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Calf-Roper Tim Malm has big dreams. His goal is to once again compete horseback in the arena in the sport he grew up loving and excelling at.   Here is Tim's Story from his website at www.stronger413.com Hi! I am Tim Malm! "Welcome to my website. I was a 3x qualifier to the National High School Finals Rodeo and the 2009 National High School Reserve Champion Calf Roper. I suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2010 and am working hard to make a full recovery back to roping. I have made so much progress, but I am still working hard each and every day to reach that goal. My Stronger line comes from my favorite Bible verse, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens Me" (Philippians 4:13). I want to thank you in advance for taking time to look at my website and new clothing merchandise, along with the continued prayers!"   Tim has found a unique way to share his story of God's amazing grace through the sale of his coffee line.   We look forward to having Tim on our radio program one day.  

Warren Thompson from Colorado has been training horses and mules for years and has a stellar reputation. I was just looking on our website and it looks like Warren has several really good-looking mules and horses for sale currently. Visit those listings on horsemanscorner.com. Just click on sale horses.   Meanwhile, let's check in with Warren and find out what he does different when it comes to getting those horses ready.   "You want to calm horse out on the trail but you don't want them to be a dead horse, right Warren?"   "No, you don't want to desensitize. You just want them to accept and I call it willing acceptance that they accept an object or a situation willingly and so much of that is the horse trusting the rider and people blame the horse for being skittish or spooking and too often the horse reacts to the rider and the rider is the one that got spooked and so you have to understand that horses are prey animals and they react like prey animals." - Colorado trainer Warren Thompson.   If you want to see those horses for sale, visit horsemanscorner.com. You'll see a variety of horses from Warren Thompson as well as other sellers... looking at some of those trail horses Warren has; there's a 2016 Dunn Gilding, a 2020 Palamino Mare, a 2022 Missouri Fox Trotter, a 2024 Bay Tobiano Philly Paint Horse and a 2019 Sorrel Gilding Tennessee Walker.   See them all at horsemanscorner.com.

We have Tray Pelster on again today, New Mexico Horsewoman and Businesswoman with the Wild Cayuse Cinches business. Tell us what ranching life is like, what's the experience like there?   It's a wonderful experience. Every day I learn something new and I'm starting to build more things that aren't just cinches, cinches and breast collars and the different varieties and cinches and breast collars and women's apparel like purses, purse straps. And now I'm getting more back into leather. My father did it for a long time because he couldn't afford to. It's along the same concept my father could not afford to buy tack so he just started making it. So he makes all of his own head stalls and rains and breast collars and anything he needed he just made. And that inspired me to have the same concept of if I need it, why can't I just make it? It's available to me, it's cheaper and I can make a good quality product so why not? Just challenging yourself to do this. And since I've had my kids, this business has been a godsend. My children love helping me with my cinches. They love going to trade shows and meeting new people and learning the trades of other things and it's really a family based business. It's a true blessing to be in this community of people who care enough about other people to be supportive of that.

I recently asked New Mexico Horsewoman Tray Pelster what it takes to be a trainer.   I think a horse trainer is a horse trainer. You have to be, it's like a runner, people who run for fun. They're like, oh, you gotta be special. It's gotta be chasing you if you want me to run. It's the same concept to be a horse trainer and do it for the public and really enjoy doing it or just stay in the business for that long.   You really have to be a certain type of person. You have to be self-sufficient. You really have to check yourself but also be confident in yourself that you can do this. The horses are one of those animals. They're like kids and dogs. They will always put you on your butt. They will always prove you wrong and humble you in some way, shape or form. But horse trainers that are successful, they understand horses but they also understand people. So as far as differences between pleasure horse trainers and like I've worked for rope horse trainers, I've worked for all these different disciplines, types of trainers, there's really not many differences as far as like just a horse trainer is a horse trainer. They're all the same concept. They are very driven. They expect you to go out there and do your job and do it well. They expect for you to not have to be told what and how to do things. Also there's a certain level of learn but also ask if you don't quite understand. If you see growth in horses throughout the years with these trainers, you see growth in that trainer.   New Mexico horsewoman, Tray Pelster.

