showandtellmagazinevol4issue1web

Show TellTHE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GREAT SOUTHWEST EQUESTRIAN CENTER

M A G A Z I N E

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: GSEC Winter Horse Show Galleries p. 24-33

Vol. 4 No. 1 Winter 2013

F o r T h o s e W h o L i v e a n d R i d e W e l l

Make-A-Wish

TEXAS

TRACYMcReynolds

p. 34

p. 18

PRE-GREENSUPER STAKESp. 12

&

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3 Show & Tell Magazine | Vol. 4 No. 1 Winter 2013

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4 For Those Who Live and Ride Well

C h a n g e

MayMay Festival GHHJA showMay 4-5

Fiesta ClassicUSEF “A” rated showMay 9-12

Greater Houston Miniatures Galaxy Show May 18-19

Texas American Saddle Horse Assoc.May 18-19

Britannia Farm AQHA Spring CelebrationMay 24-26

Spindletop Arabian Spring Show May 24-26

Great Southwest Dressage Diamond Classic I & IIMay 26-27

Great Southwest Summer ReiningMay 31 - June 2

MarchGreat Southwest Great Escape Winter Slide 2013Mar. 1-3

Britannia Farm AQHA Winter ClassicMar. 2-3

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Horse JudgingMar. 4

GSEC Spring GHHJA ShowMar. 9-10

Great Southwest Spring Roundup USEF “A” rated show Mar. 14-17

Greater Houston Miniature Bluebonnet ClassicMar. 16-17

Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Week IMar. 20-24

Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Week 2Mar. 26-30

AprilPJCP Spring Gathering USEF “AA” rated showApr. 3-7

National Reining Breeders ClassicApr. 16-21

Houston Dressage Society Spring ShowApr. 26-28

Show & TellC a l e n d a r o f E v e n t s

E v e n t s

E v e n t s

Photo by Susan J. Stickle

= Great Southwest Equestrian Center Event

Photo by Susan J. Stickle

E v e n t s


C h a n g e

MayBritannia Farm AQHA Spring CelebrationMay 24-26

Spindletop Arabian Spring Show May 24-26

Great Southwest Dressage Diamond Classic I & IIMay 26-27

Great Southwest Summer ReiningMay 31 - June 2

MarchGreat Southwest Spring Roundup USEF “A” rated show Mar. 14-17

Greater Houston Miniature Bluebonnet ClassicMar. 16-17

Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Week IMar. 20-24

Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Week 2Mar. 26-30

April

C o n t e n t s

Show & TellF o r T h o s e W h o L i v e a n d R i d e W e l l M A G A Z I N E

Features12 WIN-WIN FOR TEXAS

The inaugural Pre-Green Hunter incentive offered big payouts By Syrisse Longbottom

18 FREQUENT SLIDER MILES Reining trainer Tracy McReynolds has international roots By Megan Arszman

24 WINTER SHOW GALLERIES Great American/USDF Region 9 & Southwest Dressage Championships;Great Southwest Autumn Classic; Final Chase Horse Show; Gulf Coast Arabian Christmas Show; Texas American Saddle Horse Association Show By Susan Stickle, Don Stine, and Jerry Mohme

Columns10 Getting to Know...

Nicole Saathoff

34 Cause for ApplauseIf Wishes Were HorsesBy Alexandra Beckstett

36 Healthy HorsesTrailering Pre-Trip Checklist By USRider

38 Money MattersThe Annual Apocalypse By Bryan D. Zschiesche, CFP, MS, MBA

40 Real-Estate RoundupPipeline Easements: They’re Everywhere By Deitra Robertson, ALC

42 ClassifiedsMr. Ed’s List

12

18

24

W i n t e r 2 013

36


Show & TellM A G A Z I N E

Volume 4 Issue 1

MANAGING EDITOR

Alexandra Beckstett [email protected], 281-543-6198

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Megan Arszman, Alexandra Beckstett, Jill Elsey, Syrisse Longbottom, Deitra Robertson,

USRider, Bryan D. Zschiesche

ART DIRECTION

Equine Originals

ART DIRECTOR

Suzy Brown [email protected], 971-678-3694

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

InGate Images, Jerry Mohme Photography, Susan Stickle Photography, Don Stine Photography,

Waltenberry Inc.

ADVERTISING

Great Southwest Equestrian Center 281-578-7669

PUBLISHED BY

Great Southwest Equestrian Center 2501 S. Mason Road, Katy, TX 77450

281-578-7669 www.gswec.com

© Great Southwest Equestrian Center. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written consent of Great Southwest Equestrian Center. SHOW & TELL Magazine is published 4 times a year by the Great Southwest Equestrian Center, 2501 S. Mason Road, Katy, Texas 77450. Opinions and editorial expressed herein in are those of the experts consulted and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the editors, advisory board or staff of the Great Southwest Equestrian Center.


GREAT SOUTHWEST EQUESTRIAN

CENTER STAFFMARKETING ASSISTANT

Katie Prerost

GENERAL MANAGER

Sean Brown

SENIOR EQUINE CONSULTANT

Pauline “Cookie” Cook

EQUINE MANAGER

Amy Uniss

OFFICE MANAGER

Sharon Rader

ACCOUNTANT

Cindy Smith

MAINTENANCE MANAGER

Ana Vargas

Cover Photo: Pre-Green incentive winner Peter Pletcher and Snowden.

