Fear Itself

Back in the blogging saddle this week after a few days away on a business trip. I spent the early part of the week in the Northwest (Washington and Oregon) working on stories for upcoming issues of Tack 'n Togs Magazine.

I always enjoy my trips out West and this adventure was even more enjoyable than most. I'll share more of the details later.

Wednesday, I had to drive from outside of Portland, Ore. back up to Seattle to catch a plane back home to Minneapolis. It was my first time in a long time to spend an extended amount of time listening to talk radio.

I'm more of a "lite jazz" radio person than an AM-ranting-and-raving shock jock listener, but occasionally it's fun and informative to tune in to see who's saying what about what or whom.

If you zip across any AM dial on any given morning, you'll Rush Limbaugh on quite a number of stations. I enjoy listening to him -- in small doses -- and always with the idea in mind that he is advancing a political agenda. Tough to find one of these talk radio folks who isn't, it seems.

Wednesday's show did have one little gem in it that I wanted to share. Rush read an article from the most recent Newsweek magazine written by Paula Spencer. It was titled, "We Protect Kids From Everything But Fear."

Spencer told all about she as mother is warned nearly daily about something else she needs to be afraid of on behalf of her children. In a most humorous essay, she outlines the growing scorecard of things to be afraid of and then concludes:

...You can't go around afraid of everything. It's too exhuasting! No matter how careful you are, bad stuff happens (diaper rash, stitches, all your friends assigned to another class). And it's seldom the end of the world...

I liked the piece because the irrational fear some parents exhibit when it comes to horseback riding is one of the mind-sets I'll have to admit I don't understand. A horse is too dangerous for a child, but a skateboard that he rides along an iron railing and crashed three feet to the ground af the end is fine.

I happen to believe that today's children could benefit greatly through being exposed to horses and riding. They would learn a variety of great life-lessons. Is there some danger involved? Sure, but show me one activity that doesn't have some sense of danger.

I remember when my older brother informed my mother he wanted to play football. He was short and puny and she believed likely to be flattened like a pancake. But her response was one of those priceless parental moments. "I don't think you should play football, but if you do and you get killed, don't come running to me."

I think Bill Cosby got that laugh line from my mother.

You can read Paula Spencer's essay here.

The Anniversary Gift

On my lunch hour today, I ran to a nearby mall in search of an anniversary gift for my wife. This weekend is our 18th wedding anniversary. She had been admiring a particular necklace at one of the department stores, known for good jewlery and good prices.

I asked to see the necklace and realized immediately the chain would be much too short for my very tall wife. She has that issue with almost every necklace. I asked the clerk if the store had any of those chain extender-thingys that attach to both sides and add inches.

"Nope ... sorry," she said, as she scouped the necklace up, put it back in the box and shoved it under the glass. Well, I'm generally not the bashful type, but I was totally at a loss for words.

She didn't bother to say there's another jewelery store on the other side of the mall that has them, would you like me to call and make sure? She never suggested I buy a totally new and much nicer (and more expensive) chain that would be the proper length. Nothing.

She quickly went back to the gathering gaggle of sales clerks at the POS in the jewlery department who were ardently discussing last night's television programming. Obviously, that was much more important than selling jewlery.

I gathered up my wallet (I had my credit card out and everything) and walked out into the mall still bewildered. I went a couple doors up the mall to a gift store where I was cheerfully greeted and a very wise sales clerk helped me pick out the perfect anniversary gift after asking me about five or six questions. I thanked her for her retail skills and told her I wished the world were full of more like her.

I think I made her day!

You can't help but think how many times a day people are treated like that in this particular department store. No surprise when I checked their stock online after returning to my desk -- it's at a five-year low!

Behold ... Noise!

I've been out traveling the past couple days, and we're in the middle of wrapping up the April edition so time has been scarce this week. On top of that, it's been rainy and kinda cool. I'm just waiting for spring to really take hold here in Minnesota. I'm sick of brown.

There doesn't seem to be any letup in the number of people flying these days, nor do the bulk of them ever seem to get educated on the rules of the road, as it were.

