Hit TV cowboy drama Yellowstone has certainly brought reining into the lounge rooms of would-be cowboys and horse enthusiasts throughout the world. But for Wyong (NSW) veterinarian Dr Rob Caska , reining is more than just a weekly dose of the addictive series. It has been his passion since he first hopped on a reining horse four years ago. Rob, a senior associate at the Wyong Equine Clinic , grew up locally on the Central Coast of NSW where he progressed from Pony Club to eventing. He had always had Quarter Horses and previously dabbled in western disciplines such as western pleasure and halter classes. Rob jumped at the opportunity to try a client friend’s reiner about four years ago and that, as they say, was that. “I got hooked straight away. It’s very addictive”. “But it is a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be. You need to gel with a particular horse. They are almost like border collies. Anticipating every move. They come out in the middle and are waiting for the next command. The slightest leg pressure can literally send them into a spin. And it is all done on a loose rein and normally one-handed.” Reining is sort of like dressage for western horses and is performed almost exclusively on custom-bred quarter horses . The primary international governing body is the US National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) whose guidelines for reining state that: “To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely.” Rob continued, “Most riders can go out and do a 1A dressage test and most reiners would fumble their way through a dressage test. But the converse does not hold. Dressage horses and riders could not do a reining pattern. They can’t do the sliding stops, they are not going to spin like they are meant to spin and you won’t be able to control them one-handed. You can pick up contact on a reiner but you can’t throw the reins away at a dressage horse.“ "Like everything, the good riders make it look easy. You are lulled into a false sense of security. But it is a lot more difficult than it looks and takes years of training. I used to think that I would be spinning and sliding within weeks, but it has taken years. Many riders give up because of the hours of training required. They get demoralised with their low scores and end up switching to cow-horse." "I have competed in a number of other disciplines in the past, but reining is a real adrenalin rush! It is sort of like the adrenalin of cross-country and show jumping combined with the technical complexity of high-level dressage. It is about having a horse that you guide one-handed. It requires a lot of attention to detail. I enjoy the adrenalin, but for me, the most important thing is the connection with the horse." Rob currently has one competition mare, a 9yo QH called ‘Mondure Lil Calgirl’, whom he purchased from the Mondure Quarter Horse Stud in Queensland and has been competing for about three years. “I even managed to make it to the Queensland State Reining Championships last year”. Rob did an embryo transfer on the mare the first year he got her and now has a two-year-old (by Shiners Voodoo Dr) that has been sent to legendary trainer Warren Backhouse to commence her education. “Unlike other disciplines, training takes 2-3 years”. "We had another exciting filly born this year through ET at Central West Equine by Inferno 66 . This foal lopes around the paddock and as it slows down she wants to slide. She naturally wants to slideback and turn. These horses are so purpose bred these days. They are just bred to do it. That I find remarkable. But probably not surprising, given we see similar cadence characteristics in dressage foals with no training. “For me the reining season kicks off in early January. Usually with a weeklong clinic with Warren Backhouse. Warren and his wife Carol are the gurus on the Australian reining circuit. They win the major Futurities every year. I train five days per week during comp season. The season finishes at the end of August, allowing me to be back home on Central Coast by 1st September for the breeding season." Rob balances his competition life with his busy work schedule and seven-year-old twins Elken & Mila who are both horse addicts and compete regularly on the show circuit. They are already beginning to show interest in reining. “My mare will go on to one of the kids.” [Parental tip: better clone her Rob!!]. The twins' regular show commitments means that Rob does not get to compete as often as he would like. He is looking forward to the forthcoming Reining Australia Nationals in June at AELEC (Tamworth). It will be the first time they have been held in two years due to Covid and consequently there will be record prizemoney on offer. " Yellowstone has certainly put reining on the map. It is massive. Even my dressage clients are now asking me for the videos of my spins and slides and take an interest in when I am competing." Hey Rob, why do all reiner riders look so straight-faced when they are competing? "I've never really thought about it. I guess they are so focused in that moment and on setting up for the next move. It takes a lot of concentration. Everything happens so fast and the horse cues are so light".

