AgWired

Today the committees of the Appaloosa Horse Club are meeting but the show is still going on at the same time. I’m going to try to find out what’s going on in those committees but in the meantime I keep running into some very interesting people like Laura Brest who’s another ApHC Hall of Famer enjoying the show here in Oklahoma City.

I sat down with Laura this morning and learned how she got interested in these horses. As you’ll hear her say in the interview, she was out riding past a neighbor’s home and saw these colored horses and wondered what they were. Well she found out and after getting one from him to show she was hooked on Appaloosas.

Laura says she’s done everything there is to do like breeding, showing, judging and training. It was very easy for me to see why she’s in the Hall of Fame and I learned a lot from her. She’s a great resource for anyone who would like to know more about the breed. She has always been supportive of youth and thinks the breed makes for a great youth horse. She says that if you get them interested when they’re young they’ll like them for life.

You can listen to my interview with Laura here: appaloosa-national-07-brest.mp3

If you had asked me before today I would have told you that a farrier has something to do with horseshoes but that’s about all I could have told you. Now I know a lot more about it. That’s because I met Kirk today in between jobs where he’s set up as a show farrier in one of the barns. You can find a good definition of what a farrier does on Wikipedia if you’re curious.

It sounds like Kirk has been busy here at the National Show. He is very passionate about what he does and that comes through when you talk to him. He says that having a lame horse come to him and go away sound is one of the things that gives him the most satisfaction in his job. Besides this show Kirk also works the World Show and ApHC trail rides.

You can listen to my interview with Kirk here: appaloosa-national-07-knowlton.mp3

Do you remember this guy? Steve Taylor, now CEO of the Appaloosa Horse Club. He’s also the guy who got what I think is the first ag group blog going while he was managing the Missouri Beef Industry Council. He’s blogging in Idaho now as the head of this international breed organization and invited me to their National Show.Here he is giving his report at the annual meeting of the organization.

Steve talks about how the show is going here in Oklahoma City. He says that participation is up and everyone is adjusting well to the weather and construction challenges in the facility. He says his number one priority is to become the number one cheerleader for the breed. He thinks that international involvement in the show presents some challenges and opportunities. For one thing the language issue becomes a challenge but he sees ways to overcome that and hopes to create new relationships internationally that will benefit the organization.

Steve also wants to further develop marketing strategies for the ApHC that include better media relations and more web based activity. He says that some of the promotional materials have been translated into different languages and the internet allows for greater outreach on an international level.

You can listen to my interview with Steve here which runs about 12 minutes: appaloosa-national-07-taylor.mp3

It’s time to leave the ring for today. But before I go here’s an interview with Dennis Dean from Apple Valley, CA. He’s currently president of the Appaloosa Horse Club. Dennis presided over the annual meeting of the association this afternoon at which members were provided an overview of organizational activities and plans.

You can hear his perspective of how things are going here at the 2007 National Show. Dennis says that even with some of the weather challenges the show is doing really well with increased participation. He said that interest in the breed is strong and that he can’t believe how many people are interested in buying horses right now.

My interview with Dennis runs about 6 minutes: appaloosa-national-07-dean.mp3