Proper equine dental care is vital to barrel horses—all horses for that matter. I want to take the opportunity in my first blog entry to talk about a major issue facing horse owners in Texas right now, and may eventually affect horse owners across the country. It involves the independent equine dentists, and if and how they are going to be regulated by the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

I think all of us would agree that we want the very best care we can find for our equine athletes. Whether you prefer to employ an equine dentist or not, it’s important to be aware of the issues facing them.

I have a great deal of respect for my equine dentist, Randy Riedinger, who is also director, owner, president and instructor of the Texas Institute of Equine Dentistry in Weatherford, Texas. The level of knowledge and training he has acquired to be an expert and leader in his field is something I value, so much so that Randy is part of my personal horse care program and also lectures at my clinics.

Randy’s services are in very high demand from some of the biggest names in the horse industry. Great horsemen like Bob Avila trust Randy with the care of their highly-valued performance horses. I treasure the liberty I have to choose who I have work on my horses, but that right is being threatened right now in a fight that will impact horses, horse owners and equine dentists alike.

For the past several years, the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners has made an effort to deter equine dentists in Texas from practicing their trade—from sending cease and desist letters to imposing major fines of up to $5,000 per day and even jail time. The TBVME wants to eliminate teeth floaters, and this battle has gone to the Texas court system.

There are some major new things happening in the legal battle that will impact not only the right of equine dentists to work, but also the right of you as a horse owner to choose the care you want. The Institute of Justice has filed suit in Travis County District Court in Austin on behalf of equine dentists and Texas horse owners saying that the TBVME’s licensing demands violate Texas law and the Texas Constitution.

On Sept. 10, 2010, the Vet Board met and voted to reject their own proposed rule that would require veterinary supervision whenever a floater uses power tools, which would have allowed people like Randy to work with hand tools, but only under a vet’s supervision with power floating tools.

“The Vet Board rejected the rule because some influential veterinarians continue to use their political clout to keep out competition,” said Lee McGrath, an attorney for the Institute for Justice has been working on the case. “Veterinarians have  the majority of votes on the TBVME, and they are using their power to advance their private interests. Horse owners and teeth floaters also opposed the rule, but their motive is based on the freedom to work and of horse owners having the choice as to who works on their horses’ teeth.”

McGrath further explained that even though it rejected the proposed rule distinguishing between hand-floating and power-floating, the TBVME seems committed to the overall goal of putting non-veterinarian floaters out of business one way or the other, or forcing all teeth-floating work to be done under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

Personally, I feel that there are a lot of horses that stand to lose if the TBVME gets their way. There are a million horses in the state of Texas and over 250,000 horse owners. I think horse owners need the freedom to choose whether they seek equine dental care from a vet or an equine dentist. It’s very important for people to understand what is going on right now with this legal battle, so their freedom isn’t sabotaged.

For more background on this monumental case, I encourage you to visit ij.org/economicliberty/650.

Charmayne James

Last week ended up being a pretty good week for me—but I didn’t win enough money to make a big impact on my World Standings earnings, unfortunately. The year-end standings are a little harder to predict this season, with the WPRA not sponsoring the Tour Finales in Puyallup, Wash., and Omaha, Neb. In years past, there has been a purse of approximately $80K and $130K per event at Puyallup and Omaha, which has made a tremendous impact on the World Standings. Had the WPRA sponsored those rodeos this season, I would have some great chances to make a late-season finish into the NFR. However, those rodeos are not large enough with only the committees standard purse money to give me a chance to make up for Wittle getting hurt mid-summer.

At Ellensburg, Wash., the first go was run entirely in slack on Thursday. I was down in my drag, but Wittle made a great run on the big pattern in the enormous arena. Our time of 17.53 placed us sixth in the go round. Turtle laughed at me when we heard how much I won—$780. I think there were 90 entries. It’s not a great return, but I try to always keep a bigger picture in mind.

Friday night, I was up in Walla Walla, Wash.—about three hours from Ellensburg. I was first out in slack after the perf. I was sort of counting on making a large check in Walla Walla to apply to my World Standings—my private pipe dream. I heard rumors of some girls falling and having trouble with the ground in the perf, while I was saddling Wittle. I asked around, and people gave sort of a “glad I’m not first out look.” Again, I’m thinking, as I have many weeks out here on the trail, ‘Not Again!’ The judges assured me that the ground had been fixed, and I would be fine to run, so I tried it out.

I have a ritual of crossing myself and asking God for safety every time before I run. I think I did that at least twice before my run that night! Wittle shook his head and ran by his first barrel in response to the slick surface. I was able to slow him down immediately, so he didn’t slip on the second barrel. A few girls ran very fast, and a few more fell down, until the judges finally stopped the race, brought in a back-hoe (yes, really) and literally dug the ground up 2 feet around the barrels. They drug it over and re-ran everyone who wanted to try it again—making me the Guinea pig again! I should have known better, but I really needed to make some money, so I ran. Wittle worked awesome, but we knocked our third barrel down. The times were very slow because the ground was so deep. I think only one girl placed from the re-runs.

