That's a Wrap Season One - Episode 10

Every champion has a story, every journey has obstacles, and every dream starts with someone willing to take the first step. We appreciate you joining us each week as we bring those stories to life. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and remember—the best stories are still being written. Season one is a wrap. Thanks for following along and please subscribe and share.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Under the Life Podcast with Ashton Roy to bring you straight into the stories of the Western world's toughest and most talented, legendary horsemen, elite rodeo athletes, and powerhouse assistants. No fluff, no filters, just real conversation about the grip, the setbacks, and the breakthroughs that build these icons. Action Roy took you behind the scenes, under the lights, to hear what it really took to get there. If you live the Western lifestyle or disrespect the grind, this one's for you. Kickback, crack a gold one, and enjoy the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Hey everyone, welcome to Under the Lights with Action Roy. I'm one of your hosts, Ashley Pietrick. I'm here with my best co-host, Roy Dingis.

SPEAKER_04 0:46

How's it going? It's college. This is it.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

This is it. We have wound down our season one of podcasting, our intro, Maiden Voyage. Roy, what do you think? How do you think it went so far?

SPEAKER_04 1:06

Well, for a couple rookies, I think we did pretty good. Um, we have some amazing guests, and you know, there's some there's some kinks that we have to work out, but I'm I couldn't be happier.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Good. Well, the one of the most major kinks that we had to work out was that our awesome producer, Britt Bailey, is taking on some really, really, really big projects. She's been incredible in in the influence of getting us up and started. This is another maiden voyage of ours. Today we are producing on our own. Um, but we're we'll be okay, I think. I hope.

SPEAKER_04 1:47

Uh, yeah, we'll be good. I think you got this.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Yeah, we do. Um you know it's been really exciting because I feel like something that was a silly, kind of up-in-the-air idea has created itself to be tangible, real. Um, a lot of a lot of views. I think currently we sit around 10,000 views, which is really good because we're hoping that a lot of people just kind of listen to us at their leisure. You know, we love those who are weekly guests and who are on us, you know, every week making sure we're out on time. But we don't, you know, if you get to us later on, we're good with that too. We're good with that too. Um, we're gonna recap a little bit because I think that we've covered so much information, so many people that we don't want to like just keep jumping real, real deep and keep doing people. We want to kind of circle back. Um, let's start with Mark Weaver. Mark Weaver was our first guest. He has created himself to be an icon as an owner with an harness racing, and he was a really fun interview.

SPEAKER_04 3:03

Mark is just a down-to-earth guy. Yeah, um uh you and I know him personally, so uh it makes it all the more sweeter when he he joins us on the podcast. Yeah, and uh, I I will say uh I had a girl from Diamond Creek reach out to me last week and she said, Hey, excuse me, say, can you say something about Sweet Lou? Right, so uh when that video comes out, and and I should have told Weaver that uh, you know, I owe you an apology because I said Sweet Lou is not gonna be a sire, he's a Yankee cruiser, you know, whatever. So anyway, I'm glad he turned out to be a great sire. Weaver, I apologize. I ate my words, and I'm glad I did.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

You not only are eating your words, I think you might be super wrong because he might even be a grandsire when it begins to produce. Yeah, but I think it's safe to say we like being wrong.

SPEAKER_04 4:03

In this case, absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah, yeah. And all of you know, one of the things that sticks out to me that Mark had brought up was he's the GM of Burke Racing. And one of the things that we don't in Harness Racing have that I think may evolve in years to come is agents, GMs, CEOs, because I don't I don't physically know how the Burke Brigade and Mark Weaver do what they do.

SPEAKER_04 4:38

There's so many moving parts to that, and I think they've uh kind of mastered that because Ronnie has his lane, weaver has his lane, Sylvia has her lane, and it's just a well-oiled machine. I mean, they might they might not think so because you know they see the interior of it, but but we don't, and I don't know how you manage that many horses, bills, etc. I it would just blow my mind.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Mind blowing and a huge shout out to Mrs. Sylvia Burke because from from my point of view, as a driver's wife, you know, a lot of times when these guys travel for um specific horses or events, you know, we're billing at a rapid rate. We typically just are barely covering the cost of our travel. I send an a bill to Burke Racing, and I'm I'm paid before I even thought. I sometimes I wonder, I'm like, oh my gosh, I didn't even realize I sent that bill. Um that is so rare. That is so rare. So uh yeah, the operation is huge. The magnitude is Pelling brought this up um a little bit like how when you're entering horses and you have all these options and all these moving pieces, like you mentioned, keeping it all straight is taxing mentally and physically, and you're gonna make mistakes. You know, horses are staked to certain things, they don't get entered on time, there's paperwork issues. Every listen, we're gonna talk about it till the cows come home. The commissions having such different rules, LASIK schedules being different, paddock rules being different, how they handle this and how they deal with it. I just it's incredible to me.

SPEAKER_04 6:31

Uh yeah, it's uh it doesn't make sense to me, and I don't know if there, I mean, I could come up with a solution easy. You could come up with a solution, but to get all these states to work together and all these commissions, I mean, it's I mean, how logical is it?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah, so so my last and final, which won't be plead to the commissions, is your lives would be easier too if we had synergistic rules, if we had synergistic drug rulings and medication allowances and LASIKs times and paddock rules, whatever that may be. But all right, moving moving on from that, because that's you know, that's my soapbox for the day. Uh Tyson Durfee, what a gentleman.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

Uh, definitely a gentleman. Uh his story from going, you know, let's say didn't have a pot to piss in to now uh owning real estate and just uh you know, actually coming out of retirement and hitting a rodeo trail again. His story just it just keeps going.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

The way he shared his story on an emotional level, I didn't expect. Um, him and Casey Fields, uh Casey Fields, excuse me, I was so appreciative that they uh told that story, the way they told their stories. But Tyson's was so interesting because I think as horsemen, we've all been there, and a lot of people are maybe embarrassed, or they you mentally like shield that portion of your life, and sometimes it's so traumatic you just physically block it out, right? And the fact that he's like, no, no, no, this is a part of who I am, and because of what I went through, I look at my future differently and my relationship with the Lord or uh, you know, my family or my children or my wife, and he's taken that and I don't want to say capitalized because that's not the right word, but he's utilized that to be better, to be bigger, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 8:49

It's pushed him to be the man he is today with his family. Yeah, you know, I don't know if he could have appreciated uh all the buckles, the world title, and his family if he didn't go through being broke and struggling. It takes on a whole different meaning when you go through that.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Yeah, uh sincerely. Um, but yeah, what what a gentleman, how much fun it is, and it's it's even more fun now as a as a horseman to to watch him back on the trail after retirement. Um, and it's it's just it's exciting for him, it's exciting for us. Um, Dr. Dye, Dr. Stephen Dye. I know Dr. Dye. I'm so blessed to know him and his gorgeous wife Peg. Um, but you didn't really know Doc Dye, right?

