Page 58 - May 2017

Renee’s parents Wallace and Jacque Schuehle
They say that when one door closes, another opens. Yet, Renee Spiller’s barrel-racing door never did close. She simply walked through the next portal into the racehorse world, leaving her possibilities wide open for producing horses that fit either or both careers.
“We now breed exclusively for barrel and racehorses,” she says. “Most of our mares are bred to go both ways, either to the track or to the barrel pen.” Renee and Charles Spiller’s 7-year-old stud Jets Quick Fortune (Jet Black Patriot-Miss Fortune Lady, Royal Quick Dash) stands at their Spiller Quarter Horses facility in George West, Texas. Jets Quick Fortune is
a straight racehorse. However, their other two stallions, Ima Talented Guy (Frenchmans Guy- Talents Dark Angel, Flaming Talent) and Triple Vodka (Tres Seis-Newport Lily, Stoli) are geared toward crossing the aisle. Both of these stallions stand at Blanchet Farms.
Charles and Renee Spiller operate
Spiller Quarter Horses where they breed dual-discipline prospects for the track and the barrel pen.
RENEE
SPILLER:
Specializing in Breeding Dual-Discipline Horses
Born in Seguin, Texas, Renee lived with her parents, Wallace and Jacque Schuehle, next door to Renee’s grandmother, Lois Mergele. “She was my biggest supporter,” Renee says. Happily for Renee, Lois rented out a house on her property to the county extension agent, Tommy Haege- lin, who regularly drove Renee to 4-H meetings and events. Renee’s first horse was a Paint that came off their deer lease out of Uvalde, Texas.
“I grew up showing and running barrels from the age of eight or nine,” Renee adds. “My grandmother had a green Chevrolet station wagon and a gold two-horse trailer and down the road we’d go. Over the years, she baked tons of loaves of bread for 4-H fundraisers.”
Barrel racing and showing branched out into riding for several trainers while Renee attended college at Texas State University and Texas A&M, but she continued running barrels, as did
56 SPEEDHORSE, May 2017
by Diane Rice