In the fifth episode of The Horse Illustrated Episode of Horses in the Morning, sponsored by Title Sponsor Straight Arrow Products, hosts Glenn the Geek and Sarah Evers Conrad talk to breakaway roping superstar Jackie Hobbs-Crawford about her illustrious competitive career and being a mom, Dwayne Hildreth about his work on the board of Brooke USA, and to international trainer Daniel Stewart about equestrian sports psychology and how to be bolder, braver, and brighter.

Hosts: Sarah Conrad, Digital Content Editor of Horse Illustrated & Young Rider and Glenn the Geek, host of Horses in the Morning

Title Sponsor: Straight Arrow Family of Brands

There’s an App for that!  Check out the new Horse Radio Network app for iPhone and Android. Follow Horse Radio Network on Twitter or follow Horses In The Morning on Facebook.

Breakaway Roping with Jackie Hobbs-Crawford

Twenty-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Champion Jackie Hobbs-Crawford of Jackie Crawford Roping has a lifetime in speed events and roping. She was the Oklahoma High School Breakaway Roping Champion, won her first National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) national breakaway roping title as well as a national women’s team title at Vernon College, and was part of a second national champion women’s team and was Reserve National Champion Breakaway Roper at Tarleton State University. By the time Jackie graduated with her business degree, she had three consecutive NIRA Southwest Region champion breakaway roping titles under her belt.

Since then, Jackie Hobbs-Crawford has continued to excel on the rodeo and roping scene. In addition to training top-level horses, she continues to ride horses for some of the best cowboys in the business. In 2017, Jackie married Charly Crawford, a 10-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in heading. Together they have three children: 16-year-old Kaydence, 4-year-old Creed, and a new baby girl named Journey. Along with balancing being a wife, mother, competitor and trainer, Jackie Hobbs-Crawford has played a key role in the exploding trend of breakaway roping. She continues to further the sport of rodeo by conducting clinics throughout the year and giving private lessons at the Crawford’s training facility in Stephenville.

For the article about Jackie Crawford in Western Life, click here. Purchase Western Life magazine here.

Brooke USA with Dwayne Hildreth

Dwayne Hildreth, is on the board of Brooke USA. He is an owner of two performance Quarter Horses and has been competing in reined cow horse and stock horse competitions for just over a year. The mission of Brooke USA is to significantly improve the welfare of 100 million working horses, donkeys, and mules who are helping to support 600 million of the poorest people throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Caribbean. They do this by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need. But rather than just handing out money and leaving an area, Brooke also provides education, supplies and assistance not only to animal owners, but also to locally based veterinarians, veterinary technicians, farriers, feed suppliers, and those who make and repair tack and horse-drawn vehicles. They have also expanded into university research and community projects, as well as working to influence governmental policy. After all, healthy animals work better, live longer and thus can support their humans in a more sustainable way.

For the article about Brooke and Brooke USA in the July 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated, click here.

Daniel Stewart and His New Horse Book Called Bolder, Braver, Brighter

Daniel Stewart has been an equestrian for more than 35 years and has coached horse riders all over the world for the past 25 of those. Combining his knowledge as an equestrian with a degree in physical education, he created an empowering and inspiring clinic series that helps riders develop equally strong minds and bodies. As the internationally acclaimed author of Pressure Proof Your Riding; Ride Right; and Fit and Focused in 52; he talked about his latest book—Bolder, Braver, Brighter, available through Trafalgar Square Publishing. Daniel Stewart is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on horse sport psychology, athletics, and performance. He teaches clinics and seminars to thousands of riders each year, including an annual summer clinic tour that includes 50 clinics in more than 30 cities over a span of 60 days. He’s a sought-after keynote speaker, has published countless magazine articles, and is an equestrian sport psychology and rider fitness contributor for many other equestrian associations. A father of two, when he’s not teaching his jumping, cross-country, and dressage clinics; he runs four-day equestrian athlete training camps at various athlete training centers around the country. He also produces weekly mental coaching and rider fitness videos for riders of all levels, ages, and disciplines.

