Behind The Buckles
Behind the Buckles takes you beyond the bright lights and dusty arenas to uncover the untold side of rodeo life. From deep family roots and unbreakable friendships to rivalries, rumors, and a little tea, this podcast spills the real stories that happen when the gates close. Get ready for honest conversations, heartfelt memories, and the behind-the-scenes moments that make the Western way of life more than just a sport — it’s a story worth telling.
Behind The Buckles
Behind The Buckles Circle Talk w/ Kathy Grimes Episode 4
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In this episode of Behind the Buckles, we sit down with NFR qualifier Kathy Grimes for an honest conversation about her future in rodeo and the next chapter of her breeding program. Kathy opens up about the challenges of staying competitive at the highest level, what drives her passion for raising and training top-tier horses, and how she’s shaping the next generation of champions. It’s a genuine look into the grit, grace, and determination that define one of rodeo’s respected competitors.
Spears Coffee. Really fucking good. Hello and welcome to episode four of Behind the Buckles, and we call this Circle Talk. Um, today we have a really special guest coming on, Kathy Grimes. She'll join us here in about 30 minutes. Um, before that, we're gonna do a little recap of the week and talk about what's been going on, and then we'll have a fun interview with Kathy. So here we go. Abby, you're up.
SPEAKER_03You just told them how fast they can fast forward.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, but don't 30 minutes in. Yeah. It's mysterious when she's coming up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, uh, some of the things most of my week. Uh first, like personal. We just had baseball and things, but I do have to tell a funny story about Marshall last night. It was raining, so I actually like actually real life cooked dinner, like even the seasonings, nothing from a box. And we sit down at the table to eat, and he takes a bite, and he's like, So there's this movie that he loves. It's called The Christmas Chronicles, with Kurt Russell and Goldie Khan. And they're really like fit on Mr. and Mrs. Claus. And so they're like superheroes, right? Yeah, and so we sit down at the table and he says, so and Mrs. Claus has figured out how to make all of the meals taste like candy and cake, but they're all vegetables. And he looks at me and he's like, So you should probably learn some of Mr. Claus's recipes. I honestly pretty good. I actually threatened him at the dinner table, I'm not gonna lie. So, you know, that was just like my mom week.
SPEAKER_02She also didn't tell us that story until we got on today. She got on his like our actual reaction, and usually we text each other about everything. Yeah, that's pretty good. That's Jordan and I didn't have any fights for once putting on the camper until this morning. But that is, it's always kind of the time of year that if you drive by and we're putting on the capri so we can go rodeoing again, just keep driving. But luckily, he got a new camper this year, and so it was actually way easier. And then, you know, one little thing this morning, but I was very impressed. I actually told all my friends how smooth it went.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I squished you luck actually on the phone yesterday. She said they were putting on the camper.
SPEAKER_03I'm like, oh, I'm not gonna lie, with all of your anxiety, my anxiety with that is that somebody ends up squished. That's really don't enjoy that process.
SPEAKER_02That's a hundred percent the whole reason that I worry about it the whole time anyway. Yeah, yes. So yeah, but we got it done, and it was all good. All the dogs are fine, it was good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we had a little bit of a crazy week. We all kind of went different directions, and Jerry and Teal went to Sam and Idaho to the horse sale. Um, my parents actually came and stayed with Coyle for his junior high rodeo, which he did great at. That was awesome. He had a bunch of fun. Um, and then I went to Celina to the Calgary qualifier. I didn't have as much fun as the rest of my family, but it was it was awesome that you went. And yeah, it was better the second day until I found out today that I hit the first barrel because I apparently was unaware.
SPEAKER_02And I knew that she hit it because she sent me the video, but she was excited with her run, and so I just didn't say anything. And then because I'm like, it doesn't really matter, you know. And then today she's like, Yeah, I just figured out I did that. I'm like, well, maybe I should have brought it up.
SPEAKER_01I apparently never watched my video either until today because I was like, I looked at the results, I'm like, I did not hit a barrel, and then I'm like, watch my video. Yeah, I sure did hit a barrel, actually.
SPEAKER_02So speaking of the calorie qualifier, shout out to Kyle Jack and Julie Herman for putting that event on. Heard nothing but great things, watched it.
SPEAKER_01The ground was great, it ran super fast, the facility was awesome. Um, it was it was top-notch.
SPEAKER_03That that is an amazing event that they put together. Yeah, I think that's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yes, a couple years ago when I was on the board of the WPRA, um Julie had pitched that idea, and it's crazy to see how far it's come with the breakway and the barrel. So yeah, shout out to them. They did both of those. Yes, they did a great job and have the ground that even to have such a fast horse race is oh, and so yeah, and to bring so many great horses.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah, that's and it was just-I mean, there was people obviously from everywhere there, but it was the best of the best, and there was a ton of great horses, and it was super fun to watch.
SPEAKER_03Yes, absolutely. I we are bringing our guest is in the world's top for the world standings, number 14, as of right now, but I kind of wanted to something that I cared about this week was Latricia Duke being number two in the world standings, and I gotta say, like last year at the end of the season, when she still technically had a shot, and she made that post about loading him up vanilla wafer because I'm gonna butcher his um DM Hyrolling. Yeah, DM Hyroll. Um, loading him up and taking him home because he was hurt and she wasn't gonna run him. I ugly cried. I mean, ugly cried. I even cried when I was telling these guys about it. So now for it to come, like if you don't believe in good karma, I mean this was good karma for her to be number two in the world now on his son. What is it? What's the mirror? I don't know what the mirror is that he's crossed on, but it's a no, it's it's a full sibling. Oh, it is a full sea to DM I and and just like I'm not rodeoing announced number two in the world standing. So I mean it's a chunk of money one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, watching him at Houston was insane. Like he was so just made me so happy every single run.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that just talks about the level of horsemanship too with her, and her program is oh pretty phenomenal.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, her story's pretty great, and having him, and you know, he's a great head horse too. And but her taking him, and I'm thinking we're gonna see her in Vegas. Um I think there'll be a lot of tears for that one, too. That's pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_03Because I mean, she really I guess it took 125 last year. I mean, she got six to seven or eight ones.
SPEAKER_02So I think he'll do pretty good in the northwest.
SPEAKER_03Me too. So I mean she's like uh the year before when she had to win at Pendleton and she made that run at Pendleton. I also maybe cry. Apparently, I don't even, I'm not, it's not like we're friends, but yes, I recognized how tough that was.
SPEAKER_02No, for sure. And I feel like the way Carlos looks, it looks like he would be getting a penalty.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so here we go.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yes. So yeah, no, that's it's gonna just be a horse race all year, I feel like, with the top 25 rail races in the world, even more.
