Page 93 - Speedhorse June 2019

Q: Do you have a favorite quote and, if so, what is it?
A: “Whistle, grin and ride.” I’m pretty intense. I love life and I love people, but I’m a very serious-minded person. I can find the humor in things, but I’m not light-hearted. Some people come up with jokes. I’m not that way. I’m very serious and I work hard.
I ran into a gentleman in my 30s, when I had two young boys and a baby. This special gentleman putting some great horseman- ship into the world, and his name was Ray Hunt. Talking to him one on one, I said,
“I want to ride my horses, I want to be the best I can, but I can’t forget my kids and
my responsibilities.” He said, “Don’t worry about it, you just need to whistle, grin, and ride.” That’s about life. Whether it’s on your horse or whatever. You don’t even have to be a horseperson.
Q: If you could sit down and visit with anyone, past or present, who would it be?
A: I would love to sit down and visit with Ronald Reagan. I love what he stood for, of course when he got into politics, but I always admired him as a movie star. He loved horses. He just had a demeanor and an aura about him that I liked, and I thought he was a very bright, common-sense, down-to-earth human being who had a great vision. He left a mark on me as a young person.
Q: What drink would your friends describe you as, and why?
A: Wine. I’m like a glass of red wine. I don’t know why. I said I was a serious person, but when I have a glass of wine, I am a wild and crazy girl. A single glass gets me running, but two? I’m off and running.
Q: Who’s your favorite athlete of all time, and why?
A: Bo Jackson. Oh my gosh. And I just always admired him, but I had the privilege to meet his coach, Pat Dye. I was working in a restaurant at Chuckwater, Wyoming,
this little town of like 200 on my end of
the state. He coached for Wyoming for one year. I said, ‘You couldn’t even tolerate our weather one year?’ We got to talking about Bo Jackson, and it was just a privilege to listen to him talk about the athletic ability of that man. He just had a God-given talent to be great.
Q: If you were making a movie about yourself, who would you cast to play you, and why?
A: There is someone who could play me, I’ve had people ask me if I was her. Glenn Close. That’s who’d be me. I was in Nashville and
I got my meal comped because they thought I was Glenn. When her hair’s real curly
and wild, that’s what mine is, and my facial features and my bone structure, and my mannerisms are the same.
Q: What’s one thing you don’t like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: It’s something that we can’t control
and we’re trying to make it better. It’s not Quarter Horse racing itself, it’s how much pressure our trainers are under to run these horses, whether they should run or not,
by the owners because they have so much money invested. The horse doesn’t have an advocate. He doesn’t have anyone to protect him. You have investigators on the track, you have eyes everywhere. With the horses going down at Santa Anita, all the tracks are doing their due diligence. At Wyoming, we’re going to have pre-race checks on all our horses: hair testing, blood draw, you do the best you can.
Q: What’s one thing you like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: I love the athlete. I love the horse. I love the competitiveness of the human beings, but I love the competitiveness of those horses. They just give you 110 percent no matter what kind of a jockey he has or a trainer he has. I just love their heart. There’s nothing like what that horse is. It’s the
greatest gift God has given us, I feel. A lot of people love their dogs and I do love my dog, but I love my horse. Very special. I tried to be a jockey, but I couldn’t keep my weight off. Every time that bell rings and the horses come out, man alive, I get goosebumps just talking about it.
Judy serves as the event coordinator while running public relations at Wyoming Downs.
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