Doeke

Doeke, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

He's just a 3-year-old baby. But very patient with flash, umbrella and camera.

Jilly!

Jilly!, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

Who needs football with this jock in the family!

Red Whey

Red Whey, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

Need to learn to do product photography in a hurry!

The wind up...

Fogy Oak

From scan. cira 1980

The eater

Circa 1980...

Outward bound

Outward bound, a photo by NetAgra on Flickr.

One warm fall day!

Broken Oak

Broken Oak, originally uploaded by NetAgra.

Every picture has a story

Auction faces soft season

coaxing a bid

Top bid

A horse sale regarded highly enough to draw registered Morgan consignments from as far west as Wyoming and from as far east as Maryland should bring out the big bidders. But at the end of the annual Hylee’s Production Sale Oct. 27, there was plenty of speculation about the horse market.

"People certainly got some good deals," said Jackie Sweeney, Hylee Farm owner. "I don’t know. It’s an election year."

It’s not that horses didn’t sell; the top bid was more than $17,000. It was the horses that earned only the minimum $750 bid or didn’t sell at all for failure to make the floor. Internet bidding pitted buyers against each other from as far away as British Columbia and provided a boost on several lots.

The sale arena at the Mount Horeb farm was near seating capacity with consigners, potential bidders and onlookers. At the preview event the night before, the barn aisles were crowed with people sizing up the offerings and taking test rides to see if the animals fit the rider. The interest level was high and the excitement was evident.

There was obvious surprise when the sale began sluggishly and continued to drag along in the early going. Auctioneer Bill Addis of Edmond, Okla., repeatedly prodded the crowd, frequently pausing the bidding to talk up the horse, answer questions and let the consigners show off the best of their animals.

"You’ll regret not bidding in the morning," Addis said.

What isn’t good for the seller certainly benefits the buyer as people picked up top-end animals for less than what it cost to raise and train them. Unofficially, out of the 41 lots consigned, 34 lots sold with a couple of scratches.

The low bid for a 4-year-old mare was $550 and one horse went through the auction ring without a bid. Four other lots were held by consignors for not reaching the pre-assigned minimum bid, one of which did reach $6,000 before Addis called it.

The unofficial sale total was $71,700 for an equally unofficial average of $2,100 per lot. By way of comparison, last year’s production sale auction total was $115,500 on 35 head. The auction average on horses sold was $3,300.

An obvious question about the state of the market related to the drought and the short supply of pasture and hay across the nation. Sweeney tended to discount the forage situation as a factor in the sale. She said most of the people interested in such high-quality animals have secured their hay supplies for the season and if they want a horse they’ll bid.

Other people speculated that the shortage of forage and pasture are part of an overall picture that includes a slow economy, an evolving horse business, election year fatigue, contraction in the business and an overall sense of uncertainty. More than one attendee at the sale pointed out the number of stables around the country that are scaling back by reducing inventory.

"Eventually, this cutting back we see in the business now will lead to a shorter supply of good horses," said Joe Doctor, one of the sale ring men. "It’s a supply and demand thing, and we’ll see prices come back once that has happened."

Lettering in horsemanship: High school competition growing

Competition during district two show

While not yet competitive with Friday night football as a high school sport, horse shows as part of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Horsemanship Association are growing in participation. What began as an idea copied from Michigan about five years ago has now joined the mainstream of high school athletic sports here in Wisconsin.

"You can now get a high school athletic letter in horsemanship," said Jill Klubertanz, WIHA district 2 chairwoman. "School districts that recognize the sport can, if they want, offer a letter to participants."

Since its inception in 2007, WIHA has grown from 17 teams across the state to more than 60 teams with more than 300 students participating, said Julia Lepinski, WIHA president. Its growth is partly connected to the team aspect of the competitions.

"You’re part of a team. There are no individual awards. When you compete, you’re helping your team and everyone is cheering and helping each other along," Lepinski said.

Anything connected to high school-sanctioned sports tends to get complicated, but the WIHA tries to make it as easy on school districts as possible to recognize the sport, she said. A big hurdle to adding more sports is money, so WIHA activities and events are completely self-funded.

"The students take on all the costs of having the animals and the transportation," Klubertanz said. "The association takes care of the various liability issues that a school district is usually concerned about. There’s no cost to the school district for having a team."

Wisconsin is divided into 18 districts and students may form teams regardless of whether a school district decides to recognize horsemanship as a lettered sport. Divisions within WIHA are based on the number of riders from a school district: Division A, 11-15 riders; Division B, 6-10 riders; Division C, 3 to 5 riders; Division D, 1-2 riders.

Teams then compete in district shows for the chance to go to the state show. The top two teams from each district division earn the chance to go to the state show. There’s a smorgasbord of 18 competitive WIHA classes such as: western showmanship, hunter hack equitation, reinsmanship, barrels and relay races.

Teams pick six of the available classes in which to compete. The show competition is similar to a track meet where athletes may compete in more than one event, Klubertanz said. Team scores are added up to determine team winners.

"There are individual ribbons, but at the end there is only a team trophy," she said.

"Our season is short; September and October," Klubertanz said. "Each district does three shows. If it’s a small district they may combine shows. It’s unique that we judge only the rider’s ability. The kind of horse a student has doesn’t matter."

Why should youth want to get involved with another high school activity when there already are so many to choose from? Klubertanz says many young people with equestrian interests are so wrapped up with their horses and horse activities that they often forego other high school athletics and programs.

"The students with horses are putting in all the work and making all the sacrifices and learning many of the same lessons as other athletes," she said. "The WIHA gives them the opportunity to get some credit for their work so they use it on college applications and resumes like other students do."

The official association purpose statement reads in part, "...to promote continuous growth in programs fostering horsemanship education, sponsor activities to encourage interscholastic participation and to have cooperative adult supervised leadership (coaching) for all students in grades 6 through 12 who are desirous to participate regardless of race, creed or national origin and meets the association rules and regulations."

Run girl!

Run girl!, originally uploaded by NetAgra.

Cool fall temps and she's perky!

Watering back a drought

Early July as the drought was taking its toll, a grower waters with all his might:

People in the environment

The nut of it is getting a great shot of someone doing what they love...

Sigh, want to do this again...

Environmental portraits continue

Feeding hay in January, Wheatland, Wyoming.

©John Deere/NetAgra Sevie Kenyon

Hogs, from long ago

Another location portrait

Photo taken for UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Doug Soldat, university turf scientist works to develop sustainable lawn care guidelines for Wisconsin. At the O.J. Noer turf research facility near Verona, they’re evaluating grass varieties and blends to see how they perform with reduced levels of irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides. They’re also exploring non-chemical strategies for controlling pests and monitoring the effectiveness of pesticides that the EPA classifies as “reduced risk.” 3-minute audio here...

Location portrait

John Mochon, program manager
 of the Small Grains Breeding Program
 in the UW-Madison agronomy department

University of Wisconsin-Madison plant breeders have developed a new oat variety that’s significantly higher in the compound that makes this grain so cardio-friendly.

“The biggest thing that stands out about this new variety, BetaGene, is that it’s both a high yielding variety and high in beta glucan. Beta glucan is a heart-healthy chemical that is exclusive to oats,” says John Mochon, program manager of the Small Grains Breeding Program in the UW-Madison agronomy department. 3-minute audio here... Read more...

It's Spring!

Colt at Rustic View Farm

Covered bridge in the morning fog

Covered bridge in the morning fog, originally uploaded by NetAgra.

A special covered bridge was built to cross over a waterway at the UW-Madison O.J. Noer turf research facility.