Trading Places - Part II

The Trade: Arabians for Paint Horses
Michelle Steigmeyer's story is an example of how a change - even an unplanned one - can refresh the spirit and renew enthusiasm for horse-related pursuits.

Now involved with pleasure-bred Paint Horses, 38-year-old Michelle, Ft. Wayne, Ind., lived and breathed Arabians - primarily halter horses - from the age of 6 until she was 34. Although her change of breeds and disciplines occurred serendipitously, this horse lover declares she's "found where I belong."

Michelle's equine involvement began when her parents got a yearling Arabian colt for the family's first horse. Before long, the family had several horses, all Arabians, and one, a locally bred $600 gelding, put them in the limelight.

"He was reserve champion gelding at the big Indiana All Arabian Horse Show as a 2-year-old, being led by an unknown trainer," Michelle recalls. "It wasn't long before my parents were approached by one of the top halter-horse trainers at that time. He knew our gelding could do well and made my parents an offer (to take over the training) that they couldn't refuse."

The gelding went on to win more prestigious halter titles. In her early teens at the time, Michelle fell in love with the glitz and glamour of it all. She remembers her first visit to the farm where the family's gelding was being readied for the U.S. National Championships.

"The barns were spotless, the horses looked like they'd walked out of magazines, and we were treated like royalty. We were big-time!"

From that point on, Michelle wanted to carve out a spot for herself in this corner of the horse world. Instead of going to college, she hired on as a groom under the trainer who'd campaigned her family's winning gelding. This, she reasoned, would be her opportunity to learn from one of the top names in the business.

First at that Arabian farm, then at another, she helped condition horses destined for halter stardom. As she played this role, however, she also got sucked into the single-focus mentality of making sure the horses she conditioned were the best in the show ring, no matter the cost to the animals.

Eventually, Michelle became disillusioned by what she calls the "numbing, assembly-line method" of keeping training-barn horses in tip-top shape day after day. She began adding personalized, "time-out" touches to her charges' daily routines - allowing them to eat grass after their baths, for instance, instead of tying them for hours to dry in their stalls, and giving them one rest day a week. But because she wasn't following her boss' strict conditioning recipe, she ended up losing her job.

Michelle lined up a position as assistant trainer at another Arabian halter barn, but had to wait 2 months before the owners would be ready for her to start. To make ends meet in the interim, she took the only horse-related gig she could find, helping at a local Paint Horse breeding operation, Yarnelle Farms.

"I hated it," she confides. "To me, the horses had plain heads, low-set necks, huge rumps and no spark or animation. They did everything slowly, and I despised them for it. I missed the chiseled heads, arched necks, flagging tails and flat croups of the Arabians I'd been around for so long. I was miserable, and the only place I found solice was in the mare barn with the foals."

Before long, Michelle went from hating her job to loving it. She personalized the foals by giving them barn names and found that by doing so, they became interesting individuals rather than products being churned out for the marketplace. Her new boss, John Yarnell, made a difference, too.

"He took the time to explain what makes a good pleasure prospect versus a poor one," she says. "He taught me that breeding for good minds is miles ahead of the game, as opposed to simply covering a bad mind with drugs and harsh training techniques. I stopped viewing my Paint Horse charges as substandard substitutes for the high-spirited Arabians I'd known for the past 25 years.

"When it came time to leave the farm for the assistant-trainer job I'd been waiting for, I couldn't do it. I'd found where I belonged. I've gone back to why I started working with horses in the first place - because I love them and want to make a difference in their lives."

The Trade: Barrel Racing for Reining
When Sarah Fung left barrel racing to take up reining, it wasn't the first time she changed pursuits. Now 22 and a resident of Iowa Park, Texas, Sarah started her riding career in the Mid-Atlantic states by showing eventers and dressage horses. She competed successfully and trained with some of those fields' top professionals.

Sarah switched to western riding after meeting her future husband in 1999. He'd grown up on a ranch, loved to rope and team pen, and directed her attention to barrel racing. After marrying in 2000, the couple moved from New Jersey to Texas in 2001.

"I became very involved in National Barrel Horse Association events and jackpots," she reports. "It was something I loved, especially for the speed and the casual atmosphere that are parts of barrel racing. By the end of 2003, though, I started to experience a great decline in enjoyment. Running barrels was the same, over and over again, and I started to dislike the slight lack of control most barrel horses come to get."

At her husband's suggestion, Sarah looked into reining and working cow-horse. Intrigued, she sold her barrel horses and tack, then reinvested in a 12-year-old reining mare.

"I'll be the first to admit that I don't know whether I'm brave enough to go down the fence (in cow-horse competition), but reining is wonderful. I enjoyed dressage tremendously because of the precision, control and harmony between horse and rider, and reining has similar qualities," she says.

"I must say, I haven't had this much fun and derived this much enjoyment from riding in a long time. The feeling of running to the end of the pen and having the horse slide into the ground from a simple weight shift is unparalleled."

According to Sarah, the mental aspects of reining are as challenging and engaging as the physical ones.

"At first, I was nervous about having to memorize patterns, but now I think my memory's improved because of it. I love that reining's based on a scoring system that pinpoints what you do well and what needs more work. It's very motivating for me to keep striving toward the perfect run. There's always something to work on.

"Reining recognizes skill and hard work," she adds. "Barrel racing requires skill and hard work, too, but in reining, a horse doesn't need the God-given talent to go fast that's so necessary for running barrels."

Not surprisingly, Sarah's a cheerleader for change.

"There's a discipline out there for everyone," she insists. "If something new interests you, go for it! I don't regret taking part in activities I didn't stick with. Each one gave me ideas, insights and skills that I've carried over into reining.

"I honestly think that if more people expanded their horizons by trying different activities, the horse world would be a better place."

To read Part One of this series - click here.