SPEAKER_04 9:42

I didn't, I knew the name, but I never met him or or talked to him or anything like that. So uh I was pleasantly surprised. Just uh he's my kind of people, right? He's just down to earth, and he doesn't speak in all those vet terms, and yeah, uh and they come to my state, so like how can I not like him, right? They uh yeah, his wife is uh he said my wife always wears a cowboy hat, so uh I I'm excited to meet him when I come up for the Hambo, and uh it was just a pleasure talking to him.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

He's so much fun. Um, and what a lot of people don't know about Steve Dye that I feel like I have the privilege to know is he's so connected to the youth, like to the younger. Like I've watched the way he is well, first and foremost, the way he speaks to Trista, my daughter. Um, he empowers her, you know, he asks her questions. She's part of, you know, we're a little, we're very fortunate because Doc Dye does all the big, some of the biggest, you know, stables in the Northeast, and now Lexington, you know, he handles and does the vet work for most of those big stables. Um, but he takes us on because we're sort of transplants in the state of New Jersey. I don't have a family home base here. He's become my family home base, uh, veterinary care. And uh the way he speaks to my daughter is just uh so equal, like you mentioned. Like he's an equal, he doesn't make her ever feel bad. He, if she doesn't understand something, she never has to say, Doc, or she she's never afraid to say, I have no idea what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_04 11:27

Yeah, that's awesome. He he is that kind of person. I just just from talking to him a little bit that uh when he was on here. Um, like I said, I I can't wait to meet him. He's a guy that you could just hang out with and and you know feel like you've known him for 50 years, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yeah, and one of the things that I always loved to to talk about because I feel like in rodeo we were really late to the game of um EIPH lay six use, proper lay six use. And I have so much always appreciated doc because all of the things within harness racing that you and I kind of think are just normal everyday things, um joint care, LASIKs, proper therapeutics post-race to make sure that horse recovers faster. A lot of people look at racing and they think the medications are for performance enhancing. And their therapeutic medication rulings and all of these things are far more in a med from a from a therapist from a trainer, veterinarian, driver, owner point of view. Our goal is to use medications to make our post-race more comfortable so that horses are less stressed. The goal of a horseman is to keep them your horse the least amount of stressed in any situation, and Dr. spoke about it a little bit in the use of LASIKs and why we have EIPH, the physiology of the actual horse, and he talked about that so deeply. Um, I think we're gonna have to have him on again because I think there's like so much more, you know.

SPEAKER_04 13:29

We gotta tap into that, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Because I don't care if you're a calf roper, if you're a bulldogger, if you're hazer, if you're well, barrel racers, girl, love you. Um you know, you if you don't have a background in racing, your brain automatically views medication to fix something, and sometimes it's not about fixing it, it's maintaining it prior.

SPEAKER_04 14:00

Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that are not in the sport, they they just see it. Uh, these animals are athletes, they're no different than a human athlete. You know, you'll see uh human athletes going and getting IVs of of vitamins, minerals, fluids to replenish what they lost, right? Horses are the same way, right? Our breeding program, they go faster, uh, they're more athletic, and like I said, they're absolute true athletes. So you have to do it pre-race to make sure you know they're at their best, uh, not medication-wise, but make sure they have their fluids, uh, make sure they can perform, and then after for the recovery. And people just say, Oh, they're just using medication to make them go faster, right? No, yeah. I I believe horses are born with the speed they have. Yeah, you can only help them maximize that by doing the proper nutrition, proper uh hydration, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Right, yeah, it a hundred percent. And I think you'll agree, and I I think any horseman that is trained more than 15 years, 15 years plus, can say the breed is different, the breed is exquisitely talented, it is so fine-tuned. You'll notice that the equipment we use every year is less and less and less. Horses are softer in the mouth. I love when my husband says that mare has given every one of those fools a good mouth. A lot of people don't understand what that means. It's they're easy to drive, they're polite, they're not ragey in the box, you know, in a hole in the box, you know what I mean. Um, you know, and and so our breed is so has become and is becoming so much more fine-tuned, and they're so much faster and so much more useful. And going back to, you know, we don't have maintaining them is the key. So it's funny, I just thought about this connection. When I was a kid, the only barrel racing horses that we had were cutting duds, raining rejects, rope horses that were too hot in the box, and nobody wanted to piss with them anymore. Um, and kind of whatever was left over, right? Now, in my late 30s, we've bred horses to barrel race. We're not riding quarter horses that are barrel horses today and rigging them the same way we were rigging and riding barrel horses in 1990. Racing is the same.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Oh, it's definitely the same. I remember when I was a kid, uh, we would get a pacer. Uh, you know, back then pacing was not a natural gate for a standard, right? And you would spend three weeks a month trying to get these things to pace. Well, now they they they drop from the mother, and as soon as they get their legs under them, they're pacing. Yeah, that's how much the breed has evolved. And trotters you used to have to use a lot of weight and and angles and whatever, and now the breeding has gotten so good that you just pull the shoes and they just set world records.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Literally pull the shoes. One of the things at USTA that we're working on in Europe, a lot of horses race barefoot and then get their shoes back on to train all week. Um, you know, we're working with U.S. trotting building programs to say, you know, hey, this horse raced XYZ date, which if you want to learn how to read a program, Jess Otten did the good job with us. But pretty soon we're gonna have a section in there where you'll see if the horse raced with or without shoes. And and you're right. Look at um Adios Pantalones, Trisha Aldrich, NFR last year. I think is a five-year-old, absolute monster of a horse. He runs in an O-ring. I mean, he runs in an O-ring, like you may as well just take rip that bridle off and put a halter on him. He's gonna run the same. Oh, yeah, he's gonna run the same.

SPEAKER_04 18:20

That horse is an absolute beast, like you said. Like he is he's different. He's got his own merch. Well, we so now here's my question: would he have his own merch if he didn't have that name?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yes, look at his accolades. Look at his accolades. It wouldn't have mattered if he was yellow horse, if he was registered yellow horse and he did what he did, I would wear a yellow horse t-shirt.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

Oh yeah, I agree. I'm not taking anything away from him, but I don't see sister merch. I'm a big sister fan.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

I love sister, yes, Haley Kinzel. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So if you need to call Haley and tell her that big yellow mare merch needs to come out.

SPEAKER_04 19:10

Well, I need to propose to her first and then then listen.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

I think this is a great idea. So like if we have any rodeo connection out there, we gotta hook up Haley Kinzel and Rigin just because I think it's a match made and rode heaven.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Um, but I well, and two, that's a great point. Horsemen are too busy making a living that all of those additional marketing things that our sport really, really needs gets thrown to the wayside because physically horsemen do not have the time to do it. Fallon Taylor, I I have to give her mad, mad props. She was one of the first rodeo gals to look at rodeo from a different point of view and say, this is a business way deeper, way bigger than just me grinding miles on the rodeo road, training horses, riding every day, and she's proof that it can work. Trisha Aldridge, proof that it could work. So when Haley gets you as a manager and you start her merch line, but harness racing, right? Drivers do drivers, trainers, owners do not have time to tell the world about themselves, and it's got us in the pickle we're in, because we don't have a connection anymore. The gambler is a different person than the horse lover, and so when we can make that connection back, I think, you know, not that we're all gonna buy a t-shirt, like I have an online store, teachergracing gear.com. The majority of my sales are international sales. I still have domestic sales, but um, you know, I if somebody has doesn't ever want to wear a teacher gracing shirt, no problem. It doesn't ever bother me. But hopefully that can inspire others because I was inspired by Fallon Taylor and Trisha Aldridge, and um I there's this guy on TikTok. I'm totally like jumping butt. It I don't even know who he is, and I'm shame on me, I'm just talking kind of on the cuff. He is a horse trainer that breaks colts, and he every time he's riding a goofy horse, and I'm gonna say a bad word, he says lopy lopi bitch. And I laugh every time I watch this guy on TikTok. I don't know his name, I'm sorry, I will link. Him in when this comes out because I'm embarrassed, but that's okay. I saw the other day we were at a barrel race on Saturday, and this guy walked away and his shirt said Lopey Lopey bitch. And I was like, Brilliant.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

Yeah, it is it's marketing right there.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

It's marketing.

