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Vigilante Films Presents
Horse Babies
Vigilante Films is pleased to join RFD-TV in presenting Horse
Babies, an 8-week mini-series on how owners and operators are
living out their dreams with horses. Our goal is to show the
emotion and passion people have for their horses and introduce
the RFD-TV audience to different breeds. Our first show is
about the Rocky Montana Horse where Dick Hartmann from his
Southern Montana ranch tells his desire to raise all his horses in
a natural state. Bands of mares with stallions roam in large
pastures on a 6,000-acre ranch. The staff at Mountain Magic
Ranch maintains the largest herd of Rocky Mountain Horses in
North American and are constantly buying and selling these
gaited horses. You will get a feeling of why they like this gaited
horse so much.
Standing Rock Ranch in Southeastern Montana is home to one
of the most entertaining horse trainers we have encountered.
Frank White grew up in the tradition of Tennessee Walkers with
all the tricks to help make a non walking horse have a smooth
walking gait. Along with owner John Gonitzke Frank is
dedicated to training and then finding the right horse for the
customer. They both have an eye to recognize talent and beauty in many of the Walkers that are supposedly not able to walk. We
enjoyed this duo and you will too.
Jade Creek Arabians is home to nationally acclaimed halter horses
Jake Jamaal and Brandon Bay. Manny Lawrence is passionate and
devoted to his Arabian Horses. In a short period of time Manny
has been able to select excellent brood mares and seems to have a
knack for pairing up sires and dames to foal horses that are
beautiful and have a great disposition. In the episode we put
Brandon and his dad in the same shot and you would think that
his dad was simply an old gelding – no fuss, no stammering, just
a gentle guy with the look of a stud.
Alex Trebek’s Creston Farms is one of the few Thoroughbred farms
we have encountered that makes money. Art Mercado has a
breeding program, a training program, a rehab program, and a
quarantine facility. Half of the horses are owned by the farm and
the other half are boarded. The 1-mile training track uses over
20,000 gallons of water a day all fed by one of five wells on the
700-acre facility. Art does an excellent job of managing the
personnel, horses and land.
A storybook unfolds before you in retelling the tale of Blair and
Karin Burgess who purchased a Standardbred colt for less than
$20,000, won over $3million and eventually syndicated Real
Desire for $5 million. As Karin relayed to us it was a scary time
hauling the 3 horse trailer with a ‘colicky’ baby up and down the
East Coast from track to track. Blair Burgess trains young
unproven harness horses to build them up to winners. His latest
is Amigo Hall who won the top Standardbred stakes race of $1
million to continue the legacy.
More Entertainment
Suzy and Lee Foss pretty much break all the molds with their very
moderately sized Gold Creek Arabian Ranch located in the
gorgeous Bitterroot Valley in Western Montana. They raise Black
Egyptian Arabian Horses and have a lineage that is top of the line.
But they use these magnificent horses herding cattle, backpacking, chores around the ranch and as friends. In the program Suzy had
Legacy, the standing stud, around most of the mares and he was a
gentleman all the time. When Legacy made a pass at Gracie, one
of his daughters, a stern look and a flat ear just put him in his
place.
Imagine 900 acres within 50 miles of Philadelphia complete open
fields and forests. This is the setting for Iron Spring Farm where
Robert Croteau manages Iron Spring Farm, home to Dutch
Warmbloods, Friesians, and Judgment a finalist for the 2004
Olympic Show Jumping Team. Mary Alice has animals
everywhere including the kitchen where during lunch there were
two cats, birds, and 3 dogs. Outside there are of course great
horses along side of the geese, ducks, swans and Guinea Hens.
Appropriately Vigilante Films conclude this mini-series with
Miniature Horses. You may want some tissues because these little
guys have a way of getting to even the strongest. The episode
demonstrates the people friendly nature of the horses that are an
exact copy of the big guys, only much smaller. The horses and
foals are handled by 4 year olds and folks in wheel chairs. We will
have some wonderful success stories where parents have helped
their teenagers escape the difficult years by caring for a Miniature
Horse.
Contact Us
Enjoy the series and hope you have as much pleasure watching it
as we did making it. If you have comments or suggestions or if
you have product you want associated with distinguished facilities
or want to be one of the distinguished, bert@vigilantefilms.com.
You can put in a personal note to Bert but because she is a female
black lab, she is slow to reply. See ya’ soon.
Mailing Address: PO Box 1681, Ennis, MT 59729
Phone: 406.579.7777 |