My second go at Ellensburg went pretty well. Wittle seemed to struggle a little with his first barrel turn, but our time was good enough to qualify us back to the final round. I practiced Wittle a little the morning of the finals, in the main arena, and it paid off for our final run. He nailed our first barrel turn as well as the other two. Our time of 17.36 actually didn’t place in the finals because everyone ran super fast, but we still got an average check—$880.

All in, all I was happy with the weekend. My horse worked good, but it’s tough to win big checks sometimes out here. I didn’t hurt Wittle at Walla Walla, so my prayers were answered.

Molly Powell

Well, I wasn’t going to write for a while until something changed in my rodeo program, and this past week, things did change.

I finally got to practice Kippy a few days and get her back on track (I had to order new Seventeen Flat pop up barrels because my old ones blew out of the truck somewhere in Montana!). Wittle had been making steady progress and was feeling really good, so I had been ponying him some over the past couple of weeks. I practiced him when we spent the night in Ellensburg, and he felt like his old self. He danced around the pattern with ease, so I ran him at Bremerton, WA.

The first round, I rode a little cautious because the second girl out in my drag fell down on the loose sand. I had a mental war with myself trying to put the ‘not again!’ feeling out of my mind from our wreck at Spanish Fork, UT— which resulted in our month-long break while Wittle has recovered. As a result of my cautious riding and bottom of the drag, our time was just out of placing—17.82. However, for our second run that night, Wittle was on fire! He made one of the better runs I’ve ever felt him make—turning every barrel perfectly—and our time was a 17.42, which ended up first in the go round! I was SO happy to have my old horse back!

A couple of days later, it was Kippy’s turn to run at Coeur d’Alene, WA. The ground there is traditionally not very good. I was fortunate to be able to get in and show her the arena and pattern earlier in the day, and it really helped. At first, she was really on the muscle and wanted to shoulder and go by her first barrel.

A lot of the arenas up here in the Northwest don’t have alleys. You have to ride over to the center of the arena from a side gate and line up for your first barrel. In my opinion, this can be very good for a barrel horse because it allows them to get a look at things before they run. Of course, if you have a horse that is nervous and takes off before you
can line up, it’s not so good…

But Kippy acted like a pro and walked over and stood while I petted her neck for a second before we sprinted off to our first barrel. She just barely got by it, but I felt I rode her like I had wanted because I rated her up for the turn, while also keeping her out to her pocket (she had been fading into her turn previosly). Her second and third barrels were great, and after we crossed the finish line, we were sitting in a tie for 2nd and 3rd place! The crowd was very exited and so was I.

As I lead Kippy back to the trailer that night, I felt a lot of satisfaction—and I was also in awe of how quickly things can turn around! My mom’s advice always echos through my mind—”What you worry about today, you won’t tomorrow.” Glad to not be worrying today.

Molly Powell

Molly Powell at Hermiston. (photo by Kent Soule)

In case you didn’t know, it’s a VERY long way from Dodge City to Missoula (Mont.)! By the time we arrived in Missoula Thursday night, I was still very tired and hadn’t had the chance to practice Kippy on the barrels! Ugg!

The Missoula rodeo arena has black soil that didn’t like the rain shower that dumped on it right before the perf. But the main obstacle for that arena was the poor lighting. I was a little disorientated, as was my horse, going to the first barrel in the dark. It was about 20 feet, at the most, off the fence, and she was, again, pretty ratey. Our time was just a few tenths too slow. I was a little disappointed because it seemed like an easy rodeo to draw a check at, since everyone was having trouble producing a fast run. Also, Kippy hasn’t shown me yet that she can get me a check out here…

As we drove all night in a rain storm to get to Hermiston, Bo Hill’s advice of switching to futurity riding echoed in my ears loudly! I wasn’t looking forward to running on the shifty ground at Hermiston, where reportedly several horses had already fallen in the prior days of competition. I have a lot of confidence in Kippy, but I admit I had second thoughts about running her when I STILL couldn’t get in to PRACTICE! Big signs saying ‘No Barrels’ adorned the gates to the arena.

A fantastic time in Hermiston. (photo by Kent Soule)

Kippy tried her best in the big pen, and as I was running home watching the time clock right in front of me, I nearly had a heart attack! 17.3 was my time, and I knew it was one of the fastest of the rodeo! Holy Smokes—what a surprise! I had tons of compliments on Kippy from other runners as I cooled her out, and they said we were placing 4th with only 12 more runners to go.

