Colorado is warming up—we recently made it into the 80s. That has us thinking about straw hats!

We wear straws for competition (as assistant editor Julie Preble did when she competed at a recent reining), as well as for fun and fashion. They’re a welcome option to felt hats (though we adore those, too) just when we’re ready for a springtime change.

We want to know what time of year you break out your straw hat. Does your climate allow you to start wearing straw early in spring? Or do you wait until later in the season? Check out a few of our favorites below.

Here's Julie in last summer's popular style from American Hat Co., shaped by Greeley Hatworks.

Late last summer, I picked up a fun Charlie One Horse straw.

Shorty's Caboy Hattery put the fabulous shape and banded edge on this American Hat Co. straw.

By Julie Preble, Assistant Editor

Hannah is a pretty great mare. Even after showing, she willingly took the bridle so we could get a few after-the-show shots. | Photo by Joslyn Chapman

After I shared my first showing experience with the other H&R editors, their first question was “Who’s that cute horse?!” So, I thought I’d share with you a little bit more about Miss Hannah (or Hannah Banana, as I often refer to her).

The mare that I’m lucky enough to ride is Hannahs Poco Lena. She’s a 1996 buckskin mare by Dry Docs Monarch and out of Pena Peppy by San Peppy Luis.

Hard to believe she’s 16, right?!

She belongs to my trainer, Michelle Chapman of Eaton, Colorado, and her daughter Jessica. Hannah was actually the first reining horse Michelle owned and trained.

Hannah’s one of those amazing been-there-done-that horses that can safely pack around a little 2-year-old girl and then turn around and show me the reining ropes.

Pretty soon, she’ll be bred to Boom Shernic, and I can’t wait to see that foal! Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to blog about that, too!

Did you have one of those amazing horses that taught you an event?

On Friday, assistant editor Julie Preble and I headed down to Pueblo, Colorado, to take in the reined work of the NRCHA Hackamore Classic. It’s the first year the event’s been held in my home state, and I really hope they choose to keep it here in the future.

The weather was perfect, which made the outdoor show pen glorious for photography. We’re often stuck inside stuffy, dusty, DARK indoor arenas for these big events, so I nearly squealed with glee when I saw that riders would show in the uncovered outdoor pen.

Open winner and $2 million rider Todd Crawford told the NRCHA, “I think one of the things that was really cool is that we showed outside and it was so different and refreshing—I don’t think I’ve shown outside since I moved from California. The cattle worked better, and therefore the horses did, too. This is a really nice Fairgrounds, and I think we had a great show.”

Here’s hoping that NRCHA brings the event back to Pueblo next year and that my schedule will allow me to go watch the fence work, too! Here are a few photos from the Hackamore Classic, of both nonpro and open riders.

By Julie Preble, Assistant Editor

Hannah and I after the show. | Photo by Joslyn Chapman

This past weekend, I had the opportunity show again. Only this time, I had more of an audience.

My parents flew out to watch me ride. They’ve been to a few small, 4-H horse shows, but they definitely hadn’t been to a reining event.

The show was put on by the Western Slope Reining Horse Association and was in Grand Junction, Colorado. For those of you not familiar with the area, it’s about a 4.5-hour drive from where I live in the Denver area.

What a cool drive, too! I’ve always enjoyed road trips, and this was no different. We even stopped for a lunch picnic along the Eagle River. It’s definitely a lot easier when you’re not hauling the horses!

The green reiner classes were the very last of the show, so I spent most of Sunday as a ball of nerves. However, I felt much better once I was horseback. I felt confident and prepared.

I’d been over the pattern in my head so many times the night before that I did it umpteen more times in my dreams. We wouldn’t go off pattern—or so I thought.

Even though it was one of the best patterns I’ve run so far, we still DQ’ed. On our second rundown, Hannah anticipated the stop, I urged her on, and then asked for the stop before I was ready.

That bobble made me lose my stirrups, and I had to grab my saddle horn. While I was trying to readjust and get my feet back in place, Hannah started backing up. If the judge didn’t notice the saddle grabbing, he certainly noticed the backing.

Overall, it was a great experience, and I’m really glad I had the opportunity. Am I disappointed that I DQ’ed? Sure. (My score would’ve been a 68 if I wouldn’t have!) But, I’m focusing on the things that went well.

I zipped my spins and my left-side circles, so that’s something to be proud of. I’m also walking away with a good list of maneuvers to work on—sliding stops in particular!

My parents enjoyed their trip, and they thought reining was pretty cool. They liked my ride, too. Even if I did DQ!

Watch Hannah’s and my run!

Four hundred rescues will each receive a half-ton of Purina feed, thanks to a donation from the feed producer.

Yesterday, you read about A Home for Every Horse in Juli Thorson’s Horse Talk blog post. It’s a great program that deserves your attention.

It’s generating so much interest that Purina Mills, LLC, announced that it’ll donate $125,000 worth of feed to the American Horse Council’s Unwanted Horse Coalition, which will be distributed to 400 horse rescues through A Home for Every Horse. A portion of the proceeds of every bag of Purina Strategy sold will help fuel the contribution, giving you the chance to help with this great cause.

Want to start your own movement in your area? Look to Northern California feed stores that banded together to form “SAFER,” Sonoma Action for Equine Rescue, to make a sizable feed donation to rescues in the Sonoma County area. Purina even matched the group’s donation.

What are you doing on the local level to help rescues in your area? We’d love to hear your stories.

Hannah and I preparing for the Green Reiner class. | Photo by Joslyn Chapman

By Julie Preble, Assistant Editor

This past weekend, I had a new horse experience. Thanks to NRHA’s Green Reiner classes, I was able to show!