The guy in front of me through security on Sunday night lost probably $50 worth of liquids of one description or another because they were in large containers. He had neatly placed them in plastic bags, but alas, didn't read to the bottom of the directions. He was not a happy camper, but the TSA officer patiently took him aside and showed him the very same post he'd just passed by not more than five minutes previously.

And what's this with people who feel like they have to get dressed standing right at the belt where a couple hundred other people are waiting to retrieve their items and get moving. Most of us who fly regularly have learned -- grab your stuff and go ... find a chair or table at the end of the security area and put on your shoes, belt, coat, etc. there. Not standing in the middle of the security area where people can't get through you or around you.

On individual who recently decided to make the security line his dressing room got elbowed by another passenger. He was standing on one leg trying to pull his left shoe onto his foot. The jolt was just enough to send him flying onto his kiester. Although I thought it was hilarious and just retribution, I didn't laugh. Others in the line did. I didn't.

A TSA officer helped him up and explained that dressing in the fast lane is never the best idea. I'll be this fella will remember that lesson for a while.

As though the world isn't filled with enough noise, now it seems everyone has an Ipod or similar device. They sit with the ear phones inserted directly down onto their ear drums and then turn up the volume loud enough so that I, sitting next to them, can hear their music perfectly well.

Can you imagine what that must sound like inside their heads? I was riding a train into downtown Chicago earlier this week and one gentleman was sharing his music with the entire carload of people. Despite dirty looks and lots of throat-clearing and coughing, he was oblivious to what was going on around him.

When the conductor came by for tickets, this gentleman didn't hear him approach and even after being tapped on the shoulder several times, still did not respond. The conductor was patient and stood tapping on his shoulder until he finally got a response. Me? I probably would have pulled the ear plugs out of his ears and stuck them up his nose. But that's just me.

I can see the class action law suit brewing already when people start going deaf from listening to music on Ipods. Hey, if someone will file suit because their coffee is too hot ... don't laugh!

Fond Farewell to Sugar

I've been around horses for a lot of years, but this week is the first time I've ever had to have one "graduate to heaven," as a friend of mine put it. I've been on kind of an emotional rollercoaster.

Sugar, a registered American Quarter Horse bay filly, came into my life last summer. She was being called "Pepper" at the time but my wife concluded that since she was neither green (as in "bell") nor black, the name didn't fit. Upon examining her registration, we discovered she had some Docs Sugar Fantasy breeding, along with My Sugar Bonanza so Sugar seemed a logical choice.

Sugar had been through 60 days of basic training and my intention was to make a top-notch reining horse out of her. She was a fast learner, although often I got the impression she was learning quickly so she could get the lesson over with and get back to grazing. She regularly let me know I was the biggest interruption in her otherwise placid life and that her girlfriends in the paddock were infinitely more interesting than I was. Geldings don't do that.

As we progressed in her training, the attitude improved but she was always ready and willing to push the boundaries of good behavior. But she finally got to the point where if I went to the gate of her paddock and whistled, she'd come a runnin', stick her nose out so I could hook her up and follow politely to be brushed, tacked and saddled.

From July until the end of October, things were progressing well. I remember the day she took her second step into a reining spin. She surprised herself, stood there for a moment, and then wanted to do it again! The day she executed her first sliding stop was equally memorable. She was always a good stopper so she learned it quickly in the thick dirt of the indoor arena. I ran her down the long side of the arena, asked for the stop and her back legs went under and her butt went down. Her reaction was priceless. It was like "how on Earth did I do that" and oh by the way, let's do it again!

The last couple rides last fall outdoors before we moved to the indoor for the winter, Sugar began showing some telltale signs of being in pain. She had never been a horse you had to encourage to move forward (quite the opposite actually) but suddenly it became a chore to keep her moving. And her attitude about being saddled and ridden deteriorated.

I chalked it up to the change to cooler weather, but double-checked my saddle fit and lightened up on the riding schedule a bit. Things got worse.

I was riding on Thanksgiving Day when Sugar finally let me know in no uncertain terms that she just couldn't bare weight any longer. As I tried to mount, she cowkicked me smack in the thigh leaving a neat horse-shoe shaped black-and-blue mark. Message received.

