Spooks Gotta Run was a top-20 finalist at the 2012 NRHA Derby in the Open and took home more than $4,000. Additonally, he was the Level 2 Open Reserve Champion at the 2012 NRBC with a score of 226.5, where he took home more than $7,000.

• For more information about Spooks Gotta Run, including other wins, photos, and videos, click here.
• Interested in breeding a mare to Spooks Gotta Run? Find his breeding contract here.

“Ideally, a yearling will have been on a good program before we get them,” Hochstatter said, noting that it takes about 90 days to adequately prepare sale yearlings. “Because we manage a lot of mares, most of the horses we fit and take to the sales for our customers were foaled out right here. They’ve been through our vaccination and feeding program since before they were born, so when we bring them in they’re ready to be fit up for sale.”

Hochstatter’s program begins with optimal in-utero conditions. Broodmares are vaccinated in the fall, around the first of the year, and 30 days before they are due to foal, with a 5-way shot consisting of Eastern and Western Encephalomyelitis, Rhinopneumonitis, Influenza and Tetanus Toxoid. The foals get a tetanus anti-toxin shot when born, a rabies shot at 30 days, and the same 5-way shot their dam was given before she foaled. Noting that the conditions are different down in his part of Texas, Travis worms his mares every two months, and the foals are wormed every month after they are 30 days old.

“I start looking at my babies when they’re a couple months old, and start deciding which ones I’m going to send to sales the next fall. The NRHA Markel Insurance sales are a really good place for yearlings; color, conformation, and genetics are important,” said Hochstatter in describing the ideal candidates. “It’s not just about the stallion, but buyers are looking at the dam’s side harder each year—not only what the mare has won, but what she’s produced and what the grand dam produced.”

Unlike a lot of programs, Travis typically doesn’t grain broodmares until just before weaning time, which helps the foals get used to eating grain.

“It depends on each individual situation, but my philosophy is that those mares aren’t working hard in a performance program, so they don’t need that added grain,” he said. “I buy the best alfalfa hay that I can afford, and keep it in front of those mares. Our monthly hay bill is usually around $12,000, but our mares look good, and when those foals hit the ground they look good too. And, knock on wood; I’ve never had a problem with epiphysitis or OCDs.”

And Fitting Begins …

Once separated from their mothers, weanlings are put on grain and stay on it thereafter, and are given free choice to trace minerals. Hochstatter feeds a pelleted grain that is mixed locally and contains 14 percent protein and 5 percent fat.

Travis wants the foals to be friendly, but still grow up to be a “horse,” not a pet. Travis doesn’t put a lot of handle on his young horses until they are brought in as yearlings. Sale yearlings are gradually eased into a feeding and exercise program, initially housed in the mare motel with larger stalls. Once settled in, they spend the nights in a typical 12’x12’ box stall. In the interest of keeping their hair coat short, lights in the barn run 16 hours a day.

“We try to bring them in around July because we have to submit a video with our consignment forms for the NRHA Markel Insurance Breeders Select Showcase Sale, and we want them to look good for it,” Hochstatter said. “But we ease them into things really slow because they are still young. And as we start increasing their grain, we’re increasing their exercise.”

Once the yearlings are safely accustomed to the hot walker, they spend about an hour walking on it each day. Hochstatter and his team then start working them in the round pen twice a week, for about four to five minutes each direction, which is bumped up to seven to eight minutes each direction at about 45 days into the program; then up to 10 minutes each direction about two weeks before the sale.

“I know when I go to a sale people are going to ask me to get the horse out and work it in the round pen. So I want them to be used to loping continuously two or three times around the pen; stopping, turning, then doing the same the other direction,” he said. “But I’m adamant about not loping them until about three weeks before the sale. That jog is more than enough to condition them and it’s not nearly as concussive on their legs.

“When we walk the yearlings from the barn out to the round pen, we stop and stand in the middle of the ranch. We continue to increase the amount of time,” explained Hochstatter, adding that special attention is also put into teaching the yearlings to stand tied. “I have people that repeatedly buy yearlings from me each year because they know that they’re ‘broke’ enough that they can go right to saddling and the next stage of their career.”

Hochstatter noted that the atmosphere at a public sale can be overwhelming for some young horses. If you only have one or two horses, I suggest taking them to a show or a similar event just to get them used to the atmosphere.