It was a small jackpot show, but that didn’t matter to my nerves! However, even though I was nervous, I was definitely prepared.

Before I went to sleep the previous night, I ran through the pattern in my head (this included my saying “whoa” and performing various leg/hip cues). I also talked through the pattern a couple of times.

Those tactics worked. Not only was this my first show, it was my first time riding a full reining pattern. The visualization definitely helped! I don’t think that’s the only help I had, though.

When proofing the magazine, we read each article several times. It’s often the joke around the office that we should be better riders if for no other reason than osmosis! I think that’s true.

I don’t know how many times I thought about a previous article’s tips. You know what? It paid off.

I was fully prepared to DQ on my first pattern. I know it happens a lot to the first-timers, and I wasn’t going to be bummed if it happened to me. But it didn’t!

Not only did I stay on pattern, but I also scored a 66! That was good enough to place third in my class of 12. Heck, I even zipped the figure-8 maneuver. (Thanks, Hannah, for your awesome lead-change abilities!)

Now I’m mentally preparing for my next (and bigger) show this weekend. My parents are flying out to watch, and I’m sure it’ll be a great experience. Here’s hoping for another good score!

Check out my third-place run on YouTube!

What techniques have helped you for your first shows?

In the On Staff blog, we try to give a glimpse inside the H&R offices—the funny stories, inspiring moments, and incredible experiences we get to have thanks to our jobs here with the magazine. We’re generally a cheery, optimistic group of folks around here, but I have to be honest. When deadline rolls around, it can get a little intense.

We’re rounding out the June issue right now, one that gave me fits due to uncooperative weather, scheduling conflicts, dropped phone calls, more weather issues…you get the idea. I need to remember to remind myself that these obstacles work themselves out and, one way or another, the features come together. We’ve yet to send an issue to the printer with blank pages in it!

So, in about a month, when you’re reading the horsemanship piece with Colorado trainer Chad Evans, here’s an insider’s secret: We planned that shoot at least 20 times before we actually could complete it. And before we got the morning-lit shots you’ll see on the pages, we shot the evening before in high winds, heavy clouds, intermittent rain. Heck, there was even a tornado warning north of Chad’s place in Franktown at the time we were out in the arena! But the next morning was perfect for photos (if a little chilly), and it all came together!

A rare, horsey find in the Pearl Street Mall.

By Julie Preble, Assistant Editor

There are a lot of really cool aspects of my job: I get to interview and meet some of the top trainers in the industry; manage our Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages; help out at our photo shoots; and provide customer service for the readers (if you’ve ever called the number in the magazine, we’ve probably chatted!).

But along with having a really cool job, I also get to work in a really cool place. Being that I’m still relatively new to Colorado (yesterday was my one-year anniversary on the job!), I like to get out and explore.

My mom and one of her friends are in town for a visit, so we did some exploring today over lunch.

We went downtown Boulder to the Pearl Street Mall and had a blast perusing the shops—not to mention enjoying the 70-degree, sunny weather!

While we were looking through the different shops, I found something to share with you. Leave it to me to find probably the only horsey thing on Pearl Street! A store called Boulder Furniture Arts had some really neat, horse-shaped clocks.

At some point, I’ll probably be going back to the store to get one of those clocks. And that got me wondering about you readers. Do you like to decorate your house with horsey items?

We’d scheduled a photo shoot at all-around Quarter Horse trainer Chad Evans’ place yesterday morning. It’s one that we’ve been trying to pull off for at least six weeks, but we keep getting snowed out, mudded out, winded out—Mother Nature hasn’t made it an easily completed task.

If we’d have made the drive to Franktown yesterday morning for the shoot, it would’ve been in a Winter Wonderland. Big, wet snowflakes; wind; WET. Of course, we can’t shoot outside in those conditions.

But today, we’re looking at a high of 70, clear skies, generally perfect weather for a shoot. As luck would have it, Chad is off to judge a show in another state, so we’re foiled, once again. Here’s hoping the forecast of 10 days of clear skies holds true, otherwise Chad and I might think Mother Nature really is against us!

By Julie Preble, Assistant Editor

At Horse&Rider, we receive a lot of horse books to review. Unfortunately, many of these books don’t make it to the pages of the magazine. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them!

As an avid reader, I end up reading most of the books that land on my desk. So, I’ve decided to share the books (and my thoughts on them) with you.

The first book I read is The Eighty-Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts.

Here’s a short summary of the story:

In 1956, Harry de Leyer purchased a former plow horse off a kill truck for $80 (about $650 in today’s economy). The quiet-tempered gelding became a favorite of the de Leyer children, who named him Snowman. He earned his keep as a lesson mount at the all-girls’ school where de Leyer taught horseback riding.

Through a series of unfortunate—and rather funny—turn of events, de Leyer discovered Snowman’s jumping talents.

From there, Letts takes the reader through all of Snowman’s training, his first shows, and the 1958 National Horse Show, where he became a champion.

Like Seabiscuit was during the depression era, Snowman was an underdog that ended up inspiring the nation. No matter what your discipline or event, Snowman’s journey from the kill truck to a national championship will inspire you, too.

I really enjoyed reading the gelding’s amazing story. Many times I had to force myself to put the book down!

It’s very well written, and the accompanying photography really adds to the story.

I highly recommend this book to any horse lover—just make sure you have some tissues handy.

The Eighty-Dollar Champion is available at HorseBooksEtc.com.

Learn more about the story in this video with Elizabeth Letts.