Issue 118 | April 2020
A Note From Tom Seay
Don't become a hostage to fear.

The COVID-19 virus problem is serious. It affects everywhere we wish to go and everything we want to do.
All the precautions are good and, in reality, there is no limit to things being recommended to avoid the virus, but the truth is time and distance. Years ago, I was appointed as the first radiological defense officer for our county when a nuclear power plant was built. I attended all the classes to learn everything I could to protect our community. After all the studies, courses, and thousands of pages to study, everyone's safety came down to this: time and distance is the best protection to nuclear dangers. In other words, stay as far away for as long as you can from the radiation source.

I am not sure this virus is much different. Since we cannot see it, we find it hard to be at ease with friends, neighbors and places we go.

While I will avoid downtown New York, Los Angeles, big sports events or crowded restaurants, I am not going to become a hostage to fear. I will continue to feed my cows, ride my horses, go fishing and be outdoors in open spaces.

State and Federal Parks will be closed for the next few weeks. However, do not cancel your vacation plans with your horse and family. Call private campgrounds with primitive camping. Ride the open spaces during the day and enjoy that campfire at night. Our website has a list of campgrounds by state that you can call.

Here at our home and farm in Virginia, we feel safe. We can control who comes and goes and know where they have been. People can still drive cattle and enjoy life on the farm in safety. Yes, I know there are those self-appointed social police that love telling you what you can or cannot do, but they are not welcome here.

Our friends and family, which include you, are welcome to come camp, fish, ride horses, and enjoy the great outdoors safely. While this is not a commercial to promote the farm, it is our home and we will continue to live here, ride here and welcome our friends. Our groups are less than 10!

Be careful where you go for the next few weeks and keep it to the open safe outdoors. If you have no place to go to feel free and safe, come visit with us in Virginia at our home and farm. Many of you have been here already over the years. You have been welcome here and you always will be.

If you want to come visit, call Lisa in our office at 540-829-9555 and she will answer questions and take care of you .
If I can help you in any way, write me at my personal email address and I will do anything I can for you at anytime. My email is  [email protected] .

Tom Seay
NEW! Introducing Life onthe Farm Getaways
Life on the Farm Days
at Tom & Pat Seay's Andora Farm
Need a safe place to go on vacation with no crowds that meets CDC guidelines for fewer than 10 people? Join us at our own farm!

Farm week is just $475, with visits from Monday afternoon through Friday mornings. This includes parking, camp site, airport pick up, one-on-one lessons, cattle drives, fishing (everything included and no license needed) shooting range with instruction and everything included, horses, and all activities. You'll also get:

General farm life experiences from gathering the eggs each day to farm gardening, preserving vegetables or driving the truck or tractor to move hay to the barns.

Down-home country cooking demonstrations in our large farm kitchen with Lisa or Tom—and you get to eat the results!

Camping in your own camper or tent at our lovely farm with 30 amp electric and access to water. Bathroom and shower house available.
Don't let closings and crowds ruin your vacations. Come home to the farm and visit with us, with or without a horse!

**PLEASE NOTE: DATES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE**
May 18-21
May 25 - 28
June full
July 6-9
July 13-16
August 3-6

Call Lisa at (540) 829-9555 to book your stay.
Trail Rides & Events
Nov 11-13
Alabama
Cattle Drives at Andora Farm
Daniel Boone Days and Harvest Farm Tours
Join us in Culpeper, Virginia!
Andora Farm will be hosting their 4th Annual Daniel Boone Days over the weekend of Sept 19th-20th. Along with this event, Andora Farm will also be a part of the 23rd Annual Culpeper Harvest Days/Farm Tours. Andora Farm will be among numerous farms that will be visited by at least 2,000 visitors over the weekend.
apple-pie.jpg
Daniel Boone Days will host a variety of vendors with crafts such as basket weaving, soap making, old time Blacksmith forging and so much more. 
 