SPEAKER_03Wow, yes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's just gonna be good to watch, and it's just barely getting started. So yeah, it's impressive. Um, the other thing that I have going this week is well, I have two clinics scheduled. Um, I have one June 6th in Homedao, which is currently full, but I had a really awesome opportunity that um that Royal Flesh Stables uh reached out to me to have a clinic in Joseph Organis. Actually, maybe a two-day clinic, which I've done two-day clinics before, but not two days with the same people. It's usually like a green horse and then barrel horse. So yeah, this will be something that'll be interesting, and I'm excited about that. So that will be good. So I'm gonna go into the August 28th and 29th.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah. And Joseph in the summertime is where you want to be because it's way too hot here to want to be here.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. And I mean, summertime in Joseph is pretty hard to beat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, obviously, we're biased because that's where we grew up.
SPEAKER_03Not really. I've been a lot of places.
SPEAKER_01That's true. That is true. Yeah, yes. If I could just live in three places, like here in the spring and fall, yes, Arizona in the winter, Joseph in the summer, that would be like Me too.
SPEAKER_03Eventually, yeah. That's that's what I need in my life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yes, yeah. I Joseph is pretty awesome. Joseph specifically is awesome.
SPEAKER_03Yes, not the other place.
SPEAKER_02But uh, other than that, yeah, I am uh, as we've talked about many times on this podcast, already a very average CrossFitter, but I am signed up for a competition above averages, yeah. No, yeah, barely. And I'm uh yesterday I was doing a workout that had to be videoed, and I'm pretty like I'm getting over a cold, and I do the whole thing, not do very good of a job, and I'm coughing up along. I'm like, oh, I'm not doing that again. Well, basically, the whole video I wasn't in a frame, in frame, so it's not gonna work anyway. So luckily for me, I get to do it again. And I only have like four more days to do all these workouts and stuff, but it's gonna be great. And oh, and then this weekend, Megan and I have the all girls rodeo. Oh, yeah, and teal, yeah, and teal and my mom and Marca and Royce are going to it, and Ricky, it's gonna be we haven't talked Abby into coming with us yet, not quite an all-girls rodeo, or yes.
SPEAKER_03She just hate poll bending, I hate the goats.
SPEAKER_02I didn't sign up for either of those events, and Jerry signed up for both of them.
SPEAKER_01Well, you're actually good at those things. I there's too many obstacles in the polls, and I for being like somewhat of an athletic human, I am so unathletic getting off a goat horse. Like, I will fall nine times out of ten.
SPEAKER_02I've never watched, but maybe we should enter you. Maybe no, yeah, maybe we should. We shouldn't.
SPEAKER_03I mean, when you're knocking on the door of 40, I don't understand why we tie goats.
SPEAKER_02Oh, and honestly, I'm knocking on the door of 30. I don't know why I do it, except just to like beat the younger girls and like show dominance. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I get it, it's still very impressive. See, I wouldn't be beating anyone, it would just be a laughing stop.
SPEAKER_01Like it would just be like an entertainment video, like it would be like the same as like the when the Bronk rider jumped off the back and got ran over by the pickup horse.
SPEAKER_03See, like it's I I highly doubt that though, but I will say we were at the high school rodeo social hour this weekend, and I was talking about one of the biggest fights Texas and I had when I was pregnant. We didn't know if we're having a boy or a girl, and I'm like, if it's a girl, I don't care if she advertis goats or runs polls. Like it's stupid. Like, what do you gonna sorry? But and Texas's like, are you kidding me? There's a lot of girls that go to college that are huge athletes because of those events. I'm just like, I'm just saying. Like just saying until it becomes a professional event. I guess not quite. I'm not gonna shame me on that.
SPEAKER_02I'm not gonna argue with you about the poll bending. I think it's good for your horses to pull bend. No, it's really good. It is good to have another event, but goat tying, I mean, also shame me on here. I'd much rather tie a goat than be a breakaway rooper.
SPEAKER_03Wow, we're just gonna get it. No, and I don't mean like doing we might have to cut that. I kind of thought it was awesome. Just keep going.
SPEAKER_02I just keep no shame on the breakaway roofers. I don't want to be one, okay? I think it's great. I'm gonna rope this weekend. But I prefer to tie a goat. I did enter the breakaway roping.
SPEAKER_01I did not enter the goatang.
SPEAKER_02I entered both. I haven't roped a calf in I don't know how long. I'm more of a team roper these days, but I will say, you know, I was never like slap yourself in the face, goat tired, get hyped up. But it is a pretty fun event.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, I can see the adrenaline. Absolutely. And obviously, in the breakaway roping, it's an adrenaline because it's so fast. So, yes.
SPEAKER_01I never got adrenaline, I just got like scared when I go tied because I was like, I'm gonna fall.
SPEAKER_02It's probably why I sucked. I felt quite I have fallen quite a few times in my career.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I am not gonna lie, like I have a fake tooth in the front. Yeah, and you do too. Turns out all three of us do. Yeah, and um, I know that I have a tendency to lead with my face.
SPEAKER_03So I will say Katie Davis was my rodeo coach. Not sure if that's like aging us, but she really wanted me to tie goats for more points, and I actually never fell because I never went fast enough. I'm like, can we roll the VHS tapes? Like Katie, hey, Katie was my coach, okay? So, like, yeah, we're evening out the playing field. Yeah, yeah, yeah. VHS. We finally had discs then. Oh sorry, the discs by that point. Exactly. We were pirating music at that point.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we're giving your parents computers viruses at that point. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's yes. Lime wire back in the day when you would download the songs and it would take you had to dial the internet. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_03Oh, aging myself here, and you just my fake ID was like legit because it was when inkjet printers first came out. Oh so I could change the date.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's nice. My fake ID was Marca's. Hey Marka.
SPEAKER_01Mine was my sister's, and it was her actual ID. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So it like scanned and everything, which is you know the worst thing about it is is I had Marca's ID for I don't know, a few years. Don't know her birthday. Wow, and you never got it. I did remember it then. Oh, but it was just there was not enough room for apparently. The other day I was like, what about Marca's birthdays? I'm like, that's something I probably should know.
SPEAKER_03I think that's Facebook's fault now. Because you're just like, it'll just tell me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's so many things that are like that. I hate to be, I'm not like I don't like AI that much. I mean, I've used it for some things, specifically trying to get this podcast going, but I have caught myself like with the midwifing of the puppies and the things like that, pulling my phone out and like asking Google or Chat GBT questions, and I'm like, holy shit, I could get uh relying on this, and I'm like, I have to stop doing that because that is so true.
SPEAKER_03I have actually never done it, and it's all just because of pride. Like, I won't do it. Like, I hate the unauthenticity. I can't even say that now. Yeah, I hate it, but like I when I was I get it, it's yeah, I've seen the things, it just sucks you right in.
