About Waltenberry, Inc.

Waltenberry, Inc. - N8887 Custer Rd - Ripon, WI 54971
Phone: 920-748-7468 Fax: 920-748-7535

Dick and Barb Waltenberry

Dick, Barb, Smokey, and Sparkle

Hello! We're glad you decided to visit our website. As you may have gathered, we photograph and videotape some pretty major horse shows. How did this happen? Where did we start?

Dick started thirty years ago shooting projector slides at the local open shows for later showing at meetings. People then wanted to buy prints of their horses and the rest (as they say) is history.

Thirty years ago, I (Barb) was a professional dog handler, specializing in poodles and toy dogs - you know - the breeds with lots of hair that are a ton of work. I got my first "real" horse in 1971 and raised my first foal in 1976. When I wished to have photographs of it and my two mares, I called Dick Waltenberry. The rest (as they say about this too) is history.

Until the mid-eighties, we photographed predominately Quarter Horse shows with some Arabians shows thrown in for variety. We then introduced videotaping at shows in 1986. We taped our first reining, the NRHA Derby at St. Paul, MN, and the business took off in a new direction. While we still photograph a few shows other than reinings, reining has become the bulk of our business.

For the first time in seventeen years (2004), we did not videotape the Quarter Horse Congress. It just got to be too huge. Since 2001, we have been videotaping the AQHA World shows. This is an interesting departure from reining and takes us back to our Quarter Horse roots. We get a chance to visit with people we haven't seen in many years, which is most enjoyable.

The past two or three years have been a time of great change in both the photography and video industries. We have made a total switchover to digital photography, and have shot no film since the end of 2001. This necessitated the purchase not only of new cameras, but computers and printers. Not only was this very expensive, but I gained 15 pounds. I used to walk around the darkroom all day - now I sit and mouse. The video changeover to DVD is more gradual, but more frustrating, due to incompatabilities between some recorders and players and media types.

When you call our office, you will be helped by Jeff Shank, who has been with us since December, 2002. He has become indispensable - having learned to fill both video and DVD orders, as well as doing most of the office work. We try to bring in part timers to help him out when necessary. When we're home, Dick and I cut the grass (there is a lot of grass) and garden. He has become quite an avid home beer brewer. We work on home improvements when we have a chance. I find a little time to train and show my dogs.

Our three children are grown and married and we have three grandchildren (soon to be four). but the house doesn't seem empty because we have many housepets - our beloved Bernese Mountain Dog, Biff will celebrate his 10th birthday this April. We lost our old corgi, Crystal, at age 14 1/2, but are far from corgi-less because we have Pixie, a tri, and the red Foxie and Foxie's baby daughters. There were five. Not having had puppies since a litter of Schipperkees over twenty years ago, we've been having more fun than you can imagine. I'll be keeping a few, which together with Foxie, I'll be showing.

Biff with Certificate

Sparkle Sparkling

Biff achieved quite a few titles during his career: Can. Ch., CD, DD & CGC - all of which means he's a good looking, well mannered dog who can pull a cart weighing 120 pounds over all types of terrain, while doing manuevers somewhat akin to trail.

Lexie

Foxie

Foxie and I hand-raised a feral kitten, Lexie, and we still have Sparkle although we lost her brother, Smokey, to congestive heart failure last year. We have a silver tabby, Dazzle, as well.

Hope you are enjoying our website. If you have any suggestions other than MORE PICTURES - we know you want more pictures - please let us know. (There will be more pictures soon.) (Well, okay, "soon" to a champion procrastinator may not mean the same thing as "soon" to most normal people.)

Best regards, Barb