New this year: Apple Pie baking contest! Bring your best pie and compete for our First Place prize. All are welcome to watch the judges taste the pies and declare a winner. If you wish to participate in baking an Apple Pie for the contest, please let Karen know at  [email protected]  for details.
 
Be sure to mark your calendar and join Tom and Pat Seay of BOABH at Andora Farm for this exciting event.
Product Spotlight:
Quick Draw Tie Line
A benefit of being invited to speak at Equestrian Expos is we get to see and review new products. Tom talked with Kenneth Griffin at the recent Southern Equine Expo in Tennessee about the Quick Draw Tie Line. We watched him demonstrate this high line and then let hundreds of visitors try it themselves. 

We heard many comments about how easy and fast it was to set up and take down. Take a look at this new product that will make using a high line much easier and safer than before.
The Quick Draw Tie Line is a Best of America by Horseback Rider Tested and Recommended Product. See it at  https://www.bestofamericabyhorseback.com/rider-products.html
Equine Scams! Beware!
by Nancy Spoolstra, DVM

I am a recent victim of a scam. A horse-related scam. I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person. I am not overly suspicious, by any means. However, I have seen, heard, and personally experienced scams in the past, and I am teachable! Currently, I am typing on my old computer as my regular one appears to be infected by a virus. Alan is an IT guy and he will look at it for me. When I was last using it, a large, flashing red screen appeared and told me to CALL THIS NUMBER to fix my computer! I know better… that is an invitation to disaster. Yet another scam…
The Equine Mall
Last October, I received a phone call from Maryann Pattyn of The Equine Mall. She had seen a Facebook ad for my Emergency Identification Tags. She excitedly told me about a new online shopping venue for All Things Equine. The website she showed me was already impressive. Sponsors included US Rider and other reputable equine businesses and organizations.

For a flat fee, I would be able to have a prominent advertising banner for 18 months. I am a small, start-up business. I carefully consider where to place my advertising money. The price she quoted was more than I had spent on previous advertising in one place (except Facebook.) I showed the website to my IT guy Alan, and together we decided to go for it.

I have learned a great deal about web development in the past couple of years, but I am far from an expert. In fact, I struggled a bit to set up my “store.” Maryann offered to do it for me. In return, I suggested I could help her with some of the content on her site.

I am a far better grammarian than I am a web designer. Perhaps it should have been a red flag to me that the main text content of the site was not as professional as I expected it to be. At the same time, not everyone expresses themselves in the same way. Maryann’s idea of a one-stop-shop for equine items was a great idea, and maybe she was a better visionary than English major. Consequently, I spent some time rewording some of the web content. Some of my suggestions appeared to be incorporated into the site… some were not.

Maryann claimed that she would be spending significant dollars on advertising the site. She encouraged me to spread the word to Facebook groups and other online entities. I was excited about being in “on the ground floor” of a new and promising venture.

Listening to That Inner Voice

Towards the end of November, I reached out to Maryann to request a minor change to my ad banner. I didn’t hear from her. I am incredibly busy these days, planning a wedding, running a business, and preparing to move to two different locations. Not to mention, the holiday season was upon me…
I continued to try and contact her over the next couple of months, but to no avail. I ignored that nagging voice. Finally, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I reached out to the other banner advertisers.

One banner, I believe, was also a fake and a young, naive gal was impacted by that aspect of the scam. She was working for the guy who “owned” that business and he has disappeared into the wind, just like Maryann. She was left explaining his disappearance to customers she had found and developed a relationship with. One guy had paid his money and actually forgot about it. The other guy lost $1200 and was just prepared to write it off.

Even more importantly, the website listed US Rider as a sponsor. I reached out to them and they had no knowledge of the website. They had not given permission to use their logo and they had not paid for any sponsorship. They noted that many of the logos on the website were not good quality, meaning they had been pirated, and not acquired legally. That fact relates to my “teachability”… I will file that knowledge away and pay more attention to logo clarity in the future.

