Page 82 - May 2018 Speedhorse

“It’s fun and there’s nothing more rewarding than to raise one and it goes and wins.”
Q: What are your goals or vision for Victory Farms’ future?
A. I would like to cut down a little bit. I want to cut the herd in half, but double the horsepower and not have to feed as many head. I keep striving to feed better quality and take it a little more casually. I’ve also invented an EPM drug that I’ve recently got a patent on last month and I’m putting some energy into launching that product. We’ve got it patented, trademarked, and we’re very excited about launching this. I want to start working smarter instead of harder. Working with my shoulders up instead of my shoulders down.
Q: What kind of attributes must a person have to become successful in the industry?
A. You’ve got to have roots like an oak
tree. There’s no other way to explain it. This
is the hardest industry I’ve ever participated
in. If I had put this much energy and work
into any other business I would probably be worth a lot more money. This is the only way I make money. It’s 100% of my income. I don’t have a sideline income that supports my horse business. If I don’t sell a horse, breed a mare, do some trading, or do something, we don’t make payroll. Fortunately, in 27 years I haven’t had an issue making payroll. There’s a lot of hustle involved and it’s not for the faint-hearted. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. I’ve seen a
lot of people think the stud business looks so lucrative and they run and grab a stud. Within two years they call me wanting to know what
I would charge to stand them. They just don’t always understand. We work 12-hour days and when you have 100 babies in a foaling season that makes for a lot of sleepless nights as well. It’s a very tough game and you’ve got to love it.
Q: How would you advise young breeders or young people interested in joining the Quarter Horse world in the early stages of their career?
A. There are a lot of people who think they want to do this, but I would advise for them to take their travel trailer and go to a farm, camp there for about two weeks, tell them you’ll work for free to see what this is all about, and probably at the end of those two weeks they won’t want be in this business of breeding. It’s tough. I don’t want that to sound negative, but people jump
in the business unaware of how much work is involved. The one’s who started and stayed for twenty years, wow! Hats off to those guys. It’s fun and there’s nothing more rewarding than to raise one and it goes and wins. You’ve got to have passion. If you have that passion, you’re willing to stay hooked to the rigging, and it works, then there’s nothing sweeter.
barrel side. With the barrel horses, I’ve got to keep a three-year rotation of crops. I’ve got
a weaning crop, a yearling crop, and a two- year-old crop because, in theory, barrel racers don’t want these horses until they’re an old two or a three year old. That makes me keep them longer than the track racers. I have to break them to ride and get them started before I can market them really well. That’s the downside of barrels as a breeder because I have to keep them for so long. I try to keep my breeding program 50% for the track and 50% for barrel. I have around 40 race babies per year and about 50-60 barrel babies per year.
I keep three or four to run and I cash in the rest for the track. Barrel is a little slower, but I keep the channels full every year. This year, I’m sold out of 3 year olds for barrels. We’re breaking and starting two year olds now and it’s a smaller crop because they’ve even been dipping into my two-year-old crop, which is
a good problem to have and I’m glad people are starting to buy them a little younger,
but that’s the downside for the barrels. Also, trying to prove a new mare or stud takes 5 years minimum before you know that stud
or mare is really a producer. But when I get
a new stud, I’m going to run my best mares under him and go whole hog or none to prove his worth. I don’t wait around for the public to prove them and when it works I’m in good shape, but if I make a bad decision, darn it hurts. In the race world. I try to breed outside
studs and what is up and coming before their fees get too high. I’ve done that with Apollitical Blood the last few years before he hits and goes up like Apollitical Jess.
Q: Do you enjoy either side of the industry more than the other?
A. I love my racehorses! I love those racehorses. You don’t have any more control
of a racehorse than you do a barrel horse. When you hand them over to a trainer they’re usually out of your control, but luckily, I’ve got a really good race trainer in Kasey Willis. He allows me as an owner to participate and to be involved in his training. He allows me to be
a part of the whole experience, which I really enjoy. He’s not one of those guys who says, ‘I’ll do this. Get out of my barn.’ He invites me in. He’ll ask what I think and he’ll listen. So far we have had an awesome team.
Q: Victory Farms does much more than breed horses. How do you keep such a diverse operation running smoothly day in and day out?
A. It’s not always smooth. We also have our horse sales we do through our company Going Big Time Sales Company. We’ve just signed a contract to put on a new sale during the NFR in Las Vegas. I put on the BFA Sale and this year
it will be our 16th year in a row. We also put on the Kinder Cup Sale in Louisiana, as well as our own production sale here at the ranch.
Danny said his number 1 producing mare is Wheely Quick (shown winning the 2007 Minnesota Stallion Breeders Futurity), who this year has five foals at Remington Park and a three year old at the BFA.
80 SPEEDHORSE, May 2018
THE BACKSIDE
Beth Rutzebeck