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Jan Swan Wood: Clinics, bucking horses, Dash Ta Vanila, reward offered, Sutton releases CD

The green grass is starting to show here. I hope by the time you read this that the creeks are running and the dams are overflowing. We need a lot of rain to do that, but we all know it can happen.

There’s going to be an Equine Sports Therapy Certification School May 20-24 at Piedmont, SD. The students will get a hands on, five day school and will be certified as an equine massage therapist with completion. They will learn anatomy and physiology, and safe and natural horsemanship while there too. Class size is limited, so call Rhonda Evans right away to get your spot. Her number is 605-484-2288 and you can also check it out on Facebook under Black Hills School of Animal Massage.

There will be a Newell (South Dakota) Rodeo Queen Clinic on Friday, May 24, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call Cheyenne Winkler at 605-456-3297 for more information.



The Miles City Bucking Horse Sale is coming up May 16-19 at Miles City, MT. It’s not just bucking horse as there’s also mutton busting, bull riding, wild horse races, paramutual horse racing, a dance, and an open horse sale going on that weekend. I’m sure there’s way more than I can list here, so go check out the action. Legend has it that it’s a great time. I’ll be able to tell you more about it after this year as we are actually going to it!

In case you are wondering where Dash Ta Vanila went after she and Nikki Steffes (Vale, SD) placed fifth in the average at the WNFR in 2012, here’s the scoop: After the finals it was determined that she had chips in both knees, so surgery was done and now she is in rehab at the Lazy E at Guthrie, OK. They are giving her low impact hydrotherapy on an underwater treadmill in order to condition her without putting strain on her knees. While there, she has also been bred to Corona Cartel and will have the embryo flushed right away. The eight year old mare is owned by Alan Woodbury, Dickinson, ND and is sired by Dash Ta Fame and out of the great mare SX Frenchmans Vanila by Frenchmans Guy. Here’s hoping that she is back in competition soon!



There is a $30,000 reward for information leading to the solving of the case of the Williston, ND, rancher who disappeared April 24. Jack Sjol, 58, lives near Williston and there appeared to have been a violent confrontation in his ranch yard and no one has seen him since. The Sjol family is asking farmers and ranchers in the area to keep on the lookout for anything unusual around their places, shelter belts, abandoned buildings, etc…This is the third unsolved disappearance of a man in the oil patch with the other two missing since early 2012. This has to be quite an ordeal for the family to go through and I hope and pray they get some answers soon. It’s a scary world out there.

Ranchers from the Red Desert area of southwestern Wyoming have come to an agreement with the BLM that would reduce feral horse numbers on the 4,300 square miles of sagebrush and high desert. The number would be cut from around 2,000 to 1,050 in four herd areas around Rock Springs. The remaining horses would be sterilized (nice way of saying gelded) and the mares given fertility drugs to prevent reproduction. Of course, the anti’s say that this will “wipe out” the horses and are howling about it. Hmm…Obviously, they think 1,050 horses on high desert country is an unsubstantial number? Really? That’s too many anywhere, and with the drought, it’s going to get tougher and tougher for them to live. The ranchers and private landowners would be thrilled to decrease the numbers so that they would stay off of the private land that they ranch on. They already run deer, elk and antelope for the U.S. government. At least they are a native species instead of a bunch of horses that were turned loose at the onset of the motorized age and have bred and in-bred to the point of being out of control.

Whew. I’ll get down off my soapbox, I was starting to get dizzy.

Here’s some exciting news about a native South Dakota ranch and rodeo girl who has worked hard to achieve success in the music industry. Rehme Sutton has released her first album and the celebration includes CD release parties and performances at the Knuckle Saloon, Sturgis, on May 21; Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center, Ft. Pierre, on May 22; Rounding Third, Yankton, on May 23; and Stella’s, Burke, on May 25. She’s also making a big circle down through Texas right now, so this girl is busy! Her family and friends are very proud of her and I think it’s wonderful that her dreams are coming true. Get to one of these venues to hear this talented young woman. I’m sure going to try!

Now to complete my circle: geld those colts, get those fat horses off of green grass before they founder, and don’t leave a halter on a horse that’s turned loose. I feel better now–those three things really build up in me if I don’t nag about them once in a while. Pray for rain.