Photography by InGate Images (www.ingateimages.com)

ADVISORY BOARD

Nancy Cahill • Joan Cantrell • Chris George

Kate Gibson • Hollis Grace • Kathy Jones

Marilyn Kulifay • Colleen McQuay • Peter Pletcher

Patty Roberts • Deitra Robertson • Christian Rogge

2501 S. Mason Road, Katy, Texas 77450 281.578.7669 www.gswec.com

GET THE LATEST GSEC UPDATES ON FACEBOOK!

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8 For Those Who Live and Ride Well88 For Those Who Live and Ride Well

Protecting What You Value Most

For information on equine insurance solutions, call me today!

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10 For Those Who Live and Ride Well10 For Those Who Live and Ride Well

Getting to Know ... Nicole SaathoffNicole Saathoff, a hunter-

jumper rider and trainer based in Hockley, Texas, has been

dedicated to horses since she was a young girl. Her natural talent and hard work throughout the years have helped her advance as a rider, trainer, and business owner.

Nicole started riding after being intro-duced to horses at a summer camp in Dallas. By age seven, she was show-ing her own horse at local shows. She made her way up through the hunters, equitation ranks, and junior jumpers into the grand prixs. As a junior rider, Nicole worked as a student for Allana

Featherstone and had the opportunity to be schooled by show jumping greats such as George Morris and Greg Best. She turned professional at age 19.

Nicole met her husband, Brian Saa-thoff, DVM, at the barn in 1999 and shortly thereafter packed one small U-Haul for the move with him to Cali-fornia. There, Brian, one of the found-ers of Equine Sports Medicine at Los Alamitos Racetrack, in Cypress, Ca-lif., supported her developing riding career.

Now, after starting a family and fur-thering her career while living in Cali-fornia, she and her husband are back in the Lone Star State.

“I enjoy matching horses and riders. It’s like looking for a husband—you have to find your equal partner.”

Q & A

Photos courtesy Jill Elsey

QUESTION: Tell us about your stint in California.

ANSWER: During my 12 years in California I start-ed out as an assistant trainer for Stacy Lambikis. We quickly became partners and had 42 horses in training. I then went to ride hunters for Jeff Katz. Together, Jeff and I took the horse Cooper to com-pete in the first year green’s at (the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in) Harrisburg, Penn., and (the National Horse Show in) New York. I also trained my own jumpers under Sandy Aston and Susie Hutchin-son. My open speed horse, Meiske, competed in classes at 1.40 meters and 1.45 meters around Southern California. In 2009 I started my barn In-dian Hill Farms, which fo-cused on training new riders the basics and foundations of horsemanship. I took my stu-dents up the ranks depending on their interests, including Young Riders, Harrisburg, mul-tiple West Coast medal finals, USET (United States Equestrian Team) Show Jumping Talent Search finals, and West Coast junior hunter finals.

Q: What brought you back to Texas?

A: After starting a family, my husband and I made the decision to move home. While Brian has opened a sat-ellite office, I have now started to grow my new business.

Q: What are some of your training philosophies?

A: I always try to be supportive of my students and use positive training techniques to encourage inexperienced students through their horsemanship education. I also enjoy matching horses and riders.The personality of the horse and the rider have to match.The horse has to do 50% of the work and the rider has to do 50% of the work. It’s like looking for a husband—you have to find your equal partner.

Growing up we didn’t have the budget to buy made horses. We always bought green ones. I learned to take everything one step at a time and to appreciate the horse’s learning process. Now, I apply that patience and appreciation for progressing with my students.

Q: What is some of the best advice you’ve received?

A: The greatest advice I received during my career came from Susie Hutchinson. When talking about our grand prix horses, Susie said, “It’s still just a horse.” This advice works for me on a bad day when I want to get frustrated with them as well as on a great day when I want to shelter them too much.

Q: And what advice would you give others?

A: If I could give advice to every rider, it would be this: You better be willing to work hard because it doesn’t come easy. But if it ever stops being fun, don’t do it, because it should always be fun.

Show & Tell magazine caught up with Nicole recently to talk about her return to Texas:

1111

Nicole and Dr. Brian Saathoff, with sons Mile and Slade, look forward to continuing their journey together back in Texas.

Show & Tell Magazine | Vol. 4 No. 1 Winter 2013

A Win-Win For Texas

Pre-Green Hunter Incentive Is

By Syrisse Longbottom

Although Peter Pletcher and the Oldenburg gelding,

Snowden, took home top and multiple honors at

the first-ever Texas Pre-Green Super Stakes Final

Championship at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center

on Nov. 14, 2012, it was Texas horse owners, trainers, and breeders as a whole that

were “the biggest winners” of this exciting new pre-green

incentive program where total payouts exceeded

$80,000 and more than 63% of the enrollees won back

their enrollment fee.

The inaugural championship, held in conjunction with the two-week-long Great Southwest Autumn Classic and The Final Chase horse shows, offered Texas pre-green hunters not only the chance at a final purse of $25,000 with 50% of entry fees added back, but another $50,000 throughout the year in stakes classes offered at the 19 A-and AA-rated Texas shows that partici-pated in the Super Stakes Series. Each participating show offered a minimum $2,500 stakes class with $75 add-ed back for each low and high pre-green hunter enrolled in the program and competing in Texas, bringing the total available purse to more than $80,000—a remarkable amount for the program’s first year of existence.

The masterminds of the incentive program, dubbed the “Super Series Group,” are Patrick Rodes of South-bound Show Management, Pauline “Cookie” Cook, senior equestrian con-sultant at Great Southwest Equestrian Center, Colleen McQuay of McQuay Stables Inc., and Pletcher of PJP Farm in Magnolia. Their collective goal is to promote the growth and development of hunters in the United States by giv-ing owners, trainers, and breeders a legitimate place to develop, train, and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

A Win-Win For Texas


show their young horses and still have some purse money to ride for. “If there are specific programs to help with weekly fees, horse show fees, and training fees, it becomes both an award and reward program for own-ers, trainers, and breeders,” explained McQuay.