SPEAKER_04 22:18

I don't know that guy. I've never seen him.

unknown 22:20

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Yeah, yeah. So hopefully, anybody that listens, if I don't actually link this out, which I will, I promise, um, it's probably gonna pop up on your phone anyway, because we all have iPhones and Androids. But marketing is such an essential tool because nobody's gonna do it for you, is what I learned. Um, in the midst of Timmy's my husband's career in the chaos, and I think I'm a little bit more sensitive to this because of all the things physically he goes through with the protest disease, the hip replacements, the chronic pain. Um, that I thought to myself, how is his legacy going to be left when he can't do this anymore? Because I'm not sure Timmy can be a John Campbell or a David Miller because of the physical restrictions that he has on his body or limitations, I shouldn't say restrictions. Um, and that I've watched what rodeo has done with sponsorships and marketing and partnerships, and and I thought, why can't we do the same thing? And we can.

SPEAKER_04 23:28

We can. We can. I've said that for years, you know, like uh you you know, you see all the uh the rodeo athletes patched up with all the sponsors, and you know that the sport of harness racing is uh tough enough sometimes uh to make a living. So when you have uh you know, you get drivers passed up, trainers passed up, uh at least that's a little extra income coming in every month, right? Yeah, and uh and people love marketing, and who better than uh Timmy Teetrick and Dexter Dunn to stand the winner circle and see your patch, right? Because they're the ones winning all the big races. So um I I just don't know why Harness Racing hasn't tapped into it yet. Yeah, um, I don't know, but uh marketing is a good thing. I look in my closet and I have uh I actually wore it uh the last cold day, the the tea trick racing jacket.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:27

So I see that and it reminds me uh racing. And when I was at the Hambo, they came out with the little um the cups that have all the the drivers of the Hambo, all their colors on, yeah. And every time I see that, I'm like, man, I gotta go back. So me being into business, say somebody just came and visited the races and got that, and they're like, Man, I I remember, and you they pull it out. Oh, that's a good day. Let me go back, right? Yeah, so it gets etched in your mind, and you're like, Yeah, I want to go back. So we need to do more of that, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:01

So the marketing rule of thumb is somebody has to see something three times to have recognition to it, they have to see it seven times to have understanding. And so when you feel like as a marketer, if you're marketing yourself, and and maybe I am talking to a smaller stable or a smaller owner or a smaller breeding facility, or I hell, I don't even care. If you're like the handover shoe farms, if you're the biggest of the biggest of the big, don't be afraid to sell to promote your product because people, the first time they see it, they're passing through. It's not negligence, it's not rude, it's not arrogance. They just physically don't see it until that third time. And and I'm the queen of like, well, it's not working, so we have to make a change, and consistency is kind of the key in this. Just keep doing it, just I know it, and it's not easy. Social media posting, uh you're you will feel like you're running out of things to say, to do, yeah, you know, but keep on keeping on, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 26:19

You know, uh I even make this mistake because you kind of get burnout on social media like posting, right? So you just need a break, whatever. But I have looked at all my videos, all my videos, at least I I got at least one follower from every video, and I'm thinking social media is free. We can post as many times a day as we want for free. If you want to post 50, you can post 50. If you want to post two, two. But here's the thing: if you want to grow, post and post and post. I you know, Nick and Blake told me that too, but you do get tired of it, but it's free. Why wouldn't we take advantage of that? And with drivers like Timmy, I love when he did that that series, uh Day in the Life with Tim Teacher.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Oh, U.S. trying to that, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

Yeah, I love that, right? I love into that because we see Timmy on the racetrack. We don't see Timmy as Timmy, you know, in the life riding horses, y'all as a family riding horses or broken or whatever, yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And uh, you know, I'm fortunate enough to get to know y'all, you know, and and see that it's just cool to me to see a different side, other than like y'all are real people, you live like we do, right?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

So yeah, speaking of our dogs are squeaking their squeaky toys in the back. But no, you're you're you're so you're so right. And like what that may have been the first time that I was kind of inspired to really make social media like deeper into like who we are. Now I'll be honest, I had the privilege to do that because I was working pharmaceuticals, I was on the road, he was then on the road crazy, and then when we had Trista, I was able to just stay home and work for T-Trick Racing. So it's different, and and I I understand that and I respect that for me, it's a little different because I had the privilege to make this some, you know, to to take the time to do social media, um, but with you know, and a lot of people don't have that privilege or or as much time, but that day in the life of Tim T Trick video, even I was watching it, you know, all three parts. Um, because it's you do get to see a different part, and again, it kind of goes back to my connection. I think that we've removed the connection because I remember back in the day when John Campbell, and and I don't remember the year of this was John Campbell broke his femur in Canada after an accident, and I remember reading the next day, or maybe it was a week later, I'm probably wrong, the surgeon that worked on John at the hospital up in Canada, or maybe it was back in the US, was had a statement. Anyways, it I felt connected to it because there was I felt informed, and that's something that from whenever that was. John, I'm sorry, I can't remember. Um, whenever that was till when Tim's hip replacement happened, the and and I don't know why I'm using that as an example, but somewhere in that time frame, publicity departments were no longer a part of racetracks, people could not survive solely on the news of harness racing. Um, marketing had changed. We had lost a lot of the people that promoted the sport, and and that just you know, RMP, RAP had died. It rest in peace. Marketing agencies, they just didn't exist anymore.

SPEAKER_04 30:24

Yeah, and you know, that day in the life, and uh growing up, I was a big John Campbell fan, right? He was he's who I looked up to, and I remembered uh they were doing a segment on him, and it just showed him in his kitchen going to get coffee, and and it I don't know why it intrigued me because I'm like, okay, this is he has a life outside the of the race track. And when I was younger, I'm like, this is what we want to see, like you know, and you uh I I won't harp on this uh any anymore, but Sylvester Salone, great actor, right? We know him as the like the hard ass and Rocky and this and that, and now he's on TikTok and he's making TikToks with his daughters, and it shows him in the house, and this and that. I'm like, this is so cool because you see the heart he has for his family, you see different aspects of them, and uh, I don't know. I just like I can't stop tuning in, you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Do you remember when Terry Bradshaw did the um what it was like a television series with his girls, and and he had all of his horses and all listen, cowboy being a cowboy is in. I don't care who you are.

SPEAKER_04 31:43

Absolutely, it's in. I don't know. Remember the jockeys they had Mike Smith and Sean uh I you know back then I wasn't a big Thorbread fan, but I tuned in all the time just to it's cool. I think harness racing needs to do the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

Uh I think so too. I'll work on it, but I'm busy right now. Um, okay, moving on. Casey Field. Uh remind everybody a little bit about Casey's uh the goat.

SPEAKER_04 32:13

He's uh six-time world champion bearback rider. Uh won more world titles than anybody uh in the hall of fame, and he's 30. How old is Casey? 35, maybe. But anyway, to win six titles, be in the hall of fame at that young of an age. Uh, and now he's he's an entrepreneur, he's got like three companies or something like that. Yeah, uh he's uh he was poetry and motion and on a bareback course. He's uh I've never seen anybody like him.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Yeah, it it was so nice to have him. Something that he had said in our podcast was when he was referring back to one of his accidents where he had some head trauma, extreme head trauma. And he said, We as athletes, when we get hurt, we always go to rehab, physical therapy, and we do so much work on our bodies to get our bodies back sharp to do all of these things for our physical body, and we do not do any rehab, any therapy for our mind, and he said that's a problem, and that's something that we need to change moving forward. That amount, like that statement alone blew me away.

