EquineMax Success Story: Horak Equine of Water Valley, Texas
Horak Equine, as a name and business entity, is new, but certainly not new to horses. The operation has had horses on the ranch for 100 years and Amanda Turner Horak established Horak Equine about a year ago, in conjunction with T-Star Ranch, a cattle ranch in west Texas. Located 30 miles northwest of San Angelo, near the town of Water Valley, Horak Equine owns 9 horses and manages/keeps records for a total of 17 horses.
Amanda runs Horak Equine and works for both T-Star Ranch (a 16,000 acre cow-calf operation) and Southwestern Livestock Mineral Company, related companies run by Tim Turner, DVM.
Horak Equine continues to try to grow their brood mare herd, but with the horse market down this year, growth has been slowed some. Amanda has been involved with horses for approximately 20 years.
EquineMax software became Horak Equine's record keeping software about a year ago after having used CattleMax software for a period of time and becoming aware of the EquineMax equine record keeping system.
Amanda says she likes being able to look at each animal individually and the ability to see what the current needs are. As an example, she likes to be able to see when an animal has vaccinations due, when de-worming is needed and also to schedule farrier work. "With so many horses in different locations and different disciplines, it's hard to keep up with each individual's needs," commented Amanda.
Amanda's advice to new users of EquineMax is to take time at the beginning to set up the records properly, then keep the records updated frequently. She uses the pedigree report feature and the horse inventory report from EquineMax most often.
She learned of EquineMax at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course where she first tried CattleMax. "We loved that program, so we then purchased EquineMax to keep our horse records," Amanda says. Before EquineMax we used some computer database programs and also pencil and paper to keep our records.
"I particularly like the ability to keep up with each horse's medical needs, as well as registration and pedigree information - I can quickly and easily find all my data in one spot! EquineMax makes keeping and finding equine records easy!" she says.