In addition to taking home the blue ribbon and first place payout of $6,300.21 in the final championship, Pletcher also claimed second with Free-dom (owned by Claudine Pletcher), third with San Angelo (owned by Su-san Pelletier), and fourth with Hudson Bay (also owned by Pelletier). His other two rides, Newtime (owned by Jamie Jarvis) and Landor’s Lowe (owned by Nanette Herbert), were also in the money.

“It was awesome,” exclaimed Pletcher in response to his multiple placings and the overall success of the Super Stakes Series. “It was a good inaugu-ral event. It was indoors in a ring that the horses have never shown in, and with pre-green horses that’s a lot for them to deal with. But all of the horses, not just the ones I rode, went really, re-ally well. I was very pleased with all of them.”

Heading into the finals, Stacie Good-son of Bay Yard Farm topped the pack

as Leading Rider with series earnings of $11,773. With Snowden’s win in the final $5,000 Stakes Class the previous day, Pletcher pulled into a tight second place in the Leading Rider standings, followed by Tracy Fenney of MTM Farm in Flower Mound. Susan Schwartz, owner of Goodson’s ride Salomon,

took home the Leading Owner award, with Salomon earning the Leading Horse award based on series earnings of $6,325.

Judged by Christine Tauber and Bucky Reynolds, placings were determined by combined scores from two rounds, with the top 15 horses returning for the second round. The winning rider and owner of the winning horse in the final championship were each awarded a watch from sponsor Cat-ena USA, along with monogrammed coolers given to the top eight horses in the Final Championship, includ-ing Leading Horse, Rider, Owner, and Thoroughbred.

During the championship, attendees and sponsors wined and dined at a lovely buffet dinner on the mezzanine sponsored by Ralph and Audry Gates, complete with a private label wine for the event. For those unable to attend, a live stream of the Final Championship was broadcast at www.shownet.biz.

When designing the incent ive program, “We set it up to spread the money around,” Pletcher explained. “We raised a lot of money through the

Colleen McQuay, Patrick Rodes, Pauline “Cookie” Cook, Peter Pletcher.


year with each show putting on a Super Stakes class. And it all came down to the end with the top group of horses, which was nice with the amount of money that was raised from sponsor-ships, horse shows, and nominations. It’s just amazing what we, as a group and our business and the sport, can do for the sport.”

In addition to the sizeable purse, the Texas Pre-Green Super Stakes Series

provides a valuable marketing service to breeders, owners, and trainers. En-rollment for the inaugural class was approximately 65 horses, 20 of which were slated to compete in the final event. While more horses had been expected to compete in the finals, sev-

eral of the top horses were no longer eligible because they had been sold and moved out of Texas. That was the situation encountered by Fenney. “The horse that I was winning with was sold,” she said. “But that’s a good thing be-cause training and selling horses is what we do.”

As emphasized by McQuay, “That is part of the benefit of this program; it markets the horses. Having this kind of

program along with the stakes classes encourages people to buy pre-green horses.” From a trainer’s perspec-tive, “The incentive is a great thing for our sport,” said Fenney. “It encour-ages people to own pre-green horses instead of just having them for sale,

especially people in our business who do lots of sales.”

Daniel Bedoya, of Daniel Bedoya Stables, noted that the pre-green year is a long one for owners, with lots of money being spent on the sport. “This (incentive) gives something back to the owners and lets the trainers take a little more time to develop the young horse because they have something at the end of the year to look forward to and throughout the year as well,” he said.

Another motivation for creating the program is that many people in the hunter/jumper industry want more op-portunities to develop horses in and from the United States. “Not that there’s anything wrong with buying horses in Europe, but there are breeders in this country and lots of owners and trainers who want to do business just here in the U.S.,” McQuay said. This incentive will provide these opportunities.

Dovetailing with the “buy-American” concept is the Take 2 Thoroughbred Bonus, which was also part of the Super Stakes Series. The award is sponsored by the Take 2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program whose goal is to give racing Thoroughbreds a second career after retirement from the racetrack. The racing industry has recognized that, as a result of the trend for buying European warmbloods as show hunters, the Thoroughbreds are losing the potential for a second career in the hunter/jumper world. “For that reason the Take 2 group has created an incentive so that people

will go back and try the Thoroughbred instead of being engulfed in only the warmblood. And it’s working,” added McQuay. The winner of the Super Stakes Series Take 2 Thoroughbred Bonus Award was Hollywood Hero, owned by 18-year-old Allison Jones and ridden

“If there are specific programs to help with weekly fees, horse show fees, and training fees, it becomes both an award and reward program for owners, trainers, and breeders.” — Colleen McQuay

Peter Pletcher and Snowden


“The incentive encourages people to own pre-green horses instead of just having them for sale.”

— Tracy Fenney

All photos by InGate Images


by Shannon Slyfield of Slyfield Farm, in Spring.

As mentioned, the pre-green incentive program is enrollment-based with the add-back being entry-based, which means that it is self-funding and sus-tainable, regardless of the availabil-ity of sponsorship funds. As McQuay described it, “The programs are the ingredients of the cake. The watches, bonus money, and sponsorship funds are the frosting on the cake. We will have good ingredients from start to finish, and people will be able to bank on these programs as they buy, train, and sell their young horses.”