For the article from Daniel Stewart’s book—Bolder, Braver, Brighter—from the October 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated, click here.

Title Sponsor

We want to thank our Title Sponsor, the Straight Arrow Family of Brands, makers of Mane ‘n Tail, Cowboy Magic & Exhibitor’s, with over 100 years of grooming excellence. For more information about your favorite products, please visit www.straightarrowinc.com and find Straight Arrow Products at a tack shop near you!

Premier Sponsor

Farnam is showing you their appreciation with a very special 75th anniversary giveaway. Visit www.farnam.com/75-giveaway for a chance to win a custom, special edition Farnam 75th anniversary John Deere Gator. This Gator is gorgeous, and it is filled with $1,000 worth of Farnam horse care products! Somebody is going to win all of this, so it might as well be you! Farnam, Your Partner in Horse Care!

The post Podcast Episode #5: Breakaway Roping, Brooke USA and Bolder, Braver, Brighter for Sept 28, 2021 by Straight Arrow Products appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

A Pakistani man pours jet-black lumps of coal into oversized sacks strapped to the back of his little white donkey as they prepare to haul coal out of a mine. He shares how much he depends on his equine partner: “If I lose my donkey, I lose everything.”

Elba, a wife and mother living in a village of Guatemala, owns two donkeys, Joaquin and Seforina. Since there is no water in her community, Elba walks with her donkeys 45 minutes to a stream to gather water and carry it home.

The area has one of the world’s highest drought levels, and Elba and her husband struggle not only to feed their children, but also to grow enough forage for their donkeys.

“The only thing that matters to me is that my animals have enough food for the summer; that season is hard and it’s extremely difficult to find food for them,” says Elba.

A family in Kenya keeps a small male donkey. He hauls water, food, and supplies and helps them till the soil. Without him, the family will be severely challenged, and they don’t have the money to purchase another equine.

They wake one morning to find their donkey gone—likely stolen to be slaughtered for his hide, which will be traded on the black market in Asia. The family is devastated beyond words.

These and hundreds of thousands of similar stories are a way of life in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. While working equines in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe are more of a novelty than the norm today, there are still many areas of the world in which humans rely heavily on their four-legged helpers to earn a subsistence living.

An estimated 100 million working horses, donkeys and mules around the world support approximately 600 million people. These animals toil under the harshest conditions in some of the poorest countries on the planet. The international equine charity Brooke and its affiliate organizations, including Brooke USA, have been helping these hard-working animals—and the humans that depend on them—for over 80 years.

The Origin of Brooke

Brooke, which is based in Great Britain, is now the leading global welfare organization for working equines. It was established due to the efforts of the charity’s namesake, Dorothy Brooke.

In 1930, her husband, British Army Major General Geoffrey Brooke, was sent for duty in Egypt. She accompanied him, and they arrived in Cairo to find hundreds of ex-military horses from the British, Australian and American Armies had been left behind after World War I. These horses had been sold to locals and were enduring incredibly difficult working conditions, with most being of advanced age, emaciated and infirm.

Brooke set out to buy back these horses so that they could be either rehabilitated or humanely euthanized, depending on the individual horse’s best interest. In 1931, she raised the equivalent of 20,000 British pounds in today’s money (about $28,000 USD) through public fundraising spurred by writing a letter to the editor of The Morning Post in London (now The Daily Telegraph). By 1934, she had purchased the freedom of 5,000 ex-war horses.

Realizing that there were still thousands of other working horses, donkeys and mules in Egypt, that same year she established Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in Cairo (later called the Brooke Hospital for Animals), with the promise of free veterinary care. Brooke also worked to establish shade shelters and watering stations for Cairo’s working animals, and by 1938, the hospital also had a motorized equine ambulance.