SPEAKER_04 33:36

Yeah, that was uh I never really thought about it like that. No, uh, you know, growing up, I listened to uh motivational speakers, and uh Zig Ziglar, he was big back when I was growing up, and he said we are where we are and what we are by what we allow to go into our mind, and this it goes back to what Casey said, like the you know, preparing your mind, rehabbing your mind, uh things like that. So Casey was spot on with that.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Spot on. Um, Chuck Sylvester, trying to vote.

SPEAKER_04 34:11

Uh, one of my favorites, uh, yeah, him and Pelling were probably uh iconic, yeah, iconic. Uh, you know, it Casey and Tyson, absolutely wonderful, and you know, all of them were great, but when you look up to like Chuck Sylvester growing up, uh, and you get a chance to interview him or talk to him, it it puts it to another level. And I love to see Chuck coming on telling us all about his horses, laughing. You know, that's it's a good thing when you get uh Chuck on here and and get him laughing. So uh man, that was I I love that, and good call on that one, Ash.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Oh, okay, so so funny story. I had nothing to do with this. It was Doc Dye. Oh Dr. Stephen Die that had said to me, I think you need to talk to Chuck Sylvester, and I said, I'm not doing Chuck Sylvester, I'm still figuring out how to do this stupid podcast. Like, I like for those who may not know, I'm nervous as hell doing the podcast, and I was like, I'm not ready for Chuck Sylvester, and he was like, Yeah, you are just and so thanks to him, he him, Dr. Dye, uh really helped me with um Chuck, and then he was like, You gotta call Brett Pelling, and I was like, Oh gosh, I'm so nervous, but um, you know, that to me, so no kudos to me. That was uh Dr. Steve Dye helped us there.

SPEAKER_04 35:55

And to put it out there, Ashley, you show no nerves, you're like uh yeah, you're just as smooth as butter.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Thank you. But I I'm scared to death to do this because well, first of all, I'm not a broadcaster by any means, I have no education in broadcasting, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. If it wasn't for Brett, I wouldn't even know how to hit record. Uh but I think that look when you're strong in your conviction as a human, like I eat, sleep, breathe horses, my life is immersed in harness horses, but because of my background in rodeo and riding horses, and my I grew up in a boarding facility, so we had all these different personalities and different levels of horsemanship and ability and all these things that I realized that anytime horsemen have a very strong opinion about something, they typically are uneducated, not in an ugly sense, but in a true sense. And as a driver's wife, I have the privilege to have a lot of different personalities and ownership groups and trainers' groups, and you talk to all these people, but I'm so immersed in harness racing that we all kind of say the same things to each other with rodeo and and being at like if if I'm at a barrel race on a Friday night and I come in and somebody inevitably it always somebody comes to the trailer after you Tim T-trick's wife, one person, one person always will ask. And I'm like, we're we're people love the sport of harness racing, but we're not educating them, we're not making the connection, and and so I was like, okay, I'm so convinced I want to build this podcast because I want to let people tell the greatest of the greats, tell their story their way, but who the hell is gonna interview?

SPEAKER_04 38:04

Yeah, and I think this all came about at the NFR, didn't it? I mean, you had it before the you had the idea before, right? You gave me the confidence to push first at the NFR, and here we are. Yeah, here we are.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Legit, we were sitting, uh, we were at the you had invited us to the coolest NFR watch party at the Rio, uh, Cowboy Lifestyle Network, which I brought up a couple times, so now I have to have them as a guest in the future because I keep saying their name, and now I want people to also realize how cool they are. Um, we were at the Rio, we were just hanging out, we got to the watch party, had the best time ever. For anybody that goes to Las Vegas to see the National Finals rodeo. If you can't afford tickets or if you are shocked by the tickets, such as I am, go to a cowboy lifestyle network watch party. It's kind of better sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 39:05

It's the best one, it's the best one.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

And um, we sat around drinking beer, doing nothing, and I I think you had said, like, well, what are you doing this winter? I was like, Oh, funny you ask. And uh you said, I'll do it with you, yeah. And I didn't believe you. Yeah, I was like, Oh, I'll send him, I'll send him some stuff in a couple weeks, and he'll say, Ash, I don't have time for your nonsense. You had time for my nonsense. Thanks, Roy.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

Yeah, and I should thank Jess Sotten too for for uh she was the original, uh, supposed to be co-host.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

No, no, no, no, no, no. She was supposed to be when I originally built this, she was supposed to be the host. Oh I had her in mind.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

That yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:55

When I built the first original like prototype, I she was on my forefront of this is the person that needs to interview these people because she's incredible, yeah. Um, and her and I spoke about it at length, but we just she was doing she was in a big transition leaving the Middle Ends, um heading back to Ohio. Um, and she had all these opportunities with Caesars and Soyota, and she was working the Red Mile and she was doing Grand Circuit, and she's on Fox, and we literally like became ships in the night. And um, and I knew she had another project that she really wanted to do with her sister, which I hope comes to fruition. So I'm not gonna talk about it because I think it's gonna be amazing, and so I thought, well, let me just regroup. And so I had no plans of being on this host as a host, but uh thanks, Roy, for your help.

SPEAKER_04 41:00

Well, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Yeah, uh one guest that we had that I didn't expect that was kind of fun was Jason Arn.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

Yeah, it was it was quick because he had a tight schedule, but so we were like rapid fire, you know, as get as much as we could for 30 minutes, I think it was, but um yeah, it was fun. Uh, you know, I uh Jason's a good guy, and then his his career's taken off. Yeah, and uh I'm glad he he joined us.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

So fun. Uh so baseball, collegiate baseball superstar, yeah. Um is now with the the the crew yeah Texas Tailgators banana ball with Texas tailgators.

SPEAKER_04 41:48

Yep, you were on the right track, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

And um, I mean, he's easy on the eyes, let's be honest. So it's really fun to follow him on social media, especially when he sings Vin Skill.

SPEAKER_04 42:02

Um he had a big show last night.

SPEAKER_01 42:05

Um, yeah, he's doing good things, great things, and he was uh for anybody that watched American Idol, he was uh American Idol uh gold ticket winner, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 42:18

So top 30, I think he was.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

I think so, yeah. Yeah, top 30. Um, but he was a blast. He was really, really quick because he had to be literally on the field for game time, which was fine. You know, we we're again we're not like a news source, so we just like having, you know, we like enjoyed having him. And then and then we had Jessica on. Um I loved, I wanted to have Jess on because I feel like not all of our listeners are immersed in harness racing, which is awesome. Uh, but for those that aren't, I wanted people to be able to go to a racetrack, pick up a program, and it not look like a different language.

SPEAKER_04 43:04

Yeah, yeah, and that's exactly what it looks like. Jess was awesome. She she went through that uh very uh specifically, the the program. And uh I I know some people said, Man, I I never knew that, but I we they followed along with the the podcast and what she was saying, and now like uh they're not experts, but now they understand right, you know, the program. But I always thought that Justin liked me because she would say, Oh, hi, and then go on, right? And I think I told her on the podcast, she's very um not extrovert with me. She's she seems that way on camera, but she's very, I guess she's very private. You know her a lot more than I do.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:48

Uh, but having her on here and actually uh talking to her, yeah, and getting her to open up a little bit, uh, it was fun. We we laughed and and got to know Jess a little more, and now uh when I You're gonna be like, oh hey, old friend, right?

