Page 70 - Speedhorse, December 2018

COOPERATION
Within Industries
FROM TRACK TO CLOVERLEAF
A
on
Butch Wise, a trusted advisor within the Quarter Horse racing community, has been the manager at Lazy E Ranch in
Guthrie, Oklahoma since 1993. Butch and I recently discussed important industry topics in relation to the creation of the newest barrel racing incentive, The Pink Buckle (the inaugural Pink Buckle Barrel Race, which was held Oct. 5-7 at the Lazy E Arena, offered a $1,020,000 payout and was featured in the 2019 Speedhorse Barrel Stallion Register).
CROSSING OVER
“In the racehorse industry, we are always
adapting,” said Wise. “We work to keep up on the latest technological advancements regarding breeding practices along with maintaining relationships and cultivating markets to continue expanding internationally.
“What is the question that barrel horse people always ask the stud manager when they call with inquiries about a stallion?” Wise continued. “It is,
‘Is the stallion good-minded?’ When a horse makes
a half million dollars, you know he possesses the mindset and physical ability to win on the track, and he doesn’t have many self-defeating qualities that would hinder him in other disciplines such as barrel racing. He doesn’t cause his own problems. If he didn’t have a good mindset, he wouldn’t have earned so much on the track. To me, a good race horse has a good mind. There is a misconception that race horses are crazy. We know for a fact that this is not the case. Barrel racing and track racing are timed - this is not
a subjective issue. The fastest one wins. Speed is the basis of every good performance horse, and that’s why we think these horses will fit very well, in terms of establishing themselves as barrel horse assets.”
C C Co o
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o o n n n w w w i i i t t t h h h B B B u u u t t tc c c h h h W W W i i i s s s e e e
b b y y M M a a e e s s a a K Ku u m m m m e e r r
“The biggest difference in racing versus other equine disciplines is the time that elapses from when you write the first check to when you have the chance to get some of your money back. We breed for speed and we expect performance - those really great horses get in your heart. You’ll drive all day and all night to go get to see a good one!
“Within the horse industry as a whole, I think there is a universal concept regarding our relationship with horses, although everyone
has their particular passion. It’s just a matter
of however you got infected with the ‘virus.’ Working in this industry is all I do! I don’t hunt, I don’t golf, I don’t fish, this is what I do!”
THE MANY THRILLS OF QUARTER HORSES
When asked what the biggest thrill was
for Butch Wise, he stated, “All of it is! Picking out horses, finding them, raising them, having the high seller at the sale, placing them in the right hands and seeing them win at the races and sharing in their success is what drives me. Developing stallions is a huge project and that brings up another dynamic I like about the race horse industry - you find out whether you’re a champ or a chump within 48 months.
“I don’t know of any other more gratifying feeling than to have bought a mare, evaluated a bunch of stallions to eventually choose the one that you feel is the perfect cross,” Wise continued. “Then, you wait a year for this foal to be born, raise it, race it and then walk into the winner’s circle when he wins a race. You come to the realization that this horse is in the world because you made all the decisions that led up to this point. You can take a lot of pride in the fact that your horse won the race.
68 SPEEDHORSE, December 2018