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Buy a good horse to start out with and become a good horseman if you’re not already. Wil and Beverly Howe will show you “Howe.”
ity girl wants horse. Finds cowboy with horses. City girl and cowboy run/ride off into the sunset to live a life together that only dreams are made of.” That’s how Beverly Howe characterizes the beginning of a partnership with husband Wil that’s going on 35 years. Which happens to be just about how long the two have been at the forefront of the horse business, selling quality geldings and educating horse owners for similar happily-ever-after stories with their equines.
As a girl growing up on Mercer Island, Washington, Beverly always wanted her own horse. In 1977, she met Wil, a genuine cowboy who was friends with her older brother, and the two were immediately smitten with each other. And so began a romantic adventure that would eventually lead to northeast Oregon and the Wil Howe Ranch, known for its “Cadillac” geldings and unique methods for training both horse and horseman.
Born in Oklahoma, Wil grew up riding bareback on a one-horse farm in Central California. He’d never ridden a saddled horse until his mid-20s, when he started out in Colorado breaking broncs for $50 a month. From then on, his goal was to learn everything he could about horses and training — by listening, by doing, and later, by attending all sorts of training clinics. Along the journey, he cowboyed, trained all kinds of horses, and even had a winning stint as a racehorse trainer, turning problem quarter horses into champions.
While Wil successfully pursued training and showing snaffle-bit reined cow horses and cutting horses, Beverly followed English jumping horses and dressage horses. The two found their niche becoming leading experts at training and selling performance geldings.
By the mid-1980s, Wil and Beverly were traveling the country, putting on clinics, sharing what it means to train good horses to be great horses and good horsemen to be great horsemen. The training aspect of their business complements what has always been the core: the quality horses themselves. All the expertise Wil and Beverly have amassed in a lifetime of working with horses goes into building great horses and matching clients with the right one.
So what makes a great gelding? If it’s one of Wil and Beverly Howe’s special horses, it’s everything from foundation to
finish — hence their trademarked From Foundation to Finished training program. Think charm school for equines, sort of. But instead of using the right fork and sitting up straight, it’s about willing working attitudes and excellent ground manners. It all starts with select handsome registered quarter horse and paint geldings that have the makings of “the kind of sound, mannerly, obedient quality horses that people are thinking of when they want to buy a horse and are imagining themselves riding the horse of their dreams,” Beverly says.
According to Wil, a good horse starts with a good mind. “A good horse turns left when you want him to, right when you want him to, and goes anywhere you ask him to without question, once you establish leadership and trust,” he says. “Horses are herd animals, so they are always looking for a leader.”
The Howes have that leadership role down and have been transforming horses through trust and respect for decades now. To help their clients have continued success with their horses, they began offering a comprehesive training program. In 1994, they created their School of Fine Horsemanship at their ranch in Richland, Oregon, in an area known as Hells Canyon country, three hours from Boise, Idaho. In 2004 they added their winter Southwest Outpost near Cochise, Arizona, in the foothills of the Dragoon Mountain range not far from Tombstone.
The Howes specialize in working with horses 5 years and older, giving the horses a new set of values, developing them into responsive-handling, reliable mounts. They prefer quarter horses for their willing minds and athletic abilities. “They can be a fun pleasure horse, but can also work cattle if you want,” Beverly points out.
By handling mature horses, Wil and Beverly say, they are able to offer more seasoned, solid, useful horses that maintain the training. “You can turn the key on and go, so to speak,” Beverly says. “We like to see folks get out there and get to enjoying their horses rather than becoming discouraged with horses because of a mismatch, too young of a horse, or one untrained for their level of use.”
“A horse has to pass a big checklist with us,” Wil says. “We call it the ‘acid test.’ ” Hobble broke. Check. Step up to mounting block on verbal command. Check. Stand still to mount. Check. Cross water, bogs, and tarps. Check. Open and close gates, load easily, stand tied quietly. Check. Easy to catch, bathe, clip, and shoe. Check. Carry a flag. Check. And the list goes on and on.
“Each horse gets extensive personalized attention,” Beverly says. “They all have a velvet neck rein, are responsive to leg cues, handle composed and collected at a walk, trot, and canter. They know their leads, and stop and back up without question.” What’s more, Wil Howe Ranch geldings have been trained and used in the arena as well as in steep, rough high desert country and on mountain trails, and they’ve all worked cattle.
“A lot of people think that if you give a horse a good home, feed him good hay, and brush him, you can hop on and ride him into the sunset.” Not so, says Wil. “A good horse must be disciplined to be safe, and a lot of people aren’t willing to do that. If you can’t take that responsibility with a horse, you might as well stick to a four-wheeler.”
When it comes to horsemanship training, Wil says, there’s no shortcut, and learning doesn’t end. “Knowledge is essential to success with horses. It is a lifelong journey and there is no ‘freeway’ to get there.” If there’s one great lesson Wil has learned in a lifetime of being around horses, it’s this: “What you put out is what you get back with horses — and with life. They go hand in hand.”
When they aren’t hard at work with the business, Wil, now 70, and Beverly, now 50, like to go “cowboying” with good friends who ranch in Wyoming. Through their love of horses and people, the couple have made friends from all over. “We meet folks from all walks of life, ranging from federal judges to Hells Angels,” Wil says, “and they all come together for one reason and one reason only — the horse.”
