The Rundown: Quotable Quotes

The first issue of The American Quarter Horse Journal for 2012 yields great fodder for insightful quotes.

By Tara Christiansen
The American Quarter Horse Journal
December 30, 2011

“I attribute a lot of our own kids’ success in life to showing horses … I feel like our family used the horses as a teaching tool to grasp the whole scheme of life. It nourished our family and gave us relationships we never would have had.” – Lou Petty in “Beyond Showing” on Page 186.

Back in the day, I used to eagerly wait for the first of the month, salivating in anticipation for the arrival of my favorite magazine, the magazine: The American Quarter Horse Journal. But times have changed for me. For the last few months, I’ve had the privilege of receiving my copy of the Journal hot off the presses.

As I was reading through the first issue of 2012, I kept running across quotes that were too heart-warming, too insightful, too epic not to share. So, here you have it, a taste of the January 2012 Journal:

• “When I think of him, three words come to mind: bold, handsome and feisty. He gave me such confidence. He was so stunning, when he entered an arena, everyone had to look.” – Elizabeth Salisbury remembering her monumental gelding in “Legends: Guns Flash Bull” on Page 182.
• “I’ve never had another breed of horse. I grew up on a ranch where we farmed and had a cow-calf operation, and I worked my uncle’s Wyoming cattle ranch. When you’re working cattle on a ranch, is there really any other breed?” – Jerry Lee Barger in “Quarter Chat: Jerry Lee Barger” on Page 208.
• “In Varsity (National Collegiate Equestrian Association), the athletes have four minutes to ride the horse before the competition. The most important thing for our competitors to remember is that you can’t train a horse in four minutes. You can make one mad in four minutes, but you can’t train a horse to your specifications in four minutes. The rider must adapt to the horse; the horse isn’t going to adapt to the rider.” – Beth Bass, horsemanship coach for the Texas A&M University Women’s Equestrian Team, in “Championship Pattern” on Page 190, which walks readers through the 2011 NCEA finals horsemanship pattern.
• “We’re giving people a place to show after they point out of Novice or Green. An offshoot of this is that it will help the mid-level horse market, too. There will be a place for that Progressive-level horse to go and do well in his level.” – Patti Carter-Pratt, AQHA executive director of shows, in “A Level Outline,” which gives readers a look at the new AQHA leveling program on Page 74.

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• “If I can, I like to put my pony horse in the trailer with the foals. If I’m hauling one weanling, I’ll put the older horse in front and the weanling in the middle. If I’m hauling two weanlings, I’ll put them in the front two compartments and the older horse in the back. Either way, when we’re stopped, the weanlings nicker and talk to the older horse. They know him, and that adds to the comfort factor.” – AQHA Professional Horseman Jack Brizendine in “Safe Travels With Baby” on Page 133.
• “I attribute a lot of our own kids’ success in life to showing horses … I feel like our family used the horses as a teaching tool to grasp the whole scheme of life. It nourished our family and gave us relationships we never would have had.” – Lou Petty, a longtime AQHA competitor, looking back on her AQHA career in “Beyond Showing” on Page 186.
• “You don’t have to be rich and glamorous to do this and be successful. I think the only resource that it might take a luxury of having is time, but you have to find the time. We work hard at what we do.” – Allysn Light in “Light on Target” on Page 140, which gives insight to Allysn and her husband, Robert’s, success in the halter ring.
• “Watching my big boy trot my little girl around did my heart proud. I suddenly realized it didn’t matter how I did. As long as my daughter was having fun, that was all that mattered.” – Pamela Britton-Baer in “Life’s Little Hurdles” on Page 196.
• “When people see working cow horse for the first time, a lot of them say, ‘That looks like fun you’re having chasing the cow.’ What they don’t realize is that there is no ‘chasing’ in cow horse. You’re working the cow and putting yourself in position to make a good fence run. Many people want to make a great fence turn; well, position is how you make a good fence turn. A great fence turn is the cherry on the cake.” – AQHA Professional Horseman Bob Avila in “The Right Position” on Page 212.
• “I’ll never forget the new horse owners who called me to ask about feed and the right amount of oats to give their horse. Then they said, ‘Now this hay that people talk about – do the horses nest in it?’ ” – Dr. Laurie Shelton recounts her adventures as a veterinarian and avid horsewoman in “Spotlight On: Laurie Shelton” on Page 220.
• “Power Command was a once-in-a-lifetime horse. As a halter horse, he had top conformation and a neck that was better than 95 percent of the geldings that were being hauled – and he never saw a neck sweat. As a performance horse, he had the athletic ability to do anything. You could ride him in an ice skating rink and he’d never fall down.” – John Ballweg recalling the legendary sire Power Command in “Old School,” the last of a two-part series on Page 224.
• “The noise was tremendous. ‘Come on, Shue Fly! Come on, Shue Fly!’ It was almost a chant, and Shue Fly came on. Out from behind she charged, like the cavalry saving the settlers, a flashing sunlit sorrel streak that brightened the day. You’d have sworn she was too far back to catch them, but she came through on the rail going hellity-larrup, passing Nobody’s Friend – who had run straight and clear (and later would be named champion stallion for the year) – to win by a nose … Everyone was trying to out-shout his neighbor – Shue Fly had done it – and she had won going away!” – Nelson Nye, who was at the race when Shue Fly beat out Clabber, Joe Tom and Nobody’s Friend for the $1,000 purse in the World Championship Quarter Mile. Read more about this heart-pounding race in “Quarter Paths: Shue Fly” on Page 232.
• “When breeding season comes around, it’s nonstop. It can be all day, all night – a sick baby here, a yearling hurt there, a mare down over there. I might get to bed at midnight and have to get up at 4, but I don’t look at it like a job that I have to go punch in and punch out. People who have a horse in their backyard work on it on the weekends, and that’s their hobby. Well, I get to do my hobby every day. I work very hard at this, but it’s not like a job.” – Ryan Robicheaux, manager of Robicheaux Ranch, in “Making Runners” on Page 234.

How about you? What are your favorite quotes from the January Journal?