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Show T March 17. 1998- - Pace i 11 Uintah Basin Standard vV'rr, You Decide Truth Or Myth ' there such a thing as a modern horse whisperer? Horse trainer Mason Duncan has horse sense about life and about horses. Hell tell you at the start that horses learn just like people do - by feeling and thinking, one step at a time, one lesson at a time. A horse, just like a human will learn until the day they die. People don't give them enough credit, they don't know how intelligent they are. This makes a horse a mystery, and people get caught up in that but they are a very common sense type of animal, Mason explained. He oughta know . The day a horse arrives Maaon is on its back whether it has been brought right off the range, or is a horse that needs to be brought up to performance standards. Of qourse this is after Maaon - ,s Is has determined that the horse has successfully passed numerous separate exercises, all of which are based on trust. My first rule is that the horse doesn't get hurt, and the second rule, that I don't get hurt. Trust is the foundation of Mason's training techniques. He has learned through experience to recognize responses that allow the training to go forward, or take the horse back over the previous lesson, until he knows as a trainer that the horse has csptured the instruction. Only then, he says, can the training progress. Some people call successful trainers, horse whispers, a term wrapped in mysticism that portends the idea that there are those magical beings who are able to eiqoy a pure exchange of communication - V ,t. Special Stake Youth Fireside For all young Women and Young Men, Wednesday, March 18, at the Duchesne Stake Center chapel, there will be a special Stake Youth Fireside. Kory Kunz will be the guest speaker. Churdi dress is required. Attention Veterans A representative from the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salt Lake City will be at the Moon Lake building in Roosevelt on Friday, March 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to facilitate those having the need for the new type VAMC ID Card or the VA Card required to use the Roosevelt Medical Clinic. If needed call Crossroads Senior Center Please come to the Dance at the Crossroads Senior Center in Roosevelt, Friday, March 20 at 8:30 p.m. We will be celebrating Max Hartmans 84th Birthday. Everyone is invited. Children with Disabilities Attention Parents of children with disabilities: A special statewide conference just for you will be held Saturday, March 28 in Salt Lake City. Choose from 30 topics that will help you and your family. For more 1 information call locally, or toll free 272-105- Girl Scout Cookies A Girl Scout Cookie Booth will be at Stewarts Thrift way on Saturday, March 21 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. If you didnt get contacted or want more, come see us! Bellestristics Club Hi 1 Club will meet Thursday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. at some thoughts from a favorite booh or poem to share with the group. For more information call Deanna at The Bn the home of IJeanna Dish. Members please bring 722-928- 3. s V s 'v r vf" ,V fcf , v v" J- i , .S V V j r, . t between themselves and the horse. Ive been called a horse whisperer, a horse guru, Mason said mused. Some say I have a special gift. Thats not true, this is just modern horse training applied to standard principals. What I do is simple, building line upon line, precept on precept, and if people are going to pay me, I think I should be Mason good at what I do. grew up in Neola. He doesnt re- -, member his first riding experience, he just knows that as a kid he spent every minute he could on the back of a horse. By the time he was 17, his technique with horses landed him in Wyoming where he worked for a riding stable and professional horse training. Before the summer ended Wyoming outfitters heard of him and Mason was up to his neck in horses. Since then his reputation has preceded him, and horse owners from all over the western United States who want a gentle hand that shapes significant results have been transporting their animals to him. Even while eqjoying the level of success that brings one referral after another, Mason feels there is always more to learn about horse training. He reads, attends clinics and is eager to know more. Life is learning, Tm constantly searching for knowledge, I study anything and everything. I discard information I think isnt worthy and sometimes I come across an idea that I like. Navajo, a red and white paint owned by Bruce and Linda Sutherland, ofHancock Cove, is one of Mason's most current projects. Navqjo is being tutored for response in the show ring, a performance talent that the average rider proba- - trainer Mason Duncan working from the back of Navajo, owned by Bruce and ONE STEP AT A TIME-Ho-rse Linda Sutherland. Navajo is learning quick responses for the show ring. Duncan said that he