Today we talk to Tray Pelster again, this time about her Wild Cayuse Cinches business. Tell us more.   "I started this cinch making business with my mom probably seven years ago. I knew at some point I would be pregnant and having kids and that was my ultimate goal with my husband was to start a family and get to do this with a family. So I wanted to have a little bit of extra income and like a backup, but also I just really like building things and creating good quality tack for your broke cowboys out there. I felt like spending $200 on a cinch was just outrageous for it to go bad in six months, and I needed like four cinches I think. We could not afford it and my husband was working at a feed lot at that time and he'd been in a feed lot for a while. The feed lots just eat up your cinches, especially the cheap ones, and I just decided well, how hard could it be to make something like that? And my dad, he does leather work and he braids and he made his own tack for a very long time but cinches was one thing he never learned to make. And so I asked around in the area and I was like if I started making cinches would that be something you guys would be interested in buying? Probably 80% of the people that I asked said yeah like that's something we need. And it's good to know that we make a product that can help somebody like that because tack is extensive."   New Mexico horse trainer Tray Pelster. Find Wild Cayuse Cinches on Facebook or look for their website coming soon at wildcayusecinches.com.

New Mexico Horsewoman and trainer Tray Pelster on how she likes to start horses.   "I like to do a lot of ground work so I don't have to deal with as much crap on top of them. I have the time to spend with them when I was training horses under people. You have 30 days so you spend across the board from a lot of my trainers on average about a week, week and a half in the round pin and then you just get on them. You learn how to take shortcuts and you learn how to do it quickly and I would rather start them on the ground for about a month and just see where they're at. I was raised on hand cocks and that's slow, start them on the ground thing. They don't look near as hard. It's mostly a scared thing or a fight. I don't trust you situation and the majority of the time I've found that hand cocks that get a bad rap for things because they're smart and they're smarter than most people. But if you can teach them that this is not a fight or fight situation and that you can trust me and they won't want to try anything when you're on their back. So I've had great success with starting them slow on the ground and just covering all your bases and moving with the horse. See my dad, he's a firm believer in starting them three or four. I am like 125 pounds. So for learning from horse trainers, honestly I like to start them at two. Some horses with exception just because they're not mentally ready or they're not physically ready."   New Mexico horsewoman, Tray Pelster.

Meet Tray Pelster, Ranch Wife and Businesswoman from New Mexico Tray Pelster grew up deeply involved in the world of horses and ranching, particularly influenced by her father, who was a reputable horse trainer, and her grandfather who raised Appaloosas and competed at a national level in various disciplines like rain cow horse and cutting. Tray began her training under challenging conditions often working with horses that weren't particularly kid-friendly. Over the years, she has involved herself in various disciplines including English riding, roping, and cutting. She has had a passion for training horses and learning various aspects of horsemanship, specifically valuing starting horses from a young age with a focus on groundwork for long-term success. Diverse Experiences in Ranching and Business Ventures Tray and her husband have moved multiple times across different ranches, gaining diverse experiences in cattle ranching. They currently operate on a ranch in Folsom, New Mexico, where they run about 500 Red Angus cattle and manage challenging terrains. Trey shares insights into the daily operations and the beautifully rugged landscape they work in.  