SPEAKER_02It does, it's so hard because it's so much easier, but then yeah, all that just said I don't want to be the person that does that, but it that does make this stuff leave your brain so much easier. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I still remember my two phone numbers from growing up, and I hardly I mean I know my phone number because I've had it for 25 years in Texas, but oh I still know I don't like all of my immediate family because it's been the same number since we got cell phones.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah, and I know Jerry's, and then I know like my old home phone number, my grandpa's phone number, a couple friends.
SPEAKER_03I didn't remember my grandmy grandpa's phone number as well. Yeah, I mean I I have got three old school numbers.
SPEAKER_01I got quite a few, which is maybe I should delete those and like out of my brain, and so I can make room for like everything. Forgetting new things. Yeah, I am pretty bad about forgetting a lot of things.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I struggle with that as well.
SPEAKER_02But as we would always, because that's what we call this, but we're circling back with all the you know trash talk about the goat tank, full bending, and I'm sorry, breakwear opers, because we do want to have some of you on the podcast. Um we will be at the All Girls this weekend, and then um, if Ashley Lawson's arena is dry, probably be there on Sunday for the jackpot. Yeah, but and then Jordan heads down to California. He might get on at Red Bluff, might not, just depending on how his shoulder feels. Um, and then he'll be doing the Flying You Rodeo School with everybody. Kate'll be there, Ruger, Roscoe, Tyler, they'll have a blast, and then Lovis, all those next week. So there'll be a lot more to chat about. Busy, yeah.
SPEAKER_03He's yeah, I would guess that if he can get on at Red Bluff, he will, because he's kind of like their king. Yeah. I mean, we should really flash the picture. I not picking on him about that because it's a fantastic picture, but he he is Red Bluff's king.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, running running in Red Bluff's king. Was it on didn't they use like a oh now I'm blanking on this? But didn't they use like an old like barrel racing or something picture of him from junior rodeo? Goat tying.
SPEAKER_02Goat, but that was at the NFR speaking of the goat tying. You know what the NFR at the cinch booth? Or no, it's at the National High School Finals Rodeo booth. Sorry, but they did have a big um all the NFR qualifiers. There's a picture of all of them when they were at the high school. And that's what they used. Jordan made it in every single event except the Bronck running to the high school finals at some point, and they used a picture of him goat tying.
SPEAKER_03I actually really like that. If I ever see that, I will see if my text or take.
SPEAKER_02Even though he prides himself on his go-tying abilities too, he's proud of all of it.
SPEAKER_03I know it doesn't affect him. I know. I too really love that. Oh yeah, what was the interview where um I don't remember who was interviewing him at the NFR, and they're like, what is the wrong question about his accolades? And I'm like, Did you like that you won the circuit finals all around? He's like, Are you kidding me right now? Like, I was gonna get shaped. I'm like, I was just guessing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, him and actually Stephen Peebles. Yeah, I think it was Stephen Peebles, one money in the team rope, and that he was a circuit all-around champ.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I missed that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I can't believe you explained that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I was I was wrong.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was yes. Um, okay, so here shortly we will have our guest, and make sure to not fast forward through this part of the podcast just to get to Kathy. I'm here with Abby Sutton and Megan Cobb, and this is our podcast. I first want to just say thank you so much for coming on. You are been so busy and making time for this. We are so excited to have you on. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00You're welcome. I appreciate it. I'm always happy to talk about my horses. I could talk for hours about my horses, so so can we.
SPEAKER_02That's why we started doing this. So exactly. We talked about having you on last week, and like I told you, I was like, we used Cade Bruno as like our um best because he we've known him forever because with this new software, we're like, you know, if we mess up with Cade, that's okay, but we don't mess up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, not Kate is very important. Right. He we knew he would understand.
SPEAKER_02And then we just gave you the week to, you know, go win the Calgary qualifier. Yeah, and then yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that we have more to talk about.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yes, yeah. Well, Kathy, can you just we lots of people? I always love when I hear podcasts because I want to actually know where people start. I mean, we know all, I mean, we're gonna talk about all the awesome things that you have done and are doing, but did you start out? Like, where did you grow up being on horses? Like, how did this all come about?
SPEAKER_00I mean, we, you know, had a pony named Star. I think everybody had a pony named Star. And so had that and then graduated to something else. We did a lot of Jim Canna when we were little, that's where we started. And then, and then um, I had a really nice little cute grade buckskin horse that really did a lot for me with gaming and taught me confidence, and I'm sure not really good horsemanship skills, but we, you know, he was pretty cool at what he did. And so that was really fun. And I only did a little bit of college rodeo because he really wasn't that fast. And then I was busy trying to, you know, study and get into vet school and do all that. And so then I didn't have a horse for quite a while during all that time, and then um got out of vet school and then wanted to, you know, do some horse stuff. And um I think my family had a step one, and I had gotten a mare from the WSU um racetrack program that they had that she'd had a you know, was donated to the hospital for um research purposes for like track studies, like they were assessing the forces on horses' legs. So so that's what they used her for. And anyway, I ended up I ended up with her and um and then bred her and then you know that was a hundred years ago. So then it just started from there. Then the breeding program just started from there. So go ahead.
SPEAKER_02When you started um deciding you wanted to go to vet school, was it always reproduction or did you want to do more sports medicine, or how did that come about?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's uh I mean I you know went to med school because I loved animals, but I like school and I like medicine too, but I really mostly just loved animals. So um I um then I really thought I wanted to be an equine surgeon because Dr. Barry Grant was at WSU and he was such a great mentor of mine. He um and he helped me learn a lot of things about galloping the horses on the racetrack, and he was just a uh he is a great person. And he um so I wanted to be like him, but that when I graduated, I didn't really get the internship I wanted, and so I just kind of actually went up to Colville and started my own little rural um mobile practice, which I would not recommend doing, but that's what I did.
SPEAKER_03So large animal in general or just equine when you've heard mobile?
SPEAKER_00It was it was rural, so I just did a mixed practice and it was a lot of small animal really, and then um I just did um um you know, just did my own horse stuff. And then in in 200 um five, I had uh a pretty nice mare, and so I wanted to get into embryo transfer, but we didn't learn about that when I went to school. Okay, um, and so I had to kind of relearn how to do that. And so that was um, so Izzy, uh KG, just as we expected, she was the very first embryo that I got.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that's pretty impressive that it was that mare that it was the first one that you got.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because she's pretty special. Yeah. So so Izzy was the first um embryo that you had, and then how old was she when you started pulling embryos out of her?
