An Open Letter to Priefert Ranch and Rodeo Equipment of Texas

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When a product or service stands out, I think it's important to let the company behind it know how they've impacted your life. In this instance, I'd like to praise Priefert Rodeo and Ranch Equipment out of Texas. Their product literally saved the life of my horses, and for that, I'll be forever grateful. Here's the letter I sent to them:

I write to your team with a grateful heart. Back on February 17th, our area was blanketed in ice and snow due to two back-to-back winter storms. Seeing how I live in Louisiana, this was highly unusual and structures, like my barn, weren’t built to withstand the sheer weight of it all. That afternoon, the roof of my barn collapsed. With all three of my horses as well as my friend Chelsea’s three horses in it.

Chelsea was first on the scene and with the help of friends, she was able to get five of the six horses out. The sixth horse, my 20-year-old off-track Thoroughbred, Under Pressure was in the final stall, trapped. You see, we have Priefert stalls installed in our barn and two trusses, carrying the weight of the entire roof, were resting on the top of his stall front. I have no idea how we managed, but we were able to pry the rollers off of the bent top bar and swing the stall door enough to get Pressure out without having the entire roof come down on our heads. I won’t lie, I put my riding helmet on before we tried to extricate him, just in case. All kidding aside, it was a miracle that no one was hurt and none of the horses had a single scratch on them... and that’s thanks to your product. Your stalls were strong enough to hold up the weight of the roof of my barn and more importantly, keep my heart safe.

To some, he’s just a horse, but to me, he’s my best friend. Pressure was my partner in my return to riding as an adult. He’s been with me through the death of my father, my marriage, and my subsequent divorce. We’ve faced a lot of life and miles together.

So, thank you. Thank you for building a quality product that holds up, even under the weight of a roof. Sure, we’ll have to replace a few stall fronts now, but that’s a small price to pay in light of what could have happened.