Nice to be out and about again on a few road trips with Randlab’s NSW Territory Manager, John Dalton. Unlike Sydney, the talk in the towns of Northern NSW was not about Covid, but firmly planted on the latest episode of the hit neo-Western TV series Yellowstone . Seems it is compulsory viewing amongst the equistocracy. As big a hit as the program is in Australia, it is a ratings blockbuster in the USA, with the season 4 finale setting a new record for a series with 9.3M tuning in for the live broadcast. The cast is headed by Kevin Costner, who plays family patriarch John Dutton but features several cameo performances by fabled reining horses and their equally famous riders. Amongst the stars of the series is Australian actor Jacki Weaver , who joined the cast in Season 4. Yellowstone is set on the fictitious Montana (US) cattle ranch of the same name sometime in the recent past. The series follows the fortunes of the Dutton Family and the misfortunes of most that they encounter as they try and manoeuvre their way through a changing world. It is the Wild West for modern times. A sort of Dynasty meets Underbelly meets Game Of Thrones with horses. The series showcases the seductive cowboy lifestyle beyond the Rule of Law. Cowboy life, where, like the ranch itself, life has no boundaries. The show was conceived, written, directed, executive produced and sometimes acted in, by real-life western riding enthusiast Taylor Sheridan . The series has seen Sheridan’s (who plays suave cowboy Travis Wheatley in the show) fortune rise from struggling actor to the hottest property in Hollywood. He is also the man behind the Yellowstone spin off series 1883 (a prequel), 6666 (a parallel series) and the reality cowboy show “ The Last Cowboy ” which follows the fortunes of real-life cowboys as they prepare to compete for the richest reining purse on offer at the “ The Run For A Million ”. 

All records were smashed at the 2022 Nutrien Classic Performance Horse Sale & Campdraft held at Australian Livestock & Equestrian Centre (Tamworth) in early February with an aggregate of over $17M and 92% clearance rate. The average sale price was $27K with the sales topper being the three-year-old filly Bad In Black (Stevie Rey Von x Spinies Bad Girl) who set a record of $550K when purchased by the patron of all things equestrian, Willinga Park's owner Terry Snow . It was the first time that vendor Holly Clayden of Loomberah Lodge Performance Horses had sold at the Classic. The sale also saw records set for a four-year-old mare ( Hazelwood Country Blues $300K) and for a two-year-old filly, with a daughter of Metallic Cat selling for $260K. The unusually marked red roan sire, Metallic Cat is currently valued at over US$49M and is soon to make a cameo appearance on Yellowstone. One of the highlights of the sale was the Standardbred Campdraft Challenge. A great initiative whereby rehomed standardbreds compete for great prizes. Some of them looked like they had been drafting all their life. The sale also set a new record for Cowboys getting CoVID.

Triple Vodka winning the US$400K TQHA Sale Futurity, champion stallion and showing off his new prosthetic off foreleg with vet Dr Ted Vlahos who performed the life-saving surgery. Meanwhile, back at the ranch….. Yellowstone Equine Hospital (Wyoming, USA) principal Dr Ted Vlahos DVM is a world pioneer in equine limb amputation and prosthetics in horses. The technique recently came into spotlight with the below fetlock amputation/prosthesis of well-known US Quarter Horse stallion Triple Vodka. The stallion had the surgery in February 2021 after he failed to respond to treatment for an infected coffin joint. “It was either euthanasia or amputation. Euthanasia was never really a choice. The horse loves life and makes sure to show us!”, Triple Vodka’s owners Zerlotti Genetics (Texas) said. The stallion was back living a relatively normal life and serving by October. “He has everyday turn out and his regular semen collection routine.” You can read more about Triple Vodka’s journey on his Facebook page. The stallion now has over 7.6K followers which has risen from 3.5K since his surgery. Vlados performs the amputations on both front and hind legs. Most equine amputations are performed at the fetlock level or below, but some have been performed at mid-cannon bone, and rarely at the mid-radius. “It's been a slow process to get it accepted, but the horses really do so well,” Vlahos is quoted as saying in a recent interview with the Paulick Report. “I'm pleased that other vets across the world are starting to recognize it as a viable option. When I'm helping other surgeons with the procedure, I routinely hear, 'Why haven't we been doing this before today?'”