SPEAKER_00She was so she was born in 2007, and her first embryo babies born were in 2014. So she would have been so I was I think I tried when she was five, but I don't think that embryo survived, and so didn't get one. And then when she was uh six, pulled some embryos. I think we got three that year that were born in 2014. So the first and now um this year she had her 30th baby and she has two more to go this year. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. I And obviously she's a producer, so all of those babies have I mean a lot of them have gone on to be winners, and that's that's quite the accomplishment for her. Not only does she you know go to the NFR with you in 2017, um I guess can you tell us a little bit more about that year with her?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so 2017. Um, so actually 2016 set us up pretty good to be able to get into the building rodeos. And I mean, I just always remember, I mean, of course, every year my goal is to go to the NFR, right? I've accomplished it once in 20 some years, but whatever. Um, and so it's uh it's hard. And uh, you know, you'd you'd see these girls, of course, back then that wasn't near as much as money as it is now, but you know, they'd have 40, 50, 60,000. And you're I'm like, how do you ever win that much money, right? And and so in 2016, uh, we had a really pretty good girl year. And it not just Izzy, but her half sister Ruby, who's by Blazing Jetalina out of Izzy's Dam, there, you know, their damas do it for bow. Um, and so that I ran to that she was the one that um she helped fill my permit way back in 2006. And um anyway, so um 2016, I think I had like 34,000 one or something. And I was like, wow, that's so, you know, that's so cool. And I I barely got into Houston that year, and then of course Fort Worth wasn't limited like it is now. Um, San Antonio was, but you know, I was gonna get into that. And and then, you know, 2017 came around and they just you know had such an amazing year. It just and there has a lot of luck that has to go into it. Like you can't trip or fall down during the finals of some big rodeo, like what happened to us at San Antonio this year. You know, it just there has to be a lot of luck to it. And then, you know, have your best run when the most money counts. And so um that year Izzy got second at San Antonio and at Fort Worth. And I had gone to Fort Worth for several years before that. I mean, at least three or four and never won a dime, never done anything. And then that year we ended up second, and I think we won like 14,000. And then um, she won second at San Antonio, which was awesome. And then I ran Ruby at Houston because Ruby was kind of the outdoor horse, and Houston is like a big outdoor rodeo, it's just indoors, you know. So she got second at Houston. I mean, so come April 1st, I had like$80,000 one. And I and so I figured at that point it would take 150,000, which is what it takes now practically to go to the NFR. But um, you know, we we had that one and we could have stopped rodeoing at that time, and I didn't go that much as much in the summer, just because we have that much one and went home for breeding season and then um went to some rodeos, and they still both did really well and made it to the NFR for a first time. It was so exciting.
SPEAKER_02So, as um, I have a bunch of questions for you, but we won't keep you all day. But I do so you said that your goal is to make the NFR every year. So, with all the babies that you raise and train and run, you go you go to the fraturities and stuff like that, but your end goal with those cults or mares or whatever is the NFR.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that is my I do love rodeo. I mean, I love the fraturities and derbies and stuff, but because I like the process of training the young ones and going from they can't even trot a circle to be able to run 16s, I just think that's so cool. And and so um, yes, that's always my goal, but um and I like rodeo and plus when Izzy and Ruby finished Faturity year, the derbies weren't that good, and they didn't have these big open races like you know, the extreme or slot races. There was very little of that, but really the Tim Corfield slot race was kind of the only one, and then Glacier Chaser had a slot race, and then I mean, at least in our in our world, not in our class, yeah. Yeah, yeah, there weren't as many slot races and big races, so you had to go to rodeo if you wanted to keep going, right? So um, so we went went and tried, and rodeo's hard, and you know, different ground, different setup, and all the chaos. And so when you succeed, I feel like it's it's really rewarding. Not that fraturity isn't hard because that's hard too, but you know, in a different beast, yeah.
SPEAKER_02What is your favorite rodeo?
SPEAKER_00My honestly, my favorite rodeo is San Antonio. I don't know, I don't know, because Izzy always did so good there, but we've also fallen down there. She fell down, Shoey fell down. I mean, it's not the ground's not stellar there, but uh they treat you really well. I mean, you know, and I don't know. I just I just I guess I like that one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I love that. I this is I felt like this was gonna be a later question, but since we're talking about Izzy in the NFR, I I was listening to a podcast and they were saying it was actually about a musician, and he says, Everybody wants me to re-release like you know this early album that was so great. He's like, I'm not that person, I'm not that person anymore. I've evolved from that. And that is something that I really thought about even with myself and every aspect of even my horses. And even though you've made the NFR and made all these multiple great horses, but what do you what do you think the differences that Izzy did for you besides obviously getting into all the big rodeos and being at the NFR for experience? Is there something you're doing different now with Shoei than maybe you did with Izzy because of that? Does it be a good thing?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I think I certainly hope and I know I'm a better writer trainer than I was back then. Like I didn't, I didn't know, I didn't know anything. I, you know, I mean, I I just I even had to retrain her. Like, so we had um at at at our circuit finals when it was at Yakima, not quite sure what year it was, maybe um 15. I maybe 15. I don't know. Anyway, one of those years. And um, you know how Izzy could blow off a barrel and still be really fast. Well, you know, Yakima's, yeah, Yakimas are pretty small. And um, she blew off the third barrel, and I'm like, no big deal, keep running. And then all of a sudden, and you know how they have rakers, the those those girls would rake. And so the girl had her back to me and she was raking, and all of a sudden, Izzy just made the decision to go on the other side of the barrel. And I thought I was gonna hit that woman. It scared me so bad. And um, and and at the I'm yelling, get out of the way! And and at the last minute, she sucked up against the wall and we ran on by her. And it was like I was, I was just like, Oh my god, I drove home the whole way just shaking, thinking I could have really hurt that person. I've got to fix this problem. And so then I spent like the next six months screwing her up completely because I didn't know what I was doing, and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, so yes, I learned a lot about horsemanship and training and retraining and fixing problems. And so, with every horse, I think, I'm not gonna make those same stupid mistakes that I have, you know, that I'm making and training. And so I think I'm doing a better job with it now.
SPEAKER_01You're doing a great job.
SPEAKER_00Uh so but she she taught me how to win and how to, you know, to be fast. And um, so she taught me a lot. Yeah, she was really fast. She just kept and also she taught me that forward motion, no matter what, is still more important than you know, stopping and turning or having a perfect pattern.
SPEAKER_03I love that you just said that. Sorry, I'm gonna take this over. I actually it sounds like I'm just fan-girling you a little bit, but I give lessons to like a lot of different I mean, from like kids to a little bit older, and I've used you multiple times as a compliment where I'm like, you guys, you it's a timed event. You get you need to get run in a hole. And yes, Izzy could be. I watched her run multiple six scenes where she came off the third round because she was running so hard. Even Joey is fantastic, but like he's so awesome because he runs all the way in the hole and then comes back. It's not that he's setting up two strides before to turn down, and I I appreciate that about him. So I have literally broke down your videos and shown the spots that he has ran into with because of forward motion. So yeah, yeah, no, I love that.
