March Expo is another success in 2009. Here's a report from Michigan Horse Council's Marilyn Graff:
Despite concerns as to how, and how much, Michigan’s current economy would affect this year’s MHC Horse Expo, it certainly was a rousing success! Paid attendance was down a little on Friday, and again on Saturday, but was up on Sunday……with overall attendance being close to what it was a year ago!
We received many comments, both from those attending and vendors, about the “up-beat” atmosphere of the Expo. Everyone seemed to be there to enjoy themselves and they were having a grand time! There were unusually few complaints, no major problems, and our Expo staff performed like the efficient professionals they all are! Many of our “new” clinicians expressed amazement at both the size, and the well-run operation, that is the Michigan Horse Council Horse Expo. After 26 years, we should be doing something right! The entire committee and crew of volunteers deserve a well earned Thank You for a job well done. Without these dedicated, hard-working people, the Expo would never happen, much less be the success it always is.
The Michigan Multi-Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team and Color Guard was a big hit throughout the weekend, both with their participation in the Color Presentations on Saturday and Sunday, the special presentations on Saturday afternoon, and the Drill presentation on Saturday evening. Drill Team members took turns manning a stall in the Stallion Area, handing out bookmarks with the team photo from Washington, and regaling all that stopped to visit with their tales from the trip! For those that got to meet them personally, Rob and Jeff, the two Toronto members of the Team were a delight, and were wonderful ambassadors for our neighbor to the north.
The Lansing Christian Elementary School program Friday morning saw over 200 students, grades kindergarten through fifth, attend the Expo, and take part in a special program. Each group started in the Round Pen/Auditorium area, with a program by Billy Thomas (and his AQHA stallion) and TJ Casey. This was followed by a tour of the exhibit area, where they visited with several of the vendors, saw some of the “big” horse trailers, and got to see and pet several of the horses (and donkeys) on the Stallion Avenue. The entire group spent an hour in the Main Arena watching the Wheels Unlimited six-horse Appaloosa hitch and Stagecoach, four of the Stallion Presentations, including Bill Thomas (so they could see him really perform with his horse, after meeting both earlier in the morning), and Al Ragusin with his songs and Dancing Horse. Each group also spent time in the Seminar Room, where they had a sack lunch, and there was story telling by Pat DeMeyer, of Saddle Tree Press. Tee Rayment had his authentic chuck wagon on display in this room, and told the children about this, and what the various parts were, how they were used, and why they helped make up the chuck wagon. Many parents and teachers accompanied the group, and many of the older Expo volunteers served as “tour guides” for the group. Several Michigan Association Queens also assisted with the group. A big thank you to all of these people, and what a well-behaved group of youngsters! They certainly were a credit to their school.
The Sunday afternoon “Cattle Events” created much interest, with full grandstands for the entire program. The organizations participating…..Great Lakes Cutting Horse Association, Great Lakes Reined Cow Horse Association, Foundation Quarter Horse Registry-Michigan, Ranch Horse Association of Michigan and the Michigan Ropers Association….all deserve credit for a smoothly running, interesting program. A very special thank you goes to our arena advisor/director, Stuart Pletcher, for all his help in making this program happen.
Another very well-received and popular event was the 5th Annual Cross Winds Ranch Colt Challenge, where ten trainers competed with ten unbroken two year olds in a training competition. The ten trainers included: Larry Bourke, Big Rapids, MI; Brandt Clark, Lakeview, MI; Jason Fairbanks, White River, SD; Jim Meacham, Kalamazoo, MI; Nick O’Heran, Hastings, MI; Sean Prater, Shidler, OK; Joe Unger, Lakeview, MI; Rod Yost, Gann Valley, SD; Dana Ruhnke, Miller, SD; and Troy Prime, Adrian, MI. Winners of the competition, which was held over all three days of the Expo, were: First: Rob Yost; second: Nick O’Heran; third: Dana Ruhnke; and fourth: Brandt Clark. Followed the final session of the competition on Sunday, the colts from the Challenge were auctioned. The high selling colt was GBH Rey Jay Jetwood, who sold for $2300.00, and was bought by Jim Meacham, Kalamazoo, MI, while Joe Goodenow, Lowell, MI, paid $1850 each for GBH Lacys Ciderwood and GBH Rey Jay Cashwood.
