News from the round pen…

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Smokie

Hello Friends,

Well fall is just around the corner and I can feel the chill in the air.. Seems like this age thing creeps into the joints more and more every year.. I’d like to thank all of you that have allowed me to help you with your horses this summer and I hope that you have had a great time with your equine partners this year.. And to all the new folks that registered for my blog, thanks! And I hope you stick around and drop us a comment now and then..  We are patiently waiting for news and the results of the Writers Digest self published book awards contest of my newest book, Equiknowlogy 101… It should be out some time in October.. We also received the final results from the judges of the Independent Publishers award contest the other day. We were lucky enough to place in the top 15 over all in our category!  So I’m pretty happy that my latest bit of drivel just might be pretty good after all!  For anyone that might be interested, Equiknowlogy 101… is now available as an e book from amazon and has a new price of $6.95 as well. Well I better get out and ride my last horse for the summer before we move to our winter quarters. So with that I will leave you with a quote from one of our mentors…

You need to practice only three things, patience, observation and humility..

There is no mysticism, no magic, in this, only the recognition of kinship with horses.

The more a horseman says he has learned, the less likely he is to have learned anything at all.

Plenty of people have come across and borrowed an insight or two, and some have made a lot of money by popularizing what they seemed to think he knew. But what he knew will never be popular, nor did he ever make much money from it. You cannot sell modesty or undying curiosity. It is hard to put a price on accepting that everything you think you know about horses may change with the very next horse.

 Bill Dorance

(Excerpt from his obituary in the New York Times)

Have a great fall and we will see you at the winter quarters real soon!
Best Wishes and “Just Ride”!
Smokie

About Smokie

Smokie Brannaman grew up on a 5000-acre horse and cattle ranch in Southwestern Montana. Working with horses, cattle and rodeoing as a professional trick roper was his way of life as a youngster. Upon graduating from high school, Smokie chose to serve his country in the United State Coast Guard. Although his military duties did not always allow much time to spend with his horses, he never the less, rode and trained horses of his own and others throughout his military career. Smokie retired in 2000 from the Coast Guard and worked as a Corporate Operations Manager for a security company. But he soon realized that his true enjoyment came from being around horses, training, riding and helping others with their horses. After working for 2 years as a stable manager for a large boarding stable, Smokie hired on at Ots Sunrise Farm to work with the young horses halter breaking, ground work and starting horses under saddle to progress to more advanced training. Smokie started his own business, Horseman’s Services Limited, llc in 2006 and now works full time as an educator of the horse and rider. Smokie utilizes the training methods of his brother Buck Brannaman, Jeff Griffith, and others, as well as his own techniques learned during a lifetime of working with horses. Smokie is a published author of two books about horses and their riders, Whisper This… Not to your horse, to yourself, and his newest book Equiknowlogy 101… and numerous horse training DVDs. Smokie lives in Greenleaf Wisconsin with his sweetie Vickie, and has three grown children, Kat, Travis and Jason. He raises and trains registered quarter horses of his own, which he uses as, Cavalry horses for his hobby, Civil War reenacting, and performing in Wild West Shows throughout the Midwest.
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