Next Generation 1
Sisters Summer and Autumn Townsend help on their family’s feedlot operation as much as possible. They can do just about anything their father needs them to do, from sorting out a sick cow to moving a herd onto wheat pasture.
Next Generation 2
Fourteen-year-old Summer Townsend lopes her horse up and down hills. This is a great exercise to practice riding circles and controlling a horse’s speed for reining and working cow horse competition, and the dry-work phase of ranch versatility.
Next Generation 3
Tyler Rice guides the youngest member of the Townsend brood, 5-year-old Trail, up one of the sandy hills in the West Texas Panhandle. The youngster is well on his way to being his father’s top hands. You’ll sometimes see him and his horse tagging along beside his father or one of the other Sandhill hands.
Next Generation 4
Townsend has started all of his children on older, reliable horses that’s he’s trained and shown. These precious mounts are so forgiving with novice riders, which enables the kids to develop confidence and learn from their successes and mistakes.
Next Generation 5
Autumn has developed the seat of a classical rider from the many hours she’s spent horseback cutting cattle and riding in various types of terrain. All of the Townsend’s horses are used on the ranch, including Autumn’s 5-year-old gelding, Sandhill Dunit, also known as “Linus.”
Next Generation 6
Townsend saves his best horses for his kids. The horseman showed Alotofbull, who’s now ridden by Summer, to the Ranch Horse Association of America junior horse championship in 2005. Two years later he repeated the win on the horse in the senior horse division. Summer has won every 4-H reining class in which she’s ridden the 7-year-old gelding, and is preparing to start roping on him.