SPEAKER_00I think like I like honestly, I didn't feel like he was very fast. Like, I thought he had kind of a different style, and I'm not smart enough to know if I need to change it and I don't know how. So I'm most of the time, I'm just like, well, let's just do this. They seem to like it, and hopefully I don't have to fix it later. Like he would get into the barrel and his little hiney would kind of come around. And and I thought, well, too, maybe I won't hit as many barrels because Tillman is awesome too, but he really buries up and turns around a barrel, and a lot of times we've hit a lot of barrels leaving it, and that's so frustrating. I hate to hit barrels, and um, so I thought, well, maybe this is gonna be a good style. And turns out it is, but it didn't feel fast because even now he really doesn't feel that fast. Like Izzy felt like a speedboat taking off when you would run to the first barrel. And he just has, I feel like the same speed going in, coming around, going to the next one. You know, it's just so smooth and continuous and and so consistent. Gosh, that's consistency is so nice.
SPEAKER_03Oh my goodness, he has I honestly feel like he has never stubbed his toe from when you started your fraturity year to your derby year, and then all of a sudden you're cracking him out in the perf at Denver. And here he is. Like he I literally told these guys we were in Arizona and we were watching. I maybe it wasn't Denver, but it was maybe a standard. I think it was San Antonio. And I literally looked up and I'm like, Cassie Grimes is going to NFR this year. I mean, he just took to it, don't you feel like he did?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I was super nervous because I didn't know what he was going to do because he can spook at the weirdest things, and the biggest problem was the alleyways, like when people are all the chaos in an alleyway, especially indoors like that, when there's people running around and doing whatever. And he at Denver, he was kind of spooked at some things. And um, we had an incident at Jackson in a perf. And I could see the camera guy, you know, down there they have the long alleys, blind first barrel. Well, they have the cameraman, he's standing down there, like in the alleyway. Yes, he's up against the wall, but he's in the alleyway pointing the camera at you. And then as you go by, he flips his body around to get you going to the first barrel. And I saw that happening, and I thought, uh, yeah, I don't know what Shui's gonna think about that, because he'll sometimes spook. And so I should have not let him get rolling. I should there was plenty of room between that the eye and the mouth of the alleyway there that I could have like snuck him up there a little bit farther and then let him take off. Cause when that guy made that move, he kind of jumped to the right. And then we were way high at the first barrel. I thought we were gonna turn the we were gonna turn on the wrong side of the first barrel. That's how high we were. But no, he went around it, but we were really slow, and I'm like, oh my god, you know.
SPEAKER_02So that's with all that, when is when you have these young horses and you are taking them from fraternity or derbies to the rodeos, do you just start taking them and you're like, we're just gonna figure it out? Or do you have kind of a plan, like, you know what I mean, an idea of what you want them to be doing before you get to the rodeos?
SPEAKER_00No, because I don't know how you can go to a rodeo without going to a rodeo, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, or how to prepare for that, other than obviously fraturities are mostly indoors. And so then how many outdoor rodeos do you, or how many outdoor races like do you run out to kind of at least I feel like outdoor, there's so many other things to look at. Indoor it's still enclosed. Yes, you have stands, but I don't feel like it's the same as an outdoor thing. So um I hadn't gotten to very many outdoor, you know, we just don't have very many outdoor races and your fraternity year, there's so much money, you don't want to go to a kind of crummy outdoor barrel race that the ground might not be good and get them hurt, right? So you didn't go to much outdoors. And and so I thought, well, at least these these winter rodeos are indoors, so that's something he's comfortable with, about the same size pattern, and it'll just be the crowd. And I was just stupid nervous, which probably made him nervous. And he really he locked on pretty good. But I had to, I had to like really just focus on my point and make sure you know try to help him get to his spot. And so yeah, yes, he took to it.
SPEAKER_03So oh absolutely. I mean, didn't you've been home with the exception of Redmond since February, haven't you? They after San Antonio.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I got home like March 2nd and then was gonna go to Monroe Rodeo, but the you know, the pass was closed, and I was got not gonna drive three hours around.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That was yeah, let's change Slack to the next day, which doesn't help anybody unless maybe you live there. I don't know. Anyway, whatever, it's fine.
unknownIt's okay.
SPEAKER_02It's not George anymore. So don't look interesting. Yeah. Um yeah, it was yeah. So where do you actually because I got ahead of myself because we were talking about rodeo, I kind of wanted to ask you a few more things about breeding. Yeah. Speaking of Tillman and your studs, so when you're running them and breeding them, like what are the challenges there? And then kind of how long do you see their careers before you just decide to breed them? Like, I don't know, what does that look like?
SPEAKER_00So I enjoy running them. And so, and Tillman is great. He is him and Shoei are best buds, they're the biggest dwarfs, just like lick each other's boogers. I mean, they're just they're great. You can tie them together. Occasionally Tillman will mount him, but just for fun, you know. I mean, it's yeah, and that's like if I'm leading him and I let Tillman kind of get behind Shoey, then he's like, Oh, okay, let's just take advantage of this. But I mean, he just he doesn't even know what he's doing. So but they're they're really great together. So I can take them, they can stand next to each other, and so it's great. The other stud, Phoenix, like he's very study, and you you cannot do that. Like he gets grumpy and is, you know, so he I can't haul a whole bunch of studs with him. That's why I've been letting my assistant ride him because then she can take him to places. I mean, obviously, when you go to a rodeo, you can only run one horse anyway. And um, so uh but Tillman is super easy. He is uh we you know, we were at Canby, and you know how the parking is terrible. And you know, they tell you to park next to the line and tie on the right. So, what do the team ropers do? They park and they tie on the left side. So I look out my window and there's this horse with their butt like Tillman's butt and their butt, they're just like right together. And I was like, oh my god. And I I go out there and I look, and and it's a it's a gilding, but like Tillman doesn't care, right? Like this wouldn't even have tolerated that. She didn't like other horses around her, she was a dominant mare, and so he just he doesn't care. He's he's really great, so he makes it easy to go. And he had a bruise in his hawk that we finally found this fall, so that's why he's been off all this time. Although I do think Shoei kind of is a little more consistent in those smaller pens. Tilma kind of likes the big outdoor pens to run in. And so I'm hoping that he will be back for our summer rodeos and that I'll have the two of them, and that would be great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So uh what does your and I we'll circle back again, I'm sure, because that's just what we do. But what does your summer look like? And do number one, do you enter yourself? And do you do how do you choose the rodeos that you want to go to?