As always, the Friday evening Michigan High School Rodeo was standing room only! Our congratulations to the Michigan High School Rodeo Association for putting on another tremendous event, and to their very competitive members, as well as their guests from the Ontario High School Rodeo Association. We hear from parents and competitors alike what a thrill it is to just compete at this rodeo, with the jam-packed stands. The spectators do a great job of cheering on ALL competitors, not just their friends and family. Congratulations to the event champions: Bareback Bronc – Trace Hughston; Pole Bending – Ashley Floer; Junior Poles – Saige Nabozny; Steer Wrestling – Brennan Kelly; Junior Steer Dogging – Trent Surfus; Team Roping – Sam Beasley and Tucker Cargill; Goat Tying – Haley Keller; Junior Goat Tying – Saige Nabozny; Junior Boys Goat Tying – Trent Surfus; Breakaway Roping – Mindy Hill; Barrel Racing – Kayla Keller; Junior Barrels – Saige Nabozny. There were no qualifiers in Calf Roping or Saddle Bronc; and Bull Riding was won by Troy Weese, from the Ontario High School Rodeo Association. Championship jackets were presented to each of the senior event winner. Embroidery on the jackets was donated by Bob and Sue Armstrong of Lakeside Saddlery, Whitmore Lake. Rodeo Chutes were sponsored by Tom’s Western Supply, Ingham Co. Sheriff’s Department Mounted Division, MHC Horse Expo and Michigan Horse Council. JDJ Ranch, Jim McLachlan, Evart, Mi sponsored by Barrel Racing event; and Jacket sponsors included Kent Feeds (2 jackets) and Lorenzo and Fran Veal II.
This year’s MHC Horse Expo offered three door prizes: a 50’ Priefert Round Pen, donated by Priefert Manufacturing Company, TX; a Crates Western Saddle, donated by West 20 Saddle Co., East Troy, WI; and a Tucker Saddle, donated by The Wire Horse, Lennon, MI. Lucky winner of the Priefert Round Pen was Ross Moore of Addison, MI. Andrea Bauner, Metamora, MI, took home the Crates Saddle; and Desiree Tucker, Kalamazoo, MI, was the happy winner of the Tucker Saddle. Congratulations to all.
All of the clinicians: Steve Edwards, our wonderful “mule man” from Arizona; Al Ragusin, with his superbly trained “dancing” horse from Texas; Tom Seay, host of Best of America by Horseback seen on RFD-TV; TJ Casey, cowboy poet, singer, and clinicians from Montana; Julie Cyra, of West 20 Saddle Co., Wisconsin; and all our home-grown Michigan talent; were well received, and great comments and compliments were heard about all. In addition, all were truly nice people and wonderful to work with throughout the Expo.
Special activity in the Trails Area this year was knot-tying demonstrations by Bill and Cricket Nelson. This generous pair showed people how to tie the various knots used for picket lines and other applications while trail riding……and since the interest was so great, they didn’t adhere just to their scheduled times, but were there all day long, every day of the Expo! The Michigan DNR again had a table in the Trails Area, with information on the various areas with equestrian trails and campgrounds, reservation information as well as general information about the DNR. Many of the state’s trail and trail support organizations had tables, and were present to discuss and disseminate information about their particular organization and area.
Saturday afternoon saw several presentations. The Michigan Multi-Jurisdictional Mounted Police Drill Team and Color Guard made several presentations to those that participated, helped and/or sponsored the Team in the trip to the Inaugural Parade. Among those recognized as major sponsors was the Michigan Horse Council.
The Michigan Horse Council recognized the annual Catalyst Award recipients. This award is presented each year, to four or five individuals (or organizations/businesses) that have been a “catalyst” in the Michigan horse industry, and are deserving of this special recognition. This year’s honorees are Dr. Judy Martenuik, Russel Erickson, Kenn Christopher, Sharon Greene and Ernie Marsh. MHC is proud to recognize this outstanding group of Michigan “horse people”, each is a true Catalyst! Following the presentation of the Catalyst awards, was the presentation of the Michigan Horse Council Volunteer of the Year. The 2009 Volunteer is Bob Clogg, who has worked tirelessly keeping up the MHC website, and also as official MHC photographer. For the first time this year, an Expo Volunteer of the Year was also recognized. This honor went to Coleen Tomshany…..who has been the official “Arena Gate” person for the last 13 years!
