Episode 22 - $360,000+ NCHA Rider Trystan Crowe : What It Takes To Raise a Young Horseman

Hi, everyone. This is Melanie Smith at Solo Select. We've got a really exciting group of people here today, something a little bit different than what we usually do. So you guys have heard us talk about how to breed your mares and from A to Z of truly the business of horses. Today, we're going to talk about something that I think is even more important than any of that. And it's really talking about the next generation of horsemen that are coming up. And we've got really cool guests today. We've got Mary Crow here with her son, Tristan Crow, along with one of our stallion managers, Dawn Hamm. And we're here to talk about this family and all the exciting things that they're doing in the horse industry right now.

They had an All-American Futurity Champion this year, which is unbelievable. So much fun. That's a lifetime. People go a lifetime hoping and wishing for that. So congratulations on that. Thank you. And so for those of you that don't know, that's in the racehorse world. And it is the title for American Quarter Horse Racing. That is what anybody that breeds quarter horses, that's that is the epitome of greatness there so that's awesome for you guys and then Tristan is just absolutely killing him right now on a four-year-old metallic gray mink mare correct, and so he's very active showing in the cutting I know whenever we were at the Riedosa cell this year Ty was so complimentary of him and how intrigued he was with the horse business and how well spoken he was so kudos to you Tristan and and especially kudos to you mom because we know how hard that is to develop those kids.

I'm sure he has his moments. He does. We're going to start a little bit today just talking about, I'd love to hear you guys' background. On this podcast, we have people listen anywhere from people that have been in the industry their whole lives to people that are buying their very first horse. I think they love to hear from people that are in all stages of this. I'd love, Mary, maybe if you want to start just kind of with how your family got into horses and what that's looked like for you guys. So I grew up with horses. My dad and granddad raised horses. My granddad was a 50-year breeder before he passed away, and my dad continued with that same love. And then I hit junior high, and cheerleading and the things my friends were doing were way more important than horses. So I stepped away till after college.

And then Toby, his family, his granddad had had horses and stuff, but his immediate family did not have horses. But he loved it. And in high school would go out and ride horses and then went on to Lamar and then went on to work for Lloyd and Boyd both and then had his own training business. And then before he and I got married, he got into the feed yard business. And so he did that for a while. And now we have a straightening yard and he does that and rides the young horses for us. So that works out good for Tristan and I both and kind of fosters it for Tristan. I was telling Don earlier, Tristan's naturally a left-handed kiddo. And so he started out roping and that was very hard for him to be able to sit up in the saddle, get his rope, do all the things. And so we had bought a broodmare, a cutting broodmare that Toby had actually train.

And Toby said, Tristan, would you like to take a spin on her? And he said, sure. And, what, five minutes into it, Tristan was like, this is the coolest thing ever. And then all I could talk about was the faturity. It was like we were skipping everything else and we're on to the faturity. And how old was he at that time? Seven. Seven years old. Seven. So he's come a long way. And every day since then, it has been a building process. We've started doing some of our own breeding and went from that one mare to over 40. Wow. That grew quickly. We hear that story a lot in here. They're like potato chips. You can't have just one. Especially when you start with the brood mirrors, because if one baby's good, then 40 is even better. Yes.

So I understand how that goes. Well, Tristan, what are your lifetime earnings now in the cutting, including what you've been winning? Well, after this show right now, about 360, 360,000, I think. That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, is it right? I think that'd be close. I think that's probably pretty close. yeah yeah so and tell everybody how old you are 13 13 years old so 13 years old won over 360 000 super exciting to to have that much success in the cutting this young and then we were about the cutting part of it tell us about the racehorse side of things with you guys so the racehorse side is actually my dad and brother, um and my dad has been involved in in racing for several several years and my dad's 82 and so like you were saying, the chance of a lifetime and absolutely this was this was his chance of a lifetime so and he's got some declining health and so but he was able to be there Tristan and I actually missed the cutting to go and and got to be a part of it but it was so much fun just just a really cool experience so my dad has done thoroughbred and then now he and my brother do strictly quarter horses. Quarter horse racing. Yeah.

And the horse that they wanted on was that one that they bought or raised? It was one that they bought out of the Meredosa sale. Cool. Very cool. Yeah. Very cool. Well, Tristan, you've won. Like you said, a little over 360,000 so far. Is that like your goal is winning in the cutting or what is your reward for the hard work that you put in every day as a 13-year-old kid? I think most of it is just making sure that people know that you're going to be there and be a good human and treat your horses right. I mean, yeah, we help the horses, but they help us just as much as we help them. I mean, I couldn't win this much if I didn't have good horses like my mare, the mink mare, or any of them. On like the mink mare, tell us a story of this one did you guys raise that one or is that one you guys bought we did raise her we bought her and her mom and her sister and uh, She's just been a sweetheart. I love her. She's just so amazing.

She's just a cookie monster. She's always been so good. We broke her as a two-year-old. We knew she was a great mare. We posted a video of her, and a lot of people were interested. Just such a great mare and a sweetheart. She's very cow smart. Very, very cow smart. And so what does a normal day in your life look like right now? Are you homeschooled? i am uh i usually i usually start school about 8 30 with my teacher and we go about till 12 usually and i got to the barn, right now we're breeding every day so i'll go out there and my my my vet at home she's been letting me pout bait a couple mares so awesome i'm really i'm really big into the breeding part i love the breeding and then, usually in the afternoon me and my dad ride the young horses the two-year-olds and our three-year-olds which now the three-year-olds are getting and off to Lloyd and stuff, but.

