Page 86 - June 2017

Their Industry Family
Over the years, Betty and Dee have stood, bred, foaled, and been the home to industry greats at Belle Mere Farm, including Easy Jet in 1985.
“Bully Bullion stood with us from the time he was four until he passed away in 2014 at age 30,” says Betty. The fact that the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame stallion’s owner Jean Chavers wanted him buried at Belle Mere Farm, close
to the family that he was with all those years, is testament to Betty and Dee’s loyalty to the horses that helped make Belle Mere Farm a success. “Even though Bully never belonged to us, he was a huge part of my family and the love my parents had for that horse cannot be measured,” says Dawn.
Betty and Dee also cared for AQHA Hall
of Fame inductee Eastex after he was brought back from Mexico by a group of U.S. horsemen. Eastex passed away while at Belle Mere in 2013 at age 32. “For my mom, those horses aren’t just a way to make a living; she loves and cares for them all,” says Dawn.
Mr Eye Opener, a leading living broodmare sire, now age 27, came to them off the track as a four year old and has been retired for four years. “That’s something that makes you feel very, very good, to have two stallion owners who have been with you that long. It’s very gratifying. We’ve had some great stallion owners — Mr Eye Opener was owned by the late Dale Smith, and is now owned by his son, Jim, and wife, Dorothy.”
The Rapers have formed friendships with these and many others in the horse industry, including Debbie Schauf ’s family, who live in Oklahoma City. “When our house blew away in a tornado in May 1999, Betty and Dee were right there to take us in and let us live with them until we figured out where we were going to go and what we were going to do,” says Debbie. “They’re just part of our family.”
“That tornado took everything they owned; it stripped the ground,” recalls Betty. “They dug with a Bobcat for three days trying to find whatever they could. Her daughter Krissy worked for us in the office and had a baby two months old. To be able to have them hug you and say thank you for
Over the years, Betty and Dee have stood, bred, foaled, and been the home to many industry
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84 SPEEDHORSE, June 2017
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Million-dollar sire Mr Eye Opener, now 27, came to the Rapers off the track as a 4 year old and remains at Belle Mere Farm where he has been retired for four years.
Betty and Dee cared for AQHA Hall of Fame inductee/ Champion Eastex after he was brought back from Mexico by a group of U.S. horsemen. Eastex passed away while at Belle Mere in 2013 at age 32.
Dee and Betty with Champion Bully Bullion at Christmastime in 2011. Bully Bullion stood at Belle Mere from four until he passed away at 30, and he is buried at the ranch where he lived for most of his life.