The Academy of Equine Dentistry USA is located in the small town of Glenns Ferry, Idaho, population 3,300. Four times each year a unique two-week course is offered to those interested in equine dental health. The school is operated by practitioners who teach students from around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia and Spain. Approximately half of the students are foreign, and they perform dentistry on horses, cattle and oxen.

The Academy publishes a quarterly magazine, the Horse Dentistry & Bitting Journal.

In addition to touring the dentistry school, the tour will go by the manufacturing plant of World Wide Equine Inc., a leading manufacturer of nearly 300 different equine dental instruments. Shipped around the world, the instruments are designed by master dentists and craftsmen to provide high-quality dentistry for the horse with the least stress possible.

The 101 Ranch near King Hill, Idaho, is a family-owned corporation with more than 425 registered Angus cows and one cow elk, Ellie, that has adopted the black cow herd as her own. Jim and Marie Kast and their family, Ross and Melissa Kast and Brian and Cherrynn Bizik, own and operate the ranch that has consisted of Angus cattle since 1990. Prior to that, Jim and his parents raised commercial cattle on the land.

Calving ease and maternal traits are keys to the Kasts’ operation. At 101 Ranch, they select and breed for calving ease in heifers and cows. They use bulls with low birth weights, good growth and sound carcass expected progeny differences (EPDs) that emphasize marbling. In addition to raising cattle, they farm 1,600 acres. Of those acres, 1,100 use their unique gravity irrigation system. Water flows from a diversion pond into a 24-inch pipeline above the ranch and produces water pressure up to 120 pounds per square inch.

101 Ranch hosts its joint production sale with TLC Angus each December, selling both bulls and females.

Another item to note on the way to the 101 Ranch is a tombstone for Tom and Jerry, a matched pair of coal-black mules, owned by family friends Jim and Jean Brooks. Tom and Jerry pulled wagons and buggies in more than 150 parades in the Northwest, including a wagon carrying President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Aquaculture is a growing industry in southern Idaho, and a stop at the Hagerman National Fish Hatchery will give tour participants insight into various segments of the industry — government, private, research and education.

The National Fish Hatchery produces more than 1.5 million steelhead trout each year. Eggs are received by the hatchery each April, and the fish are raised to 6-8 inches, which takes about 11 months. They are then released back into Idaho rivers. Research is conducted using a coded wire tag, similar to an electronic tag. Fish and wildlife workers can scan the tag implanted on some fish, which has shown that for every 1,000 smolts released, only three to 10 return to Idaho as adults.

While at the hatchery, you can view the raceways where the steelheads are raised, as well as see a few of the resident sturgeons and rainbow trout in an observation pond.

The Spring Cove Ranch at Bliss, Idaho, has been raising Angus cattle for 87 years. In 1919, Arthur and Effie Butler purchased registered Aberdeen Angus cows. Today, their grandchildren, Art and Stacy Butler, along with Daniel and Diana Butler and their families, continue the tradition of raising their families and Angus cattle on the homesteaded acres and survive solely on agriculture.

They raise their cattle in a desert environment that posts 8 inches of rainfall annually, so irrigation is a necessity. They also use a private Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing allotment that borders their ranch to graze their herd. Due to their environment, they focus on breeding moderate, easy-fleshing Angus cattle backed by generations of proven performance. They market their yearlings, fall yearlings, a few 2-year-old bulls and select females during a joint production sale they host with Sawtooth Cattle Co. in March.

Spring Cove Ranch received the American Angus Association Centennial Angus Herd Award in 1983 and was named the Idaho Angus Association Family of the Year in 1989. Art is past president of the Idaho Angus Association, and Stacy is past president of the Idaho Angus Auxiliary. They are ensuring the future of their ranch with the fifth generation being active in junior Angus programs.

Just beneath the Owyhee Mountains is Bear Mountain Angus Ranch, owned by Gary, Davy, Brian and Scott Stoller. What began as a simple 4-H project 20 years ago near Angels Camp, Calif., has grown into a registered Angus herd of nearly 400 cows today. The family took a short break from raising Angus cattle while Brian and Scott attended college, and they purchased the former Foote Acres operation outside Melba, Idaho, in 2001.

While producing high-quality, phenotypically correct cattle that are high performing and have acceptable carcass traits, the Stoller family breeds their cows with the commercial cattle producer in mind. They raise most of their own feed, have an intensive artificial insemination (AI) program, and calve both in the spring and fall.

Bear Mountain conducts its annual bull sale each February, and has a female sale each fall. In four short years, their annual bull sale average has more than doubled. In addition to raising bulls for the commercial producer, the Bear Mountain program also raises and markets many show heifers to youth. They enjoy helping juniors succeed, both in the showring and as the junior establishes his or her own Angus herd.

Brian and Gary are active in the Idaho Angus Association, Boise Valley Angus Association and Western States Angus Association.

Malson Angus Ranch is owned and operated by Mark and Carla Malson. Two of their sons, Josh and Joe, manage the daily ranch activity. Located near the Oregon border at Parma, Idaho, Mark and his dad started their registered Angus herd in 1977 in land covered with sagebrush.

The Malsons’ primary objective is to market sound, functional bulls to Western ranchers. They focus on performance and predictability in their cattle while using the most current data available in the industry. However, they feel that visual appraisal of bulls and females is also important. They host an annual bull sale each spring.

Over the years, the Malson family has taken an active role in junior Angus programs. Their children have competed on all levels, and Mark and Carla chaired the National Junior Angus Shows in 2001 and 2005. They feel their five children have benefited from the junior programs in the leadership skills gained and the friendships they have made.

Imagine the life of a pioneer in the 1800s. Leaving your home behind, traveling westward in a covered wagon with a few necessary staples to find adventure, claim land, mine for gold and start a better life for you and your family.

You will experience all this and more during a stop at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center east of Baker City, Ore. The inside exhibits lead you through the experiences of the early pioneers, from traveling over the flatlands, conquering the mountain ranges and vast rivers and traveling west. Many of the exhibits are based on the diaries of these pioneers. Outside, you can follow a walking trail that follows the wagon ruts left more than 150 years ago.

Nestled in the scenic Baker Valley of Eastern Oregon is an Angus ranch with nearly 60 years in the registered Angus business. Thomas Angus Ranch began in 1947 when Bob and Gloria Thomas purchased their first Angus cattle. After moving from the Midwest to the Northeast, the Thomas family made a bold move to the Northwest, where they raised their family and established an Angus herd that has grown into one of the largest seedstock operations in the country.

Today, Thomas Angus Ranch is integrating the old with the new, where western heritage meets modern technology. Rob and Lori Thomas and their family manage more than 800 mother cows near Baker City, Ore. An extensive embryo transfer (ET) program allows them to implant more than 700 embryos annually into commercial cows in seven cooperative herds. The Thomas herd is managed on a forage-based, no-frills system, where the cows must survive the rugged conditions.

Thomas Angus Ranch utilizes two annual production sales as well as private-treaty sales to market their cattle. A fall sale features 300 bulls and 300 females, while their spring sale has grown to include 200 bulls.

The ranch was recognized as the 1997 BIF Seedstock Producer of the Year. Rob currently serves on the American Angus Association Board of Directors, as did his dad, Bob.