For the listening publics we're talking to Brandi Iverson. I met Brandi at the Montana Cowboy Poetry gathering in Lewiston, Montana. You were a vendor. Tell us what you're doing there.   Yeah, so I sell wild rags, which are cowboy neckerchiefs. I bought the business about three and a half years ago to be able to stay home with my three kids more often on the ranch. I was previously a teacher in our local school, only school in the county and it has about 55 students kindergarten through high school.   That is the grand old cowboy tradition. You didn't come in from somewhere else like so many of the school farms back in the old days, did you?   No, I grew up in Montana. I've been here all my life and don't ever plan on moving. And so how far away did you have to move when you went to the school there? I grew up in Billings, which is about two hours south of Winnet and my husband dragged me up here. We just had our sixth anniversary. So six and a half years ago we moved out here. And I never really felt grounded until I came out to the ranch the first time and I was like, I am never leaving. I have been able to replace my teaching salary completely. I package all of the scarves and all of my scarves come with a lifetime hem guarantee. All of my materials are domestically sourced. And so that's really great that I'm doing my part to keep our economy going. Brandi Iverson with Montana Wild Rags. Catch our full interview on halebroadcasting.com or anywhere your favorite podcasts are found.

Some great advice from Alturist, California horseman, Buck Brannaman...

Now let's get to today's interview with aaster horseman and clinician from Texas, Mr. Van Hargis. On our last program, Van covered what he prefers in a bit. Now we ask him the question about saddles. So Van, what do you look for in a saddle? Is it fit or is it comfort for the horse? What is it?   Yes sir, what I'm looking for in a saddle of course, you hit the nail right on the head and I want to find a top quality saddle made by a very reputable and very top quality saddle manufacturer. And the reason why is that they're generally going to work a little bit harder with the saddle tree manufacturers to make sure that all points of that saddle to be even. In other words, it's like everything else and you've got to start with a great foundation. That saddle tree is the absolute most important thing there. After that we want to make sure we're using top quality materials. The best leather possible, those are things I look for. But really what I'm looking for outside of those things, I'm looking for something that fits my task. I really have to ask myself, what am I going to be doing in my horse the most? If all I do is race, barrels and the barrel racer, then by God it might just pay for me to go find me a barrel race in the saddle as opposed to a cut and saddle. So I want to match the saddle to the task that suits my need.   Master horseman and clinician Van Hargis; be sure to follow Van Hargis Horsemanship on Facebook.

Master Horseman and clinician from Texas, Mr. Van Hargis. What kind of bit do you like to use, Van? "Well, to me, I'm looking for something that's going to be extremely simple. I start all of my coats off. The first rides are usually with a halter and a lead rope and then I'll graduate to what I call a glorified loping hackamore, which is just a real simple one step above a halter. But the first bit I put in the horse's mouth is just a very simple smooth mouth snaffle. It's an offset D-ring snaffle. Well, I've got nothing against an O-ring snaffle. Almost every bit we ride a horse with outside of a snaffle is going to have some sort of straight edge on it on the corners of the horse's mouth. So if that's the case, I'm going to go with a mild bit of possibly cans that's got a straight edge on the side. There's probably not a better one out there that prepares my horse for the next bit, the transition bit that I would go to next. So what I tell folks to look for is this simplicity. Look for something very simple. Things that we know already work. Number one, smooth. I want smooth mouth because I don't want to flick more discomfort to a horse and this is what I absolutely have to. So I like a smooth mouth. First type of metal such as sweet iron seems to be very, very simple to a horse. It promotes salivation and it's porous enough that salivation isn't wasted, I guess you can say, for like a better turn. So I'll also look for enough smooth mouth snaffle that's with sweet iron metals. For my laziness aspect of it, I like for the cheap pieces to be stainless steel. And the reason I do is if they're quick and easy to clean, maintain a certain high appeal. And there's other bits out there that are pretty buggo that are stainless steel is just easiest and the quickest to keep clean. I like something like that. Again, just trying to keep my world simple as I possibly can for both of me and my horse." Master Horseman and clinician Van Hargis.

