Page 41 - CFAN_Apr2014

There When You Need Us!

Polk Equine provides large animal veterinary services within parts of Polk,
Highlands and Hardee Counties in Florida. Polk Equine works with horses,

cattle, goats and sheep. Our primary task is to solve our client’s animal
medical problems by maintaining the highest
standards in veterinary medicine.

Polk Equine is a mobile unit that provides
services in:

General Medicine & After Hours Care

Lameness • Reproduction
Digital X-Rays

Ophthalmology

Dentistry
Dr. Katie Hennessy, DVM
Call Us Today! We Come to You!
looking
Polk Equine services 24 hour emergency calls for “We’re
clients. Normal business hours are: Mon-Fri 8am to for a sturdy,
talented,
5pm. We look forward to hearing from you! quiet-natured
www.polkequine.com
[863] 287-8413
horse with intelligence

lot of cow
in mind when breeding Quarter Horses,
and a
explains Randy. “We’re looking for a sense.
”
sturdy, talented, quiet-natured horse with
intelligenceandalotofcowsense,”headds.

In short, they breed for a cow pony that
can work cattle in the ield or rodeo ring as
he ranch started in the 1930s, when
cattleman Joseph A. Barthle sensed the well as handle a young and inexperienced
rider. As a result, Barthle Brothers’ horses
winds of change, knowing that fencing Your Southern Pea
laws were coming to Florida, and began are very much in demand, both nationally
and abroad.
Headquarters!
to buy graze land. He also bought four
mares for calf-roping and working the Barthle Brothers Ranch also breeds
horses with a willingness to work, and
cattle, one of which—Mui Benita L—
had an impressive blood line. He started work they do. he horses are used on the

a breeding program with Wrangler, a ranch just as they were in the old days.
“We raise these horses to use ourselves,”
Stallion whose Sire and Dam both had
AQHA registration numbers under 1,300. Randy points out. “We don’t drive around Your Southern Pea
in trucks, 4-wheelers, or helicopters. We
he ensuing ofspring were meant for the Headquarters!
ranch and the rodeo, as they still are today.
want the cattle to walk anyways; there’s
no point in making ‘em run and lose
he Quarter Horse operation side of We feature the best
the ranch is headed up by Randy Barthle, weight,” he laughs. he horses are a
necessary facet of ranch life; the operation varieies available with over 20
as the ranch is still a family afair. Randy varieies in stock and ready to ship!
handles all of the day-to-day horse couldn’t continue without them. Just like

operations, except, as he jokingly puts it, yesteryear, the horses prove themselves Top Pick Pinkeye
“starting the colts. I get the younger guys every day on the ranch, and in the rodeo Top Pick Brown Crowder

to start the colts.” Of course, he explains ring as well. In 2008, Barthle Brothers Top Pick Cream
Ranch was honored with the AQHA’s Quickpick
that even though the colts are green, most Mississippi Pinkeye
of them still don’t buck. “We go real Legacy Award for 50 years of breeding
American Quarter Horses. With over half Don’t forget your California Blackeye #5
quiet,” Randy explains about their training Okra seed! Texas Cream 8
program, “it’s easy-going. You’re not going a century of “good” in the ranch’s legacy, and more!
Randy sums it up with, “I can’t think of Clemson Spineless
to win in a physical confrontation with a 80 in stock now!
horse, so why try?”
a better day than riding a good horse,
ag
It’s all a part of breeding for the perfect working cattle.”
cow horse to work the ranch and the rodeo, Walk-ins
Welcome!
just like it was in the beginning. he ranch Seedway Vegetable Seeds
7 am - 4:30 pm
3810 Drane Field Road, Unit 30, Lakeland, FL 33811
averages 75 to 80 horses, depending upon www.seedway.com ~ 863-648-4242
whether people are in a horse-buying

mood or not. here’s a certain skill-set

FloridaAgNews.com
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