On Sunday afternoon, scholarship recipients were presented, including the three MHC member scholarship recipients, the two MHC-MIHA scholarship recipients, and the MIHA recipient. The MHC member scholarships are $1,000 each, and may be used at the school of the student’s choice. Recipients of these scholarships are Joseph P. Clifton, Northville, MI; Krista Janeschek, Alto, MI and Nicole VanDyke, West Olive, MI. The two MHC-MIHA scholarships are $500.00 each, and were presented to Amanda Zlotek, St. Johns, MI and Elizabeth Wanamaker, Tecumseh, MI. Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association also presented its annual scholarship at this time, and this $500.00 scholarship went to Katelyn Peacock, DeWitt, MI.
Also presented on Sunday afternoon was the annual Barn Manager’s Award, now the Michael Roath Memorial Barn Manager’s Award. This award is presented to the exhibit in the Stallion Area that has the best over-all display, as judged by an independent panel of judges. Considered in the judging is overall appearance of the exhibit, horse and personnel. This year’s Champion was Walton Farms, Rosebush, MI; with the Reserve award going to Designer Morgans, Battle Creek, MI.
This year’s MHC Expo combined excitement, education and shopping! If you missed it, you missed a great weekend with horses and horse people! Mark your calendars now for next year’s 27th annual MHC Horse Expo, March 12, 13 and 14, 2010, MSU Livestock Pavilion, East Lansing, MI.
Marilyn Graff
Michigan Horse Council
Hunters Encouraged to Donate Venison to Feed Michigan’s Hungry
The Department of Natural Resources encourages deer hunters to donate all or part of their harvests to help feed the needy through the Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger program this fall.
Last year, almost 23,000 pounds of venison was provided to local charities by hunters participating in the program through licensed venison processors.
“For more than a decade, hunters in Michigan have done an outstanding job in donating venison to help families in need in all parts of the state,” said DNR Director Rebecca Humphries. “We are grateful for the support of hunters who donate venison, whether it’s as little as a few pounds or the whole deer.”
Donations must be made through participating processors. Hunters may drop off the entire deer - in which case, Sportsmen Against Hunger will pay for the processing - or they can donate as little as a pound of the meat they’ve had processed. In addition, hunters may make financial contributions to help off-set the costs of the program.
“On a local level our food banks say they are seeing up to a 40 percent increase in the need for food because of the economy,” said Jane Marshall of the Food Bank Council of Michigan. “We need all the help we can get this year.”
To learn more about program or for a list of participating licensed processors, visit the MSAH Web site at www.sportsmenagainsthunger.org.
Tania, how long have you been evaluating horses as an appraiser and sales consultant?
I have been riding all my life. I've been buying and selling for over 30 years. Then about 6 years ago I formalized things and earned an appraiser’s license. Since then I’ve learned a lot about legalities, insurance and being an expert witness. I'm based in Michigan but I do this all over the country.
What’s the difference between an appraiser and a consultant?
As an appraiser, I evaluate the horse on the day. An appraiser is neutral. The job is done when the appraisal is done. This is not the whole story, of course. I base an evaluation on the information that we, the owner and I, have put together about the horse. Then I look at the markets and searc for similar horses. Then I try to find out at what prices they ACTUALLY sold,. This can be quite hard to do! Also, I have a support group in insurance, law, business practices and horse training.
As a consultant I am acting on behalf of a buyer or seller. There is no specific time frame for evaluation. As a consultant, I’m a bit of an angler, a developer and a marketer.
For a seller, I might find a buyer for the horse, searching out the right market and the right person. Or I might develop the horse for sale after evaluating its fitness and aptitudes. Either of these tasks could be simple or might take months.