We dumped her riding schedule entirely and called an equine chiropractor and vet. She was definitely sore through her hips and all along her back, but there was no apparent reason for the soreness. A couple chiropractic adjustments were done, some injections and a bit of acupuncture just for good measure.

She immediately improved some and I was heartened, but within two weeks, she was pretty much back to being a total pill about being ridden and having a hard time moving to her right.

So the vet came out again and this time she was even worse off. Every pressure point he touched, she jumped and winced. Even with two large doses of tranquilizer in her, she was still objecting to his manipulations in definite terms.

It was obvious, a decision was going to have to be made. The vet's best guess was EPM, but the procedure to get a clean diagnosis is expensive and not that accurate. At very least, what she had was some sort of syndrome very similar to EPM and short of an expensive and labor-intensive six-month "cure" (that has a 30 percent success ratio), she would never be a reliable riding horse again.

I procrastinated as long as I could, but finally decided to do what was best for Sugar. I will never forget her. She taught me a great deal.

This week, a good friend of mine, Holly Davis, also lost her horse to collic. We kind of cried on each other's shoulders. It's as tough to lose a four-footed friend as a two-footed one.

I'll spend the next few months looking for the next "perfect" horse -- one of my least favorite endeavors. It's time-consuming and frustrating. The last two horses I've had found me so maybe that will happen again, who knows.

Meanwhile, I'm putting the bite on any of my friends who have horses to keep me in the saddle, at least occasionally.

I Want My Hour Back

It's Wednesday and I'm still falling asleep in front of my computer. This all started Monday, the first workday after Daylight Saving Time was so rudely and prematurely slapped upon on this year.

Somewhere between Sunday morning and Monday morning, I lost more than just an hour of sleep. I feel like I've lost an enire month. Heck, I feel like Rip Van Winkle. So for three days now I've been downing coffee by the cup and slapping myself int he face trying to fully wake up.

And for what? There is a fairly good body of evidence that suggests that daylight saving time doesn't save us (as in Americans) a single cent in energy or hard cash. Whose stupid idea was this anyway?

It's bad enough the Congress has to monkey around with our watches, but when it comes to my internal biological clock, that's another store entirely. Talk about your invasive governmental procedures.

If I live to the weekend, I plan to stay in bed Saturday morning until every last ounce of sleep has departmented from my system. You know, come to think of it, I'll probably be over this illbegotten move about the day it's time to switach back from daylight saving time.

I think I'll go ride my horse.

AETA -- The Association -- Tough Sledding

Many of you know that a group of people from across the industry, including myself, have been working to see the efforts of the American Equestrian Trade Association move forward. The first goal was to establish a trade show. That has been accomplished. The Richmond AETA Expo was a success by any measuring stick. The fall show looks to be even bigger and better.

The other part of the equation was formation of a trade association, which would work for the benefit of the entire industry. For an industry of mostly small business owners, the idea of synergies on such things as insurance, services and education seemed logical and beneficial.

After the Expo ended, the group of 15 board members began discussing the association aspect. An agreement with Jim Herbert of GlobalStrat, owner of the trade show, had to be inked and signed and incorporation and other steps to put the 501(c)(3) on its feet had to be undertaken. The idea initially was to create a licensing agreement with Herbert to use the AETA name, with some profits of the trade show to be returned to fund the association. Weeks dragged into months and no formal action had been taken.

Finally on March 3, the board was informed that Herbert applied for a trademark of the name “AETA” with a goal of “organizing industry members for mutual interests including education, communications, marketing, members.” Faced with the realization that there was little hope for a licensing agreement, five board members resigned immediately: Nina DePetris, N. Shay Joaquin, Clark Davis, Lee Rafeld and Terri Shulte. Many of the remaining board members didn’t formally resigned but could see the hand writing on the wall.

Tom MacGuinness, the originator of the idea to create an association and a trade show, has vowed to continue to work toward his original goals. He appears to have several of the former board members on his side. The remaining board members include Mike Libertucci, Kerri Kent, Stephen Day, Frances Bowers, Aiden Keogh, Brad Egolf, Mark Raisbeck and Carla Perri.