SPEAKER_00So I'm a control freak. So I uh enter myself, and of course I always had, and whatever mistakes I make, I guess I just make. And you know, it's hard now because everything changes, like it doesn't matter what I knew of a rodeo five years ago, it's gonna be totally different. You really got to read the ground rules and try to look and see things every year, even our circuit rodeos, you know, they're they can be different. Like, and then like Napa, you know how they changed it to two, you know, the everybody goes and slack, then you got to come back for one more. And then if you make the short go, it's like, yeah, let's do that when it's seven dollars a gallon fuel. But anyway, um, so I I enter myself and um I just kind of stay home from now until about June 8th or 9th or whatever, and then and then I'm done. And then I'm gonna get back to to barrel racing. And um that's that's just you know, and then whatever I'll just try to go to, you know, the bigger ones that I can, and now I get to, you know, go to uh Calgary and so the others, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So that was something that I I kind of wondered before I read your before I knew exactly what you had decided, was business wise, it there I felt like there was two sides. You live close to uh barrel days, Valley Girls Barrel Days. There's a lot of money to won. Let's be real, you just washed it the week before you could have won a lot of money there. You were close to home, you could have done your breeding, it was an easier decision. Now, for later in life, as I was thinking about like you getting into Calgary, not only it will make your rodeo count a lot smaller if you were to go and win Calgary, which that's what we're looking for here. Um more fuel, more time, not as much money, but for down the road, it did make more sense.
SPEAKER_00I mean, is that kind of how you thought about it, or you were just like, No, well, so at first I saw that and I thought, oh gosh, I wish I could go. It would be kind of, you know, it's a like a barrel race, so real simple for you know, yeah. And but then I thought, barrel days, I can't miss barrel days. So I entered barrel days and I wasn't gonna go to that thing in Celina. And plus then the fuel prices went up and I thought, gosh, I'm glad I'm staying home. And I had a mare that was due Friday. Thankfully she held off and hasn't folded yet, so that worked out. But then when they said, Oh, it's gonna you can get into days of 47 and the the money will count towards circuit standing or towards standings, I thought there are three good things to come out of this. Yeah, and then the June qualifier, once I finally found out when that was, that was like June 8th, whatever it didn't really help. That was right at the end of my breeding season and right when our circuit rotors are, it would be I don't know. I just was like, I'm just I think I'll just try to make this work. And so so I felt a lot of pressure to make it work too. I was like, I can't, I mean, I have total faith in him, but I'm so afraid I'm gonna screw it up and make us hit a barrel because anytime we've hit a barrel, it's because I've screwed it up, you know. So I I just had a felt a lot of pressure, but he he's just he's just amazing. I don't know, he's just so so good, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But what is the point? Like, when did you have the I mean, obviously you bred him, you knew like the genetics that you thought this was gonna work and it was gonna be great. But was there like an aha moment when you're like, okay, he real life is special? Uh I mean he was the top four winning his tourist last year.
SPEAKER_00I didn't even realize, yeah, I know it is amazing. I know it's I mean, so when I went to um like with Tillman, the Denver qualifier, the his fraternity year last year, and then then they I wasn't gonna make it back to Buckeye to go to their fraternities in time because I went to Odessa Slack, and then I thought, oh, they got those Texas road, the Texas um fraturity, I can make that second one, I'll just run him at that. And we didn't win a dime, and so it was his first um fraturity, and we didn't win anything. We were at the bottom of the 1D, and I just thought, well, okay, I you know, and then we went back to Buckeye and staying in Arizona, and his first run at Buckeye, he was like a 17-2. And I was like, What?
SPEAKER_04Wow, well, that was good, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's pretty cool, and I'm like, huh. So then I think we went to the uh NBHA show there like the next weekend or something, and he was an 0-1, and I was I was just blown away. I I couldn't believe it. And so I thought right then I thought, huh. And then he just kept being consistent, and that's you know, that's so key. So I don't know. And then when he won the Royal Crown and ran that 16, gosh, that was so fun! Like you just there's just nothing more fun, like you know, that second go, he'd ran a 17 flat, I think the first day and won that. And then the next day I was at the very end. So all day I had to worry about it and think about it and hope I didn't screw it up. And and someone had run a 1693, and I thought, oh man, that's really fast. I don't know if we can do that because we're bottom of the ground today. And then as I'm warming up, he trips and almost falls on his nose. And I'm thinking, and we're bottom of the ground. What if he does that during my run? And so so I went out there. Oh, and then as we go running, I I'm wearing a belt, and my belt gets stuck on the horn as we're running to the first barrel. I just like, and I thought, oh, I've ruined it. This is great, dummy. And then I got the belt off, and then it he stayed locked on, and he I thought, well, that was pretty good. First barrel, I guess we'll just keep going. And and then I looked up and it was a 1692. I mean, I we did just what we needed to do to win, and it was it was just so fun. Like, that's you know, it's priceless. So that's yeah, it's fun.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing. And so, and going back because you know, he's by PC Frenchman's heyday, correct?
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02So, with your mares that you have, what goes into you deciding what studs to breed those mares to?
SPEAKER_00Well, um, a lot of times, like you know, like Izzy was always fast and like she was a turner, but not a big turner, like especially my first barrel. I had to fix that too. But um, so I would always kind of maybe um breed her to something that had a lot of rate and turn. Um, and then Ruby was not that she wasn't fast because she ran multiple 16s on a standard pattern too. Um, but she was a little, a little more turny, and you know, so I would breed her to maybe something with a bigger speed index. That's kind of how I would choose that. But um, you know, I don't know why I chose Ruby Izzy over Ruby. I was gonna read De Nero to either one of those, and it just happened to work out that I read her to Izzy, so or bred him to Izzy. So um, and that I kept him because he was a boy, right? And I usually don't keep boys, and so um, but De Nero had passed, I think the fall before Shoei was born, and he was this adorable little buckskin, and he was kind of nice, and I had another Izzy Philly, and my friend wanted to buy an Izzy Philly, and I said, Well, I could do that, I'd sell that one and keep him then. And I'm sure glad I did.
SPEAKER_03Wow, yeah, that's worked out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it worked out really good.
SPEAKER_01That decision of what you sell versus what you keep, and like and at a What age do you sell most of your babies?
SPEAKER_00So um I like to I like to even sell the embryos. I don't have to get attached to them or you know, or say, oh, that's the perfect color and sex that I wanted, you know. But um it just like I, you know, because she's so fertile and I get so many, I gotta sell some because I can't ride all these, you know. I'm old and so I can't do that. And so if someone wants one, then I will often, unless I've really just decided. Like I had uh, I thought SR Industry Titan and Izzy would be an amazing cross because he was so turny. And so I finally got a baby last year and it was a boy, but now I'm kind of like, you know, boys aren't that bad. So of course I was gonna keep him no matter what. And um, so I I just kind of see what maybe we'll sell and decide if I can part with it and you know, go like it that way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And and how do you make a selection like like I see you just had a go by lane, Izzy Baby, which that's very exciting. I'm a yes, uh I'm I think a lot of people are big fans of the go by lane, but yes, um like how like how do you when that comes down to it narrow down your sed picks?
