My Favorite Recipe 9/1/11

Sep 01, 20110

On a typical work day, Pat Pare has a few things to take care of before he can get to his business of shoeing and training horses. He sees his fiancee Tara Black off to WSU where she is a fourth-year vet student and then takes care of their one-year-old daughter Reegan. Then he can load her up in the truck and be off to his day.

“She’s usually pretty good about hanging out,” Pat noted. If his day starts at 7:30 a.m., Reegan is usually pretty content to hang out in her playpen on the bed of his truck while he works until about 11:30 a.m. when she starts to get fussy.

Also along for the ride is Weasel, their wiener dog.

“He’s always with me,” Pat said. “He’s a cow dog.” Despite his size, Weasel isn’t afraid of livestock and will chew on the steers at home.

With his support team of toddler and dog watching from the truck, Pat trims hooves and shoes horses around the area. Originally from Okanogan, Pat went to central California after high school. He worked on a bunch of ranches and went around with professional farriers until he started shoeing horses for himself. He has now been shoeing and trimming horse hooves for 12 years, the last seven of which he has been trying to build a business.

“It’s just maintenance,” he said of trimming. “Their (horse’s) feet grow all the time and you need to keep them trimmed back.” A horse’s hoof can grow about a quarter of an inch a week. As the hoof grows, it changes how the horse walks. Around here the Palouse dirt is not abrasive enough to file the hooves, so they need to be trimmed regularly.

Pat and Tara moved to the area three years ago for her to attend veterinarian school. They settled in Garfield.

“We don’t like being in town a whole lot,” Pat added. They have their own horses and stock at home.

The farrier business is different here than it was in California. Pat noted one of the biggest differences is that things tend to shut down in the winter here while things don’t really shut down in California.

“There’s not as many horses,” he noted. And the majority of those horses aren’t competition horses like they are in the Golden State. When horses are competing, the regularity of their gait is important and, because a little change in the hoof can change that gait, the riders are very particular about keeping the hooves trimmed.

Even backyard horses need occasional trimmings because a hoof can grow out so far it cracks and breaks.

Pat likes working with animals and also trains horses. He generally starts horses, noting that all disciplines of horsemanship need the same basic control.

Pat likes to team and calf rope and tends to work on more roping type horses. He does his training at Jensen Horse Training.

When not out with Reegan and Weasel working horses and hooves, Pat spends a lot of time working on houses.

“I’m always remodeling on the house,” he said.

They have purdhased a house in Moscow which they are remodeling.

The family likes to go camping, swimming and do other outdoor stuff.

Tara will be busy with clinical work until May, and Pat’s not sure what course they will follow after she graduates.

“I like it around here,” he said.

Recipes:

Plank salmon

1 cedar plank.

Salmon fillets

Soak soak plank in water overnight.

Rub:

1 Tbsp. paprika

2 tsp. light brown sugar

2 tsp. lemon pepper

1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. dried tarragon

1 tsp. dried basil

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

Put plank on barbecue and turn all the way up. Wait for plank to start to smoke, then lower to medium heat. Place salmon on plank for 8-10 minutes or until done.

Hawaiian Grilled Tri-Tip

Tri-Tip, 2-4 lb.

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. grated ginger

1 Tbsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. cracked black peppercorn

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. granulated onion

Mix all together, rub on tri-tip and grill on medium heat 45 minutes to 1 hour.

BBQ Chicken