Creature Feature: Wayne Boyd - Horseman

Though Wayne Boyd of Riverhead is the horse trainer most frequently recommended by horse professionals in our area, he doesn't like to think of himself as a trainer. "I prefer to think of myself as a horseman," he states simply.

And an all-round horseman he certainly is. At Sunchaser Stables, his base of operation for the past 13 years, he boards, trains, breeds, raises, and sells horses. In addition, he also moonlights as a horse vanner, shipping horses throughout the Northeast.

Couldn't Shake The Fever

Mr. Boyd aptly sums up a horseman's commitment by saying, "It's a seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year, sunshine-sleet-or-snow, sick-or-well, full-time operation."

And, as if this resume weren't complete enough, as of last year, Mr. Boyd can also add horse nutritionist to his list of professional roles. Searching for just the right balance of nutrients to feed his beloved animals, he had a local feed manufacturer make up a customized pelleted food. It so impressed the manufacturer, Eastport Feeds, that it now markets Eastport 16 Percent Sunchaser as part of its regular line.

Born and raised in Riverhead, Mr. Boyd comes from a family that has roots in the area that go back a ways, a long ways, as members of several local Native American tribes are among his ancestors.

Like most of the horse-obsessed, he was born with a love of the animal. At around the age of 7, seeing that his horse fever was unabated, his parents took him to the noted Riverhead horseman Ed Crohan to learn the ropes.

Red The Quarter Horse

Mr. Boyd speaks warmly of Mr. Crohan as one of the three mentors who helped him greatly in his pursuit of understanding and knowledge of the horse. Several years later, Mr. Boyd encountered his second mentor, the Texas horse breeder and stock horse trainer, Napoleon Allen.

Traveling out to Texas for several months each year gave Mr. Boyd invaluable experience with working horses. And it was in Texas that he met up with his most important partner, the quarter horse stallion Ryon's Glow Boy, known as Red to his friends.

Quarter horses, the oldest all-American breed, are commonly thought of as a horse of the western states, but the origin of the breed was actually in the Colonial settlements of Virginia. A hardy, strong, and versatile animal was needed to perform farmwork, logging, hauling, and drawing the carriage to church on Sundays.

And, since the English settlers were a sports-loving lot, the Famous and Celebrated Colonial Quarter Pathers, as the horses were referred to in those days, were also called upon to race.

Workers And Sprinters

In the early 1700s, racetracks weren't widely available, so short-distance races, usually raucous affairs held on the streets of the settlements, were the norm. Consequently, the horses evolved as heavily muscled sprinters capable of rapid speed over a quarter-mile distance, hence the name quarter horse.

Red is a stunning example of a classic quarter horse, clearly showing all the attributes that have kept quarter horses as the all-time most popular breed in the United States. During his long show career judges certainly agreed, awarding him many championships in halter classes.

Red's physique may be practical and workmanlike but his rapport with Mr. Boyd is the stuff of horseman's dreams.

All work around the stable stopped and a small crowd gathered as Mr. Boyd and Red worked together in the corral. With no need for any means of restraint or coercion, Mr. Boyd asked Red to run, stand on his hind legs, spin, and bow. Magnificent Red, with the sagacious can-do attitude that has made his breed so beloved, happily complied.

Show Them Who's Boss

Though Mr. Boyd's love of horses is glaringly apparent, to the uninitiated it might seem to be a somewhat tough love. "You have to let them know who's boss right from the start," he says. But anyone familiar with the behavior and social dynamics of horses would concur.

Horse society is rigidly hierarchical and not the least bit democratic. Equality is an utterly foreign concept to the horse, and those handlers who feel they are doing a kindness by not behaving authoritatively around the animal are in fact presenting him with an alarming power vacuum which instinctively he will try to fill. And, obviously, having a horse as boss is not a safe situation for either horse or human.

Like most experts, Mr. Boyd doesn't believe that horses should be ridden to any great extent before the age of 3. But he states that there is plenty else for juvenile equines to learn before they're physically ma ture enough to be ridden.

Going In Circles

"Start training them from the day they're born. Do everything with them as babies," he advises. "I like to have a horse so used to things that when it comes time to saddle him up, he just stands there. I'll tighten up the girth and he'll just turn his head and look at me like he's saying, 'Okay, what do you want me to do next?'"

Not an aficionado of training a young horse in the riding ring, Mr. Boyd states, "They get bored just going round and round. Anyway, I can teach them everything out on the trail that I could teach them in a ring."

Mr. Boyd deplores the changing face of the East End's horse world. Over the past 40-plus years he has seen recreational riders squeezed out by overdevelopment and the high cost of land on which to keep horses. Sadly these factors and liability issues have relegated many horses and riders to going round and round the ring.

Wealthy Riders

Though there are more horses in Suffolk County than ever before (in fact, there are more horses in Suffolk County than in any other county in New York State), economics and lack of open space have dictated that the majority of these animals are expensive show horses owned by the very wealthy.

National statistics indicate that slightly over 85 percent of all horse owners in the U.S. are recreational trail riders. But the East End follows a different drummer, alas. Most professionals polled put the ratio of trail riders at 40 percent . . . and falling.

But Mr. Boyd is certainly not opposed to horse showing and has had a long and successful competitive career. Since 1993 he's been participating in team penning. This sport, "the fastest growing equine sport in the U.S.," he claims, consists of a team of riders separating a designated number of cattle from a herd of 30 and driving them into a pen while keeping the remaining cattle on the other side of the arena.

For The Cowboy Spirit

By all accounts team penning is a fun, family-oriented sport. Mr. Boyd sums up its appeal: "We've all got a little cowboy or cowgirl inside us somewhere. Remember pretending . . . while riding out the seat of your mamma's couch?" Readers who would like to learn more about team penning should contact White Horse Stables in Manorville.

Mr. Boyd has had great success at this new sport and has a reserve champion belt buckle to show for it. And a wealth of great stories to tell about it, the loveliest of which illustrates the close rapport he's established with his horses.

While giving a team penning exhibition in front of thousands at the Day of the Horse celebration at Belmont Racetrack, he and his mare, Badland's Penny, experienced an equipment malfunction. Her bridle fell off.

Sharing The Wealth

"Everyone got all excited and was shouting, 'Wayne, Wayne, you've lost your bridle.' But I just dropped the reins and we continued on." What would have probably ended up as a wreck for a lesser rider and horse didn't phase Mr. Boyd and the savvy Penny one bit.

Mr. Boyd modestly credits his three mentors, Mr. Crohan, Mr. Allen, and John Andresen, D.V.M., for teaching him what he knows. Fortunately for East End horse owners and the young people of Riverhead who wish to join their ranks, Mr. Boyd is carrying on the tradition of generously sharing his wealth of information with all of us who need his advice. And most of us do!