For a buyer, I search for the perfect mount. Sometimes there are strange delays. For example, I planned a trip to Virginia to look at a specific prospect last year but there was a virulent virus that was being taken from barn to barn by people who handled the horses. Transport of horses was shut down. While I could have gone and seen this horse, I wanted to wait to make sure it wasn't infected. Also, I didn't want to be in barns where I would encournter that virus and maybe bring it home. That was playing it very, very safe, I know, but still..... After three months when the shut down was lifted, the horse was still there and I was able to see it - and buy it for my customer.
For both buyers and sellers, I have used my United States, Caribbean and European contacts. My experience in competition, riding in many different disciplines and my research as a journalist all contribute to an extensive and up-to-date network of trainers, judges, owners and competitors.
What makes you a better appraiser or consultant than the next person?
To be a good appraiser or consultant you need to ask the right questions of many other people. Those questions come out of a knowledge of your sport and your industry.
This horse is an Irish jumper I found for a woman based in California. I saw the horse first in Florida and then it moved up to Pennsylvania. Because I had connections in all of these places, I was able to put the buyer and the horse together.
I have a strong background in many aspects of the horse world. I have competed for several years at the advanced level in eventing, for example. I’m a rated polo player and I play in the Caribbean. I’ve foxhunted in several countries. I have re-trained horses for several sports such as eventing, jumpers, foxhunting and polo. I grew up riding bareback in the woods so I know about good trail horses. As an equestrian coach, I’ve helped horses and riders in eventing, dressage and jumpers. As a journalist I have analyzed dressage and jumper rides through Grand Prix. I have interviewed lots of scientists regarding equestrian subjects such as helmet development and biomechanics. I am familiar with current medical procedures that have lengthened the time a horse can perform well. This can be an important factor in determing the value of an older horse.
Can you tell a horse’s value just by looking?
Well, you can tell a lot by that first look. But to substantiate what your instincts tell you, you rely on experience and research. Sometimes all the knowledge you need is right at your fingertips in your own background. Other times, you need to use the internet and your networks.
What does it take to be a good evaluator? Is it horse experience, then?
I have developed a good support team in terms of legal help, good trainers and exercisers, fair insurance people and so on. Both an appraiser and a consultant must stay in contact with geographical markets and be current with market trends. A horse in Michigan is worth more or less than one in Pennsylvania. You also should be familiar with the donation programs around your country.
What are your sports?
My focus and expertise is in the English-based riding sports such as dressage, eventing, polo, jumping, and foxhunting. Because I know these sports well I can tell whether a horse is suited for it physically and temperamentally. Also, I can value it accurately. Here i am riding a Michigan-bred thoroughbred in the Advanced division at Groton House in Massachusetts - a few years ago!
I heard that a person can put a value on a dead horse. Is this true?
Oh yes, I’ve done that several times. Horses get hit by cars at night all the time. They get struck by lightning. Often in such cases I never see that horse. Sometimes I don’t even have a photograph. An insurance company calls me to discover the circumstances of the accident and to develop a history of the horse so that I can help them determine the value.
Are there other factors to consider in evaluating that we haven’t discussed above?
For consulting purposes, there are several other important issues. Transportation, quarantine, appropriate pre-purchase vetting are a few, for example.
Transporting is not a simple thing. Do it right if you want your horse to arrive safe and sound. For example, you might have to transfer shipping vans because of limited drop off points. Such factors can lengthen the horse’s trip enormously and expose your horse to many other strange horses and their viruses, more than you might like.
There’s shipping in a box vs. a slant load – a box is better at all times but especially if you go over mountains. If your horse is crossing a desert, what’s the air conditioning of the vehicle? There are state regulations, too, to consider. For example, I know someone who shipped a horse to Michigan from out west and when it got to the Michigan border, the horse was turned back as it did not have the appropriate papers to get in. The driver didn’t know that Michigan had different Coggins dates than his state of origin. So he turned around and went all the way back across the country to his home. Then the horse had to rest before it could be transported to Michigan. This got pretty complicated, considering the gas bills and hotel bills and so on. This is unusual, I think. But little mistakes can be quite costly.
