Harvesting with NDFB: Raising horses

In this episode of Harvesting with NDFB, host Alisha Nord travels to Steele, N.D., to visit with Tim Schoenhard. Tim visits with Alisha about his operation where he ranches and raises Quarter Horses. Tim shares what it takes to raise horses and how this year’s horse sale went. 

Join us for this episode!

If you have questions or suggestions for the hosts, please contact emmery@ndfb.org.

Transcript

[Straight Talk theme]

[00:12] Emmery: Welcome to Straight Talk with NDFB. I am your host, Emmery Mehlhoff.

[00:16] Alisha: And I am Alisha Nord.

[00:17] Emmery: We are your Farm Bureau duo bringing you your competitive edge. In this episode of Harvesting with NDFB, my cohost, Alisha Nord travels to Steele, North Dakota to visit with Tim Schoenhard. Tim visits with Alisha about his operation where he ranches and races Quarter Horses. Tim talks about what it takes to raise horses and how this year's horse sale went.

[00:42] Join us for this episode.

[Straight Talk stinger]

[00:46] Alisha: So today we are with Tim Schoenhard. So, Tim, why don't you introduce yourself and then talk a little bit about your family's operation.

[00:55] Tim: Okay. My name is Tim Schoenhard. We live 15 miles south of Steele. We farm and ranch, raise commercial cattle, and we also raise registered Quarter Horses and we sell the colts every year. It's a long standing tradition. As far as the horses go, as I was telling you earlier, Alisha, there's over 75 years of breeding on this place. Something that I grew up with all my life. Don't know what we'd do without them. It's just kind of been part of, part of how the ranch runs. Without him, you'd be lost. So.

[01:30] Alisha: Right. So has your ranch always consisted of cattle and horses or were horses added on later or were they first?

[01:37] Tim: Nope. So we were always cattle and horses. Way, way before my time. They, when they settled out here, there was, there was sheep that ran as well. So every now and then, when you're not expecting it, you get to find some of that lovely sheep fence rolled up somewhere. But the sheep were gone way before my time. So it's always been just the cattle and the horses.

[02:00] Alisha: And who's all involved in your operation today?

[02:03] Tim: So right now my folks, Gary and Jean, they live here on the place with us. And then my wife and my two sons, and then my sister comes out of Bismarck and gives us a hand like during halter breaking and when we were cattle and stuff. And then we're very fortunate with the amount of friends and extended family, cousins and whatnot that, that come out and give us a hand. If it wasn't for them, it'd be pretty tough to get everything done as far as on the horse side of things, so.

[02:34] Alisha: Right. Isn't that true?

[02:35] Tim: Yeah.

[02:36] Alisha: Every hand. And sometimes, as my parents say, every extra body helps. Sometimes.

[02:42] Tim: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes it's. It's. The more you got, the better it is. And then every now and then, you know, less is more too. So.

[02:49] Alisha: That is true. That, that is very true. So have you been on the ranch since day one or no. Tell us how you got started back home.

[03:00] Tim: So I was... Like I said, I was born and raised here. Always had my fingers involved in it. At the time, my dad was a hired hand down here. Jack was kind of like a grandfather type figure for us. He was the one that started the band of horses many, many years ago. Like most operations, there's usually not enough for everybody. so I ended up having to go to Bismarck and I worked in a body shop for 14 years.

[03:30] My dad and I were talking about how I wanted to come home and get involved in it and keep moving the place forward and whatnot. And unfortunately, a couple weeks after that, he got into a baler accident, which kind of accelerated things quite, quite fast. That was, that was in September. And by April, I was driving back and forth from Bismarck to the ranch every day. We were calving out heifers and cows. And then, you know, in April is when. April, May, we usually start foaling. So by the following, I believe October, we had sold our house and got the place or the house that we have now. And in September, nine years ago.

[04:15] Alisha: Wow.

[04:15] Tim: Eight years ago, going on nine. I couldn't imagine going back to Bismarck. I always wanted to be here in the first place. Was it the ideal circumstances to come home? No. But it was. Everybody's getting put in place for a reason, and I think this was our reason, on an unfortunate note.