The Aftermath

I called my bank. My bank provides fraud insurance and I will recover my money. Additionally, they will initiate a fraud investigation. They also encouraged me to file a report with my local sheriff. I did that as well.

The website is still active, although when you Google it, you might see “no information is available for this website.” They also have a Facebook page, but over the last few days many of the posts have been removed. I did see a Facebook post declaring The Equine Mall to be scam. One of the horses advertised on The Equine Mall as a promotional item belonged to that poster and the foal was never for sale.

I am very thankful that I will get my precious advertising money returned to me. Nonetheless, I will not just write this off as a bad experience. I will do everything I can to assist authorities in tracking down these individuals. As a society, we must be willing to hold people accountable. Honestly, I can’t imagine taking advantage of people the way scammers do. I don’t know if Maryann and her fellow scammers will ever be caught, but I hope someday they are. I truly wonder how many of the other “advertisers” are legitimate and how many people were involved and/or impacted in this scam?

One of the most common equine scams revolves around online sales of horses. Next week I will explain common horse sale scams and tell you what to watch for. I sold Finn through Dreamhorse, but we must all be aware of scammers. I refuse to even advertise on Craig’s List anymore because of the onslaught of scammer responses I receive.

What kinds of scams have you experienced?

Read more on Nancy's blog.
Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch
Helping Girls In Need
By Candice Gully, Director of Ranch Life

Editor’s note: The Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch is a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides housing, guidance and support for girls who are homeless or abused. The Girls Ranch recently received Best of America By Horseback’s Liz Malcolm Award, an award given to someone who has demonstrated outstanding compassion and dedication to helping others.
As a non-profit, we are is dependent upon donations and support from our community. We have a 200-acre working ranch with cattle, horses, and chickens. Our parents teach the children how to work the land and livestock to establish healthy work habits. Our four horses are such a great asset to our children’s home. Establishing a bond and learning how to communicate with and control such a large animal is a powerful way to build the confidence of children who have had traumatic experiences in life.
Like most Americans during this difficult time, we have adapted. Our children are participating in online education in the morning and agricultural learning in the afternoons. We incorporate our horses in grooming and horsemanship classes, herding our cattle, teaching roping skills, and trail riding obstacles. Our parents are making the most out of having the children at home all day. In addition, they are spending more time outside and embracing the “ranch life.” We currently have 33 people who call the ranch home (staff and children).

During this national crisis, many agencies like us are hit the hardest. Although most businesses in our nation have come to a dramatic halt, our organization has not. In fact, this crisis has had the opposite effect on us. We provide a vital service to care for children who have already lost so much. In the last week, our phones have rung off the hook with kids who need placement. As the economy struggles to regain normalcy in the coming months, we will see the number of kids in need grow. Any donation you can provide to assist us in continuing our mission will be greatly appreciated.

Donations related to our horse program include: fly spray, fungal treatment, thrush treatment, hoof care tools, and Panacur wormer. We are accepting monetary donations to help us provide the best care for our horses as well as for our children during these uncertain times. Below is a list of services that our horses are due to receive the beginning of May.

Teeth floating ($150 approximately)
Hoof Trim $35
Shoeing $65
Checks can be made payable to:
Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch
174 Samford Dr. Camphill, AL
Camp Hill, AL 36850

Questions? 256 896-4864/Cell
Jerry and Helen on the Leatherwood Trail
BOABH Member Spotlight: 
Helen and Jerry Cary
Fairview, TN
Meet Helen and Jerry Cary, who have been on many rides with Best of America by Horseback and countless more on their own and with various friends.
 “I can’t remember NOT being a horse lover,” says Helen. “That love has been with me all my life, but I never owned one until I was grown and had kids of my own,” she said.

Now she’s had horses for nearly 50 years, but was married to Jerry for 30 years before he fell in love with it (they’ve now been married for 48 years).

