Equine
Equine Superstars & Everyday Heroes – Magnum
By Janis Blackwell
This month Equine Superstars and Everyday Heroes salutes not only a great horse but a great crossing of bloodlines.
Our outstanding Everyday Hero is “Call Me Magnum” known in the barn as just “Magnum,” named for the character made famous by Tom Selleck. Sadly, our tribute is delivered posthumously but does not diminish the exceptional personality and qualities that made him a hero and that live on in his full blood siblings.
Magnum’s story starts when owners Beverlene (Swenson) Combest and Bob Combest of Electra decided to purchase and breed some great quality paint horses. They bought a stud named “Go Rocket Go,” a grandson of “Go Man Go,” and crossed him with a mare named “Golden Button” by “Bud Chubby” by “Chubby.” “Golden Button’s” barn name was Cover Girl— dubbed that for the unusual markings around her eyes that looked like makeup.
With a cross between the running blood of “Go Man Go” and the old foundation cow horse from “Chubby,” they felt they couldn’t go wrong, and they certainly did not. They got exactly what they had hoped for, speed with gentleness and cow sense. Magnum was the first colt out of this cross, and they were so pleased with the results that they raised many more out of them.
In Beverlene’s words, “These colts were super easy to break, super gentle, always wanting to please, with no mean bone in their bodies.”
The sire, “Go Rocket Go” was more than 16 hands and “Cover Girl” was only 14 hands, but the cross yielded a good-sized, stout built horse ready for whatever job you asked of him.
To read more pick up a copy of the October 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Krista Lucas Wynn
Each year, when the professional rodeo season wraps on Sept. 30, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association announce the Nutrena Horse of the Year, presented by the American Quarter Horse Association, in each event. This is a prestigious award, voted on by the members of the associations. To be named Horse of the Year by fellow competitors is a high honor only a few achieve.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By: Krista Lucas Wynn | Copy Editor
The name, “Daddy of ’em All,” instantly brings to mind the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and western celebration. Cowboys and cowgirls from all across the country dream of competing on the iconic Cheyenne arena dirt.
Every July, pro rodeo contestants travel to Cheyenne, Wyom. to vie for the title of champion of the Cheyenne Frontier Days. The rodeo is steeped in western tradition and celebrated the 125th year this summer. With nearly two weeks of rodeo action, fans watched bareback riding, calf roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, bull riding, and steer roping.
Steer roper, Tuff Hardman, knew winning “the Dad” was a tall order, but with a good horse and a few prayers he left no doubt who the best steer roper at Cheyenne was when it was all said and done. After two rounds, Hardman qualified back for the finals tied for ninth place with a time of 30.8 seconds.
To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Utilizing the horse to human connection.
By: Hannah Claxton | Editor
Deep in the heart of Texas, both humans and horses at Stable Strides Farm in Pilot Point, Texas aer demonstrating just how big their hearts really are. Founded by Mandy Cleveland in 2001, Stable Strides Farm serves dozens of Equestrians with Disabilities and Veterans each week.
Deep in the heart of Texas, both humans and horses at Stable Strides Farm in Pilot Point, Texas aer demonstrating just how big their hearts really are. Founded by Mandy Cleveland in 2001, Stable Strides Farm serves dozens of Equestrians with Disabilities and Veterans each week.
“My boys have been riding since they were 18 months old, and for the first 17 years they had a leader and sidewalker. When we moved here, and Mandy started teaching them, she just said, ‘Let’s see what they can do,’ and they ride independently now,” Danielle Frank explained, whose two sons, Adison and Aiden, ride with Stable Strides Farm. “Mandy is amazing beucase she doesn’t place any limits on them, she always wants to see what they can do.”
It is her dedication to never setting limits that earned Cleveland a spot as a national finalist for the NSBA 2024 Dianne Eppers Cowgirls Reaching-Out-to-Community Award. The award was established by the NSBA Foundation to recognize cowgirls across the industry for their selfless contributions to the equestrian community.
To read more, pick up a copy of the September issue of the NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
(Photos Courtesy of Hannah Claxton)
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