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Dear Friends,
As I write this we are at the half year mark of Steve’s death. Our family wants to thank you for all the support we have received from you. You have blessed our lives. Steve’s life and teachings spanned many continents and we have been overwhelmed by how caring you all are.
Many of you have told us about Steve’s impact on your relationship with your horse and on your life. God gave Steve a gift – the gift of understanding and training horses. Steve’s real passion was to teach and share that gift with people. He spent the last five years of his life teaching those things to our son, Nate. Steve mentioned to several people (including me) how Nate was going to be a better clinician than him because Nate not only has a gift with horses but he loves a crowd.
You have asked that we update our website so you know what the future holds for Bowers Farm. The reins/lines of the business have been picked up by Nate. Over the past six months he has continued to train and teach the “Natural Driving” techniques that Steve used. After traveling the US with Steve and helping him teach clinics – Nate taught his first solo clinic in Michigan in September. We appreciate all the support from our Michigan friends and want to say a special thanks to Sue Cannon and Bill Larson for pulling the clinic together and for the use of their farm.
I would like to end by sharing one of Steve’s favorite sayings in reference to “broke” verses trained horses. He would say, “They (broke horses) are superficially compliant but deeply disturbed”. Steve’s goal was to help those “deeply disturbed horses” and to train their owners to build positive relationships with their horses. Nate has decided to follow in Steve’s footsteps and continue the goal. I will continue in my role here at Bowers Farm (whatever that might be) and our daughter, Katie, is getting married and moving to Wyoming.
We, Steve’s family were blessed to have him as a husband and father. He had a great life where he was loved and respected. In the words of so many who wrote us – Steve was a great horseman and his death leaves a hole in the horse industry. He is missed.
Sincerely,
Peggy
Nate Bowers, our son, is shown practicing one of his favorite midwinter activities - skijoring! Our horse, Peaches, seemed to have just as much fun as Nate. They went around the arena a few times and then headed out into one of our big fields for some wide open fun. Peaches is only wearing a breast collar and an open bridle. Nate holds the reins in one hand and the traces in the other. Downhill skis and ski goggles complete the setup. Fort Collins, Colorado, our home town, is having a real Winter this year (2006 / 2007), with lots of snow for a white Christmas and New Years, too.
You may also click here to see a video of Nate Skijoring.
This is a large file. If you Pause the player for a few seconds to allow the streaming download get ahead of the video, the sound will not be interupted and play much better for you.
If you do not have a broadband connection you can click here for a smaller version of Nate Skijoring
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downloading the latest FREE Flash Player.
Steve teaching a bunch of hardy people in 34 degree weather (with 20 mph wind) near Chicago on March 4, '07. Most of these folks had traveled from around the country to be at the Carriage Operators of North America convention, where Steve also did some teaching. This Belgian mare was just beginning the process of learning how to be lead by a human - instead of the other way around! Overall, it was a great day, regardless of the weather, with lots of carriage operators getting excited about this new way of training horses.
Welcome to The Bowers Farm’s Web site! We are a family owned and operated farm/ranch near Fort Collins, Colorado (see map) where the emphasis is on teaching about natural driving. From the basics of how to harness, hitch and drive, rein handling techniques for multiple hitches, and the latest in natural horse training techniques, you'll find solid, sensible instruction here. We want you to be successful and safe! Our job is to make it possible for you to use this environmentally responsible energy source by providing high quality educational materials and oportunities to get involved in driving. Whether it is for farming, ranching, on the street, in the woods, in the show ring, or just for fun, horses appreciate a knowledgable driver - and knowledgable drivers appreciate well trained horses!
Steve Bowers has been training horses for the public for the past thirty four years, and is now offering training of the draft and driving horse owner, through lessons, clinics, books and videos. Bowers Farm has run one of the longest- running original draft and driving horse workshops in the country that it has been doing around the region since 1980. For 2004 and beyond, we are offering private lessons and clinics here at home and at various locations around the country, making it easier than ever for students to get to a Bowers Farm presentation. For those who are interested in an in-depth learning experience, we now are offering weeklong driving horse school experiences and weekend clinics for people who bring their own horses to Bowers Farm. Click on the Latest News button below to see some of the exciting things that are happening at Bowers Farm!
Professional photographer Kelsey Cain stopped by our place to visit on his way home from Cheyenne Frontier Days this past summer ('06). He took some really great looking photos of our Canadian mares, Chrissie and Jennifer (left and right in photo). This is one of our favorites. You can see more of Kelsey's photos and read more about him on his web site at www.kelseycain.com. The mares are wearing New England D Ring leather harness in natural russet color, with wood hames. We sell this kind of harness, and lots of others, custom made to fit your horses.
Want To Learn To Drive Multiple Hitches?
Bowers Farm is the inventor of the bicycle 4-up simulator shown here. Your hitch driving skills will go from "all thumbs" to "expert" after a few weeks of driving this team! Even though there are no horses involved, this simulator is the best way ever to get real skill at driving multiple hitches.
Click here to find out more about this great new invention.4-Up Video and Bicycles
EDUCATIONAL GUEST RANCH
"HARNESSING, HITCHING AND DRIVING" DVD
"A TEAMSTER'S VIEW: MORE AND DIFFERENT" BOOK
"FARMING WITH HORSES" BOOK
"TRAINING THE DRIVING HORSE" DVD
"LEARNING TO DRIVE MULTIPLE HITCHES" VIDEO
"TRAINING THE DRIVING HORSE" CLINICS
PRIVATE DRIVING AND RIDING LESSONS
NATION-WIDE HORSE EXPO TEACHING
CUSTOM MADE HARNESS
BICYCLE DRIVER TRAINING DEVICES
( See It In Action)
ACCESSORIES
We plan to change the free articles from time to time, so check us out again in the near future. If you'd like to talk about something, send me an e-mail, or call or write (see below for addresses and phone number). Thanks for stopping by!
Visit our Link Page to find other related sites
Horse Training Lessons
Draft and Driving Horse Workshops
Horses, Harness, Equipment
4269 N. Co. Rd. 13
Fort Collins, CO 80524
970-484-9419
E-mail: sb@bowersfarm.com