Quarantine for a horse shipped internationally has to be analyzed. That situation requires lots of supervision because it can cost thousands of dollars to get it to the States but the quarantine facilities are sometimes sub-standard and the horse gets sick after arrival, during quarantine
As a buyer’s consultant, I have handled vetting, too. I have often found the special vet expert. And that expert has to be located within a reasonable distance from the horse you want examined. I’ve had to choose a vet that can handle most wisely the problems I see in the horse under consideration for purchase. I’m pretty familiar with the top names and their specialties in many regions.
I have even been the one to negotiate the price for a buyer and seller! I love doing everything I do with horses. I can be reached at Riverbend Consulting and Appraisals.
New Vocations is the largest non-profit Equine adoption program in the United States. Last year,we placed over 300 horses to carefully screened and monitored homes. Each year, we hold several fund raising events to help support our cause. This is year, we are holding an All Breed Stallion Season Auction on www.thoroughlybred.com Please visit them and register to their website if you plan to participate in our charity auction.
The All Breed Stallion Season Auction has been set up to provide a way for the entire horse industry to support racehorse
adoption through the donation of stallion seasons. The auction will take place *online* January 27th- February 3rd 2008. The proceeds will go directly to New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program and CANTER Ohio to support the efforts in finding homes for retired racehorses.
Chose from over 45 seasons from nearly a dozen different breeds of stallions from Thoroughbreds to Quarter Horses to Welsh Ponies. For
more information and a list of available seasons go to http://www.horseadoption.com/Stallion%20Season%20List.pdf
Kevin Bradbury of BMCI runs all 8 dressage shows each year at Waterloo Hunt Club in Grass Lake, Michigan. The July show is a 5-ring event offering Instant Scoring and lots of rider support.
"Our goal, says Kevin, "is to create a really nice quality show that gives people something special. We want it to be an Event. The Waterloo dressage shows are often a five-ring event and we feel we should have amenities for the riders. We try to ad something nice for the competitors - we still do a complimentary exhibitor party and lots of shows have eliminated this. And we always score everyone's ride with the Instant Scoring. You see that scoring system at Devon and CDI's but it's not common at non-CDI's. We try to be well-staffed. For example, we train and pay our scribes.
I think that would be an incentive to become a good scribe. Does the money make a difference?
"If you pay scribes, it's more common to get a 3-day commitment which helps the judges a lot. My judges come to me by lunchtime on the first day and say, 'The scribe that I have today, I want for the whole show.' We help the scribes learn their job. There's e-scribe, an online program to help them learn the parameters of the job. And we have them sit with another scribe while the scoring is going on so they learn the procedures. Then we move them into normal scribing. I also have a person who teaches them and sometimes we set up training sessions with sample data and scoring. But usually we have the same people come back year after year to scribe so we haven't had to do training sessions for a long time.
How does it actually work?
W e have a computer in every judge's box. There the judge makes remarks, the scribe types them in, and the scores go instantly to our main computers and up on the screens for viewing."
As a reporter, I really like the fact that I can watch a ride, go interview, come back and watch another ride - and not worry about what's happening out of sight. That's because everything at Waterloo is literally by the book. Your prize list offers all the classes and riders indexed in three or four different ways. It's a great aid to me.
"A dressage show runs by the clock, with every ride and break in all five rings scheduled to the minute. Our company also organizes a Breed Show in July. A breed show goes by othe rules: it's a first call and last call format. "This surprises people," says Kevin, "who are used to the dressage format. It's a good format for showing young mares and stallions and young horses. But riders in normal competitive shows prefer to know when they can expect to ride. It helps them warm up especially when they're riding several horses and, as trainers, have coaching to do, too. We pride ourselves on keeping the shows on schedule."
Bradbury Management and Consulting is available to set up and run competitive shows and to act as consultant in setting up systems such as online entries and computer scoring. They're based in Dexter, Michigan. 734-426-2111 or info@HorseShowOffice.com
Bill Cortis makes Great Lakes Blend, a supplement designed for our region. I asked him why he chose that name.