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Give me a hug, friend.

unknown 44:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

What I love, what I love about Jess is a lot of people don't know that she is meek and quiet and introverted, and um, she's very polite. And uh I don't want to say standoffish because that's not right, but she's not the center of attention kind of gal, because I think when you see her on television interviewing, she's so freaking good at it. It it would just as you would assume that she is just this huge, bigger than life personality, and she's not she's soft and polite, and um now. Have you met Jenna? Her little since oh yeah, that's Mom girl.

SPEAKER_04 44:56

Oh, totally different.

SPEAKER_01 44:59

That girl is the life of the party, but she's funny, she's funny, funny, funny as hell. I laugh at this girl, she's so liquidated, like nothing you've ever seen. I when the girl when Jess moved out to the east coast, because remember, I'm an Illinois transplant, and I had a really hard time when I moved to New Jersey because I just came from small town living. I mean, I was went to college and I did all that and I worked really, you know, hard and stuff, but um the east coast lifestyle is so fast and so immediate, and there's just no room for failure, there's no room for anything, and it's a huge mental tax when you're a small town Midwestern thinker. And so I remember I'd called Jess when she moved out here, and I was like, Listen, you don't know me, it's probably kind of weird, probably feel like a creep. But like, if you just ever need somewhere to be, to just be like you can always come to our house, and um, like it's quiet here, it's you know, just different lifestyle. And I she was like, You're weird. She was like, Thanks, I think, you know, she was polite, but I she probably thought like this lady's a creep. Yeah, and then having her down at the farm a couple times was like, Oh, now, you know, she understood, and and then when Jessica or when Jenna came in, she just like blew this place up like a firewall. She's so funny, she's so fun. Um, but you know, I'm so thankful for Jess for jumping on. Um, she's sort of like the the face of harness racing when it comes to you know Fox and public television, and um, you know, she's paving the way for a lot of young girls that are working really, really hard and doing great things too.

SPEAKER_04 47:10

Yeah, for sure. And you got some up-and-comers like Jenna, um, yeah, you know, Shine Christman. Uh, when I think of like the broadcasters, there's three that come to mind. It's Jess, Wendy Ross, and Talley.

SPEAKER_02 47:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:27

I mean, Nessa three, and they they've been around uh uh quite a while. A lot of years, they yeah, they all do a spectacular job, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:35

And uh and they're respected. I mean, they're respected as horsemen, they're you know, they work hard. It it's it's not an easy job.

SPEAKER_04 47:46

Um uh it's funny because I was I was with Wendy Ross out at Oak Grove, and uh yeah, you know, and she's like, uh, do you need notes? I said, No, I'm just gonna play off of what you what you do, and she uh and I'm sure Jess is the same way, I'm sure Heather's the same way because they've been doing it. They set you up not to fail, yeah, right. They don't want you stumped on a broadcast, they don't want you at a loss for words on a broadcast. So I'll give it to them, and you know, Wendy was great, uh just made it flow. There's a there's a true art to that, yeah, to what they do, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

And let me tell you, I that's why I don't want to do this, but we're doing it.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

You do it, you I play off of you, you you make it roll. And when I'm like, okay, uh, go ahead, you just step in and go right on.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

Thanks, Roy. Roy's always making me look better. That's why I love him on. I'll send you this later.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

That's the truth.

SPEAKER_01 48:54

Um, it there is a true art to it, and I was I'm I'm petrified of that. And that's why I'm like, you know, this has been a great first season of learning how to do this and in and also trying to figure out a way to enjoy it. And that's what's kind of been fun about like our guests, you know, our first season guest lists, short, concise, really awesome, but really deep, deep stories and deep people. And so I'm so thankful for for what everybody has um shared with us and and all that. Uh, our last guest of season one, Brett Pelling.

SPEAKER_04 49:33

What an honor, um, Brett Pelling. This man uh had so many great horses. You could, I mean, you it would take you a long time to write down all the great horses that he's trained, and then to disappear a little hiatus for 10 years, and then come back in and you know, uh confederate and um test of faith. And I how do you how does one do that? Pick up right where they left off on top of their game. Uh I don't know, it's amazing. And uh Brett Pelling, I've seen him many times in the paddock, just said hello in passing, but I always thought he was a standoffish guy. And I see in an old interview, he said, people think that I'm standoffish. Well, uh, when you get to know him and talk to him like we do, you see that he that's that couldn't be further from the truth. And um what an honor uh to have him on here.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

It it was so enlightening. You know, one of one of the things that I was really we didn't there was two things. Well, there was like 10, but two specific things that we really didn't get a chance to get deep into that um I had the privilege to speak to him a couple days prior to the podcast, just to kind of get an idea of like, hey, where are we going with this? Like, you know, because I just want to make sure that I allow our guests to tell their story, and uh he spoke in depth then on the phone with me about how when he made the decision to go back to Australia and was to supportive life, Joanne, and that Joanne had supported him so deeply and so intently all those years of of his career from California, move the move from California, um and into the Meadowlands and all the crazy and that when Joanne's parents were getting older, that it was the least he could do to give back to her, and that's why they had as a family made the decision to go to Perth, Australia. And he didn't get he didn't say that uh on on the podcast, but I was so in just because we got a little too busy and sidetracked, but um, I wanted that to be shared because I think that's such a pivotal conversation. I know I hear a lot of people say, Oh, Pelling left because he got in trouble, Pelling left because he was told to leave, Pelling was told to leave, or he was this, or he was that. Um, and it was like he's the kind of guy that he's not gonna correct you. Yeah, that's what you think, and that's the story of your perception, go on with it, yeah. Um, and like there's some his conviction is so just different. Um, but like going back to what you said in the paddock, like uh he's got so his wheels are turning so deep that if he doesn't say hello to you, it's got nothing to do with you. And I've always said this about Timmy, my husband. A lot of people come up to me and they're like, Your husband's a dick. And I'm like, either caught him at a bad time, yeah, or he don't want to talk to you, or you know, he he's in the middle of something, you know. While you're looking at him saying hello, he's looking at the four-horse in the 13th race that he's driving, and he sees toe clips and a shoe change, and he's panicking because he knows that that horse did not wear that the week time. You know, there's people like pelling, they're so brilliant, there's so many things going on inside that you know, we forget that when they go to the track, they're going to work. Me and you, you know, we're we're lucky. We're we used to go to work, but now we're go to the track, we have a few beers, hang out, say hello. Um, and he's just chipping away. Yeah, we also didn't get to talk about Confederate.

SPEAKER_04 53:46

Uh, I know. Oh, I thought about that later because that uh I mean, how could we not talk about Confederate? But we we were nine about 90 minutes in, yeah. You know, so uh I hey maybe we'll have a part two of Brett Pelling. Um we have a Brett Pelling Timmy Teacher or whatever. Anyway, uh, what I love about Pelling is and and I say that he picked up right where he left off, and he said it in the podcast that he got into fitness and like uh he was always evolving, right? Because in harness race, if you don't evolve with the sport and change with the sport and the breed, you're gonna get left behind. And and I think Pelling did that, he was ahead of the game when he came here, and that's that's how he did what he did when he came back.