[04:36] Alisha: And your dad's doing well and he's back at farming and ranching.

[04:39] Tim: Yep. It didn't slow him down one bit. The only thing that, that I get a little bit extra on is the wrench turning, the mechanical work. But as far as calving, he's out there with me helping calf every day, the horses, you know, same deal, we're moving them around and halter breaking and stuff in the fall.

[05:00] Alisha: So let's kind of talk about your horse sale. You said you started raising horses from the beginning, but did you always have a production sale or... Okay, so kind of tell us about, about that.

[05:12] Tim: So as I mentioned, Jack Murphy, the guy that had the place before us, he always had an annual production sale every year. And at that time. And it was always up at Kist at that time it was the end of the month, horse and dairy sale and sheep sale and everything Kist did on their Saturdays. And we, after he passed away and we, we bought into the place, we just kind of kept. It's more of a legacy thing for us, you know. Yeah, Jack, he probably forgot more about horses than I may ever, ever know, I'm trying, you know, bloodlines and confirmation, stuff like that. I know I'm. I'm pretty well up on. But, you know, the. The years of experience that them guys had. But so we just kind of kept carrying on with that. Then we. They started having troubles getting help on Saturdays, so we moved it to a Friday sale, which kind of worried me a little bit.

[06:07] You know, you always got the extra foot traffic on a weekend. And we were fortunate enough that we've had a good enough name put out there and enough horses have been put out there that we got people coming in. We usually sell about two weeks after the Hermanson Kist sale. So we've got our...

[06:24] Alisha: So you're still hauling into Kist?

[06:26] Tim: Yeah, we're still selling it. Kist. They've always treated us well, and we like it up there. And we just had our sale here a couple weeks ago.

[06:35] Alisha: I thought I saw that you just had a sale. So tell us about that. How did it...

[06:38] Tim: It went really well. It actually was probably one of the best sales we've had in a long time. Good prices on them and stuff. We had one horse that went out to Washington, one down to South Dakota, and two of them out to Minnesota. And other than that, they've all been, I wouldn't say local, but within the state, we've had horses go Nebraska, Texas, little bit, everywhere. And even if we hadn't sold them to them particular people, they always kind of found their way there. And we've had people come back and look for colts. They've traced the horses back to us, so that's been kind of nice.

[07:21] Alisha: How many colts do you usually sell a year?

[07:24] Tim: This year we had 13 colts. We don't have an exceptionally big band. We've kind of always prided ourselves more of the quality over quantity type of deal. And it's. And it suited us well. The horses may not necessarily be the main income on the ranch. Obviously, the cattle are, you know, main source, but the horses definitely help supplement things in. And especially with, with the prices of horses. The last few years, it's helped out considerably.

[07:51] Alisha: So as a horse buyer, that has not been in my favor because. Yeah. Wow. You talk about skyrocketed prices. I mean, you want to talk about groceries, let's talk about horse prices, because an unbroke horse, you know, yhe prices.

[08:07] Tim: So I. It seems like I'm trying to age my. Or date myself when I say this, but, you know, I can. I can remember selling colts with Jack and. And then again, on our own, you know, with our own production sale, we've had colts that have gone anywhere from over $2,000, all the way down, a few years ago, unfortunately, the horse market kind of tanked. And it was, I mean, 45 bucks for a horse. And you start figuring registration or registered horses between the registration fees and then, and then, you know, we always make sure we got a nice good halter for everybody to start with. So we buy nylon halters and sell them with them, and they get to keep them and stuff.

[08:52] Alisha: So that goes with the horse?

[08:53] Tim: Yep, that goes with the horse. So, you know, back in the day when it was 45 bucks between registration and, you know, the tack, we weren't making a whole lot. You know, Jack always told me when I was young, he says, you know, I might sell a horse for $150. And he goes, it might not have been the best money, but he goes, in a couple, two, three years, they started getting them rode, and they see what the kind of quality of horse it is, he goes, they'll be back. And when they do, you know, they might be willing to spend 3, $400. And that's kind of where we've always been.

[09:28] We don't put any floors on our horses. You know, we only got so much room and so much feed and, you know, you gotta feed the factory. And so the colts, the colts all go. You know, we've been very fortunate. They've all gone to good people, you know, good owners and stuff like that.

