Page 106 - SPEEDHORSE April 2018

Dasher, on whom Janice partnered with Vessels Stallion Farm and others. The mare won the Kindergarten Futurity-G1 and placed second in the Ed Burke Memorial Futurity-G1, earning $413,763 in two years.
But the Knorpps’ most notable partnership has been as a syndicate member in the 2005
All American Futurity winner Teller Cartel, the all-time leading money-earning son of Corona Cartel out of the Easy Jet daughter Jet Along Jamie. In 2005, the graded stakes winner ranked second by earnings with $1,212,471, and was named AQHA Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.
THEIR METHODS
Walt and Janice didn’t get to where they are by chance. “Walt is very hard working,” says longtime family friend Tim Fulton, son of Merle Fulton Harris and the late Joe Kirk Fulton.
“I don’t care what time it is — I’ve called him
at 7:00 in the morning and he’s at the office working, and I’ve called him late at night and he’s still at the office working. He’s very smart in the way he does business and the way he takes care of all his clients’ needs; he’s always calling
to check on us to see if there’s anything we
need and how things are going. He’s just a very reliable and dependable person.
“He started that business and built it up to be one of the leading horse insurance agencies in the nation, and to be in the small town of Clarendon, Texas, and do what he has done, not only in
the racehorse world but in all facets of the horse industry, I think that’s a great accomplishment.”
As they say in the real estate business,
it’s all about location. And Walt’s location is never a secret. The self-described workaholic provides not only an 800 number for his clients, but his personal cell number as well. “I truly love what I do and I feel like I am providing a service to my clientele that they truly deserve,” he says. “I want to give them constant and superior service. I get calls at 2 a.m. on Sundays, but that’s okay; that’s what I’ve committed myself to doing. Horses get hurt at all different times, and I’m just like a veterinarian: You can get me 24/7.”
Along with being accessible, Walt and
Janice have intensely studied the industry. “Having not grown up with horses as a child and teenager, not having dealt with horses, there was a tremendous amount to learn,” Walt says. He and Janice overcame that by talking with people who had the knowledge — owners, veterinarians, trainers and others — and reading everything they could get their hands on.
One veterinarian who has worked with Walt for 30-plus years in the course of processing horse insurance claims and who recently entered into
a partnership with the Knorpps is Tommy Hays of Elgin Veterinary Hospital in Elgin, Texas,
who says, “Walt understands horses’ life-to-death process and is educated about the horse business, and that helps [move the process along].”
Janice partnered with Judy Neumayer in her first stakes winner, Tempered Glass, shown here winning the 1989 All American Futurity Consolation.
SERVING THE INDUSTRY
The Knorpps’ involvement in insurance and ownership led to Walt’s serving the AQHA in many capacities. Since 1996, he has served as director, racing council member and chairman, and as a member and chairman of various committees and sub-committees. He has also served on the National Steward’s Accreditation Oversight Committee and the National Equine Drugs and Medications Consortium and on the Texas Quarter Horse Association’s race committee.
Years ago, he and Frank Merrill developed the Knorpp/Merrill Rating System as a guideline for rating racehorses for AQHA year-end championships according to the types of races they competed in.
Walt has also spoken to the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, served as coordinator
and moderator at the Equine Symposium
for Underwriters at Lloyds, London, and has
been a guest instructor for West Texas A&M University’s equine department and Clarendon College’s farm and ranch program.
And, Walt was a founding member of the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame in 1998. “I admire [the Knorpps’] dedication to serving
the sport of horse racing — not only through selling insurance, but supporting the sport: being involved in the AQHA and as an owner — the whole thing,” trainer and friend Paul Jones says.
CIVIC & COMMUNITY SERVICE
Walt’s business experience has led to many opportunities to give back in his community as well. He’s involved in the Clarendon College Foundation; the Lions Club; and the Donley County Industrial Foundation, Airport Authority and Chamber of Commerce.
Because of his dedicated promotion of conservation, the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Office manager Amy Thornberry and Walt & Janice Knorpp.
104 SPEEDHORSE, April 2018