Horse trainer is a real road ranger

Horse trainer and author Dan Sumerel spends months each year away from his equine farm in the rolling hills of Virginia.

A former motor sports driver, Sumerel now helps people control and improve effectiveness with their unruly horses without the use of force.

Last weekend he was leading clinics at the Ride the West All-Breed Horse Expo. This weekend he is conducting a two-day training at the Medicine Horse Stables in Spokane.

Soon he will be off to clinics and trainings in North Dakota and Minnesota then back home to Virginia in late June for a few weeks before heading to bookings in Maryland and Illinois.

“Last year we were on the road more than we were home,” says the seasoned RVer. Sumerel and his fiancée, Jocelyn Sommer, traverse the country in their 2005 40-foot Newmar diesel pusher coach.

Back in the 1980s, when Sumerel was a professional sports car driver, he was traveling from race to race in a 32-foot Midas class A motor home.

“Actually it was a 1½ ton heavy duty Chevy truck chassis with an enormous coach thrown on top of it,” says Sumerel. “It was grossly under powered with a 454 gas engine. But it was nice for its day.”

In those days Sumerel was trailering a Corvette instead of horses.

Convenience, comfort

“It was great having the RV because we stayed right at the track,” he recalls. “Working on the car was only a 10-second walk out the door rather than a long commute back and forth from a hotel.”

Today, convenience is as important as it was in the mid ‘80s.

“It’s a big deal for me to be able to walk from where I’m teaching a class and within a few minutes be in my private space and relax for an hour,” he says.

Comfort is also at the top of his list.

“We drive a lot,” he says. “The comfort of the ride is a big deal to us because we spend days out of each month driving this coach.”

Sumerel has seen an enormous change in the areas of suspension and power in 25 years.

“If people drive from point A to point B and camp for 30 days, the suspension may not be as important to them,” he says.

“But, we will drive from here to someplace, stay a day or two or three and drive another 500 miles, stay there for a few days, then drive someplace else and stay there for a week.”

Because of their heavy travel schedule, Dan and Jocelyn test drove 20 different motor homes before purchasing the diesel pusher Newmar.

“I kid you not, the noise, the ride, the comfort and the handling capability of the more thoroughly designed suspension on the Newmar versus the basic Freightliner truck suspension on most coaches is drastic,” says Sumerel.

“It would be like driving around in a Pinto versus driving around in a Cadillac.”

Cost

That Cadillac comfort doesn’t come without a hefty price tag – depending on features the bottom line is somewhere between $250,000 and $265,000 (excluding taxes and tags).

Sumerel’s rig has four slide-outs. “When you set it up it is huge,” he says. It also features a generator, huge water tanks, satellite TV and just about all the amenities.

“The irony of it is, I am very careful with the dollar – cheap might be the word,” he says.

“But, figuring up the dollars for two people who travels a lot, it is actually cheaper for us to have this coach then to pay the hotel bills and eating out three meals a day,” says Sumerel.”

“People like me use an RV as a business tool,” he says. “My RV is my office, my hotel room and my sanctuary. It’s my home away from home.”

For more information

• Dan Sumerel can be reached at 3416 Hawkins Mill Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503; (800) 713-5861; or www.sumereltraining.com. “Finding the Magic” by Dan Sumerel (Warwick House Publishing, $30).

• Information on Newmar coaches and fifth wheels is available at www.newmarcorp.com.

• Medicine Horse Stables is located at 8105 S. Oak Road, Spokane. For directions and details contact Judy Houch at 443-9319, Casey Nissen 322-619, or e-mail: jstangerhouck@netzero.com.

Wheel question

Each summer season, many families take their RVs and enjoy a few days at The Gorge, listening to music and camping out. Get in touch if you’ve ever made the trip and would like to share a few memories. Call 459-5435 or e-mail juliannec@spokesman.com.