Notwithstanding the self-funding nature of the program, the generous support of sponsors is always greatly appreciated by the producers and participants and adds extra sparkle and support to the events. Super Stakes Se-ries sponsors included Catena Watch-es, Great Southwest Equestrian Center, Take 2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program, EMO Insurance Agency, PJP Farm and Peter Pletcher, Ralph and Audry Gates, and McQuay Stables Inc.

Following the Texas Pre-Green Super Stakes incentive program’s lead,

the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) recently launched a national program of pre-green incentives based on recommendations from its Open Hunter Task Force, which includes Mc-Quay and Pletcher along with other prominent industry members. The pro-gram opened for enrollment on Nov. 15, 2012. The finals, to be held in con-junction with the USHJA International Hunter Derby, will take place at the Kentucky Horse Park in August 2013 and will offer a guaranteed minimum $25,000 purse.

As far as age limits for the pre-green incentive programs, there are none.

Horses only need to be eligible as a pre-green hunter under United States Equestrian Federation rules. But as the Texas and USHJA programs grow, the goal is to offer bonuses for 4-year-old and possibly 5- to 6-year-old hunt-ers. Age classifications will allow show organizers to study the age and gen-der of hunters that are showing in the United States so that they can better tailor the incentives. McQuay’s belief is that these programs could easily morph into first year green incentives with benefits to those who have been enrolled as pre-green horses.

The exciting news for 2013 is that, with both the Texas Pre-Green Super Stakes program and the USHJA Pre-Green Incentive Program under way, Texas owners, trainers, and breed-ers will have not one, but two incentive programs to benefit from at the same horse show for the same ride.

“I am really happy and pleased with our Texas program,” said Rodes. “The pre-green division was pretty much dead here in Texas, but now it has new life. That’s a great thing to seeand I think it will continue.” As Pletcher summed up quite simply: “It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Bio: Syrisse Longbottom, a photo-journalist and owner of InGate Images & Production, has been actively involved with sporthorses for over 30 years, including foxhunt-ing, eventing, dressage, and sport-horse breeding. She and her husband live on their farm in Magnolia, TX.

Durgin Park and Sarah Invita Williams

Around the world with reining trainer Tracy McReynolds

frequent

SLIDER miles

By Megan Arszman

Photos: (Left to Right) The Whiz Way - NRHA Derby 2012, Thunder Ranch, Nathalie and Tracy McReynolds

- Photos courtesy Tracy McReynolds -

Valor Del Cielo - 2010 Photo by Connie Kelts

Keepin It TivitoNRHA Derby Finalist 2012

Tivos Lil Dun It - Palomino World Champion 2011 & 2012 Photo by Jeff Kirkbride


M ost horse trainers are accustomed to trekking across the country for horse shows, clinics, and sales. Some might even venture outside U.S. bor-ders to compete internationally. But not many American trainers are likely to be

as well-traveled as reining trainer Tracy McReynolds.

Accruing Early Miles

Both Tracy’s love for horses and his worldwide travels began when he was a young child. He was born in Florida in 1960 while his father, Carl, worked on a radar system project for NASA’s Apollo rockets. Four years later the family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Tracy first discovered horses.

In 1970 the McReynolds family packed up and moved again, this time to Haiti, where Carl and his wife Edith did mission work. While Carl helped construct schools and orphanages on the island, Tracy learned to ride on his family’s first horses. After three years their mission work was complete, and the McReynolds moved to Tulsa, Okla.,

where Tracy’s father earned his teach-ing degree and began his new career.

During Tracy’s senior year in high school he discovered rodeos, and he competed in them regularly while studying agriculture business at the University of Arkansas.

Tracy’s time in college, however, only lasted a short while. After attending Bud Beaston’s Farrier School, he was hooked on the trade—particularly when he discovered that good farriers were very well-paid.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

“I wanted to be here in Texas where the biggest and the best are. I knew the competition here would be enormous and that would push me to get even better.” — Tracy McReynolds

The Whiz Way - NRHA DERBY 2012 Photo by Waltenberry


Shoeing also introduced Tracy to the horse show world. “The first show I saw was an Arabian show,” Tracy recalled. “I thought it was nice, but shows didn’t attract me for a couple of years. It wasn’t until I saw reining (at the 1985 Texas Classic) … with the speed and agility of the horses and the stops and spins that I got excited about horse shows.”

Tracy had been training horses on top of his horse shoeing business, but he didn’t get serious about it until after that show. He started watching some of the well-known reining trainers in action and attended a few Bob Loo-mis clinics to learn more about the fascinat-ing sport.

In 1 9 8 8 T r a c y moved to Bonsall,

Calif., to train seriously under Robert Chown at Rawhide Ranch. Then he migrated down to Los An-geles where he continued to learn about reining by buying and sell-ing horses at a local sale barn.

“I started breaking and shoeing horses to pay my way, and I would try to teach the horses I was riding how to do the reining maneuvers,” he explained. “This provided me with the ability to practice my training tech-niques on these horses without messing up some owner’s horse if I did some-thing wrong. It took me about four years of this and watching other train-ers like Todd Crawford before I was good enough to start showing them.”

In 1993 Tracy had enough training under his belt to begin showing on the reining circuit. Then, on a chance encounter, he punched his ticket to France.

Parlez Vous Reining?

For five years in California Tracy culti-vated not only a reining horse clientele, but also some cow horse clients. When Marie-Laure Roure flew in from France to look at cow horses, he was able to show her a few of his best. She bought one horse from him and 30 days later called Tracy, then 38, with a job offer to train horses for her in France.