[09:45] Alisha: I know for new people starting sales, it can be hard, but once you build that customer base and that trust within them, you know, you're probably a lot more comfortable going and having a sale now than you were 20, 30 years ago.

[10:00] Tim: Oh, yeah.

[10:01] Alisha: Because now you. Your customers know, they know the type of people you are. They know the horses that you have and the quality that they're going to get. So they're not concerned at all.

[10:11] Tim: No, no. And. And, you know, that's one thing nice with the band of horses we've got, like I said, there's. There's so many years bred into them that we've got some older bloodlines that people don't get to see every day anymore, you know, and you still got a few people out there that are looking for them old bloodlines, and we've got some newer ones too, you know, and bringing some fresher names into the game, but it's a good cross on them, so.

[10:37] Alisha: Awesome. So how. What do you do to get the colts ready for the sale. Anything specific you guys do?

[10:44] Tim: You know, obviously, they're, they're. We foal in April, May, throughout the summer. Usually we're done by July, maybe in August, colt here and there. When we get close to sale time, we'll bring the bands in because we got two. We got two studs and two bands. So we'll bring them in and we'll get them all sorted off and we'll halter break them and usually takes about hour, hour and a half to get them broke out. And then we take pictures for the registration papers and all their markings. AQHA, that's, That's a great thing. Boy, I tell you, compared to a registered beef deal, you know, I mean, you worry about the pedigrees, that's it. Horses, you gotta have markings and colors and, oh, boy, it gets a little wild.

[11:33] But so we get all that stuff done and once they're leading really well, then we. We turn them back with their moms. The day before the sale, we'll bring them all in again and we'll, we'll sort them off, get them haltered up with their sale halters, get their hip tags on, get them loaded and. Yeah, so not much weaning involved. I mean, it's just a matter of take them off, take them up there, and they all do really well, so.

[11:58] Alisha: That's great. So what would you say since you've started, and this can be, you know, since you were a young boy or maybe just when you came back eight, nine years ago, what has been your favorite thing about raising horses and selling horses?

[12:15] Tim: That's a tough one, Alisha.

[12:16] Alisha: Would you like to start with your least favorite? Would that be an easier question?

[12:22] Tim: No, because I, you know, I don't think there's really a least favorite part of it. You know, I, like I told you earlier, you know, when we were out in the pasture, I've been born and raised around this stuff. I'd be lost without them. Um, you know, we do have some mechanical horses around here, or at least one. But, boy, when it comes to going out and moving cattle around on the ranch, swapping pastures or working them in the spring, there's nothing better than just have a good horse under you.

[12:51] One thing that I probably get a kick out of the most is, you know, once, once the sales all done, getting to meet the people and. And see their appreciation for our program. Maybe a phone call, or just a handshake, and just talking to the people that have had horses or excited to get maybe their first one or their next one, the people make it real special. And then, of course, I got a personal connection to quite a few of the horses. I've either broke them, rode them, or siblings of them or offspring of them, so.

[13:25] Alisha: And horses are a special creature. They're not like your typical livestock, like hogs and sheep and cattle. You really do have more of a connection with them.

[13:35] Tim: Yeah, I guess maybe if I did have one downfall is if by chance we get into a wreck and, you know, you gotta put one down or something, you know, that's, it's a little tougher, you know, livestock in general, you know, what we do every day, all of us, you know, between livestock producers, hog producers, sheep producers, horse producers, whatever, you know, the death is probably the hardest part on things. And, you know, you run into that sort of thing. That would probably be the only one downfall. But the upside is, you know, getting to see them. Getting to see the little colts in the spring and then, and then, like I said, at the sale, you know, getting to see and talk to people that have had good success with them and want some more.

[14:20] Alisha: Even though she was hurt, the one we saw earlier, I'm sure glad you had her, because there's nothing cuter than a little, a little one running around.

