By Kailey Sullins, BHN Managing Editor

I’d been flirting with the idea for several months, but with relatively no thought of actually following through with purchasing a new horse. I had been looking for an eventual replacement for my 14-year-old mare, whom I call “Pony.” I thought if I could find a young, started prospect – around the ages of 4-6 – I could finish it out while still competing on Pony ensuring I had a replacement ready to compete when she was ready to be retired. I know, I know this is easier said than done. Which is why when I was given the opportunity to buy a 2-year-old palomino filly by a Duel Rey son, and out of a Shining Spark mare, I nearly didn’t buy her. I had one of those out-of-body experiences when I thought this surely isn’t happening to me, I can’t be this lucky.

Fast-forward seven months and here I am with a beautiful palomino filly, Shiners Smartycat. The only problem is, well she’s 2 and let’s be honest I have no business with a 2-year-old.

I’ve finished a colt or two in my life, but the last colt I’ve really trained was Pony and she was 5 when I bought her. Now she’s 14 and knows her job. Sure, I have to tune her up, but to teach a 2-year-old from the ground up has definitely re-awakened my training bones. To say I’m in for miles of surprises and years’ worth of hard work is an understatement. Already in the mere three months I’ve owned her I’ve learned and re-learned things I’d already forgotten.

Kitty3quartersShiners Smartycat. Photo by Cheryl Cody

Thankfully I have the blessing to work for Barrel Horse News and as a result have access to some of the greatest training tips and horsemanship advice in the industry. Just simply existing in my job, reading and writing the training features, traveling to TrainingBarrelHorses.com shoots, and speaking with some of the top horsemen and horsewomen in the industry for my job is giving me the guidance I need to “get back in the saddle,” for a lack of better expression.

So, from here on out associate editor Blanche Schaefer and I will be chronicling the progress of our 2-year-olds (she also recently purchased a 2-year-old), and you can find all the dirt right here. We won’t be holding back either. You’re not going to see the finely polished version of what it’s like to train a colt, nor will you see only the success stories from our progress. You are going to see the whole truth, the good, the bad and well, the hilariously ugly.

While we’ve thought about this idea for a while it seems Blanche and I have had a little trouble fully committing to the idea. After all, we’re basically freely volunteering all of our personal training failures for the world to see and laugh at. But, that’s kind of the point isn’t it?

Sure, we are going to fail and I promise there will be some great material to laugh with us about – my 2-year-old running off in terror the first time we loped, for example – but I also came to realize that is where I hope the real success of this blog will come from. If we can laugh at our mistakes and laugh at our failures, but still be able to set aside that brief moment and learn from it without becoming discouraged that’s where we will truly succeed.

I hope that’s what we accomplish here. I hope you will laugh with us when we fail and I hope you rejoice with us when we triumph, but most importantly I hope you learn with us in the process. We aren’t professional trainers, nor do we pretend to be, we’re just regular gals trying to put together the best prospect we know how by continuing to grow and learn and become better horsewomen in this journey. I hope you can join us while we travel through the adventures of training a 2-year-old and I hope you can learn to not only be a better horseman or horsewoman, but also to find inspiration in the fact that we’re all just trying to go through life in this industry and be the best version of ourselves that we can be. I hope together we learn to laugh when we’re down, be humble when we’re high, and if we’re lucky hopefully we can all make it to the pay window together.

Until next time,

Kailey

 

 


KaileySullins About Kailey

Kailey Sullins is the managing editor of Barrel Horse News. She joined the BHN team in 2014 and has enjoyed being apart of a team dedicated to not only the barrel racing industry, but the equine industry as a whole.

Kailey grew up in rural Oklahoma where her family owns and operates a cow-calf operation in the small town of Red Rock. Rodeo was a family affair around her place and as such her love of horses began at an early age. Growing up Kailey competed in junior, high school, college and amateur rodeo competing in barrel racing, pole bending, team roping and breakaway roping. After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications with a double major in animal science, Kailey began pursuing her career in journalism.

Currently, Kailey lives in Texas with her 14-year-old mare, 2-year-old filly and a 2-year-old black-tri Australian Shepherd named Macy. When Kailey’s not on assignment for BHN or working in the Fort Worth office she can be found training her filly, spending time with Macy or competing in breakaway roping with her mare in professional and amateur rodeos in Texas.


“What Do We Do Now?” is a blog series written by BHN‘s associate editor Savannah Magoteaux, managing editor Kailey Sullins and associate editor Blanche Schaefer, where they discuss the struggles, joys, and rewards of training young barrel prospects as amateurs juggling full-time jobs, all from a real-life perspective. Read more at barrelhorsenews.com under the “Blogs” tab.

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