Helen described her early camping experiences with horses, “I had a rusted two horse trailer and an old Dodge truck. In those days, everyone was doing rather rough camping.” As a full-time nurse with a stressful job, Helen found that “horses were my bliss. They refilled my well.”

Early on, Helen had a Quarter Horse that she raised from a baby. “I trained her with a book in my hand,” she says, and the horse was with her for many years.

In the ‘90’s, Helen was involved in a serious car accident that resulted in two crushed feet, keeping her wheelchair bound for several months. “Afterward, I could only ride the quarter horse for about 30 minutes and couldn’t walk afterwards,” she said. "I owned a Paso Fino I had bought on a lark, and kept because he was so sweet and gentle. I tried a ride on him, and discovered that I could ride for hours with no pain. They have been my mount since the 90’s.”

This became the turning point for Jerry’s relationship with horses. “I had always supported Helen’s interest and helped take care of them, I just didn’t ride,” he says. One day, Helen told Jerry that she needed him to ride with her because she was going to take her green colt out for his first trail ride, “in case someone needs to call an ambulance. I put him on Treasure, a really special horse, and he fell in love with it.” Jerry has been riding and loving it ever since. “He doesn’t just do it to keep me company anymore; he does it because he loves it,” Helen said.

The rusted two-horse trailer is long gone and in its place is a 39-foot Sundowner with living quarters, which they have used to travel through all of the contiguous United States except for Rhode Island, riding in many.

They spent two months on the road out west, including a stop for a Best of America Ride in Lajitas, Texas. “We had a ball, but two months into it we were ready to come home. I had developed an interest in photography, taking pictures of mustangs in the mountains of the Colorado border. My photography interest grew out of my passion for the horses,” she says.

Another big trip was from the Florida beaches up to Maine, and along the way they rode with friends in Delaware whom they’d met on a previous Best of America ride. In Maine, they got lost on a trail and followed the voices of other riders, seeking help. When they reached the other group, they realized the voices belonged to people they had met on a BOABH ride in Texas. At the end of that ride, Helen convinced Jerry that Michigan was on the way home from Maine, and they ended up acquiring a baby horse there.

The Cary’s love to travel, but don’t have to go far to enjoy the scenery. They enjoy local parks as well, including Laurel Hill and Percy Water Park in Tennessee. In addition to ride-out, the Cary’s can be seen around their town of Fairview, going to the McDonald’s drive-thru on horseback or even to the local pharmacy, where the clerks offer apples to the horses.

The Cary’s currently have five horses. “Ours are bred for what we do with them. They have ground-covering gaits, they have cut cattle, jumped and competed in obstacle courses,” she said. “People ask me how we found such perfect horses. We’ve never 'found' one. We’ve spent thousands of hours making them the way they are.”  Helen is very grateful that Jerry has taken over all the heavy lifting with barn chores after she had two joint replacements and back surgery. Right now they are trying to decide if they are too old and beat up to be “crash test dummies” when starting their 3 year old filly.  Helen is 71 and Jerry is 74.

Like most of us, the Cary’s are eager to get out and see friends again, including Tom and Pat Seay. “We’re eager to do more Best of America rides. They’re just good people,” Helen said. 
Priefert Horse Stalls
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There are different options to choose from to suit your barn’s needs. The stall features an attractive brown powder coat finish to help the stall resist rust, scratches, and fading, adding years of life to your investment. Choose wood construction or impact-resistant poly.

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Hundreds of the top equine professionals around the world and in every equine discipline choose our horse stalls because the only thing more reliable than a Priefert stall is the company that stands behind it.
A Singing Cowboy Lives His Music, Part 2
by Del Shields,
BOABH Guest Co-Host, Poet & Western Singer/Songwriter
Editor’s Note: Del appears on many Best of America by Horseback episodes performing his original cowboy music. With years of rodeo bareback riding experience, Del sings the ballads of the cowboy life with authenticity. Last month we explored Del's early years. This month he shares his more recent work.
I found myself in Nashville for my fourth recording. I couldn't believe I was recording with Grammy award-winning producer Jim VanCleave and Grammy award winning Engineer David Hall. A number of the Grand Ole Opry Band members were in the reading room playing my music and loving it. In addition, the studio lit up when the amazing Cia Cherryholmes came in to join me on some harmonies. My cup runneth over as I looked around me to see all these incredibly gifted people there to record my music. My music? It became Our music.