SPEAKER_00Um, so you know, I don't choose by incentives, I can tell you that much, which is not always the case for most people. I just choose by what I think is gonna be a good cross, you know, like and it turns out that some of these are in the incentives, that's a bonus, but I I definitely don't choose by that. I just want to choose something that I think is gonna complement my mayor's weaknesses. So that's how I choose that. And I just didn't think that I never could get on the list for or I mean with the Goodbye Lane, you know, they their contracts they don't even really open their contracts already sold out, but they um if they have extra semen available, um, they will send it to you, right? And then if you get a pregnancy, you pay for the contract. And so once I learned that, I was like, well, that's a no-brainer because I'm breeding Izzy to multiples anyway. So yeah, if I can't get semen from him, I can choose one of my other picks that I have. So um, but most of them were like, I saw them run, or I looked at their damn side because I'm so into the mare power. And so I look at the their the dam of the stallion, or if I competed against them and they kicked our butts, you know, then I'm you know, I want to breed to that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So absolutely we both wrote down the incentives because one of the things like when I wrote my notes, like I have mare power circled 37 times because I really appreciate that that is obviously something you care about and speed. I wrote mare power and speed. Yeah, um, I also really appreciated in one of your interviews about when you said, yeah, this this whole cornerstone of the speed breeding program is not something that you would recognize, but obviously you knew their ability. So we've talked about this a lot about the incentives, and even though it's been great for barrel racing as far as bringing money, I do I agree with that. But I really have felt like it's like limiting our gene pool and maybe making people look past some horses that we they should be breeding to.
SPEAKER_00Do you I mean I do because of course I have junior sires that I can't get them into pink or ruby or whatever, and and even the breeders challenge can be tough. And and so I I feel frustrated with that sometimes that people will look beyond um my stallions who are bred really well, or some of them have competed, or they have nice babies in the but because they're not in pink, people will just not they're not into that. And as a a rider, I've appreciated the money I've wanted the pink buckle. So I get it, and for resale value, but I still am looking for what I think is gonna be a good cross on my mares. And if they don't happen to be in one of the buckles, that's okay because I still appreciate a good horse. You're still gonna win. Well, look at Shoei. Shoey's not in pink or ruby buckle, and look at how much he won. And he wasn't in Breeders Challenge, he is now, but he wasn't then either, and he still won a lot of money without being going to the pink or ruby or breeder's challenge.
SPEAKER_03And astronomical amount because yeah, didn't Izzy like she was around 460? Yeah, yeah, and and where is he in real life right now?
SPEAKER_00He's about let's see, it was he's about 450 right now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, okay, and that's even without the pink or ruby. I mean, yeah, obviously she didn't have those things either, right? But yeah, that's impressive. Do you think with the incentives? I as a from a veterinarian, could we be like hindering? Because I don't know if you've seen on Facebook all the wars lately about whether you inject your horse or you or you inject everything or you don't do it, or you like do you think maybe by limiting the gene pool we could be hurting maybe the breeding some soundness out of our horses as well?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I suppose, I mean, I look at that and I think, oh, we're we're limiting it, but then I think, well, there still are 50 studs, and you know, people are still just breeding like dash to fame. Everyone's breeding to dash to fame, you know, when they could, and now Goodbye Lane and Blaze and Gedalina and all those old school, and and so I don't know if we're I mean, I don't know about that. I'm not smart enough to know the answer to that. But I feel like I just feel like we are, like you say, we're missing out on some of these junior sires that, you know, eventually I guess, you know, as the semen runs out or people, I mean, I personally don't want to do ixy. It's fine for others, but I don't want to do ixy because I can't do any part of that. I'm only I just do my embryo transfer, I can do every aspect of that, and I'm a control freak, as I said. So I just want to do that, but I also feel like it's kind of invasive, and I'm not gonna put my mare through that process. So um, so I just do, you know, either frozen or cooled and and um stick with those studs too. There's lots of nice ones that are still out there that we can do with that that you don't have to do HC.
SPEAKER_01So and along those lines of um HC being a little bit more invasive. Um when you are running a mare, did you did you do embryo did you pull embryos on Izzy when you were running her? And I I've heard both ways, like oh, it it doesn't matter, it doesn't affect him, not a big deal. And then I've heard, oh, it's super hard on him, you know, it told me to run out of my mare or it changed her or whatever. What do you how do you feel about that?
SPEAKER_00So my experiences were that, and plus I can do it all. So I can ultrasound, I can even ultrasound on the road if I needed to, but I didn't, I still didn't go a whole lot. But remember when we had um uh brand finals at the track way back over Memorial Day weekend, so I would always go to that. And so um the one year um Izzy, I I had bred her, and so she had an embryo in her and she ran three sixteen three sixteens, and then the next day was like a 17-0. She ran four days in a row with this embryo in her and then flushed it and it stuck and it everything worked. So personally, with my mares, I never felt like it affected or changed them at all. But everyone's an individual, just like with us and our medical things, certain things bother one person more than another. So I I've tried to understand that if they feel it changes their mare, then then maybe they don't want to do it during that time while they're running or give their mare three weeks to a month off. If you, you know, you have to decide what your priority is, right? Like for me, I just thought the priority was breeding. And it's um, and I'm glad that I have kept that going, although I have 36 horses here and I only really have one I can compete on right now. But you know, um, that's because a lot of them are babies or yearlings and two-year-olds, and you know, the whole gamut. But if I didn't do that, I wouldn't keep having babies to come up, you know, because I lost both Izzy and Ruby to competition in 2021, and I didn't have a tweener horse, like Ruby was supposed to be that, but then she had a thing and she couldn't run anymore. And so I didn't have a rodeo horse. So for so that was 21, and then I didn't get Tillman's first runs were 24 in rodeo, no, 23. I guess I think I made circuit finals in 23 on him, so it took another couple years before I had one that I could take to rodeos and and get back to doing some stuff, and so that was that was hard. But if and and then if I didn't keep having something every year, then I you know I won't be able to keep going.
SPEAKER_03So that's a priority for me.