We had another go round that night at Hermiston, and Kippy finally lost some of her cool. She got a little by her first and knocked her third barrel. It reminded me that young horses need to have a chance to slow work and get their mind right.

As I computed approximately what I could win at Hermiston, the Visa credit card advertisement came through my head—5,000 miles in the last week, $1,000’s in expenses, sore muscles and not much to eat…Winning $800, finally…PRICELESS!!!

Molly Powell

Molly Powell. (photo by John Brasseaux)

Wow! I think I’m getting old! I’m sore and exhausted! This week has been a long one. We put on some miles for sure.

We started in Phillipsburg, Kan., on Tuesday, and I ran Kippy there. It was a big pen, and we couldn’t practice. I pushed her by her first about three strides (yes, I felt dumb afterward). The ground was very good there, and then it poured rain afterward, so I kicked myself once more.

Turtle was up at Abilene, Kan., the next morning, but I wasn’t entered, so after slack, we took off for Lovington, N.M., a 12-hour trip. We were pretty much spent when we pulled into Lovington at 11:00 that night, and then I got up the next morning early to practice Wittle. Unfortunately, he felt sore. I had really hoped he would miraculously be sound after his treatment at Cheyenne. Lovington is a huge tour rodeo, and probably will pay $3K or more. So I switched my energy to Kippy and was able to get her in the arena that afternoon. She felt so cool to ride!

Although she slipped a little on the ground, she felt competitive. The arena there is huge. The first and third barrels are so far off the fence that they may as well be in a pasture. That night, Kippy found her barrels, but slipped on her first, and then we both were a little cautious after that. Our time was a 18.1, and actually placing because of the slick ground and difficult pattern. I think a 17.99 was the fastest time of the perf.

We pulled out that night and drove all night to Dodge City, Kan., where we were up in slack that morning at 8 a.m. I had about an hour to get Kippy ready and wake myself up out of a daze. The ground was super fast, and the pattern was easy, and Kippy worked nice. Our time was a 17.6, and we needed to be 17.3 or better to place. She was a little too ratey, I think, because of slipping at Lovington the night before. I’m sure she had to have been tired, too. Anyway, we made the top 10 from the morning runs and got to go in the perf that night.

During the day, we went to Jeff Switzer and Bo Hill’s house to rest. Kippy came from there so it was cool to show her to them and tell them how much I appreciate her. If you’re a girl, have Tiffany’s taste and like barrel horses, you’ll go CRAZY at the Switzers! They have a barn full of beautiful Dash Ta Fame horses.

After a tour and a rest, I ran again that night at Dodge City, and Kippy ran faster, a 17.5. Our total time was about 2-3 tenths too slow to make the finals there, but it was fun to run my favorite horse and have her try so hard. It was only 12 days ago that Kippy was at home in her pasture being a colt, and now she’s a working girl! I predict that it will take her about three weeks to get strong enough to run with the “big boys.” For now, we’re sort of testing the waters and enjoying each other…no real pressure because I don’t expect too much.

Today, I’m driving to Texas to Eric Thomas’ place to see of he can make a special shoe to help Wittle. Turtle and Jhett have been roping great, and are making the finals at Dodge City. This is air in our sails. Glad to be together.

Molly Powell

My vet looked at Wittle on Wednesday morning and confirmed his suspicion about his lameness—a deep bruise in his foot. I had a shoer pad his foot and decided to run him on our second run in Cheyenne that afternoon.

The average was wide open, and I only had to run a longer 17-second run to make the final round. But when Wittle ran, he just couldn’t overcome his handicap of his foot, and our time was an 18.08. I was prepared for the possibility of a slower time, but still felt crushed again with the standings on the back of my mind.

In the middle of the night, my mare Kippy arrived in Cheyenne. She came from home, where she had been taking the year off and just grazing in the pasture—basically growing up. She is 5 years old, and I got her as a yearling from Jeff Switzwer and Bo Hill. I took off to Deadwood, S.D., and was thinking of trying Kippy—but it would be her very first rodeo, and she’s only been ridden about 10 days in the last three months. Our run would be strictly for seasoning. Turtle was waiting for me in Deadwood, also.

I practiced Kippy in the arena that morning, and she felt good. Not aggressive, but honest—which is a good place to start. So we gave it a shot that night, and we were placing in the top 10 when I rode out of the arena! I was walking on air because it was just so unexpected to come out and be competitive! We may not place, but I am excited to be able to run Kippy for a while and rest Wittle until he’s better. When God shuts a door, he opens a window…

Molly Powell

Sunday, July 25

Turtle and I are hanging out in Evanston, Wyo., today, taking a couple days off before Cheyenne and Deadwood. I need a couple of days to detox before I run again because Wittle and I fell at Spanish Fork during our run.

