John H. "Pokey" Foss

Saddles come in an amazing variety of shapes and sizes. Therefore it is critically important that the saddle you buy fits both you and your horse. This rule applies whether you buy a stock (Western) saddle, a hunt-seat saddle, or a saddle-seat saddle. My guess is that more of you will buy a stock-seat (more…)

Usually, horses are shod for one or more of four reasons: (1) to protect their hooves when they are ridden, especially when they are ridden over certain kinds of terrain; (2) to correct abnormalities in one or more hooves (example: contracted heels); (3) to correct undesirable abnormalities in their gaits (example: (more…)

Whether you keep your horse at home or at a public stable, you need to know something about stables. Among the considerations are:
1. Providing shelter for your horse.
2. Providing a suitable temperature for your horse, 24 hours per day.
3. Providing a constant water supply.
4. Providing satisfactory bedding.
5. Providing free-choice salt (preferably NOT with a salt (more…)

Feeding Your Horse (Conclusion)

To determine how much to feed him, you must consider three factors:
1. His age.
2. His weight.
3. Today’s activity level that you envision for him.

Of these three considerations, only number 2 is likely to present a problem. Of course, the easiest way to determine his weight is to weigh him. The (more…)

The Economics of Feeding You Horse

As mentioned in our last blog, many horse-owners spend considerably more than necessary to keep their horses in tip-top condition. Let’s look at some of the ways they do so:

1. They simply guess about how much feed to give to the horse. Thus they usually feed more (more…)

CARING FOR YOUR HORSE, PART 2

Now let’s talk about where you can get help from non-governmental agencies. The first place to look is in what’s available from riding clubs, especially those oriented primarily toward junior riders. (more…)

ON CARING FOR YOUR FIRST HORSE

Congratulations! You just got your first horse. For the next several weeks, my blog will make suggestions on how to care for him. To save space, all horses will be termed “he” and ”him,” regardless of whether the horse is a stallion, gelding, mare, colt, or filly. Also (more…)

Unless he has inherited a substantial amount of money, or he has struck gold in rodeo competition and saved most of his winnings, he has only limited options. He can go on welfare, or, if he’s a veteran with several years of military service behind him, he might be accommodated in a veterans’ home. (more…)

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the rodeo culture is its exclusiveness. There are no membership cards nor applications nor dues to the rodeo culture. although the various associations, of course, charge dues and require membership cards. Nobody cares whether you’re rich or poor, have a degree from Harvard or never finished high school, have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower or don’t even know who your ancestors were, grew up on a ranch or grew up in the city. If you’re in rodeo, then you’re in the rodeo culture

So how do you get in? (more…)

Scattered across America and especially in the West thrives a real culture of love; it’s just where you wouldn’t think of looking for it. It is rodeo! American rodeo culture is wholly unique: Love is universal in the rodeo world. Almost everyone cares for everyone else.

Why? (more…)