Page 26 - May 2017

“A horse with a good mind will do anything you want it to.”
Ed Kyler with 4-time stakes winner/New Track Record setter KR Montana Shake Em after his victory in the Northlands Classic at Northlands Park in Alberta, Canada.
Ty Erickson, Cierra Kunesh and KR Montana Shake Em. Shakem went on to become the 2015 PRCA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year under Ty Erickson.
Bonnie Vessels guides Habit as they survey the Vessels ranch in Bowie, Texas.
GOOD HORSES, GOOD HORSEMEN
“This is no secret,” Merrill declares. “The best trainers, the most
successful trainers, kill their horses with kind- ness. I remember sitting in
the shed row with Blane Schvaneveldt one morn- ing at Los Alamitos, and I
asked why none of the other trainers liked Reb’s Policy progeny. Blane said, ‘Frank,
it’s real simple. They’ve got to learn to kill them with
kindness instead of fighting them. You can’t get in a
fight with a Reb’s Policy
colt because the more you fight him, the more
he’ll fight you.’ A lot of racehorses are that way.”
Good trainers make good horses, and good
horses make good horsemen.
“Habit and I go way back,” says Bonnie, who resides in Bowie, Texas,
where her ranch is located. “He’s 12 years
old now and I’m in place where I can ride a
lot.” Bonnie reflects on the foundation of their
horses, “I introduced him to some cattle the other day, but it all gets back to the founda- tion put on him to begin with. When we broke our babies at Vessels Stallion Farm, we started them in the round pen and got them friendly and made friends with them. We did it easy, gentle and kind. Then we’d put them under western saddles and ride that entire farm.
“Francisco Ramirez broke all of our babies, and we told him that Habit needed to be ride- able for me,” she continues. “Francisco would ride him around the farm, pony babies over to the racetrack, and did all kinds of stuff with him. One day, Francisco goes riding by with his toddler in front of him on the saddle on Habit, so okay, now I could ride him. He was good then, and he’s better now.”
Which brings us back to parameters to consider in horses from a line of speed. “A horse with a good mind will do anything you want it to, and we were blessed to have individuals with good minds,” Bonnie says. “First Down Dash passed on his mind like nobody else. You could do anything with a First Down Dash.”
It’s a good idea, however, to make sure in advance. “The first thing I’d suggest, you’d better get around that horse to find out what kind of attitude it has,” Merrill advises. “Attitude would be the primary deciding factor. If the horse is sound and has the right attitude, the other things will fall in line. I wouldn’t go any further – if he doesn’t have a good attitude, I’d go to the next shed row.”
24 SPEEDHORSE, May 2017
photo courtesy Bonnie Vessels
courtesy Mary Kyler
courtesy Mary Kyler