SPEAKER_00My breeding is a priority. So also, like we would have qualified to go to Austin, and um this year Shoey would have qualified to go to Austin, and I just thought I didn't get into Houston, I cannot sit there for two weeks. I need to come home and get to breeding, you know. And I are Izzy already has a little bun in the oven that I actually sold that embryo for. And so that's great. I don't, you know, like I'm glad I did that instead of and then when I saw how much people were winning at Austin, or if we I don't know if we could have or not, but you know, uh, I just kind of thought, gosh, maybe I made a mistake. And and I I didn't. I mean, I feel like, you know, like I say, the breeding is important, and she's 19. I don't know how many more breeding seasons I'll have. So it's really important to get as many as I can.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, a hundred percent. A couple more questions and then we'll let you go. But okay, I do want to ask, so you train all your own horses, but do you have somebody that starts your cults?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I do because I'm not good at that and I'm scared and I get too old to pull off. So I do have a cult starter and you know, try to do that as a two-year-old, uh um get them started for like 60, 90 days, whatever it takes to where I'm not gonna get bucked off. And um, and then I just go from there. But since I am gone off, you know, to the rodeos and whatnot, or in the winter time, I really only get like seems like four to five months of of training on them. That's why I don't usually have a four-year-old fraturity horse because I just can't seem to get my you know, poop in a group.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, I get that for sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, I was just I was thinking, I mean, we we're obviously like crushing on Shoei because he's amazing, but I mean, you've had such a long line of great horses, you really truthfully have, and your mare power is so impressive, but also I mean, how fun is it to see other people win on your horses? It is I feel like that's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is fun. I really I didn't know that I would enjoy it that much, but I really like it when someone says, gosh, it's this nicest, fastest horse I've ever ridden. I think that's really cool, and I appreciate that. And so I I'm always, you know, I mean, I still want to beat them, but I'm glad that they have too. I'm very competitive.
SPEAKER_03And I mean you've had a lot of fast horses. I I was just talking to these guys about um KG Shock and Awe with Miller. And that was a field of sting. Yes, that's a filled thing. She absolutely crushed the arena record at My Barrel Races. And I'm not just saying crush, but I mean that was against the best horses, even I mean, even Jesse Telford's whip horse, Ms. Like, I mean, it did, and there's been multiple horses like that that I really thought was that made us all stand up, hey, that's a KG horse. So obviously you have a good eye for that. So that that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Well, Phil the Sting uh competed against him and he was really cool. And of course, you know, his you know, his dam is like he's like a no-brainer, right? You know, so yeah, yeah. Um, and he was a really nice stallion on the rodeo road too. Like he he just had the whole package, I thought. So um, so yeah, bread to him and and you know, and he uh let's see, no, he was he high point then in 70. Anyway, he he was in all the incentives, but again, that wasn't why I just thought he was a really nice stallion on the road and what he accomplished and and his you know his damn, and just it all seemed like that would it's a no-brainer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Do you have any full siblings to showy, or do you not do that?
SPEAKER_00Do you not usually try to um I do, but you know, it's funny because you it takes so long to um, you know, you think, oh, this is a really good one. I should have been doing this all along, but you know, so I'm yeah, I'm trying for one this year. So we'll see how that comes out. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So that would be great. What is the um fraternities, rodeos, whatever? What is the favorite win? Your most favorite win you've ever had, and and why is that your favorite?
SPEAKER_00Um, so one of my most favorite runs on Izzy was the one year at San Antonio that we just didn't make the finals coming through the semifinals, and we had to go to the wild card. And um still gives me goos bumps because that was back in the days when last on the ground meant last on the ground. There was no this halfway through thing, it was 10th on the ground. Yeah, and so and at San Antonio, I still have that curse with Shoei where you get your draw, then you get a reverse order, and then there's a random draw, and we're always last, except for on that reverse order, I swear. And even though they drag every five there, it's still, man, it's not good at the bottom. But anyway, that year it was um we had to go through the wild card, and so I waited and then I saw the draw, and sure enough, we were last out. So I'm packed up, ready to go, because there's no, they're only taking one person from 10 in the wildcard. So I'm like, there's no way uh bottom of the ground that she can do this, you know. And so we um uh oh, the gal from California, I'm so bad with names. Anyway, she had run like a 13-8 or something. And like, okay, well, uh and so we went out there and Izzy, you know, she's grunting, she's giving it her all. Like she always does. And um when I look up and I see that we were 13-8 as well, and I thought, I I think, I think we just won the wild card. And then um, Jean Guatney, he was the shoot boss, and he's like, get on the horse, get he was talking about the the um grand or whatever the yeah, the victory lap horse. And I'm like, what? You know, like uh, you know, I just get her stopped, and and I'm like, you know, like we're out of breath, and and you know, and he's like, get on the you know, the victory lap horse. I'm like, you know, I I wasn't even sure of the numbers, right? Because it was just all a blur. And then um anyway, you know, and you're rubber banded in and you're trying to hurry, but anyway, that was just like so. She, you know, she won the wild card and we got to go to this. I think she ended up third in the finals, and just like, you know, she just tried so hard all the time. It was so fun. And then the one on Shoey was when he um when he ran that 16-9 too, just when he needed to win the both goals and the average at the Royal Crown. Although, yeah, you know, the slot race and the Calgary thing this last weekend were you know pretty special too.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, but he's had a good two weeks.
SPEAKER_01I feel like the 14-9 being the only 14 of the entire weekend was the I know that was a pretty big deal. And he really, I mean, he showed up when it counted.
SPEAKER_00I thought like I know, you know, like don't you feel that way about how Jarvis always just shows up when he needs to win? Like he's so amazing. Yes, and not that I'm in any way comparing, but it's it's I don't know, it's so cool when when your horse kind of comes through, even though like I'm a mess, worried about not hitting anything, and you know, and and Janna Bean had a really fast 15-0. And I thought, gosh, I don't I don't know if we can be two tenths faster this run, even though my first run it kind of got high at the first barrel. We had a few little mistakes, but I didn't, you know, I didn't know if we could fix it. So anyway, it's it's fun. Yeah, it's a magical ride. I'm enjoying every minute of it.
SPEAKER_03So well, we're enjoying watching it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we are, yeah. Last question is I just want to if there's any advice you have for not just a young barrel racer, but maybe a young one, someone just trying to be in the industry at a high level, or just like any advice that you've gotten that resonated or that you would want to give to somebody.
SPEAKER_00I think that you know, none of this happens overnight, and it is hard work that takes a long time. So, and you've I have failed way more than I have won. So you just got to keep going. And that's the other thing KG stands for is keep going because you just gotta keep going and you're gonna make mistakes and you're gonna learn, and nobody's perfect, and you just keep working on your horsemanship and your training and your and there's so much more you can the people can learn. Some of it not good on the internet, but a lot of it for with good reputable people, you can go and you can really see things before I had to go to a clinic, you know, or read a book, right? You couldn't just get on Facebook or learn something. So, but now you can get some good tips, and so I think that makes that you know maybe a little bit easier. But I I just you know, keep going, ask questions, keep trying, and know that you got to be in it for the long haul. That's that's the only way you're gonna get better. Nobody does it overnight, it just seems like it, but nobody does.
SPEAKER_02Sure, sure. Absolutely. Yeah, well, do you guys have anything else?
SPEAKER_03No, I've I've really enjoyed this video.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for having me and chatting with us.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate it. Yes, keep kicking butt. Okay, thanks. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_02Spears coffee. Really? Fucking good.