Marthas Six Moons mares have been very kind to Michael Boone. His first futurity phenom was Marthas Smoothover, the 1999 Old Fort Days Futurity Champion and earner of $138,755. In 2007 it was the 2003 gray mare Mulberry Canyon Moon (“Macy”) that gave Boone leading owner bragging rights.
Macy, who was the year’s leading futurity horse and leading horse overall earned the lion’s share of Boone’s $181,107, while Kokomo Angel, a 2003 Nik Dell daughter, earned $771 in Boone’s name before being sold to Jaime Cagle, Fayetteville, Tenn.
Boone, Tyrone, Pa., purchased Macy from her breeder Pam Gerhart, Merkel, Texas, in February of her two year old year. It was the mare’s breeding that drew his attention to the internet advertisement.
Thanks to MarthasSmoothover, Boone had a soft spot for Marthas Six Moons horses.
“A lot of people don’t like them and I can understand why,” he said, “but I’ve had eight of them and I’ve won first division futurity money on all eight. I’ve done well with the mares. The mares are really gritty and hard to get along with but once you get past that, I think it kind of helps them.”
However, it was more than just the late stallion’s name that drew Boone’s attention toward Macy.
On the bottom side, Macy is out of a daughter of Osage Streaker (TB), the sire of the great Hesa Classy Osage that Angie Meadors ran at the National Finals Rodeo.
“I remember how good that horse was back when Larry Stevens had it,” said Boone. “I figured between the Marthas Six Moons and Osage Streaker, I had a pretty decent shot.”
Like all his prospects, Boone took Macy home to Pennsylvania, but he didn’t start riding the smallish mare until July. Like some of his other Marthas Six Moons prospects Boone had started, Macy was no picnic.
“This mare was really hard to work with in the beginning,” he said, “but I think that’s why she tries so hard now. There were some days that I was ready to get rid of her, and I don’t give up very easily. She bucked off so many times I wouldn’t even want it printed. She would buck me off just for spite!”
In June 2006, Boone sent Macy to Crumrine to finish and campaign. The die was cast when Crumrine and Macy captured the $100,000 first-place check at the Lance Graves Pro Classic Invitational. Later in the year they picked up an additional $25,000 for winning the Champion of Champions Open.
Boone, who is vice president and general manager of the family-run Lytle’s Transfer and Storage, Inc., doesn’t compete himself and doesn’t really enjoy attending events. Rather, he enjoys the process of training barrel horses.
“When you’ve got a company the size that we’ve got,” he said, “you leave at the end of the day and you don’t know if you’re ahead or not. It’s hard to really gauge progress. With a horse, you know at the end of the day if you’ve made any progress, and I like that feeling.”
Ever the competitor though, Boone plays goalie in a local hockey league and has turned his hand at managing and training amateur boxers, some of whom have turned professional. He was even asked to appear on the television show “The Contender.”
