Daily Archives: March 30, 2009

Ashley Whyland on Luther

Lets talk about Luther for a second, tell me how you came to get Luther? 

I wanted a barrel horse, but I knew nothing about them honestly.  Some friends of mine had a horse I was going to buy and the weekend I was going to pick him up, he coliced and died.  Call it fate, I guess.  They knew about Luther, but knew he had basically been “turned out”.  When I went to go meet him he was in a dry lot and was starved.  Of course, I had to have him.  The people that had owned him didn’t live at the farm and were depending on the neighbors to throw over hay for him.  It was a long road to get him back up to par.  But I think it happened that way for a reason.  I’m not sure if I would have been able to ride him if he was the horse he turned out to be in the end, when I went to buy him.

How about when you were on the road, did you have any special routines with Luther? Warm up? Blankets? Supplements? 

 Luther was always on some sort of joint supplement and my favorite for him was Necessity.  We had a bout of Ulcers and I then put him on GastroPlus by Total Health Enhancement.  They then started to sponsor us.  As far as a warm up routine, I always found a place that I could at least long trot him.  He LOVED warming up on the trotting tracks where he could lope straight.  And as far as blankets, Luther LIVED with his PHT magnetic blanket.  I really think that thing made him young again.  He would bounce out of the trailer and trot off on the end of his lead.  Not many horses 20+ years old do that after 8 hour long trips.

When you would get ready to leave for a rodeo, was there one thing you had to have with you? We know you forgot your boots once, so I am sure you always made sure you had those, but what about something special you always threw in the truck? 

Yeah, I didn’t forget my boots after that!  I guess the one thing that we couldn’t live without on the road was Lue’s magnetic blanket.  Like I said, it was a necessity.  And coggins and health certificate, FOR EVERY HORSE IN THE TRAILER, I’ll have a story about that soon…. 

What was your favorite rodeo, when you were out on the road? 

I think I’d have to say Dover, OH.  Their hospitality was GREAT.  We would always go and stay the weekend for that one.  JBarJ always puts on some great rodeos in our circuit!

Before you run, what did you do to prepare mentally? 

I ALWAYS imagine a perfect run.  If you go out there with “I can’t hit the first barrel” on your mind, you’re more than likely going to hit it.  If I had a problem I needed to fix, I always though about WHAT I needed to do.  Luther had a tendency to cut in on my pocket at the first barrel and go past it to make up.  So I had to literally look at the third barrel and drive towards it and then let him drop in about 10-15 feet away.  Another thing, don’t let your competition get the best of you.  I like to be off someplace else instead of watching the girls before me run.  I may walk my horse around while I’m imagining my run and then when I hear my name called, it’s game time!