“At the time I was show-ing horses and training

at a lease-option farm. I was train-ing 10 to 15 horses by

myself, cleaning stalls, and taking care of the place on my own,” Tracy ex-plained. “They offered me more money than I was making at the time, and I didn’t have to do any-thing but wake up in the morning and ride horses. It was a no-brainer.”

Tracy accepted the job with Jean and Marie-Laure Roure and began training out of a facility owned by Andre Cha-banier. He relished in the opportunity to hone his craft and to focus solely on training. He spent his free time learn-ing to speak French and experiencing the culture. “I can go to France now

by myself and get around with no problem,” he said.

“I didn’t go to France with expand-ing my business in mind—the move was more of an adventure for me,” he added. “Going to France was an excellent opportunity to develop my training skills. I had no other respon-sibilities than to ride, train, and show their horses. The horses I had to train there were much better bred than the ones I would get in California. This re-sulted in horses with more talent and better minds, making it easier to train them and, thus, leading to even more success.”

That adventure a l s o l e d

Tracy to the love of his life. After about a

year of training in St. Remy de Provence, France, Tracy met his future wife Nathalie

at a horse show. He was competing in rein-

ing and she was com-peting in Western pleasure.

Nathalie was looking to branch out from pleasure and started taking rein-ing lessons. Tracy helped her sell some of her horses, and their friendship blossomed into romance. Two years later, on a rare weekend in April when there were no horse shows to attend, the two were married.

In December 2003, with the horse show scene slowing in Europe and the


dream of building his own place there becoming less realistic, Tracy decided it was time to move back to the States. After their paperwork was put togeth-er, Nathalie and her three kids joined Tracy in Houston in March 2004.

“I decided to move back to Texas be-cause I wanted to be recognized as a good trainer here. I don’t think the Americans are as concerned with what goes on in Europe in the reining,” he explained. “I wanted to be good here in Texas where the biggest and the best are. I knew the competition here would be enormous and that would push me to get even better, to stay on top of the game.”

At first Tracy started training out of Martha Moore’s Brigadoon Farm, but as his clientele started to grow, so did his need for his own place. In July 2004 Tracy hung his own shingle for Thunder

Ranch in Waller and started taking in non pro riders and horses.

The 15-acre ranch has turnouts, a 14-stall barn, an outdoor arena, and a backyard pool in which to cool off. Tracy and Nathalie decided to name their establishment Thunder Ranch because, “I had never seen so many thunderstorms in my life—it seems like we had one once a week or so,” he said.

Tracy currently has about 14 horses in training. While he focuses primarily on his non pros and their horses, he’s al-ways looking for aged event horses to compete in the futurity and aged event shows.

“It requires a lot of skill to keep a rein-ing horse going throughout the years,” he said. “Training the young horses helps keep me at a higher level.”

The Horses of his Career

Tracy counts himself as very lucky to be able to show horses on two continents and to experience reining at the inter-national level. He lists one of the most successful horses he has ridden as a Paint horse in Europe named (aptly) Titan Texan. The horse’s talent and attitude caught the attention of many Europeans.

“In every country he showed in (fans) would come to see us and tell us how nice he was,” Tracy recalled. “We even got a standing ovation at Aus-tria’s largest (NRHA show) before we ever ran the pattern. That was a great experience.”

In the States Tracy has been enjoying the ride on The Whiz Way, owned by Jim McAlister. In the past two years he was the Intermediate Open champion in the 7 and up Derby at the National Reining Horse Association Derby in Oklahoma City; the National Reining Breeders Classic in Katy, Texas; and the Cowtown Classic in Fort Worth. In all, the buckskin gelding has won ap-proximately 28 bronzes with Tracy at the reins. “He has dominated this class the last two years,” Tracy says.

Enjoying Life

Now Tracy and Nathalie work together on their ranch and spend time with their family. Together they’ve raised

Nathalie’s twin daughters, Lise and Melina (now 14), and her son, Max (20), who is currently attending col-lege at The Citadel in South Carolina. “We’re really proud of him. He’s on the President’s List, the Dean’s List, … everybody’s list. He’s in the top of his class,” said the proud stepdad.

Melina rides some, but Tracy’s com-fortable with the kids taking different directions with their lives than he has. “I don’t really want them to grow up to be trainers like me,” he said. “I do it because I enjoy it. You do it because you love it, even though it’s a lot of work.”

While Tracy plans to continue targeting reining events such as NRHA futurity and Derby classes while still catering to his clients, he has considered po-tentially expanding his training into the dressage and Arabian breed realms.

“We have been approached by some of these equine professionals in using our skills of putting a more solid foun-dation on a horse and applying these methods to obtain a more broke, quiet, supple, and showable horse,” he said.

But his end goal remains the same: “To be the best that we can be and to spend less time working and more time with the family.”

Bio: Megan Arszman is a palomino lover and dog-agility-competitor who lives and works in Lexington, Ky.

“I didn’t go to France with expanding my business in mind—the move was more of an adventure for me.” — Tracy McReynolds

Photo Gallery

Great American/USDF Region 9

& Southwest Dressage Championships

Photos by Susan J. Stickle

Nov 1-4

Photo Gallery

Great Southwest Autumn Classic

Horse Show

Photos by Don Stine

Nov 7-11

Photo Gallery

Final Chase

Horse Show

Photos by Don Stine

Nov 14-18

Photo Gallery

Gulf Coast Arabian

Christmas Show

Photos by Don Stine

Nov 30 - Dec 2

Photo Gallery

Texas American

Dec 1-2

Saddle Horse Association Show

Photos by Jerry Mohme


C h a n g e

If Wishes Were HorsesWhile listing her favorite

things, Daynin is not unlike many 6-year-old girls: She

loves the color pink, she loves chew-ing gum, and her favorite thing to do is play with animals. Also like so many little girls she has always dreamed of owning her very own pony. One thing that does make Daynin unique, however, is that she suffers from a life-threatening form of cancer called leukemia.