Dave Zimmerman, a Michigan veterinarian, developed this vitamin/mineral supplement which I sell as Great Lakes Blend. He developed the formula in 1978 because there were a lot of foals being born all across the nation with DOD, Developmental Orthopedic Disease, which resulted in bone and ligament problems as youngsters. Dave followed quite closely the research being done at universities such as Kentucky, Nebraska and MSU. They were researching vitamin and mineral needs. They found a contributing factor to DOD was a lack of selenium, zinc, magnesium and copper in the diets of the mares. In Michigan, soil analysis revealed that fields were yielding hay that has no traceable levels of selenium, magnesium, copper, iron and manganese, as well as other important vitamins and minerals.
Most horse people know now that Michigan is a selenium-deficient area. Is this the main element in the supplement?
It included those minerals – selenium, zinc, magnesium and copper – and Dave also added all the vitamins and minerals that the FDA recommended a horse should have on a daily basis. He also added a pretty good dosage of biotin which as we know is good for hoof growth and coat conditioning. The result was a supplement that was very effective in preventing DOD. A side benefit is that it improves the efficiency of the way a horse processes his food. The horses can function on less feed because what they eat now has all the ingredients they need. Also, I hear from a lot of clients that there’s improved performance.
What are the signs of selenium deficiency?
Horses tying up, cramping.
People in Michigan are sometimes afraid to feed a selenium supplement because they know that most manufacturers of grain add it to the feed. We know that too much selenium is toxic.
You can provide this supplement along with normal feeds. It contains about 3 mgs in a daily serving which is about 25% of the toxicity level. Most other fortified grains have nowhere near 3 mgs. So even if you are using a fortified feed, you’re going to be nowhere near dangerous levels.
Other supplemental products include selenium, but mine is the only available product that meets or exceeds minimum daily requirements for all vitamins/minerals recommended by the FDA, except calcium and phosphorous.
So you would be getting insufficient selenium if you fed a normal fortified grain - because those manufacturers figure their percentages based on horses are getting some selenium in their hay?
No it’s because they only dose selenium for the amount of grain being fed, which is a relatively small portion of a horses daily intake when you consider the amount of grass and hay that they consume. But, as I said, the hay in our region lacks more than that. Soil analysis reveals that Michigan fields yield hay that has low levels of selenium, magnesium, copper, iron and manganese, as well as other necessary vitamins and minerals.
But even though the supplement is specifically designed for horses in this region, it also works for horses throughout the U.S. except in those areas that are selenium rich. Most of my business is done in Michigan. We also sell a lot to Maryland, Florida and Texas. I probably sell a couple of tons a year.
So how do you know it’s working?
Within 30 to 40 days, you notice an improvement in their coat condition. Clinical tests also show increased selenium levels after 30 to 40 days. A number of vets recommend the supplement to clients when their horses test selenium deficient. After 30 to 40 days on this product, their selenium levels are appropriate.
Actually in the 70’s and 80’s I was a user of this product on my horses and Dave was my veterinarian. We were doing some breeding at the time and he recommended it to me as something that pregnant mares should be on due to our area’s soil deficencies. We bred foals for a while and then stopped. However, we still kept our horses on it because when they went off it I saw a difference in their coat condition. From time to time I would go off it and you would notice almost immediately a duller coat condition and lessened performance. I really believed in the product. When Dave Zimmerman retired and sold his practice and moved in 2000, I purchased the rights to the product from him.
What sort of horses were you riding?
My horses have always been Hannoverians. 
We did some breeding a number of years ago. . We competed some of our horses. We had a young lady who rode them in competition. I still have a 9-year old Hanoverian mare, as does my ex-wife. My horse was by Derringer out of an Elite mare. My wife’s is a Graftop baby, from frozen semen. Graftop sired world class jumpers. Now the horses are backyard pets. This is a photo of the two 9-year old mares as yearlings, born about 6 months apart.
Where can you buy this product?
Many Michigan retailers carry it such as Dexter Mill, Lakeside Saddlery, Sporthorse Saddlery, Big Acre Stores, Franklin Saddler, The Tack Stop, Covered Wagon, Oxford Farm and Garden, Lapeer Grain, New Haven Elevator, and Almont Saddlery.
You can also call my distributor Frontier Distributing in Oxford, MI to see if there is a retailer near you that carries it (248-969-2000). I also sell it online and I can ship to anyone directly.