[14:30] Tim: And that was. Of all the years that. That we've sold horses, that was the only one that we ended up having a problem with, sale day. There was another horse. I remember when I was young, she got hurt before the sale, actually, the day we were loading them, and she boogered up a shoulder pretty bad and we kept her home. And that's one thing I've always told everybody. If I can't sell a sound horse, I'm not going to sell a horse, you know, I'm not going to sell you something that I don't think is going to make something for you someday. So we kept her, healed her up, and I actually broke her out and was riding her. And that was before I got back to the ranch. I was riding out at Heart River Stables out in Mandan for a few years after college and breaking horses out there, and I rode the snot out of her, so to speak.

[15:18] And she was a good little horse, you know, first time she ever got put on cows. I come back that fall and we were pulling bulls and I had a couple of bulls that decided to get spunky and decide they didn't much care for each other. And they went to war and ended up going through a wire fence. And by God, she was going to go after them. And I'm like, ah, we don't need to be riding across barbed wire. That's, that's just asking for more troubles than we got.

[15:43] Alisha: But like you said, having that good horse under you is. Is hard to beat. So what do you guys breed for in your program? Are there specific genetics, dispositions, soundness? What are you guys breeding for,f or your customer base?

[15:57] Tim: So, obviously, like I said, we. We've got a lot of old pedigrees, so pedigrees are important, but mainly confirmation and, and a good mind, a good, quiet, docile disposition, you know, and we were lucky. A couple years or a few years back, we had a stud that. He was the first stud that we ever bought on our own. And he was a Colonel, Colonel Freckles-bred horse. And boy, that guy. I mean, if you wanted something that had a good, cool, calm mind, that. And we've had people come back going, well, you know, do you have any, any, any daughters out of him? Yep. Okay. Well, them are the ones we want to look at first because we've had good luck with them and, and they've always been quiet and very willing participants and they break out easy. And, you know, they may or may not get one out of them, but. And if they, if they don't, they've taken some out of the other side and they've been plumb tickled with them anyway.

[16:54] The one main stud that we run is actually a roundabout offshoot of him. His daddy was a Colonel Freckles-bred horse, but came out of a mare that we had gotten when I was young. She was a, she was a filly, and we kind of got her by accident. When Jack went down to the Krogman sale, who was the first horse ever broke. And I broke her son and rode him all over the place. And then Quincy's mom, I broke and trained, trained her, and we were fortunate enough to get her. And it was just one of those deals that the stars aligned and that's how we got everything rolling.

[17:38] Alisha: That's awesome. So to kind of round out the podcast, if there was any advice you could give to somebody new in the horse industry that was getting started selling horses, raising horses, any advice that you wish you had known or that you have to give somebody that just might be words of encouragement or, you know, a little boost to help keep them going.

[18:01] Tim: I guess one thing I would say is if you're getting into the Horse industry, make sure you, you know your pedigrees, you know your bloodlines, you, you look for what you want to breed. If you're looking for a performance type horse or a ranch horse or, or rodeo horse, I mean, ultimately, I guess they're all, you know, horses, but everybody kind of has their own specialties. I would say make sure you, you just keep in mind the pedigrees, what are docile and easy to work with, confirmation, you know, make sure they're good and sound and they're strong. You know, there for a while there was some out there that they looked good on paper, but they weren't so good on the ground and, but yeah, if you're going to go through it and put the time into it and get started, you know, make sure you're, you're really watching what you want to breed for.

[18:56] Alisha: So very good. And then to end it, was the 2024 horse market a boom or a bust?

[19:03] Tim: It was very good. It was very good for us. It was probably one of the best averages we've had since I've been, wWell, even since before I came back home. So every year it's kind of gone up and up and up and. But this year was very good for us, so good.

[19:19] Alisha: That's great to hear. Well, Tim, thank you so much for taking the time and showing me around your ranch and your horses and doing the podcast with us today and for also being a Farm Bureau member and one of our district directors.

[19:31] So thank you very much.

[19:32] Tim: No problem. Thank you, Alisha.

[19:33] Alisha: You're welcome.

[Straight Talk stinger]

[19:37] Emmery: You've been listening to Straight Talk with NDFB. Thank you for joining us as we harvested across North Dakota. As always, if you have any questions or have anything you want to feature on straight talk with NDFB, please contact us at emmery@ndfb.org.

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