Saturday morning, we ran in Salt Lake City, and our time was placing at the bottom of the money—which didn’t bother me too much because I was 11th out in my drag and 35th out overall. It was dry and deep and different from the perfs. Over at Spanish Fork the ground had been shifty during the performance that night, and the times were about a half second slower that the previous performances.

As I warmed up for my run in the slack afterward on Saturday night, I had a really bad feeling about running. When you are trying to make the NFR, there are tough decisions that you have to make sometimes. Things like soreness, heart, money and miles can all play heavily on your mind, and they were all there for me on Saturday night.

My decision to go ahead and run was based on faith in my horse. He’s one tough son of a gun, and I called on him. As he smoked his first and second barrels, I asked him pretty hard to the third, and he rated and made a money turn, but as his powerful body pushed to take off for home, his body went flat to the ground.

In that instant, I felt so mad at myself! I knew better, but didn’t trust my gut! As I walked out of the arena on foot, I was aware that I was lucky to be safe and my horse looked okay, too. The realization of how tough this game is also flashed across my mind…..

My vet, Charlie Buchanan, is coming to Cheyenne to give Wittle a check over. He thinks he has figured out the problem, but wants to confirm with his own eyes.

Still surviving……For now, I’m enjoying Turtle’s success, as he placed well at Spanish Fork and Salt Lake. It’s nice to be traveling with him.

Molly Powell

Molly Powell. (photo by John Brasseaux)

Tuesday I ran at “The Daddy of ‘em All” in Cheyenne. I was super tired after driving 18 hours from Calgary and didn’t take the time to ride my horse in the arena at Cheyenne—which, looking back, may have helped us out to get a better feel for the arena.

I have been very frustrated that my horses have been sore, and I haven’t been able to make any progress in relieving their problems. But Wittle tried really hard—struggled a little with his first as he rated late, and the shifty sand was hard to get a hold of for his powerful body.

When I rode into the arena there, making a big check at Cheyenne was forefront on my mind, as I’ve fallen behind in the standings while competing at Calgary. After my run, riding out and hearing my time of 17.92 was a little disappointing. It took a 17.6-17.7 to place in the top 10. But when I got back to the trailer, my mom was there to cheer me up with her positive recap: “Your horse tried really hard for you, and I bet he figures the ground out next time. You’re SO lucky to have such a nice horse! You’ll make the finals and win something, I’m sure!”

So now I’m over in Salt Lake City and going to practice today in the tiny indoor arena. I’m up there in the morning, and Spanish Fork, Utah, tomorrow night. Then I go back to Cheyenne next Wednesday. Someone organizing the barrel slacks overlooked the fact that slack at Ogden and Nampa were the same day, and I drew up at both of them that same day—which was the morning after the finals at Calgary—so I had to turn out of them to make Cheyenne.

My goal this week is to win $2,500 between these three rodeos. I feel like I have better draws next week, so my goals will be pretty high then. Survival for now….

Molly Powell

Sunday – July 4, 2010 – We are leaving Greeley just in time, it is fixing to pour. We went to Crawford last night after the afternoon performance at Greeley. I made the short round back in third, and Jeanne just missed it. She made up for it at Crawford, and smoked a run. I ran Goose and did horrible. I’m going to have to get some practice runs in to get my timing back with him. We got back to Greeley about 3:00 this morning.

Today went better. We finally got by the Greeley gremlin three times in a row. The short round wasn’t very pretty, the ground at the first barrel was really getting the horses today. Since Lindsey (Sears) was at Ponoka, that put Jesse Eagleburger and I at the top going in. Amigo cut the pocket off at the first and I rocked it going in, but we recovered and finished with a 17.55. Jesse and John didn’t fare quite as well and ran a 17.7. Congrats to Savannah Reeves for winning the short round with a 17.39. I guess today was this dog’s day (as Toby Keith sings), we got to win the average! No time to celebrate, we are headed over to Rawlins to spend the night. We run at Oakley, Utah, tomorrow night.

Friday – July 2, 2010 – We ran at Livingston, Mont., in slack yesterday. Jeanne (Anderson) ran a 17.71, and mine wasn’t so good. Amigo must have thought the gate was closed, because right at the line he ducked to the left. Just about left me sitting right there! We left there before 8 pm, drove all night to get to Greeley. We arrived just after daybreak, built the horses pens, fed them and went to sleep for a couple of hours. (This rodeo life is so glamourous! I don’t know what we looked like at 6 am, but it’s probably a good thing no one else saw us!)

Amigo did so good today. The ground seemed a little slick underneath, but he kept his feet and clocked a 17.3 which might be third in the first round. Jeanne got past her first and was a 17.9. We were ready to go to bed when Jeanne checked the horses. They were covered with mosquitoes. We’re too close to the river, I guess. So, we rented stalls and moved the horses to the barn where they could hear the concert much better. Amigo wasn’t impressed, but Goose seemed to be dancing a little!– It’s lights out for us.