LARRY BAILEY HORSE WORLD

                    In Search Of a Better Way

                     Born in Montana, to fifth generation Montanans, you would think that naturally Larry came from a horse family, but he didn't. Neither his father or mother or grandparents had a horse interest so when Larry came along and started showing an interest in horses from the time he could talk, it was a surprise to all the Baileys! From a very young age (about 4yrs old) Larry's passion for horses was already blooming. It was at this time Larry established his first stable....located in his grandfather's garage. Rope stalls lined the walls with a carefully placed "stick horse"in each one .Larry's daily schedule of riding these horses resulted in a very sharp point on the bottom of each stick! It was certainly a foreshadowing of his future with horses.

                    It didn't take long for friends and neighbors to notice this self directed boy. The first barn Larry frequented was owned by the Furese. They had Tennessee Walkers from the Midnight Sun lines and a dressage teacher , Roy Larsen. Roy was extremely strict and a perfectionist never making any of his lessons easy. Soon Larry had several mentors who wanted to help. One in particular was a man named Kurt Maxey, a West Point graduate, who had a love of horses and the discipline of Dressage. He opened a barn nearby with Roy called Larson's School of Dressage. And so Larry's formal training began at this new barn where he  rode Saddlebreds, Morgans and Andalusians. He worked hard to master the techniques that his instructor was trying to teach him. On one particularly difficult day while trying to learn "sit the trot" (after several days of the same lesson) Larry with cut and bloody legs, no irons, or girth, he recounts:

"I was so sore that day that I finally let go and was able to sit the trot . Only one burning thought went through my mind  there 's got to be a better way to teach this ! " This one statement would take Larry on a lifelong journey with horses and people to find better methods of communicating (ie teaching ) the rider and the horse.

It was 1970 and Larry had now taken over all the duties of training , teaching and marketing of Kurt's dressage barn. He was 21yrs. old and had the full responsibility to make this horse business successful.  He started with Appaloosas from Bill Wyatt of Alberta Canada, whose family started the Appaloosa registry in Canada, racing quarter horses (which Larry also bred for 20yrs. ), Morgans, Saddlebreds, Welsh Ponies, POA, Thoroughbreds from the track (that he retrained for jumpers and dressage horses) and Arabians. During those years he had National Champions/Top Ten horses  in Appaloosas, Morgans, Quarter Horses, Saddlebreds and Arabians.  He also trained regional and National riders in hunt seat, saddle seat, stock seat, hunter pleasure, saddle seat pleasure, Western pleasure, reining, hunter over fences and open jumper. If that was not enough he trained and coached National champion judging teams too. Oh and lets not forget when the Shriners Circus came to him and asked him to train a circus act for them, which he did!

 Midnight Sun  (Tennessee Walker  )Larry on Saddlebred

 Larry with his horse King          Larry with student Mike Barnes

He also established The Flathead Valley Community College Horsemanship Program in Kalispell Montana, and the Missoula Technical Center Horsemanship Program. He co-authored the Montana State 4H Horsemanship Program too.  His schedule included teaching over 8000 students a year, for 15yrs. at his training facility, lectures and clinics.

As Larry's business grew he started to focus more and more on Arabians, first from a purely economic reason in that when he taught them something it stuck,... which required less retraining this of course saved time and therefore money. His interest lead him to an arabian breeding farm in Alberta , Canada, Willomar Arabians. Willomar was a multi- million dollar horse operation and they needed a Marketing Director to head up the sales and marketing of their horses as well as educational aspects of their business.  Larry sold millions of dollars worth of Arabians for Willomar and through that connection became friends and co-lecturer with the most prominent breeders and experts on Arabian horses in the world.  He was invited to judge and evaluate horses with Wladyslaw Guzuik, Director of Kurozweki Stud in Poland, Zenon Lipowicz, Polish Olympic Team Rider, Roman Pankiewicz, Past Breeding Director of Janow Podaski Stud (Poland) , Andrezj Krzyszatalowicz, Director of Janow Podaski Stud (Poland) and Ignacy Jaworowski , Director of Michalow Stud . Through these years he found himself lecturing with other noted veterinarians and breeders, like Dr. Marvin Beeman, one of the foremost authorities on Lameness and how  it relates to Form to Function principles, Dr. "Bud " Fackleman Tufts Universirty on Anatomy and Form to Function to name a few.

Of course being from the West put him right in the thick of things as the Arabian breed began to flourish. He often found himself competing  and studying with Gene LaCroix, Ray LaCroix, Dr. Howard Kale, Howard Kale Jr., Dr George Allen, Bruce Clark, Jerry Alexander, Bud Kernel, Ron Palelek, Bruce Howard,  and the list goes on.

"I found the competition for horses, education and economics to be extreme in the late 60's. 70's and 80's." As the Arabian industry changed dramatically after the 1986 Tax Reform Act, Larry began to start to focus on the educational aspects of  horsemanship and the lack of programs that were well rounded for the future horseman. Most college level courses around the country just didn't address all the needs of the students that would make them successful in the horse business, namely, teaching , training and most importantly marketing. It now seemed time for Larry to take all that he had learned over the years and write a college level program that would fill the gaps for students who wanted to make horses their career. In 1991 he created and became the Director of the Equestrian Educational Institute.  A curriculum  was designed to create horse craftsmen who would learn a system that had incorporated the "languages" of the best schools of thought into one common language. From the Classical Riding School of Vienna, to the pioneers of horsemanship in America, these schools were combined into the EEI program to produce the highest quality horse craftsmen with one common language to ensure their quality standards can consistently be taught to others. The structure of the program uses lectures, videos, computers, workbooks, hands on labs, practical application, literature and human resources.

A new opportunity arose in 1997 in which Larry would partnership with The Coffelts of Cr Arabians and establish a breeding facility in Texas. Working with Howard Kale Jr. he was able to acquire a herd of older mares with world renowned bloodlines from the Kale breeding program. He was the facility manager their until 2 years ago when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (cancer of the blood). His battle with cancer eventually lead him to Roger Williams Hospital in Providence, R.I. There he under went a peripheral blood stem cell transplant in Dec.2006.  In Bailey fashion he went through this very difficult time in the hospital winning the hearts and respect of all that worked on the Transplant Unit. Now on the road to recovery he has been asked to be the "poster child" for the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Roger Williams Hospital.

LB and CR Kiyev senior breeding stallion at CR Arabians, Texas

LB doing a presentation at the Outlaw Inn, Kalispell, Mt                                                                                                                                                                           

Now in 2007 Larry has decided to try and reach as many horse enthusiasts as possible by launching this new website. With this newest technology at his disposable he will be able to reach more students worldwide than ever before.!