asks horses to respond to things they can do. and to try things that they might not know they can do. wont ever need. But there are certain levels of performance that all riders expect when the horse and rider come into contact. If the horse stands quietly while being saddled, he is performing, Mason said, the level is different ... but the horse is still performing. Every horse, no matter the breed or temperament can be trained to perform at acceptable levels and beyond. Given enough time to go through the necessary steps, Mason says, however, he admits he has turned away two horses out of the hundreds he has worked with, because their training would have con bly sumed more hours then he could put in to them, and still serve his other clients. Horses that have been neglected, even physically abused can respond well to training once trust is established. When I can establish communication and they know Fm not going to hurt them foe horse will become a natural follower. They look for those with leadership characteristics, someone who has a direction and they follow him, just like humans. A partnership is built, between horse and instructor. Mason says the public glamorizes horse trainers, but in reality the work, he admits, can make you body dirty, tired and sore. But its the satisfaction of the mind and spirit, which Mason says, is the reason he continues in the pursuit Mason has pursued talent outside of the round corral, in fact the public may know him best, not for training horses, but by his vocal performances. He was last seen portraying Archibald Craven in the leading role of The Secret Garden Continued on page 20 Christmas Spirit Connection pulls out of thrift store By Cheryl Mecham Standard scores wins in state newspaper contest what you want in a feature column. First place for best sports photograph: Sports editor Aldon Rachele caught the moment perfectly, said the judge. Racheles picture showed a cowering runner who had just arrived on base as a much larger baseball player, with his glove extended as the ball hit the leather. Good anticipation is worth its weight in gold, the judge commented. The picture ran in the July 29, 1997 issue of the Standard. Second place for best sports section also went to Rachele. The winning edition had pictures and stories on everything from high school weight lifters to boys and girls basketball, volleyball gomes and swim meets. i Jr PERFORMANCE Just standing still while being saddled and taking the bit is a basic performance step for horses said horse trainer Mason Duncan. The Uintah Basin Standard walked away from the state's annual Better Newspaper Contest with awards that honored feature and editorial writing, photojournalism and page layout At the conclusion of last weeks Utah Press Association Convention awards were announced for a variety of newspaper work. With strong issues and stiff competition from newspapers boasting much larger staffs, the Standard claimed the following awards. First place honors went to the Standard for Cheryl Mechams feature column, Thinking Out Loud. The judge praised Mechams writing style as very easy to read -chatty. Light, humorous subjects that everyone can relate to. This is ' Jp i.A By Cheryl Mecham s' WE WON SOMETHING The Uintah Basin Standard took home seven awards from the Utah Press Association Convention held last weekend in St. George. Awards were presented to the newspaper in the categories of photography, feature writing, editorials and sports page layout. Pictured ieft to right are: Aldon Rachele, Lezlee Whiting, Cheryl Mecham. Second place for best news series: Editor Lezlee Whitings three-pa- rt aeries examined the struggles of a Uintah County family who had their children removed from their home by the Division of Child and Family Services, and the role the state agency plays in trying to protect children. Second place for best feature story: Judges said that Standard reporter Cheryl Mecham told an excellent story as she detailed the heartache a Duchesne County family suffered when they lost their loved ones to a drunk driver. Third place for best feature photograph: A picture taken by publisher Craig Ashby of a group of people watching the Duchesne .County Fair was called an enjoyable shot of people having a good time. The picture ran on the full-paspread in the Aug. 19, 1997 edition of the Standard with other photos taken at the county fair. Third place for best editorial: A touchy subject which was handled aggressively by the newspaper in the editorial The Public Deserves An Accounting, caught the attention of judges with a score of 90 out of a possible 100. The editorial was written by editor Lezlee Whiting and dealt with the alleged misappropriation of funds by the former Community Christmas Coalition. Nearly a hundred newspapers are involved in the statewide contest. There are about 60 papers which are published weekly like the Standard. Circulation numbers determine whether a paper competes in Group 1, 2, 3 or 