Just A Little "BIT" more - July 2010

by: Jennifer Oleen-Rook
Fred Hunter does a little bit of everything that has to do with horses, horse training, showing horses and rodeo. Aside from training his wife's barrel racing horses, he is also known internationally for his training skills. Serious horsemen will fly him to their locations to ride and school their horses. His reputation for turning out horses with consistent performances is renowned. His wife, Nancy, stated, "People comment that my horses look exactly the same on every run. We don't always win, but we're consistently in the top 3 or 4, and we always get a check."
An award winning horse showman since his teens, Fred Hunter has many titles under his belt but, one of his most recent successes is in bit making. He started tinkering with bits he uses on his wife's barrel horses and from there has designed quite a few different bits for not only professional riders but training and general purpose riding bits as well. His customers are happy, but until recently he didn't have the resources to make large quantities.
While at a rodeo in Fort Worth, the Hunters met Martha Josie, who is probably the most well-known woman in rodeo. Now in her 70s, Josie is still known for her winnings years ago, but she has done a lot for rodeo since, such as building big schools and marketing bits and saddles. Josie liked the Hunters from their first meeting and invited them to stay at her ranch in Marshall, Texas. Eventually, Josie had Fred riding her world-champion horses with his custom-made bits. Josie chose four of Fred's styles to market and those bits will now be made in large quantities and will have the Josie name to back them. The Hunters are excited about the new partnership and the Josie-Hunter bit line.