Farm & Ranch
Horse Trainer Mike Major
By Dani Blackburn
Horse trainer Mike Major cannot remember a time he was not horseback. At the tender age of seven, he broke his first colt and quickly fell in love with the challenge training presented. With a deep understanding of a horse’s mind, the patience to teach and a strong attention to detail in the show pen, success has followed Major throughout his career.
“It has been great,” Major said of his accomplished career. “I have met a lot of neat people. It has been fun, of course, success makes it fun. I think you learn how to win, but it’s not about beating anybody because I don’t think I have ever competed against anybody other than myself. You just have to be very diligent on everything you do in a show pen.”
His list of accomplishments includes the 2009 and 2010 American Quarter Horse Association Open World Championship Versatility Ranch Horse title on his 1999 bay stallion, Smart Whiskey Doc. Major also claimed the 2010 Battle in the Saddle Ranch Remuda Challenge and the 2012 AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse Open World Championship on Whiskey’s daughter, Black Hope Stik. Most recently, he was named this year’s Road to the Horse winner, but it all began on his father’s ranch north of Magdalena, NM.
By Heather Welper
Husband and wife duo, Heather and Calvin Welper, are the Co-Owners and Operators or Two C Livestock, located in Valley View, Texas.
The pair’s operation has a show cattle focus where they raise and sell purebred heifers of all breeds and club calf Hereford steers.
When it comes to show cattle, the Welpers know a thing or two including how to prepare for the cold winter months and the Texas major show season run.
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 Hannah Claxton, Editor
As the sun rises each day, so do the dozens of mouths that Meghan McGovern is responsible for getting fed. Rather than the sounds of a rooster crowing, McGovern hears the bellows and bleats of a variety of exotic deer, the chortle of kangaroos, the grunts of water buffaloes, and the chirps of a lemur.
Nestled against the banks of the Red River, the Double M Ranch and Rescue, with its high game fences and deer sprinkling the landscape,s its in stark contrast to the surrounding ranches.
“Having deer is kind of like eating potato chips- you can never actually have just one,” said McGovern with a laugh.
McGovern has several herds to take care of- fallow deer, axis deer, water buffalo, goats, and bison. In smaller numbers, there’s also a few kangaroos, a lemur, a potbelly pig, a pair of zebras, a watusi, and a few horses.
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 Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
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.
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