4. The Standard, with a circulation of 4,200, competes in Group 2. The Christmas Spirit Connection board met with members ofits client committee last week to discuss the decision of Kattie Brookskenyon to resign as chairperson of the Christmas Connection, and to divest itself of the Gift and Thrift store which was recently opened by committee members. Brookskenyon notified the board that she will be leaving her job as a social worker with the Division of Child and Family Services and will spend the next year traveling with her husband. Because of this absence, Brookskenyon said she will not be able to provide future leadership over the client committee and the Thrift and Gift. The Thrift and Gift, located on Lagoon Street across from Nielsens, was opened Feb. 16 by committee members, Melody Chacon and Sandra Johnson. It was established with the intention of giving year round by selling surplus donated yard sale items back to the community - with all profit to be turned back to charitable organizations throughout the year. Its a spin off of the wonderful things that the Christmas Spirit Connection was able to accomplish, but it's bigger than the board wants to handle, Brookskenyon said. Brookskenyon said that she will turn over all of her books to the board before she begins her walk about, and hopes that they will be able to find a chairperson and become active again in August so that they will be of assistance to the Basins less fortunate during future Christmas seasons. Due to the loss ofBrookskenyon's leadership board members concluded that they could not responsibly oversee store operations, therefore they offered the yard sale merchandise in the store for purchase at $500 to Chacon and Johnson who expressed interest in the store as a private business. The new name will be Community Service Center Thrift and Gift, Johnson said, explaining that even though they will no longer be affiliated with the Christmas Spirit Connection they will offer an emergency charitable service of shoes and clothing by referral through the state Human Services Department and local churches. Johnson also said that the women will use the stores profit to buy quilt fabric and construct quilts at the store to be donated to various organizations. A Little Town A little town is where you dont who stop, honk, and offer a ride. have to guess who your enemies A little town is where city folks are. Your friends will tell you. say there is nothing to do, but those A little town is the only place on who live there dont have enough earth where people past middle age nights in the week to make all the are called by their first names when meetings and social functions. A little town is where everyone they saunter down the street, A little town is where everybody becomes a neighbor in time of need. knows everybody else'i ear by sight A little town is where business- and also where and when it goes. men struggle for survival against A little town is where few people city stores and shopping centers. can get away with lying about the A little town is where those same businessmen dig deep many times year they were born. Too many other people can remember. g to help with countless A little town is where people with projects. various ailments can air them propA little town is where its nice to be when rearing a family. erly to sympathetic ears. A little town is where, when you A little town is where you dont get the wrong number, you can talk have to lock your door every time for 15 minutes anyhow. you leave the house. A little town is where the ration A little town is where many teenofgood people to bad people is someagers say there's nothing to do - and thing like 100 to one. Thats nice to then are surprised to learn that remember. their big-cit-y peers are saying the A little town is where it is hard same thing. for anybody to walk to work for A little town, when all is said and exercise because it takes too long to done, is a nice place to live. stop and explain to people in cars SEPARATION TASK-Ji- m Dietz takes down the Christmas Spirit Connection sign off of the Thrift and Gift Store signaling a separation of the Connection organization with the store which was originally opened by members of the Connection's client committee. fund-raisin- . mm HI Uti JWIf JteW France and more than 20 other countries have now given approval that this is indeed a healthy addition to almost every diet. Ostrich meat is lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than Ostrich Meat is now labeled as skinless chicken or turkey said The Original Healthy Red Meat Ostriches On Line owner Steve thanks to extensive nutritional re- Warrington who has been a leading force in the promotion of Ostrich search around the world. The American Heart Association, meat on a global basis. Doctors, Cardiolqgista, Dieti- along with their relevant counterin Continued on page 20 the UK, Sweden, Norway, parts Germany, Japan, China, Ostrich meat obtains global heart approval |