By Sarah Light, staff writer

ELLENDALE &8212; He is a world-famous business owner who has changed the face of the equestrian industry.

Yet, his success is something most Minnesotans haven&8217;t heard of.

Working from a farm right off of Exit 22 on Interstate 35, horseman Buck Wheeler says his experiences in the business world in recent years have far surpassed his wildest dreams.

In 1996, he patented his first product, The Stableizer, an equine restraint and training system, which is designed to fit over a horse&8217;s head and go behind the ears and under the top lip next to the gum.

When a simple pressure is applied by a red button on the device, the horse is distracted from other parts of the body being worked on and endorphins and related compounds are released from acupuncture points &8212; one behind each ear and the other under the top lip.

The endorphins create a sense of euphoria, and the horse becomes calm and relaxed. The animal remembers that procedure or training as a pleasurable experience instead of a painful one.

The device is simple to use and is something that has caught the eye of even the most famous in the horse industry.

Five days after The Stableizer patent was applied for, it was used on 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone.

&8220;What a way to start a product out &8212; on a Kentucky Derby winner!&8221; Wheeler recalled.

&8220;It&8217;s like the old saying, &8216;Sometimes you&8217;re so deep in the forest you can&8217;t see the trees,&8217;&8221; he said. &8220;I knew what we had a hold of. It&8217;s just incredible what it will do for you.&8221;

Since then, the product has been used on this year&8217;s Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and has been sold in 88 countries. It has taken the horseman all over the United States and to several other countries.

In addition to working on horses, the device works on all breeds and sizes of mules, donkeys, zebras, llamas and camels.

It was an idea he came up with after a lifetime of being around horses.

Born and raised on an 8,000-acre cattle ranch on a Sioux Indian reservation in North Dakota, Wheeler said all he ever wanted to do was be in the horse business growing up.

The idea for The Stableizer came after observing the use of the twitch &8212; or lip chain &8212; on horses. He found that not only would the chain leave abrasions under the upper lip, but while in use, it would also cause the horses to throw a fit, putting their handlers in danger.

He said he thought, &8220;There had to be a better way to handle these horses than the way we were doing it.&8221;

So he researched and developed the training system and eventually he emerged with the product.

And because of its popularity, Wheeler has gained tremendous name recognition. Now this recognition is helping him with his second invention, which is patent-pending.

&8220;If Buck invented it, that&8217;s good enough for us,&8221; he said many have said.

This second product, the Udderly EZ Milker, is a hand-held trigger-operated vacuum pump designed to be used on horses, ponies, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, zebras, camels and miniature cows to collect colostrum, that very important &8220;first milk&8221; that all newborns need immediately upon being born.

&8220;It isn&8217;t too often anymore that an idea is thought of, and then you take it to the top of the world,&8221; Wheeler said of both inventions. &8220;It&8217;s very gratifying to take something like this from the thought process into the world market.&8221;

The business has even become a family affair, as his wife, Karen, and his step sons and their wives help send out both products.

&8220;I&8217;ve had a phenomenal gig so to speak,&8221; he said. And he&8217;s still got some other ideas to develop, too.