SPEAKER_01 54:38

Yeah, I think you're right. I think that that was a huge, a huge part of how you can come back and be so successful after such an incredible hiatus, because I'm sure you know he never stopped paying attention to what was going on because he's a student of his trade, and you're right. So you you you're watching the evolution of things, he's so cerebral that he probably doesn't even mean to constantly be thinking and evolving, and you know, that's just that type of person, yeah. Um, it's like I always bring this up, and I don't know if I've ever brought it up here, but the Michael Jordan docuseries is like life-changing for me as a human because I'm so matter-of-fact in everything I do. There's oh I'm linear. If there's an A, there's a Z. If there's a left, there's a right. Everything to me has to be balanced and throughout.

unknown 55:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 55:42

That docuseries and the brain and the thought process of somebody like Michael Jordan was a weird view into my husband as a human that I didn't even know I had because they are so intense and their mind is so different than silly on me, that I now was like, Oh, I see you in a different light.

SPEAKER_04 56:07

That's what makes them the greatest.

SPEAKER_01 56:09

That's what makes them it, it's what makes them the greatest, and it's it's mind blowing.

SPEAKER_04 56:14

And Timmy is in that category, one of the greatest of all time, you know. And I'm gonna set the record straight here. Michael Jordan is the goat.

SPEAKER_01 56:23

Yes, okay. Well, I'm with you. I I do not, I agree. I'm not even gonna say anything else. I agree.

SPEAKER_04 56:30

That's all needs to be said.

SPEAKER_01 56:32

That's all that needs to be said. Um, before we move on, we're gonna answer some questions in a little bit, but before that, we're gonna hear from our sponsor over at Cow Puncher Coffee, and uh, then we'll see you right back.

SPEAKER_00 56:45

Thank you to our great sponsor, Cow Puncher Coffee, for the day. It isn't just a cup, it's a kick in the saddle. Bold, smooth, and built for early mornings and long days. It fuels the kind of determination that gets work done. Rich, flavor without the bitterness, strong enough for the arena, smooth enough for the pork. Find it at cowpunchercoffee.com.

SPEAKER_01 57:11

We are so thankful to have partnership with Cow Puncher Coffee, our friends Jim and Trish. It's been a fun ride, and you were friends with Jim and Trish prior to our podcast.

SPEAKER_04 57:24

Yeah, great people. Uh, I met him up at uh Tucker Brown. He's got a ranch up here in uh Texas, and he has a bull sale every year, and uh a horse sale at a bull sale every year. It's a big to-do, and uh, and then they have a big feed at night. And uh Trish and Jim were set up there uh selling their coffee, and and and I said, Man, this is really good. And uh they use the the cast iron uh to do their beans, and it's really good. So I I made friends with them, and uh we've been friends ever since, and and we thank them for jumping on and supporting uh under the lights with Ash and Roy.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

Yeah, we really, really do. You can always check them out at cowpunchercoffee.com. Their product is incredible. I mean, I'm just consistently blown away. I'm a big coffee drinker. Uh, just for a reminder, I love the pignon flavor, it is my favorite.

SPEAKER_04 58:24

Blueberry is mine.

SPEAKER_01 58:26

I still can't believe that loves blueberry.

SPEAKER_04 58:30

Have you tried that yet?

SPEAKER_01 58:31

Okay, so I'm gonna be honest with you, I haven't literally sitting right next to my coffee pot because I kind of like so. As a joke, I was gonna keep it because I thought you were coming for the Metal Lands, and so um, but I'm just gonna try it because now you're not coming for the Metal Lands paste. So I I'm just gonna drink it and then I'll order a new one for when you come for the Hamiltonian.

SPEAKER_04 58:58

Yeah, I want your review.

SPEAKER_01 59:00

All right, okay, promise. And anybody else that is um out there, when you get your cow puncher coffee, tag us in it, tag Cow Puncher, post about it as much as you can because it's you know, a small company, they do such an incredible job. Um, they care so deeply about their product and and those whom whom enjoy their product. So you'll love the community that it brings as well. It's not just a good cup of coffee, but uh it's a good community. Okay, it's Texas, you know, like Casey Field said most Texans are they just think they're the best all the time. I do love Texas. All right, I'll give it to them because everything is bigger in Texas.

SPEAKER_04 59:53

It's true.

SPEAKER_01 59:55

We are going to move on. We started a question review back in Jason Arnes uh podcast because we had a little overwhelmed with a lot of questions, which is awesome. We love them. Keep sending us your questions, uh, post them, tag us in it. We absolutely love it. But we do get a um, we've had a lot of questions recently that I'm gonna kick to Roy. And some of them are some of them are a little weird, but I we we like weird.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:28

We really you're gonna answer two.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:32

If if I it it probably because I don't yeah, I talk a lot, so I'm sure I'll be in there. Um one of the the one we got the most. How many times does a horse race and do they race multiple times in a day?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:49

Yeah, so usually uh standard breads can go once a week, usually, and yeah, very rarely more than that. Yeah, very rarely, you know, that there's certain times that they do go two heats in a day, but very, very rare. Um, but usually once a week. And as a trainer, I like to race a horse maybe three three times and then give them a week off, three times, or you know, something like that. I don't like to go four or five weeks in a row. Sometimes you have to, but I think three is max for me, and then take a week off, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:22

So looking back at US Trotting, when I was answering this question, because US Trotting has a database called Pathway. Um, Pathway is insane, like the most incredible data, AQHA. You guys need to go and look at Pathway because you need Pathway for H. But, anyways, um, on average, horses race 26 times a year. That was the average. I didn't know some 30, some 10, some 15. But that was that was the average based on, I think I grouped in like six of that. So it that's not really the truest, but um horses that races you have 20 20 ish times a year. Um, no multiple times in a day, unless it's heat racing, it's specifically specified. Um in the United States, the only heat racing we have left is the little brown job.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:20

That's it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:22

Yeah, that's it. Yeah, because our Hambo's no longer heat racing.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:28

No, charity's no longer correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:33

Yeah, okay. What is your goal for this podcast? That was a question I got.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:39

Uh my goal is you got two worlds colliding, and I say not colliding, but coming together. Uh, two and two sports that I love, rodeo and harness racing. And I, you know, I I think rodeo needs to see harness racing, harness racing needs to see rodeo. And I think when we bring them together, we're talking about patching up the the rodeo athletes. I think that harness racing could learn a lot from rodeo, and I I think get some rodeo athletes into harness racing, they could really blow up uh harness racing uh on a social media level and just uh eyes on the sport.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:17

Yeah, I I love that. I you know, I was thinking about this the other day. We were when you and Wendy were at Oak Grove on the broadcast, you both were in your cowboy hats.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:29

