Practical Horsemanship - Tribute to Dale Lukens

From the time I was a little kid, I always had an interest in horses.  My parents had a few horses and my granddad, Dale Lukens, raised paint horses. Whenever I had the chance to spend time with my granddad and his horses I was there. As I started to get a little older, I began going with my granddad to check cattle. He looked after a lot of cattle and day-worked for some local ranches. I’m sure I didn’t always make things easy by being there, but my granddad always took the time to show me what he was trying to get done. He never made me feel like he didn’t have time to help me, and he always found a way to make me feel useful.

When we weren’t out checking cattle or working horses, we would sit and he would tell stories about how they did things when he was younger. Stories about how rank colts would be snubbed to a saddle horse so he or his brother could get on them. Sometimes they would even tie up a hind leg to get one saddled.  And how once somebody got aboard, the colt would be turned loose and the guy on the broke horse would haze the colt out of the farm machinery (no need for a round pen I guess). I realized real early that my granddad was ‘all cowboy’!

With all the old school ways my granddad did things, he still encouraged me to look for the easiest way.  I believe it was my granddad’s influence that sparked in me a desire to work with a horse and not against him. I began to reach out and learn all I could about horsemanship.

The first horseman I ever watched do a round pen demonstration was Sam Powell. I will never forget watching that tape of him crawling on that 3 yr. old filly with nothing on her head and letting her go. I was amazed at the confidence he showed in that little mare. So I began to take some of the things my granddad showed me and challenge myself to not get in the horse’s way. Boy did I have a lot to learn. Wreck after wreck, I started to realize I had only enough knowledge to be dangerous. My quest to build on the foundation my granddad had given me had begun.  I was on a mission!

So with all the horses I have had an opportunity to work with over the years, all the riders I have shared with, and all the clinics we have held, I have come to this place in my horsemanship where I feel I have a lot still to learn, but a lot to offer as well.

We call our program ‘practical horsemanship’. It has been built over the last 22 years of working with horses.  Finding some things that work good and some things that don’t!  Knowing when to push and when to back off. Understanding the importance of ‘balance’ in your approach. And definitely the most important part: realizing there is much more to the horse then what you can see!

Our goal is to help people succeed with their horses by offering a simple, practical approach.  There is no magic in what we do.  We work hard everyday to make sure as a rider we offer the horse the best deal we can. In this simple
approach, people can see how easy it is to reach their dreams and beyond.  I thank my granddad for the dream he put in me, and the dream I am now sharing with all of you!