It was such a wonderful time and memory in this cowboy’s life, walking the streets of Nashville and eating in the same restaurants where the famous singers, the big names of Nashville sat at tables around us. This album, Let the Cowboy Sing, includes favorites like The Best of America, EL Cerrito and Lisa Dreams. I am asked to sing these numbers everywhere I perform.

WANTED is the latest of my recordings, produced right here where I grew up in Chanute Kansas. Cody Nichols, a Kansas transplant from Texas had an incredible recording studio and the ability to fit the music. He was steeped in punk rock, but I knew after ten minutes of meeting him that he could record my cowboy music. He did everything I asked him to do and the way I asked him to do it. I even convinced him that the standup bass had a place in his studio, and we used it with the bow on a few iconic occasions.
What fun it was recording songs such as A Wanted Man, The Faded Poster and one of my favorites, Ian Tyson's Somewhere in The Rubies. I was blessed to have the incredibly talented Stephanie Layne singing harmonies with me. I know Nashville missed her while I stole her away to Kansas to join me on this project. She was the crowning jewel of the sound of this album.

I am also involved in writing for a weekly column in some local newspapers I call Poetry Corral. I am now into my second year, writing a new poem very Monday morning. I plan on putting together a book of poetry from these in the near future. I have been writing poetry since grade school, but Cowboy Poetry since 1997.

I am deeply indebted to Tom and Pat Seay, my dear friends who have believed in me and promoted me in so many ways for so many years. I know I would not have enjoyed the success I know today without their support.

If interested in acquiring any of my work, I can be Contacted at: [email protected] or text or phone 620-433-1819.

Look for one of Del's poems in our next issue!
Equine Wellness Magazine
Features Tom Seay
Have you picked up the latest  Equine Wellness Magazine ? An article from Tom Seay about camping with horses is featured on pages 52-53-- and part two is coming soon!
Valley of Peace Christian School:
Update from Belize
Greeting from Belize and we pray for success in your endeavours.  I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Best of America by Horseback family for all the support given to our school for the past five years. Our school and students have been blessed in many ways and we are profoundly grateful for making us part of your family.

The kids are doing great in academics and in sports. For the past several years, the standard six students have been performing well in the National Primary School Examination (PSE). A few months ago, in November 2019, our girls’ soccer team won the national championship! Your donations toward sports have really paid off. We are now training hard for the upcoming tournament and we hope to do well again; however, we are short of soccer balls and shoes for the kids. The school supplies and resources given to our school have been making a difference in their lives of our students.  

This year our school garden suffered the consequences of a severe drought experienced by the whole country of Belize. Lack of rain has made it very challenging for us to maintain it productive as in previous years. Our greatest hope, however, is to make it flourish in the upcoming school year. We would need to invest in some type of irrigation system that will be effective and not too costly. For the meantime, we need to plough the plot of land once more to get it prepared for the next rainy season. To get this done, we really need some financial assistance as the school lacks the funds to make it happen.

We would greatly appreciate your continuous assistance to make our school a better place for our kids and future citizens of our country. 

Jose Duenas
Want to help? Contact [email protected]
Finding Gratitude Through Fear in Uncertain Times
By Carole Herder
My friends, these are uncharted waters, and I admit I am scared.

I’m going along ok for the most part, but then I hear news and up comes the trepidation, the ‘what ifs’ and the fearfulness. This is powerlessness. Events, circumstances, people, and things – all are swirling around in flux. I don’t know how to help or what will happen next. None of us do.
Here's a Question for You
Have you ever been so scared that you start thinking about really horrible things? And then you look back and say “wow, that was crazy” because none of it happened. The power of the mind can create all sorts of scenarios.

