Page 87 - May 2016

GLENN STODART
An 18-year-old senior at Davis High School who lives in Wynnewood, Oklahoma
by Tracy Gantz
Given Glenn Stodart’s pedigree, riding and training barrel horses would seem a natural career path. It is
certainly one he loves. His parents, Craig and Lea Stodart, run C Hanging C Performance Horses in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. His mother Lea is an accomplished barrel racer and trainer, and his father Craig is a trainer and first-class farrier.
Yet Glenn’s excellence in school—he will be class valedictorian when he graduates from high school—could lead him in a different direction.
“I’ve always loved the idea of flight,” said Glenn, who may pursue a degree in aerospace engineering.
While Glenn’s mother laughs when she thinks about Glenn’s possible future going
in two such different directions, she’s pretty sure Glenn will eventually take over the fam- ily business.
It’s one that Glenn has been immersed in from his earliest memories. Lea and Craig initially raised their children in Wyoming and moved to Oklahoma in 2008.
“I’ve lived on a ranch my whole life,” said Glenn. “I don’t remember a day without horses.”
In Wyoming, Glenn competed in junior rodeos, doing the usual youth events, from barrels and poles to breakaway roping and goat tying. He rode a few cutting horses as well, but it didn’t take long for him to focus on barrels.
Glenn aboard Flippin Marvelous, by Flipmia, at the Diamonds & Dirt Barrel Horse Classic in Bryan, Texas, in March of 2013. He rode the 2009 gelding to an amateur finalist in the Diamonds & Dirt and also qualified him to the AQHA World Junior Open.
Glenn Stodart with his barrel horses, 2010 gelding Flippin Terrific, which he qualified to the AQHA World Junior Open, and 2011 mare Ill Flippin Moonya, both sired by Flipmia, who stands at C Hangin C Performance Horses.
Lea and Glenn even won World Championships on the same horse, the Paint mare Flipmia Verse. Lea first won a Paint World Championship in pole bending on “Pokey” in 2008. Glenn then took over on the mare, winning back-to-back barrel racing World Championships in 2010 and 2011.
Glenn rode Flippin Marvelous to an amateur finalist in the Diamonds & Dirt Barrel Futurity and the Jud Little Barrel Bash. He also qualified the full brother to Flippin Marvelous, Flippin Hilarious, to the AQHA
World Junior Open.
All are by the Quarter Horse stallion
Flipmia, who stands at C Hangin C, including Flippin Terrific, another horse Glenn qualified to the AQHA World Junior Open. Glenn likes the blending of cutting pedigrees with racing pedigrees for barrel prospects.
“We’ve had a lot of cow-bred horses, and a lot of our mares are old running blood,” he said.
The ranch’s stallions include Jodys Money Pop, a multiple graded stakes winner and earner of $303,026 on the track.
“Lately, we’ve been trying to get new running blood as well because in barrel racing, the track
blood is popular,” Glenn said. “What has fit us is kind of a mix, and it’s what we prefer to ride.”
The size and the speed of racehorse breed- ing coupled with the quick-turning ability and
the mindset of a cutting horse works well for the entire Stodart family, Glenn said.
Glenn enjoys being involved in breeding decisions, especially as he moves into training. He has been working with futurity and derby barrel prospects for the past couple of years.
“My first futurity colt was kind of trial and error,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better futurity colt. He showed me what it’s going to be like. Before him, I had just ridden finished horses.”
Glenn discovered the joy in helping futurity horses learn their job and seeing the light bulb go off in their head when they figure it out.
When he isn’t working with barrel horses or studying at school, Glenn pursues a variety of outdoor hobbies that include fishing, hunting, skeet shooting, and swimming. During middle school and into high school, he wrestled and made the state finals two years in a row. He also serves as his local FFA president and has been an officer for the past three years.
But his passion remains with the barrel horses.
“My goal is to get better and win futurities,” he said. “I love the challenge of barrel rac-
ing and working with young colts. It is a very frustrating sport because there are so many variables. But when it does work, it’s exhilarat- ing. There’s no feeling like it.”
SPEEDHORSE, May 2016 85
YOUTH INDUSTRY PROFILE
Pixel Worx
Leah Rogers, Speedhorse