Page 40 - August 2016

Looking back at the Mixer accomplishments,
The Mixer Ranch started their breeding program with one mare, Stylish Sign, shown here at age 20 now retired and living her days at The Mixer Ranch.
“For my family, being a mom and practicing veterinary medicine was a perfect mixture.”
Stakes winner Second Painted Sign, who is out of Stylish Sign, stands at Bowlan Farms in Tecumseh, Oklahoma. His first foals will race in 2017.
Along with racing Mixer homebreds,
Sara also partnered with Tom Lepic on the multiple graded stakes-winning mare Spit Curl Diva (Spit Curl Jess – Some Kinda Diva, Some Dasher), who went on to become AQHA Champion Mare in 2010 and 2011 and Champion Aged Runner in 2010
and now holds a 37-19-10-2 record with $829,353 in earnings.
In 2016, Sara is running 2 year old Coronas First Diva (Corona Cartel – Spit Curl Diva, Spit Curl Jess) and A Tres Of Paint, who went three for three at Remington Park and was named this year’s Remington Park Champion 3 Year Old. “A Tres Of Paint gives you all she has every time, no matter how she feels,” Jill says.
Multiple stakes winner First Painted Sign (#9), shown here winning the 2010 Speedhorse Gold & Silver Cup Futurity at Fair Meadows, is out of Stylish Sign.
CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE
Looking back at the Mixer accomplishments, Jill sees her biggest success as their breeding program. “It’s taken 10 years to really start getting it established. It didn’t happen overnight,” she says. “I have a lot of team work between Robert and my family, our farm help, and other veterinarians. I have to give the most appreciation to Robert, who starts the yearlings in the round pen before we start getting them ready for the sales. He’s the one who teaches them respect for their handler. He thinks like a horse thinks. We hear from people all the time who buy them and say, ‘Oh, they’re so easy to break; they just do what you want.’ That’s all due to Robert working with them.
“I also have to give credit to Juan Chavez, our main caretaker at The Mixer Ranch, who’s been with us for nearly 12 years. He also works at Remington Park as a valet and on the gate crew; he’s a workaholic!
“And then there are my kids,” she adds. “Duke and Ryan were 11 when we moved to the ranch (that later became The Mixer Ranch). They’d feed before school and clean stalls after school. Even when they were in high school and had wrestling practice twice a day, they’d get up at 5 a.m. and feed the horses. They’d sit at the kitchen table and say, ‘We don’t care if we never see another horse again!’” she laughs. “I still remind them of that all the time: I say, ‘Look at you now; you’re both in the horse business!’”
Giving credit where it’s due is something that those who know Jill send back to her. “We first met 22 years ago when I was at Remington Park with Develop A Plan, who went on to be the first of five AQHA Champions I trained,” says Janet VanBebber. “She was my vet for the meet there and I immediately took a liking to her. Like me, she was a hard worker, a good
Robert Mixer works with the yearlings in the round pen, teaching them respect and giving them a good start.
38 SPEEDHORSE, August 2016
Gayla Segura Mixer Ranch
Amanda Glidden