Last year Daynin, of Houston, celebrat-ed her seventh birthday party—a bright spot between cancer treatments and hospital visits—in equine style. From the cake to the decorations, everything sported a pony theme. But the high point of the party was when two Make-A-Wish Foundation volunteers showed up with pint-sized pony “Boots” in tow. Daynin was speechless, hugging and kissing her new four-legged friend nonstop.

This type of touching moment is what so many Make-A-Wish volun-teers experience when they sign on to bring a bit of happiness to ailing children and their families. The foun-dation grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions to “enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.”

“We found that not only do the children whose wishes get granted benefit from the wish, but so do their families, their extended families, all the volunteers, and the volunteers’ families,” said Teresa E. Andrepont, president and CEO of the Texas Gulf Coast and Loui-siana chapter. “When people come to-gether to grant a wish it’s just a very powerful experience.”

The Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana team currently con-sists of seven fulltime employees, a 37-member board, and a wealth of selfless volunteers that assist in all phases on the foundation’s work.

The wish process itself begins when Make-A-Wish receives a referral from a child, his or her immediate family, or from a medical professional. “In other words, the next door neighbor can’t call in and refer a child for a wish,” Andrepont explained. “It has to come from someone close to the family or a medical professional who knows they have to discuss it with the family first.”

After receiving a referral, Make-A-Wish then contacts that child’s primary phy-sician to verify that the child quali-fies medically for the wish. “As you can imagine, we get a couple dozen

C a u s e f o r A p p l a u s e

Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana makes dreams come

true for horse-crazy childrenBy Alexandra Beckstett


referrals a year from parents who want their child to qualify for a wish but that don’t have a life-threatening medical condition,” said Andrepont. “We try to explain that it’s a good thing that they don’t qualify!”

If a child does qualify, a trained two-volunteer wish team is sent to meet and visit with the child. One volunteer does the paperwork with the family while the other talks to the child to make sure he or she understands the concept of a wish. Some children, particularly those who are younger than 5 or who come from an impoverished background, have never blown out a candle on a birthday cake or don’t know what it is to “make a wish.”

“We make sure they understand what we’re talking about, and then we ask them the one wish in their heart,” An-drepont said. “And it may be some-thing they’ve never told anyone, but they can tell us and were going to try to make it happen.”

Often the request is something very feasible, such as owning a horse or meeting a celebrity. Other times it’s more complicated, such as “Can you find my dad?” As long as it’s legal, however, Make-A-Wish tries to make it happen.

Naturally, the foundation has grant-ed several horse-related wishes like Daynin’s over the years, using donat-ed horses and ponies from reputable sources. The first such wish the Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana chapter granted was to a 12-year-old girl be-ing treated for leukemia at Texas Chil-dren’s Hospital. She wanted a horse.

Miranda had relapsed and was hospital-bound indefinitely, making the prospect of horse ownership chal-lenging. Hopeful, the Make-A-Wish team asked Miranda’s doctor and Texas Children’s staff if there was any way they could bring a horse to the hospital, and they complied.

“They told her she was going to the other building for tests, and we brought the horse to the physician’s parking garage,” Andrepont recalled. “She and ‘Red’ met in the parking garage for the first time, and her mom said it was like night and day after that. The minute she got back in her room she said, ‘OK, what do I have to do to get

out of here so I can go home to Red?’ ”

Miranda’s wish was granted nearly two decades ago. Since then, Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana, one of 62 chapters nationwide, has granted more than 5,500 wishes, including a record-breaking 469 in 2012 alone. To learn more about volunteering or donating and to read additional wish stories, visit http://texgulf.wish.org.

“When people come together to grant a wish it’s just a very powerful experience.” –Teresa E. Andrepont

Bio: Alexandra Beckstett grew up horse showing at the Great South-west Equestrian Center and now lives and rides in Lexington, Ky.

Trailering Pre-Trip ChecklistAfter several years of analyz-

ing accidents involving horse trailers, USRider, the national

provider of roadside emergency assis-tance for horse owners, has developed a checklist to help equestrians avoid accidents on the road.

“We believe you can never over-prepare for a trailering trip with your horse,” said Bill Riss, managing

member for USRider. “Even if you are only going to travel a short distance to a local event, an accident—or some other emergency—could occur, leaving you stuck on the highway unexpectedly for an extended period.”

Through its Equestrian Motor Plan, USRider provides emergency roadside assistance and towing services, along with other travel-related benefits, to its

members in the lower 48 states as well as Canada and Alaska. With an an-nual fee comparable to that of other roadside assistance programs, USRider offers many services geared especially toward horse owners. These include flat-tire repair, battery assistance and lockout services, towing up to 100 miles plus roadside repairs for tow vehicles and trailers with horses, emergency sta-bling, veterinary referrals, and more.


C h a n g eH e a l t h y H o r s e s

Based on accident research, checklists help improve safetyBy USRider


Working with Dr. Tomas Gimenez, retired professor of Animal and Vet-erinary Sciences at Clemson University, and Dr. Rebecca Gimenez, an animal physiologist and a primary instructor in technical large-animal emergency res-cue, USRider has been gathering and analyzing data about horse trailer ac-cidents for the last eight years. From this data, Drs. Gimenez and USRider have gleaned some pertinent recom-mendations for preventing accidents and enhancing equine safety while traveling.

