Fellow Horse owners,

I hope 2008 was a happy and prosperous year for you and 2009 will be the same or better. 

With breeding & foaling season staring us in the face, I am looking forward to this time of the year mainly just to see winter leave.  With the horse market in the shape it’s in, breeding a mare maybe the furthest thing from your mind.  I can understand your feelings.  However, as bleak as the market looks, well bred and well broke horses are still in demand.  Talking with other reputable breeders around the country and paying attention to reputable sales, horse prices are staying strong as long as “quality” is there.  This is definitely a time to make smart breeding decisions. 

Many horse owners may not be concerned with selling horses.  Their focus maybe just owning “that special” horse that will bring them years of happiness.  Here again, this is where “quality” pays off. 

2008 may have been our strongest year yet as far as sales go.  I attribute this partly to paying attention to the quality of our mares and of course, our stallions – Weavers Doc Ima Poco and Toro The Blurr.  Our senior stallion, Weavers Doc Ima Poco aka “Rope” is an awesome individual with a conformation that is as close to perfect as you can get and a disposition that is second to none.  Rope is extremely cowy.  He throws a high percentage of palominos and buckskins.  His colts are born broke.  He really stamps his colts, they’re just like him.  Rope’s foals are eligible for the Montana Gold Futurity. 

Toro The Blurr is as cool of a stallion as you’ll find anywhere.  Toro has a million dollar disposition with an awesome conformation and an extremely powerful pedigree.  All the major league runners are on his papers.  Toro is making his own mark as a barrel horse.  He’s in New Mexico this winter and will be home in early May.  Toro has been hauled extensively.  He is so level headed, we pony colts and other horses off him.  Most people have no idea he’s a stallion.  Toro’s foals are eligible for the Barrel Breeders Incentive.

We take great pride in the horses we produce, raise, train, and sell.  Because of our pride and confidence in our breeding program, all our colts carry our “TM” brand.  Our goal is to produce performance horses that will excel on the ranch and in the arena as well as being solid pleasure horses.

2009 is already looking to be very busy at the O’Donnell Quarter Horses Ranch.  We will be organizing, hosting and sponsoring several horse events in addition to selling Finish-Line Horse Fencing.  On March 20^th – 22^nd, we will be co-working with Rod Cline to put on the Horse Expo featuring clinician, Josh Lyons at the Circle L’s heated indoor facility located four miles northwest of Belgrade, Montana.  Josh is the son of the legendary John Lyons.  Josh’s program, “The Next Generation” features the Lyons’ conditioned response training methods.  This gentle training method emphasizes earning the horse’s respect while creating a safe and willing partner.  The trade show’s activities include clinicians, a ranch sorting demonstration, a stallion alley, private treaty horses, vendors, and concessions.  There should be something for everyone.  Be sure to mark you calendars. 

May 8th -10^th, we will be at home on our ranch in Cardwell hosting the 5^th Annual John Mike Downey Colt Starting and Horsemanship Clinic.  John Mike Downey is a phenomenal horseman that hails from Butte, Montana and has over 35 years of training experience.  His training methods follow those of Ray Hunt, a renowned horse trainer.  John Mike believes in using soft methods of training horses instead of breaking them by force.  His methods emphasize making the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy.  He achieves this by rewarding the horse the moment the horse inclines to respond to him in the correct way.  John Mike’s clinics are becoming very popular and are filling up fast.

One week later, on May 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th, we will be sponsoring a Judy Myllymaki barrel horse clinic.  There will be a meet and greet session at our ranch in Cardwell on May 15^th for the participants.  Because of weather uncertainties, the remainder of the clinic will be held at the Briggs Arena in Whitehall, Montana.  Judy and her husband, Gene, raise and train barrel horses at their ranch in Arlee, Montana.  With more than 30 years of experience in the barrel racing game, Judy is no stranger to the success in the world of professional barrel.  Both Judy Myllymaki and her daughter, Rachael, have competed at the National Finals Rodeo and are many-time Montana PRCA rodeo circuit champions.  In addition, they have trained and run several pro-caliber horses. 

Another successful event that is growing by leaps and bounds, is the Classic O-Mok-See Scholarship Show that was originated by Mary.  This year’s show will be held on June 20^th and 21^st in Whitehall, Montana at the Saddle Club Arena.  We will host a contestants’ dinner at our ranch in Cardwell after the show on June 20^th.  The goal of “The Classic” is to promote our nations number one family sport of “pattern horse racing” referred to as O-Mok-See and annually award scholarships to Montana’s outstanding youth.  “The Classic” is in its third year and has awarded $3,000 in scholarships so far.

This year, we are excited to organize and conduct the Whitehall’s Barrel series.  This series has been a long time favorite of many barrel racers around the Whitehall area.   With the recent installation of lights at Whitehall’s Saddle Club Arena, we will be able to offer Pole Bending to this year’s series.  The series dates are every Tuesday in June and July with the final show and awards on August 1^st at Saddle Club’s Arena in Whitehall, Montana.

Our newest venture is acquiring the dealership for Finish-Line Fencing for Montana.  This fencing product is manufactured by Bayer Corporation and is made from a high-density, low-expansion polymer monofilament material that is safe, strong and flexible.  We are sold on Finish-Line fencing for its safety, strength, appearance, and cost-effectiveness and are currently replacing our ranch fencing with it.  For more info on this fencing product or any of these events, please feel free to call or email us anytime or visit our website at OdonnelQuarterHorses.com

When our family isn’t breeding and training horses at home, we spend a lot of time traveling to jackpot barrel races, ranch sortings, and O-Mok-Sees where the whole family is involved.  As you can tell, horses consume our lives.

Our daughter Amber lives in Bozeman, Montana.  She’s a surgical tech at the Deaconess Hospital.  When she’s not at the hospital, she’s busy training and hauling horses to barrel races, ranch sortings or O-Mok-See events.  Amber is working on getting her ducks in a row so she can hit the rodeo road.  She’s got the talent and horse flesh to have a successful rodeo career.

Our son Cody is a Junior at MSU studying equine science.  Currently he’s on an exchange program at NMSU in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  His main focus is on equine reproduction and training barrel horses.  He’s a very aggressive competitor in the O-Mok-See arena but wants to get involved in the barrel racing futurity world.

Mary is the backbone to our ranch.  Along with working off the ranch, she manages to pick up a lot of slack at home and help organize all the stuff we’re involved with.  Mary is an accomplished rider and really enjoys the sport of O-Mok-See.  Who ever said, “behind every good man is a better woman,” has no idea how true that is in our home.

As for myself, I use to have some authority around this place.  As time goes on, the kids are getting so involved with our program and learning more and more that they are becoming the authority, and I’m just the glorified hired hand that they call Dad.  That is payment enough for me.

If you are interested in Finish-Line Fencing, looking to breed that favorite mare, purchase your next prospect, or just enjoy looking at beautiful horses our welcome mat is always out.  We’d like to thank all the folks who bred mares to our stallions and bought our horses.  Invitations are not needed to call or visit our ranch.  Our ranch is located in the beautiful South Boulder Canyon in Cardwell, Montana.  Cardwell is on HWY 359 and is about halfway between Butte and Bozeman, Montana.  We hope to hear from ya soon.

God Bless,    Tim O’Donnell