Page 84 - June 2015

Makynzie Brown
a 11-year-old seventh-grader at
Jones Middle School in Jones, oklahoma by Tracy Gantz
Mt Rob This Corona doesn’t like people. She chases them out of her stall, and she lets them know that she doesn’t
want them to fuss with her. However, the mare has always made an exception for Makynzie Brown. Mt Rob This Corona, known as Hippie because of her long mane and forelock, bonded with the young girl almost from birth.
“No one could go near her but Kynzie,” said Robbin Caldwell, Makynzie’s grandmother, who runs a tack shop on the backstretches of Remington Park, Will Rogers Downs, and Fair Meadows.
Max Thomas Sr. bred Mt Rob This Corona, and he started Makynzie on her path to racehorse ownership. Makynzie and Robbin campaigned Hippie to four wins, including the 2011 Don Steele Memorial Stakes, and earnings of $87,174. Now the mare is producing runners for them.
“She can be a brat sometimes,” said Makynzie, “but we kind of grew up together.”
Robbin Caldwell and her granddaughter Makynzie Brown with their award as owners of Oklahoma High-Point Three-Year-Old Filly Mt Rob This Corona
Coming from a family of “six generations of cowboys and cowgirls,” Makynzie has almost
a magic touch with all of her horses, whether they are racehorses or her barrel racers.
Makynzie did leadline at six months of age and was competing in barrel racing, pole bend- ing, and goat undecorating at two. Makynzie’s mother, Lynzie Schindler, is a beautician, and her aunt Tana trains the family’s racehorses.
When Robbin works at her tack shop, Makynzie often helps on the weekends. Everyone comes through the shop, leading to a sense of family with all of the backstretch workers and their kids. Robbin and Makynzie hold bake sales to raise money for the youngsters to go to such events as the National Little Britches Rodeo in Colorado.
“We took 13 kids from the racetrack to the Little Britches finals last year,” said Robbin. “We had three bake sales. Kynzie just loves doing it—helping me bake the cakes.”
Makynzie already has about 30 buck-
les from various competitions and has won Edmond Junior Rodeo all-around titles several times. She trains the horses herself and has even helped transition former racehorses into second careers as barrel racers.
She is also very involved with Hippie’s foals. “I’ve helped foal most of them out and helped ground-break them,” she said.
Makynzie and Masked Project, or Splash, running barrels at the
2014 Little Britches Rodeo
The first ones are now two year olds—the Quarter Horse Mt Tac Me Up, by Tac It Like A Man, and the Paint filly Ulikemenow, by Texas Six.
Robbin and Makynzie have already turned down six figures for Mt Tac Me Up. Like
his mother, he’s fast away from the gate, and Robbin told Makynzie that he could be a great barrel racer for her after his racing career. Hippie also has a yearling colt by Favorite Cartel and 2016 foals on the way by Rock Solid Jess and Tac It Like A Man.
“It’s pretty cool to own racehorses,” said Makynzie. “I’m on the backside a lot. I enjoy helping people find things at the tack shop and helping my aunt at her barn.”
Makynzie has not only been to the Oklahoma racetracks, she has traveled to Ruidoso Downs and Los Alamitos. “I love going to the paddock—it’s one of my favorite places,” she said. “You get to see the jockeys.”
Like most owners, she also loves being in the winner’s circle. When Sleepy Gilbreath trained 2011 All American Futurity winner Ochoa, he invited her to be in the win photo.
All of her horse activity doesn’t mean that Makynzie ignores her studies. She is a good student, being on the principal’s honor roll, and she is active on the student council.
Her long-term career goal is to be a large- animal veterinarian—she already knows she will be too tall to be a jockey. But in the shorter term, she hopes to gallop horses on the race- track when she turns 16.
Makynzie will also continue honing her barrel racing skills, perhaps to get a college scholarship to Oklahoma State University or Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Given her ability with Hippie, working with horses in some capacity will likely always be a part of Makynzie’s life.
82 SPEEDHORSE, June 2015
YOUTH INDUSTRY PROFILE