Now here's a special treat, the late Howard Hale with an interview with Van Hargis. This is from an interview that I did with Van a couple of years ago. One of the things and one of the people that he talked about was Jack Brainaerd. Gosh Jack Brainerd is an interesting horseman, isn't he? He's probably in his 90s van but really an interesting individual. "One of my little dreams come true. I had an opportunity to do a clinic with Jack. He had Abilene Texas several years ago, I'll tell you a little bit about Mr. Brainard and his attitude toward horsemanship. He was probably in his mid 80s at that time and we had the arena divided in half and I'm looking at one end of the arena. My students were down there and Jack was looking toward the other arena or toward the other direction of the arena. His students were down on that side and we were standing literally standing side by side. One of my students made some sort of deal and I yelled at them some instruction and I thought at first I must have said something wrong because I saw the corner of my eye. I saw Mr. Brainard shaking his head and I'm thinking, oh, I must have said something wrong." "Mr. Brainard, what's on your mind?" "He said, Van, you know, I'm just afraid I'm going to die before I learn everything about these darn horses that I want to learn." "And at that point I was so humbled to sit there and think, here's a guy that's 86 years old, I think he was at the time who had probably trained more trainers than most of us have trained horses and yet he was still on that journey of learning and horsemanship to the point where he was concerned about not getting a chance to learn everything he wanted to learn. And that's when I realized, you know, at that point in time, you know, I've got a long way to go. We all, it's a never ending journey. It's a journey that yields nothing but happiness and success which stay on it and stay humble." Texas clinician and trainer Van Hargis with the late Howard Hale. That's it for today's Horseman's Corner.

Good morning everybody, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship and welcome to the Ranch Road. "For years I've earned a reputation of getting horses to be good stoppers at a fairly young age and people have always asked, well how do you get those little young horses to stop so big? And number one, I don't really work on it in particular, I just work on the basic fundamentals. Number one, I want every horse to understand first and foremost why they're going. It's less of all, you used to say all the time, you make them going and let them whoa. So I don't really force a horse or ask a horse to stop, I just simply let them. And number two, I really believe in what I refer to as my three steps to stopping, which is number one, quit making them go. Number two, the magic word, whoa. And then lastly, we support with our hands to reinforce what the first two things indicated. And then every time I back a horse up, I actually say whoa, and then I draw them backwards. Whoa, and then I draw them backwards. After about 30 rides or so, what whoa means to the horses back up. So now let's move forward to say you're loping them out. And then you say the magic word, whoa. Now what is a horse thinking? Not whoa, not stop, but they're thinking back up. But what have they got to do before they back up? They've got to stop. So to me, just working a lot of backing a horse up, working a lot on getting a horse very come about backing, both on the ground and in the saddle, and then reinforcing the word whoa when we go to back them up. And they stop thinking about what it is we're asking to do next, which is in this case, to back. Appreciate you guys. Until next time, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship."   For more equine podcasts, visit Equine Podcast Search, made possible by Van Hargis Horsemanship. www.equinepodcastsearch.com

Good morning everybody, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship and welcome to the Ranch Road. We have a lot of students that come out to the ranch, and oftentimes on their applications, one of the first things they do to lend themselves some sort of credibility is tell me two things.   I've been around horses my whole life, and then second is I love horses.   Now, both of those are important, right? But they're not really qualifiers. And what I mean by that is, is I'll just give you an example. My entire adult life, I've owned a welder because a lot of our equipment I hear at the ranch is metal. We've got pipe and sucker rod fencing for our horses. We've got a lot of metal things that we fix and we repair. And even though I've owned a welder my entire adult life, I would never insult the welder by calling myself a welder, even though I've owned one.   When I mention that to my students is that I'm not interested in how long you've been doing it. What I'm really interested in is how well you've performed while doing it. Have you developed your skills enough to where you are making progress toward becoming the horseman that you want to be? But it kind of goes for everybody. It doesn't really matter how long you've been doing something. That just shows that you've got either tremendous patience and or passion, which are both good.   Most importantly though is what have you learned along your journey? How can you perform that of which you've learned? So just take that tidbit, we didn't appreciate you guys. And until next time, this is Van Hargis with Van Hargis Horsemanship.