At this juncture, Herbert has not said what his plans are regarding a trade association and its eventual relationship to the Expo in Richmond. Perhaps the best face that can be put on the situation is that a very successful trade show has been created that garnered enough support in its opening run to make it the second largest such event in the equine trade industry behind Denver-WESA. The worst case scenario will probably be that dishonesty and personal agendas derailed this initial effort at forming a trade association. Time will tell.

Once again, we have made available this means through which the industry can comment on this development. If you have something to say, click on the "comments" link below and have at it.

Retail Sales Down in February

2007 seems to be off to a bit of a slow year for retailers. The latest figures reveal that February was not a boom month and some of the indicators for the months ahead aren't looking all that promising.

That said, equine retailers are about to send their busy season, spring and summer, when riding and competing are at their peak and when everyone who owns a horse is doing something with it.

Sometimes, economic conditions are difficult to understand. The Chinese stock market sneezes and retailing in the United States catches a cold. The price of oil jumps, pushing gas up to $2.50 a gallon or higher. It's always something.

What it means for retailers is that they have to work harder -- and smarter -- than ever before just to keep even with the previous year. It's tough work.

I was speaking with a retailer the other day for whom I have a great deal of respect and her comment was, "anyone who thinks retailing is just a lot of fun and games should come spend a day with me." Truly, if you're doing it right, it's not easy, but it can be rewarding -- and even profitable.

Retailers who haven't already done so are probably at least thinking about laying in supplies of "spring" necessities, such as clippers and shampoo and sweat scrapers, buckets and sponges and brushes ... it's a long list.

Here in Minnesota with 30 inches of snow on the ground, it's still a bit hard to think about spring, but the promise of warm weather is ahead. We all cling to that promise. Including retailers.

Never on a Sunday

Sunday is still the toughest day to buy equine-related supplies in the United States, according to a poll conducted online at www.tackntogs.com last month.

We asked retailers to tell us which days they are open for business. The fewest respondents (39 percent) said they were open Sunday. The best day for shopping in Thursday when almost all respondents said they are open. Besides Sunday, many shops are also closed on Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are about even in popularity for being open.

The idea of being open on Sundays has been under discussion amonst equine retailers for generations. One person who completed the poll said: "It is difficult with a family and nine grandchildren to open Sunday, but sometimes it is the busiest day."

Another retailer who doesn't have specific posted hours said he finds himself at the story anyway, doing books, displays or cleaning.

Another retailer of 30 years said in his territory, Sundays have never been profitable. A retailer in California reported that he just recently began opening on Sundays and it's working great.

This month our online poll is about the demise of the State Line Tack Departments within the PetSmart stores around the country. If you have a comment, please visit our Web site www.tackntogs.com and access to the poll on the lower right side of the home page.

So long, State Line Tack

PetSmart, owner of State Line Tack, announced today it will be closing the 180 equine departments in its pet stores beginning immediately. The company plans to use the space for more pet products or for PetsHotel boarding and day camp concept.

PetSmart gives its reason for the move as "we’ve learned that equine is not something we do best."

The move is expected to have quite a ripple affect on the industry, beginning with State Line employees and running all the way back to employees of the vendors who supplied the stores. Some of them had significant investment in providing State Line with products. It's possible some of them may not survive this move.

Statements from PetSmart say the company also plans to seek a buyer for the catalog and online portions of State Line. Most likely, a company like Dover Saddlery is licking its chops over the prospect of obtaining its archrival and putting them out of business. Whether Dover has the resources to accomplish that is uncertain.

Having had a State Line Tack store about five blocks from our home, I have had the opportunity to witness first-hand that equine was not something that was being done well. In our case, the company had an excellent equine department manager with a ton of retail experience. However, when she began telling her higher-ups that the product mix it was putting in the store wouldn't work with the clients in this area, they basically said "tough ... you figure out how to sell what we send you."

Naturally, she jumped ship rather quickly and from then on, whenever you went into that section of the store and had a questions, they'd page someone from "dog" or "cat." Consequently, most retailers in the equine trade business who had State Line as competition weren't impacted to a great extent.

Clearly the biggest concern is the vendors who put too many eggs in the State Line basket and now will have to scramble to stay viable. Almost certainly, some will not make it.

For more details on this development, visit our Web site www.tackntogs.com.