There’s a lot of information on your website about the product and about vitamins and minerals in general.
I explain the ways our company keeps up with research, too. For example, we now use in our supplement an organic form of selenium called Sel-Plex because studies have shown it to be better for categories of horses beyond the mature, idle horse. For example, horses in athletic work, gestation/lactation or semen production face added demand for selenium. The yeast-based organic Sel-Plex meets the body’s need to store selenium better than the inorganic forms which , at one time, were all that were available. http://greatlakesblend.com/
Dexter Mill Makes Horse Feed and a Lot of people Buy It. For horse people in Washtenaw County a frequent stop is Dexter Mill where John Cares, 
Chis family and staff have builtj a large inventory of horse products. Besides loyal and knowledgeable staff, all of the Cares five kids grew up working in the store, including Charlie, 19, who is home for the holidays from University of Montana where he's a Freshman. He's on the dock this day, when I arrive to ask about the horse feed they make on site.
He takes me into the space where the machines mix the feeds and pour it into bags. The bags are sewn shut and stacked for customers. The room is full of the fine dust of grains.
"Our recipe is not a secret, everyone puts in about the same thing in the horse
feed - sweet feed, crimped oats, cracked corn, whole oats. But we use our own percentages. My dad is the expert on the feed. He went to Michigan State and he was an Ag major. We use the percentages he's worked out that are nutritionally correct for horses in our area. Each animal needs a certain amount of protein, fiber, minerals and so on. We mix for horses and also birds, sheep, cattle, goats and pigs. Some people have their own custom mixtures that we do for them and they sometimes truck in their homegrown corn and other grains.
Where do you get your corn and oats?
We take only good quality corn for the mixes we sell under the Dexter Mill label. We buy our corn from Nick Heller who grows it in Webster Township. We clean the corn here. We have a big machine that shakes and sfits it, and it has vacuums which suck all the dust off it. Then we buy our oats from Anderson's, a big grain elevator in Canada. They're expensive and heavy, which are both good qualities for oats. They are cleaned before we get them. If things are processed which means to be crimped or cracked, we do that here. We add concentrated Purina feed as a supplement. That means vitamins and minerals and protein. And we add molasses. We have a big tub of wet molasses in the basement of the grainery. We like to use local products but we can get trucked in whatever we need from anywhere.
How do you know if its good corn?
When a truckload comes in, we look at it. Corn will feel wet if it's too wet. You'll notice a difference in the weight. You can feel it in the kernels. We also test weigh it. There's a grading process we go through.
How many bags do you mix each day?
"Today," said Charlie, "we made about 6,000 pounds of custom mixtures. That's about the average. But we sell more of the Purina horse feed than the feed we actually mix ourselves. We also sell Kent feed."
Charlie translates this figure of 6,000 pounds per day into 120 bags. I add up what I buy from Dexter Mill for my eight horses and realize that a large number of area horseowners must buy from Dexter Mill. I wonder what's the hardest part of mixing grain? Charlie thought a minute and grinned.
Well, you'll be in the middle of mixing feed and a customer shows up who needs something from the dock. That's hard because you've got to get the molasses mixtures out of the machine before they harden. You know you might not have anyone come all day long but as soon as you turn on the mixer, there will be customers lined up along the dock. - but usually you're not out here alone and it's not too bad."
How do you know you've got the right weight in each bag? I know there's at least 50 pounds in each bag because, at my barn, I'm often the one who carries it from the truck to the grain bin.
We have two different ways to weigh it out. With one machine, the bag fills and it has a counter weight. As soon as it fills to the right weight, the machine shuts off. In the other machine, we eyeball the right amount and then put the bag on a scale and fill it up accurately. Our scales are all checked by the State and it's all legitimate. We bag in pounds: 20, 25, 40, 50 and 100's, depending on what we make.
Charlie, what are you studying to be at the University of Montana?
I don't know yet. I'm only a freshman.
But it's clear he knows a lot about the business of being a local supplier of farm products. Dexter Mill is in Dexter, Michigan, on 3515 Central between Main Street and the Huron River. 734-426-4621.
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