This information has been compiled in a handy Pre-Trip Checklist for Horse

Trailers. The checklist is conveniently available to smartphone users on US-Rider’s mobile website (www.usrider.org) for use prior to each roadtrip.

Items to check before hitting the road include:

• Wheel bearings: Be sure to have bearings serviced annually or each 12,000 miles due to possible moisture buildup. It’s also important to carry a spare wheel bearing set in case of pre-mature failure.

• Tires: Look for dry rot, uneven tire wear, overall tire wear, and damage. Be sure to replace tires every three to five years regardless of mileage.

• Tire pressure: Don’t forget to also check tire pressure on spares and the inside tire on dual wheels.

• Hitch: Ensure the hitch is locked on the ball and that the correct sized ball is being used.

• Safety cables/chains: Check to see that these are connected securely.

• Electrical connection: Make sure it’s plugged in and secured.

• Breakaway system: Ensure that this system is connected and secured.

• Emergency battery: Check to see that it’s charged.

• Trailer lighting: Check lights for the brakes and turn signals as well as run-ning and perimeter lights.

• Brake controller: Test to ensure that it’s working properly.

• Emergency Contacts Carry with you a completed In Case of Emergency (ICE) form.

• Trailer: Before loading horses, check the trailer for any hazards such as pro-truding sharp edges.

• Horses: Don’t forget to put shipping boots and head bumpers on horses, as necessary.

• Doors: Secure and latch all trailer

doors. Place a snap hook or carabiner on latches to prevent accidental opening.

• Headlights: For greater safety, drive with highlights on at all times.

• Drive safely: When hauling, allow greater braking distance and travel at generally slower speeds.

Also be sure to check the contents of your equine and human first aid kits and replace any depleted and out-of-date items. A list of recommended items for first aid kits is posted on the USRider website at www.usrider.org.

USRider advises horse owners to never depend on others to hitch their trailer. “The driver is ultimately responsible,” said Riss. “Even if someone else actually does the hitching, the driver should al-ways go behind them to double-check that the trailer is properly hitched.

“Trailers that are properly hitched do not come unhitched,” he added. “It is amazing how many trailers are sitting on a ball from tongue weight alone, but the hitch mechanism is not latched or locked on the ball. Trailer accidents where the trailer comes loose from the trailer have a high incidence of hu-man and equine fatalities. Worst of all, these kinds of incidents are highly avoidable.”

To gather further accident informa-tion, USRider is continuing to study trailer accidents. USRider encourages all horse owners, trainers, emergency responders, veterinarians, and others who have somehow been involved in horse trailer incidents to participate in their survey.

The information being collected in-cludes type of transport and towing vehicle, number and type of horses in transport, cause of accident, results of accident, extent of human and equine injuries, and type of personnel involved in rescue. Visit www.usrider.org to download the survey form.

“You can never overprepare for a trailering trip with your horse.”

For additional safety tips, visit the Equine Travel Safety Area on the USRid-er website at http://www.usrider.org/safety.html or call (800) 844-1409.


The Annual ApocalypseBy Bryan D. Zschiesche, CFP, MS, MBA

Sir John Templeton, the father of international investing, once said, “Among the four most dan-

gerous words in investing are ‘it’s dif-ferent this time.’” With the continuation of a lackluster economic recovery and so much congestion in Washington these days, it is difficult not to feel that way. Financial “journalists” bombard us daily with headlines about the Eu-ropean debt crisis, the fiscal cliff, geo-political conflict abroad, and political gridlock at home. They bring this news to us as if it was brand new, and they tell us that its implications on the finan-cial markets are both dreadful and un-precedented.

So my goal with this column is to pro-vide an antacid (a healthy historical perspective) for the heartburn induced by these financial journalists and “The Annual Apocalypse” they peddle.

Awhile back, I ran across an issue of TIME magazine with the following headline: “High Anxiety: Looming re-cession, government paralysis, and the threat of war are giving Americans a case of the jitters.” At first blush I as-

sumed this was a recent edition, but to my surprise I found that the issue was dated Oct. 15, 1990. I’ll do the math for you … that’s more than 22 years

ago. Since seeing that cover, I’ve lo-cated a score of TIME magazine covers heralding a coming financial apoca-lypse that could easily be used today (see below for a sampling).

Scary headlines might sell magazines, but they don’t make for sound invest-ment guidance or a reliable long-term perspective. And while the journalists who compose these articles write with

M o n e y M a t t e r s

“Scary headlines might sell magazines, but they don’t make for sound investment guidance or a reliable long-term perspective.”

Sept. 9, 1974 Feb. 9, 1982 Dec. 3, 1984 Oct. 15, 1990

Sept. 14, 1998 July 29, 2002 Oct. 13, 2008 June 20, 2011


confidence and conviction, the simple truth is that they don’t know the future. In fact, if the doomsday picture painted by TIME’s journalists had compelled investors to sell out of stocks, it would have been a devastating mistake. For example, if you take the S&P 500’s re-turn from the first publication date be-low (Sept. 9, 1974) through Nov. 30, 2012, an investor would have missed out on 6,265.7%, or 11.5% annual-ized, had he or she sold out of stocks, according to Morningstar Direct.

