil on canvas.

This piece (above) is called "The Last of the Range Riders" when I was a Conversation Law Enforcement Officer, colloquial called an Army Range Rider and riding a young horse (Chance) breaking him into duty. The location was the Otero Mesa in New Mexico on Bureau of and Management grazing units where we had enforcement jurisdiction. The original painting was 30x54 inches oil on canvas.

Susan also painted from time to time in water colors, and this work (above), which she called "Best Friends", is me introducing Jubal the Mustang to my best friend Petey, a Gordon Setter. The original painting was 18x24 inches oil on canvas.

Susan took a photo, hard to do at night, of me drinking coffee by the fire pit, and turned it into this painting she titled "Campfire Contemplations" above. The original painting was 22x28 inches oil on canvas.

Althoughg she painted many others, old barns, homesteads, longhorns and horse, the last ne which I'll share here is titled "Welcome Breeze". From a photograph taken in the hot desert summer, you can tell there is a light breeze blowing my wild rag and the horse, Junior's, tail and mane. The Franklin Mountains Noorth of El Paso, Texas are in the background.

One of Susan's last was to get her artwork available for her family and friends to get prints and what not. I finally got that done, putting her work on Fine Art America where the images can be made into prints and posters, note cards, t-shirts and even coffee mugs. I already warned her family they better not get a coffee cup with my likeness on it only to drink weak ass coffee from it. Anyway, I hope more than a few people can enjoy her efforts. She was as good as a woman, wife and rider as she was an artist.

Merry Christmas 2025

Advice on Growing Old

An old cowboying partner of mine, we are both in the last half of our sixties, sent this to me. He copied it from a post on Facebook. Much of it I slowly realized over the past few years which illustrates that if you are able to learn, sometimes that wisdom comes with age....if you allow it. So, the following advice resonated with me with the only things really missing are to thank the Father daily for our blessings and help those less fortunate than yourself if you can. Merry Christmas Everyone!




When I turned 67, I sat in my favorite chair, looked back at my life, and whispered to myself, “So… this is the beginning of the final stretch.” And slowly, the truths I had avoided all my life began to surface. Kids? They’re busy writing their own story. Health? Slips away faster than sand through open fingers. The government? Just headlines, promises, and numbers that never change your daily reality. Aging doesn’t hurt your body first — it hurts your illusions. So I sat down with myself and carved out a handful of bitter but necessary truths.

Kids don’t save you from loneliness
Children grow, life pulls them in every direction, and you become a memory they visit when time allows.
You smile… and yet something inside you remains strangely hollow.
Kids bring joy — but they are not a shield against loneliness.

Health is not forever
One day, the outings you once jumped into with enthusiasm feel like a marathon.
You realize health was never a background character — it was the main pillar holding your life steady.

Retirement and money
Retirement is not a reward — it’s a reality check.
Depending on the system is like standing on thin ice.
Bills grow, needs grow, prices grow… but support doesn't.

So I rebuilt my life on new rules — honest, sharp, practical rules for living with dignity.

Rule 1: Money is more reliable than anything else.
Love your kids, cherish them — but don’t make them your retirement plan.
Save for yourself.
Even small savings create big freedom.
Financial independence is dignity.

Rule 2: Your health is your real job
Nothing else matters if your body refuses to cooperate.
Move. Walk. Stretch.
Guard your sleep like treasure.
Eat cleaner. Reduce the poison disguised as sugar and salt.
Illness doesn’t discriminate, but it respects those who take responsibility for themselves.

Rule 3: Create your own joy
Waiting for others to make you happy is the fastest way to heartbreak.
So you learn to enjoy the small things — a peaceful breakfast, a good book, music that warms the soul.
When you know how to make yourself happy, loneliness loses its power.

Rule 4: Aging is not an excuse to become helpless
Some people turn aging into a performance of complaints. And slowly, even those who love them start stepping away.
Strength is attractive. Resilience is magnetic.
People respect the ones who stay capable, not the ones who surrender.

Rule 5: Let go of the past
The good old days were beautiful — yes. But they’re gone, and there is no return ticket.
Clinging to the past steals the present. Life today may look different, but it still holds moments worth living.

Rule 6: Protect your peace like it’s your property
Not every argument needs your voice.
Not every insult needs your response.
Not every relative deserves access to your emotions.
Peace is expensive.
Protect it from drama, negativity, and draining people — even if they're your close ones.

Rule 7: Keep learning something — anything
The day you stop learning is the day you start aging.
A new recipe, a new word, a new app, a new hobby — your brain needs movement just like your body does.
Learning keeps you young. Stagnation makes you old.

Strength and freedom still belong to you.
Aging is an exam no one can take for you.
You can adapt, rebuild, and rise stronger…....or sit back, complain, and wait for someone to rescue you.
And if no one comes to rescue you .......
Stand up for yourself because you still can
. And that single truth is enough to transform the rest of your life.

~ Unknown author