Over the next 80-plus years, Brooke expanded their mission to many other countries and opened more hospitals and shelters, although they do not set up traditional clinics now. Today they continue to provide training and support to animal owners and equine industry service providers.

Additionally, Brooke and Brooke USA assist during national disasters such as floods, droughts, earthquakes and wildfires. In 2016, Brooke passed the milestone of reaching two million working equines thus far.

They have also expanded into university research and community projects, as well as working to influence governmental policy. In the summer of 2019, Brooke was officially recognized by the United Nations as an accredited UN Environment Program.

Helping Animals & Their People

The overriding principle that guides Brooke and Brooke USA charitable work is to teach the people in a particular country the value of keeping animals healthy, and to help those human caretakers understand that healthy animals work better, live longer and thus can support their humans in a more sustainable way.

This often requires doing away with traditional practices, which are ineffective and occasionally cruel, and unlocking the underlying human compassion for animals that can be lost in the difficulty of subsistence living and geopolitical struggles.

Rather than just handing out money and leaving an area, Brooke provides education, supplies and assistance not only to animal owners, but also to locally based veterinarians, paraveterinary workers (veterinary technicians), farriers, feed suppliers, and those who make and repair tack and horse-drawn vehicles.

By utilizing these in-country professionals, who are known by the local population, positive change is more likely to take hold and last in the lives of working animals and their owners. It’s a win-win for everyone; not only do the equine owners earn a better living and the animals lead happier lives, but industry service providers learn new, valuable skills. Brooke has also learned that targeting education about animal care toward women and children in a community is an effective tool.

The Launch of Brooke USA

In 2008, Brooke USA was originally chartered as American Friends of the Brooke and then relaunched in 2015 as Brooke USA. With their main offices in Lexington, Ky., Brooke USA’s mission is to help equines in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and the Caribbean.

Katherine Kaneb, current Brooke USA Board of Directors Chair, feels it is their responsibility to make sure funds received from donors are put to good use, and explains they are careful in the selection of programs to fund.

“We know that healthy, cared-for equines lead to a better life for humans,” says Kaneb. “In addition to our ability to initiate and fund our own programming and advocacy efforts within the Americas, our business model focuses on granting funds to nonprofit organizations that are already making a difference so we can magnify their impact, or supporting nonprofits that present us unique, well thought-out programs that creatively reach underserved communities.”

One current project is fundraising to purchase small plots of land in Nicaragua that will serve as training units for forage production and storage. In addition to work in other countries, Brooke USA has recently worked in the U.S. on COVID-19 relief funding and helped with natural disasters in Texas and on the West Coast.

Notable Ambassadors A number of top equestrians from many disciplines work as Brooke USA ambassadors; three shared why they decided to join: Olympic dressage rider Allison Brock, champion show jumper Hannah Selleck, and five-star eventer Allison Springer. Brock rode the stallion Rosevelt on the bronze medal-winning U.S. Olympic Team in 2016. “I became involved with Brooke USA through my employers, who are huge contributors and advocates of Brooke USA. It’s a charity that any equestrian can get behind wholeheartedly, because when you take care of donkeys, you take care of people.” Selleck, who competes in top-level jumping and breeds sport horses, shares her story. “I was introduced to Brooke USA by a friend, and I immediately fell in love with the mission of helping working equines in the developing world and the people who depend on them. More importantly, I thought I could help by bringing awareness to their projects.” Springer, who with long-time partner Arthur served as an alternate for the U.S. Eventing Team for the 2012 London Olympic Games, also believes deeply in Brooke USA’s mission. “I joined forces with Brooke USA as a celebrity bartender for an event at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in 2017. This gave me an opportunity to learn more about the mission. Many of my friends are deeply involved too. I was very honored when asked to become a Brooke USA ambassador.”

This article about Brooke and Brooke USA appeared in the July 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Help for Hard-Working Equines Through Brooke and Brooke USA appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.