We endure the short-term discomfort of market volatility because of the undeni-able long-term benefit stocks provide. Don’t allow financial “journalists,” who care nothing for your well being, to take your eye off that ball. Invest in a thoughtful, disciplined, diversified ap-proach. And if you’d prefer not to navi-gate the complex world of investing alone, enlist the help of a Registered Investment Advisor to help keep you on track. Visit us at www.finsyn.com or give us a call at (713) 623-6600 to

have a conversation about building a smart investment portfolio.

Bio: Bryan D. Zschiesche, CFP, MS, MBA, is a financial advisor with Finan-cial Synergies Asset Management in Houston, Texas. He was recognized from 2008 to 2012 as one of America’s Top Financial Planners by the Consum-ers’ Research Council of America and is recognized by Kingdom Advisors as a Qualified Kingdom Advisor.

September 13-15Great Southwest American Hero’s Arabian Classic

October 25-27Great Southwest Spooktacular Arabian Classic

gswec.com


Pipeline Easements: They’re EverywhereBy Deitra Robertson, ALCAccredited Land ConsultantMember: REALTORS® Land Institute

I represented a buyer recently who had been negotiating on a large property an hour or so from

Houston. We were very close to closing on the deal when the neighbor men-tioned that a certain pipeline would soon be coming through the property. According to this neighbor, all property owners had received notice. Interest-

ingly enough, neither the seller nor the seller’s agent had disclosed this rather important bit of information. And yes, the pipeline company verified that the seller had received notice.

The transporting of oil and natural gas is of concern both to property owners and to the oil and gas companies with the huge energy boom in Texas. Own-ers of mineral rights find the drilling in Texas shale regions to be lucrative, but the landowners with surface rights are unprepared to negotiate with pipeline companies.

Most landowners are unaware how to deal with these companies that are acquiring easements all over Texas to move gas. If a meeting of the minds does not occur, then the easement will be condemned. So what is a land-owner to do? Legally, the landowner cannot stop the easement but the con-demner does have liabilities for dam-ages to the land incurred during the survey process.

Landowners should also be aware that the pipeline easement agreement the pipeline company offers to owners is negotiable. Frequently, the pipeline company will attempt to purchase property and property rights not need-ed for their project.

These battles have gone all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. Hence, pipe-line companies are seeking the Texas Supreme Court to overturn an appel-late court decision that would increase pipeline companies’ costs substantially in order to pay landowners the dimi-nution in their lands’ value due to the pipeline.

There is help for the landowner if a pipeline is slated to come across your property. My Team and I work closely with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M and their attorney who lectures

on this subject and has written many articles on negotiating pipeline ease-ments. If you are looking for rural property, be aware of the pipelines, who holds them, and the implications of having them on your property. Fre-quently established pipelines will not diminish your enjoyment and use of the property. Become knowledgeable about this before you purchase a coun-try property.

Recognized by USEF (“A”)USEF JUMPER RATING THREE

Texas Hunter Jumper Association (“A”)

MARCH 14 - 17, 2013

www.gswec.com

Featuring$10,000 Meter 1.35 Jumper Classic$5,000 Meter 1.25 Jumper Classic

$5000 National Hunter Derby$2500 Low Children’s / Adult Amateur Jumper Classic$2500 High Children’s / Adult Amateur Jumper Classic

“Landowners should be aware that the pipeline easement agreement pipeline

companies offer is negotiable.”

R e a l E s t a t e R o u n d u p

Bio: Deitra Robertson is the president of Deitra Robertson Real Estate Inc., specializing in farms, ranches, and equestrian properties. Deitra showed horses (hunters) coast to coast for almost 20 years. She rides and trains using natural horsemanship principles with all her horses.


C h a n g eM r . E d ’ s L i s t

EQUESTRIAN REAL ESTATE

“A horse is a horse, of course of course, and no one can talk to a horse of course, that is of

course, unless the horse, Is the famous Mister Ed!

Go right to the source and ask the horse. He’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse.”

March 1-3GSEC Great Escape Winter Slide

April 16-21National Reining Breeders Classic

May 31-June 2Great Southwest Summer Reining

October 4-6Great Southwest East Meets West Fall Slide gswec.com


C h a n g eWe are proud to announce OTTO Sport International

THE OFFICIAL ARENA FOOTING PROVIDER

For Great Southwest Equestrian Center

Otto Sport- und Reitplatz GmbH of Germany will be the official footing supplier of Great Southwest’s arenas. The patented OTTO Perforated Mats and meticulously blended footing mixture boast high water permeability, outstanding concussion

absorption, and non-slip properties to protect horses to the fullest.

Otto Sport is a family-run company with more than 25 years experience in arena construction. The company has provided more than 5,000 installations in arenas throughout the world, including the stadiums and arenas at the Kentucky Horse

Park, host of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

March 14-17 GSEC Spring GHHJA Spring Round up

March 20-24 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Week I

March 26-30 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show Week II

April 3-7 PJCP Spring Gathering

May 9-12 Fiesta Classic

September 26-29 Great Southwest Fall Classic

October 17-20 Britannia Farm

November 6-10 Great Southwest Autumn Classic

November 13-17 PJCP Final Chase USEF

March 9-10 GSEC/GSEC Spring Show

May 4-5 GSEC May Festival

June 1-2 GSEC Spring Flowers/Brittanni Farm

June 15-16 Summer Blowout

July 6-7 Muy Caliente

August 17-18 Hot Daze/Mo Hot Daze

September 7-8 Mo Hot Daze/Britannia Farm

November 23-24 Fall Harvest/Fall Finale

GHHJAUSEF A & AA

gswec.com

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Documents

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