Bob Dylan is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time but was also a keen horseman. There is not much information about Dylan’s equestrian pursuits, but there are plenty of photos of him engaging in equestrian activities both on and off the screen (Dylan played a number of western/cowboy characters in his punctuated film career). Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning nearly 60 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as " Blowin' in the Wind " (1963) and " The Times They Are a-Changin '" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the restless counterculture. One of his most controversial songs was called " All the Tired Horses " which was the lead song on his 1970 double album Self Portrait . A requiem. It is most notable for its absence of Dylan's singing. It consists of a small choir of female voices repeating the same two lines to the same melody for 3 minutes and 14 seconds, with varying instrumental accompaniment. All the tired horses in the sun How'm I s'posed to get any ridin' done? Hmm. You can listen to the song here : It is worth a listen for its sheer unusualness. For one of the greatest lyrists of the decade, the song has been described by some popular culture gurus as a "cop out" and Rolling Stones Magazine reviewed the whole album with the headline “What is this s—t?”. The song was used in the 2001 film Blow. The lyrics hint at meaning but defy interpretation. Perhaps “riding” is a metaphor for a wearied Dylan’s “writing”. Repetition gives the two lines a strange power and the song has a hypnotic gospel-type feel. All The Tired Horses has been described by one critic as “enough to lure sailors to their deaths” and it frequently appears on lists as one of the ten worst songs of all time. Presumably, because it is benchmarked against Dylan’s other works. Popular culture magazine Mojo described Dylan’s most recent album Rough And Rowdy Ways, released in February last year and Dylan's first in eight years, as a “vaccine against culture’s shrinking expectations”. Dylan is now 81years old.

Big Jake, the world’s tallest horse, died in late June aged 20 years old. The Belgian Draft stood 20.2hh (210.19cm). The life expectancy for a Belgian Draft horse is normally about 18 years. The chestnut lived at Smokey Hollow Farm in Wisconsin, USA, where he was a major tourist attraction. The world record for the tallest horse ever measured was 21.25hh (220cm) and is held by a horse named Sampson, a Shire born in 1846 in Bedfordshire, England. He weighed 1524kg! At 1.5% of bodyweight, that is a bale of hay per day!

The girl on the grey pony is none other than Australian 2020(-1) Olympic hero Ariarne Titmus. Ariarne won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m freestyle at her first attempt at the Olympics last month. But Ariarne is no fish out of water when it comes to horses. She grew up riding ponies on her family farm near Launceston in Tasmania and competed at dressage and show jumping from the age of seven. Titmus recently declared that “horse riding was her first love” and that horse riding taught her to be “calm and focused” and that she “loves the connection that you can make with a horse”. Ariarne also mentioned in one radio interview that she hoped she may one day compete at the Olympics as an equestrian after her swimming career has finished. Not out of the question, given that she is only 21yo and Australia’s two oldest Olympians in Tokyo were equestrians Mary Hanna (66yo- dressage) and Andrew Hoy (62yo – eventing). Tokyo teammate, backstroker Emily Seebohm (bronze) is also a keen equestrian and suffered an injury in the lead up to the Olympics after falling off her horse. Ariarne was recently announced as the official ambassador for the 2021 Lexus Melbourne Cup Day.

Randlab

The latest edition of our popular annual catalogue has just been published. It has been re-formatted to now show our products grouped and colour-coded into “Suites” (Gastric Ulcer Suite, Joint Suite etc) for ease of reference and comparison. It features all our new products added since the last issue. The popular “Horses in History” section also makes an expanded appearance, and is full of interesting horse facts.