Look in the Mirror
Horses can teach a lot about managing your thoughts because they read them and reflect them back at us. They pick up on our feelings. We’ve all had times when we go out riddled with anxiety or sadness and end up having a horrible time with our horse. Alternatively, we go out full of joy and have the best ride ever. They can scare us or comfort us, and often it’s as a result of our projection.

Lurking Around the Next Bend
I had my big foundation-bred ranch horse, Slash, for a couple of months when I moved out to this place – heavily overgrown rain forest. I trusted him. We had a bond right from the moment we met. I was thrilled to get out there, and I confidently hopped on his back to explore this labyrinth of old-growth trails. It was a thrilling adventure in every direction across all kinds of terrain. One path after another, it was more beautiful and exotic the Find
Then it started getting very dark. The trails got denser and then disappeared altogether. I was about 2 hours in and had to turn around. I was nervous, and Slash picked it up.

The more he pranced, the more nervous I became. You know how it goes. Not only were the cougars waiting to pounce from overhead, but a big Mamma bear was also around this next corner. And even more creatively, there was an escaped and insane serial killer, barely surviving out here and ready to feast on my dead carcass. Every shadow represented another evil threat. I was very talented at really freaking myself out.

With the help of dear, now-deceased Lisa, the Blue Heeler, we made it out of the forest alive. Tired, crying, and prickly with tension, we surfaced back in the barn some 3 hours later. The reason for this story is that it was a severe and real lesson in mind control in the face of fear. To be honest, I didn’t do very well. I think I am better now with practice. Like most of us, we learn what we must.

Edit your Story
I haven’t thought of this for a long time, and now I remember it like it was yesterday. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of life’s teachings. Now more than ever, the lesson is to remain calm and situated in real-time. Right now, it’s vital to take control of the story we are telling ourselves. When it’s horrible and scary, and we’ve managed to create the worst possible nightmare – we need to change it.

Come back to today and right now and start re-framing the gruesome tale into something uplifting. Are we ok? Is our family ok? Do we have a roof, clothes and food? We’re ok.

The world needs us to feel comfortable, and our animals are here to offer their assistance. Let’s allow them to. Let’s make a choice to feel good. Once again, pioneers and trailblazers, we can lead the way. Feel the love. Feel the peace. And spread it. Get out and ride your horse.

Our Feel-Good Advantage
And now Cavallo community, it’s time to feel grateful. Why? Because of our lives and our animals, the beautiful 4-leggeds in our lives who give us a fantastic ‘feel-good’ advantage. We commune with nature. We have barns to go to and fresh air to breathe and open spaces to hang out in. Yesterday I went out to the field and stood with my guys. Being there with them calmed my mind, and the troubles and worries started to slip away – just like feathers on the breeze. The horses got proper grooming, and I got my solace and sanity back. Take this time to just be with your horses and let your peaceful feelings blossom and spread.

If you Have Horses,
you Know What Fear is
If you have horses in your life, you know what fear is. I am not saying we all get lost in the forest in the dark. But our prey animals can unsettle us with their behavior. They speak a different language. You also know that the fear passes. You come out of it. And things return to normal. Let’s trust that this virus will give soon, and for now, know that we are all in this together.

Carole Herder is the author of the #1 International Bestseller There Are No Horseshoes in Heaven. Carole has been involved in horse health since 1993. Her company, Cavallo Horse & Rider Inc., develops, manufactures and distributes horse products in 26 countries worldwide.
Cavallo Hoof Boots
This Month's Giveaway Winner!
Susan Yearwood
North Carolina

is the April 2020 Winner of one pair of Trek Hoof Boots from Cavallo Horse and Rider!

How to Win:
To enter to win your own pair of Trek Hoof Boots, email Karen your name and state with the subject line "Enter Me to Win!"
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