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:37

Because rodeo are our people. People that love rodeo will love harness racing, people that love harness racing will love rodeo. There is something you're you just have whatever it is, I don't know what it is, and I always think back to like being a mom and having a little girl, and I always would say things like you sit at the tables of people that bring you up and not tear you down, yeah. And for a lot of my life in in harness racing, you know, and I'm very, very fortunate that the last 15 years has been predominantly grand circuit because of my husband's success. And I always watched harness racing try to fit into the mold of thoroughbred racing, and I always felt like we're a puzzle piece that doesn't fit. We just thoroughbred racing, which I love by the way, but I just feel like that mold is never going to deeply on on the masses, in the masses, not just like me and you. They're never gonna appreciate this little brother of their sport, and standard bread and and harness racing is never going to fit that puzzle piece into what the thoroughbreds demand, yeah. And I feel like harness racing in rodeo is the puzzle piece that fits together, you know. Maybe my dream is that at the Hambletonian this year to see everybody in a straw hat, and it's a big event. So if you want to wear your felt, uh, you can wear your felt. It's a big um, but you know, I just feel like that's the puzzle piece. That's it. And and finding your people is so valuable in the growth of your product, whether your product is standard harness racing, rodeo, t shirts, adios, pantalones tops, and I'm gonna have to get one and wear it. Um whatever that is, that's I I just feel like that's a good puzzle piece. And when I saw y'all on the um screen with your hats, and I was like, hallelujah! So be in life.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:03

Good call from Wendy on that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:05

Oh, did she call? Did she say where we're at?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:07

Yeah. And she said, I she called me. She said, Hey, do you have another cowboy hat that might fit me? Because I forgot mine at the house. I said, Yeah, I got you. No worries. But it was her idea, and I liked it. It was a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:20

It was a good idea. I'm here for it. I am, I love it. Okay, on to the next question. What oh, this is interesting. What is something that your family passed to you that you are very proud of?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:34

Uh patience. Patience and love. My family, uh it doesn't matter what I did, they never harped on uh accusing me of something. Um they just let it roll off their back and say, you know what, you you messed up, and yeah, and it's good. And and then patience. Um, I didn't learn patience till till later. Um, my grandfather, who was the uh horse trainer, uh being young, you're impatient. I had a temper, and as I got older and I looked back, said, you know what? He hit one of his greatest traits was uh he didn't get mad and he had patience, and and it took me a while to get there, but I'd say that's probably the biggest trait.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:17

Patience. That's my brother.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:22

Yeah, Tony, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:26

I think mine was kindness. Um my dad was uh one of 13, and uh the second youngest of 13. He was the only one that um, well, not the only one. A couple of them, a couple of his brothers and sisters had the opportunity to go to college. My dad put himself through college, and he was a VP with the meritech downtown Chicago. And it didn't matter if it was the gentleman holding the door. No, my dad was a dairy farmer, grew up as a dairy farmer, so went from dairy farming to college to corporate America, and whether it was the man that held the door at his office building or the bathroom attendant or the CEO, he treated everybody the same. Yeah, and I I didn't realize that he did that until I was in my you know mid-30s or whatever. But um, that to me was pivotal to to growing as a maturing as a person and growing and getting older, and getting to where you want to be as you climb a ladder of success, you have to make sure that you take everybody up that ladder too.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:49

Yeah. And people that watch this podcast or or listen to this podcast that don't that doesn't know Ashley. Uh, as long as I've known Ashley, she's uh when you when she greets you, she's always got a smile, whether it be me or anybody else, uh, you're always smiling, you're always inclusive. Like, hey, how are you? Nice to meet you, and you're always that happy go lucky uh person. And you know, I always appreciate it about you. And Timmy is uh what you talked about Timmy earlier, you know, people think that he's standoffish, but Timmy's great guy, and you two, you're total opposite, but yet you mesh well.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:28

We are the opposite. Yeah, we we are we are very, very, very different. But and he's a lot of people think Timmy's ignorant or arrogant, and he's actually really shy.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:42

Yeah, I am yeah, I've never seen that, but I can I can see people would think that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:48

Yeah, and like he always says, he's like, I unless we're talking about a horse, I don't, I don't, I don't know what to talk about. Where you know, meanwhile, I'm over there yapping.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:01

You know, you know what I love about Timmy, especially what like when we go to the NFR, is uh and you're the same way, but Timmy's a little different because he's so quiet. Uh you introduce him to say Casey Field, he appreciates that. He's like, Oh, this is so cool, right? And he'll tell you, hey, man, that was awesome, you know. So uh that's the cool thing about Timmy is he kind of he loves that world and he appreciates you know being there and and and meeting these people, dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:32

He gets completely geeked out. He gets like, I'll never forget one time we were somewhere after party, this was years ago, and Billy Epbauer walked past us, and I thought Timmy was gonna have a stroke. Now, okay, I was probably overserved, or I didn't see him, I don't really know, but I did not see Billy walk by and I'm like, you're out of your mind. That was not Billy Epbauer, and he was so aggravated with me because he was geeking out like a little kid on Christmas morning. He could not believe it, he could not believe it.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:09

Billy stands about five foot tall.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:12

I know, I mean, and so do I. So I I would have had a good view, so I don't know, I was probably overserved, but he was like, would not stop talking about it because it's like emotional for him because, like, these are you know, like those are his heroes too, because he knows what it takes to do what they do because he does it with his job.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:36

I love Billy Art. Yeah, but yeah, absolutely the greatness, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:41

He appreciates it. Um, okay, is there something in a different sport that you would like to try if you knew you were gonna be good at it?

SPEAKER_04 1:11:51

Uh I always said uh, you know, I always loved baseball, so baseball is always a passion of mine. And oh, I was good at it, but I decided to ride bulls instead of pursue my baseball career. So I always look back and said, Man, what if I stuck with baseball and and tried that avenue?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:09

That's interesting. Yeah, um that's would you be where you are today if the road was easier?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:18

No, no, absolutely not. I don't I think anyone that's had success uh will say the same thing because the hardships is is what pushes you, the hardships is is what makes you uh gives you character and it gives you a story, right? So so when you're you're talking to people just like Tyson Durfee, uh when you're talking to people that are where you were, you have a story and say, hey, it's gonna be all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:47

Yeah, yeah, that's a good that's a good one. Um what is this? I like this one. This was a weird this the question came in a little different, but I'm gonna move it for us. Um, what is a piece of harness racing history and rodeo history that you are completely intrigued by?

SPEAKER_04 1:13:18

History, I mean, you always they're going such fast miles today that you know those things stick out to me. Um history like Muscle Hill uh sticks out to me when in the Hambo. Um Bulldog Hanover, 45 and 4. Yeah, and and I'll never forget like uh I remember uh being at the Red Mile when Mission Brief trotted a two-year-old race, 50 and 3. Yeah, is the world record and Sam McKee calling the race. I think it was Sam. Uh that is the first time I actually got like goosebumps. Uh, I think it was the call and how fast she went, but uh, and then and then uh the other one that sticks out in my mind, the explosiveness of Confederate. Yeah, I've never seen a horse like absolutely explode like that horse could. So I mean, there's so many memories. Like, how do you how do you pinpoint one, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:20

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:21

So I mean, that like I told you earlier, Donnie Gaces is uh, you know, and yours is gonna be way different, right? You probably don't have any of them on your list.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:31

Um one, but no, right.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:34

Mine are the yeah, way different, and it might be a total thing, but Donnie Gay says, Hey, what girl's the prettiest? Well, it just depends who's looking, right? So yeah, so that's where I am. Uh, what what are what are yours?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:47

Uh back to goosebumps. The first time, this is this is so stupid. First time that I ever had goosebumps like crazy is so silly that I'm almost embarrassed to tell you. Our homebred in an overnight, a no land space day in race one, um, won in 49 flat. Of course, we bred on my own the mother, and I it was I had tears in my eyes. George Teague laughed kindly at me so hard because he's like, Timmy has won two million dollar races for George Teague and and a $750,000 race, and that was a $20,000 non-winners of two or three, I don't even know. And he's like, I've never seen you so happy in my life, but that was all fun and funny aside, but Chartin at the Meadowlands, 46 and 4, and wrapped up, wrapped up, never put the whip on her tail. You know, she wore earplugs under her hood, so you couldn't pop her earplugs, but um just in the handholds, never touched her, just smooched her, and and and I don't know how fast that mirror could have gone that day. And it didn't matter, nobody's ever gonna know. It was so easy for her, yeah. Um, the other thing that got me the other day, which was pretty emotional, was David Miller hitting 300 million. I think it like emotionally really hit me because I understand the mental hours and the time, and you know, because of my driver's perspective, that's more of my immersion these days. I I hope David is as proud of David as somebody silly like me is as proud of David, because there's so much that that these drivers have to give up to even get near that. And um I just was I was just so emotional about it, and I don't know why, I don't know why I was so emotional about it, but that milestone to me was like wow, mind-bow.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:11

Yeah. For me, David Miller is right there up on top of the list for me, right? And uh sentimentally too, just because he's been doing it so many years. And when you say, hey, who's the greatest driver or whatever, uh, David Miller just doesn't pop into your head, is you're thinking John Campbell, uh, you know, Ron Pierce, uh, things like that. Uh but David Miller should be like that, yeah. And he is for me, but if you just ask somebody off the cuff, right? David Miller, like he sat in the weeds, like he's always sitting in the weeds, but he's always there in every big race, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:53

Um, he goes to every dance and he does it well. It was so that's the perfect Donny Gay. Like, who's the best driver? You know, well, yeah, but um that to me, I don't know. Like, man, that was uh when I look at that milestone, I internalize the sacrifice that it took to get there, and I think that's why like it's so emotional for like someone like me, but um, yeah, David just just a monster. I just and he said most kind, unassuming, laid back. He is too cool, dude. I mean, I don't even know how to explain it. I think a lot, um, you know, this is a dumb comparison to some people wouldn't get it, but I think of David Miller the same way I think of Andy McCarthy. There's something so innately special about them, they're so kind. They they speak coarse, you know, like they have a connection with horses in a way that like I don't think the general public ever gets the chance to see. So, so okay, back to our marketing schemes and lifestyle. We need like a couple of guys and gals to like take on David Miller and do his marketing and and Annie McCarthy because because I think if the world were to be able to see these people, like who they are on the inside, you just fall in love with them.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:31

Just good good people, just good people, yeah, for sure. Oh, and and to answer your other question, um, about rodeo, uh, I love all of the world. Um, I'm I'm gonna go towards the bull ride inside. Uh, when Jose V Tor Lemy was 98 and three quarters, uh, you know, that was unbelievable. And what sticks in my mind is the 1999 PBR finals, there was like nine 90 plus point rides. We're talking Chris Shivers is 96 or 96 and a half, and Ty Murray's 95 and a half. I mean, uh, that's the two moments in rodeo history that that kind of stick out to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:12

Uh that's awesome. Like, I it's so hard to fathom that that even just happened. Um, like you're absolutely right. I this isn't really a milestone, but I think it should be. But when you brought her up earlier, so I apologize for the redundancy. I want to, I would die to to see like a day in the life of Haley Kinzel and sister, because for a mayor that has been so incredibly successful, so for and so so on top of her game for so many years and so consistent and so on fire. I mean, like, I think of like Louie, uh Lisa Lockhart's Louis gelding the buckskin, and there of uh Christy Peterson's bozo, if you want to get way, way, way back there. Um Martha Josie's, Joby Jam, and like all these horses that are so incredible. I want to see the care, like I want to know what that inside scoop is. I want to see what their everyday is like, and and I just I absolutely would die to see that.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:29

Yeah, that would be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:31

Yeah, yeah. Well, when you when you take Haley out on a date, you think you could phone a friend like maybe after the third or fourth date?

SPEAKER_04 1:21:42

Yeah, I got you. I got you. Don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:46

All right, we're at the call our pal Kathy Myers, maybe to make this happen. Anyway, well, moving on. We've got quite a few more questions, but I think I think they'll play into later on too. But thanks to all of our listeners for first of all for welcoming us to your home, uh, you know, or your car or your AirPods or wherever the hell you listen to us at. Um, this has been an absolute blast. Roy, you've made this so much easier than I originally expected. So thank you. Oh, but thanks again to the listeners who who followed us and who keep kind of chiming in. And if if a podcast here and there doesn't suit you, that's okay. We don't mind, you know. Yeah, go on to the next.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:38

Yeah, well, yeah, I appreciate you having me on. It was it's it's been a lot of fun. And uh what I would want to know uh from our listeners, uh in the comments on on our social media, like who do y'all want to see uh next season?

SPEAKER_01 1:22:55

Who do y'all want to see next season? Yep, yep, we're we are ending season one, you know, we're horsemen, so summer gets crazy. So we're gonna end season one and then start our revamp. So let us know, people, friends, businesses. Um, and and we will try to make that happen for you guys because uh we know that we kind of maybe even overlook some stuff. So we love to hear from y'all on who you want us to to partner with and to bring on the podcast. And uh again, a big thank you to Cowpuncher Coffee for jumping on when they had no idea what the hell we were doing. We didn't know what the hell we were doing. Uh, head to cowpunchercoffee.com. You know, tag tag everything and tag your your pictures and your and let us know what your favorite coffee is, if it's blueberry or not.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:54

Gotta be.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:56

And um, so moving on to season two, we're looking for corporate sponsors. So as y'all are here listening to us, you see cowpuncher down in the corners. If you follow us on Instagram, you will see that we love you know sharing all of our um you know sponsors and partners. If you have any interest in partnering them with us, we'd love, love, love to hear from you. So DM us on Instagram if you know us personally. Give us a call. We're pretty easy to deal with, we'll make anything work for y'all. So uh another before we go, big thanks to Bob Hollywood Haiti. Hollywood Bob always is my go-to when I'm looking at statistics, and when I'm like, man, I don't want to sound like an asshole. Like, hey, is this right? Is this makes sense? You know, when I'm looking up um some of the people's are are are you know are their accolades and all their stuff? So thanks, Bob, for helping me on the back end. Um, thank you, producer Britt Bailey. You've been a huge, huge supporter, and and we're gonna really miss you moving forward because I know you got bigger and better things, but I'm still gonna bother you like crazy. So be ready for me. And thanks, Roy. You're uh you're my go-to guy.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:14

Well, thank you. And we're gonna hopefully we get to do some uh live uh podcast uh when I come up to uh Jersey.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:22

That would be awesome. Yeah, yeah, just make me even more nervous than I already am. Awesome. Well, thank you again for all of our listeners. We are so so thankful to have you all, and we appreciate you so much. We're gonna have at the closing of season one, we're gonna have Jim and Trish on with us in a couple weeks. They're doing some major revamp work um among uh um uh Cow Punch of Coffee, and so they need a little bit more time. We'll get them on for season one, and then we'll revamp and see y'all on season two. So thanks again for having us.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:58

That was another episode of Under the Lights with Act and Roy. Thank you to the sponsors and Cow Puncher Coffee for this episode. Whether you're headed home from the arena or just getting your day started, we're glad you spent some time with us. Around here, it's all about the stories behind the grind. We want you to be part of the story too. So comment, connect, and follow right here on this platform. And don't miss the house. Whatever life is that you're writing, stay fast, stay true, and we'll meet you right back here next time under the lights with that.