Ride them and some of my older horses. Mary, from a management perspective, Tristan's like a high-performing athlete, right? How do you foster that day-to-day with him? I actually am an occupational therapist, and so I work a portion of the day as well. So he actually ends up kind of being in charge, or at least thinks he's in charge. I have a girl that kind of is more of a barn manager, but he thinks he's the boss and he goes out there and takes care of things. But just, you know, keeping up with his school and stuff. And you don't get to go to the show if you're not... Education is first. I mean, and so you have to take care of your business. So school comes first and then getting the horses ridden. And, you know, there's days that your friends, maybe you're getting to do something different and you want to do it, but we are leaving for a big show that we're gone for three weeks.

I'm sorry. I have to ride my horse today instead of go and play with you guys or do whatever it is that you guys are doing. And, and he's, he's really had to learn that a little bit of his birthday was actually just yesterday okay and so he is just transitioning into that older, mentality and stuff and so getting him to realize you know. This is an obligation and there is work to be done with it and, it has to be the priority or you don't have the high rate of success that you've had I'm not a parent but, I have all of my own opinions which are the easiest to have when you're not a parent right it's really easy to have opinions on parenting when you're not a parent but I see and I hear a lot of feedback especially people in the horse business that are like you know.

We saw that kid went in the youth well their parents just went and bought him this great horse you know you hear that a lot and so I'd love to hear from you how from a young age you, you know even three four five years old tried to hold his feet to the fire to make him one of those kids that worked for it, so he got his first pony when he was two for a second birthday he got a pony and he just absolutely loved it, and then we got into doing some rodeo stuff and things like that and and at that time we didn't live at the arena and so, we would take him over and mess with the horses and Toby would ride and, And then when we got our place built and got moved over there and everything, he went to school initially.

His first faturity, he was eight. And he made the unlimited amateur finals then. And Toby said, everybody's thinking this is real cute because he is a cute little boy. And we're putting up big money. The entry fee for this is not something that most people are willing to gamble on their eight-year-old. And here we are and so he has always known what the entries cost and what the importance of that was so that he knew this isn't something to just lollygag around and and mess around and then, I don't even know how old he was when he fell in love with pedigrees, he knows pedigrees better than a lot of adults lots of times he honestly does just this morning Toby was asking him about third edge and he spat it off just like that exactly what third edge was, And so that is one of the compliments that I get the most about him, is people lacking to visit with him about horses and his knowledge.

He can tell you what a lot of them have earned, and I'm just off the top of his head. He really enjoys that kind of stuff. And his goal is to become a repro vet. He has really enjoyed that. And so he understands the importance of that that goes along with his winnings and his success in the Shokin as well. So but he's also gotten to be with some really great trainers. He's we started out with sean flynn and then we moved over to, cody porterfield has had a part of it clay johnson and then of course lloyd lloyd's been with us for a long time and then you know guys that help cullen he's he's had so many of those guys that have really taken him under, their wing and and fostered him michael cooper you know.

There is not a one of those guys that don't come up and at least speak to him and give him a hard time, you know, and he needs that. He needs that. But he looks up to those guys so much. So there are days that he can be a little stink and it's like, no, we are doing it this way and that kind of thing. But but for the most part, he really does. He enjoys going out and doing the things. When our horse shearer is there, he usually comes and spends the whole day. And Tristan's out there helping hold whether it's one of the brood mares or one of the show mares or even the babies you know and and Tristan gets up during the night he does the two-hour checks during the night when we're foaling and and goes out as soon as that baby's born and and stays you know.

Nothing like they all like to foal at 2 a.m right so it's a whole night process and and he goes out there and he stays through the whole process of making sure that everything's going good. Well, what do you say to a parent that's out there that has youth kids, you know, that are interested in the horse world that want to get into it? And I think a lot of people, especially want their kids to be part of the horse industry, especially for reasons just like what you said. We have this amazing community with amazing people in it that help really, yeah, foster all these great values that we don't see in so many other places. How do you manage that line, or how do you suggest them manage that line of giving those kids every opportunity, but also making them work for it? For it a little bit, too.

Yes, so Tristan has been fortunate, and he's gotten to ride some really good horses in the youth stuff, because the youth, you don't have to own your own horse, and so that helps to foster that in terms of being able to ride a good horse or borrow a horse from somebody. And not have to spend the big bucks and still have success in that youth class. I'm here to tell you, the youth class may be the hardest class there is. I wouldn't want to ride against them for anything. But just giving them that opportunity. The NYCHA has some great opportunities outside the arena as well. Tristan last year did the public speaking and won some scholarships doing that. And they do art and there's a couple of others. But they've really tried to get kids excited, even if it's out of the arena, and then foster that care of coming in and wanting to show and being able to show.

That's really good to know. So I think that's a great resource for people that their kids are wanting to get involved or they're wanting their kids to get involved is maybe starting with NYCHA. And even if you can't afford the cutting horse or the entry fees, you can get started, make the connections with trainers. And I know for me, I was happy to look for exchange of getting to go show in the 2000 Limited Rider or whatever it was like. It didn't matter what it took. I was happy to do it. Yes. So, Tristan, I know one thing is that has always impressed me about you. And I've not actually talked to you, but your videos and listening to Ty and all that is how well spoken you are. And Ty and I always say.

You know, school is what it is. You can get any education you want, but if you can't talk to people, you don't, you, it's, it's just hard. It is. And I think that's one thing Ty has really tried to push with his son. And I know Dawn, I'm sure with yours and all of your kids is, Dawn is so well-spoken too. He is. Ty's well-spoken. Just being able to talk to people. So Tristan, how do you think, did you feel like that was just natural to you or did your mom make you go and talk to these people or how do you think you became so well-spoken? I think part of it might have been natural just because I like talking. I mean, I'm a bit of a chatterbox, honestly. I like talking to people. And just like when I met Ty at the Redosa sale, and I knew how much he's done for the business. I mean, he's a great person.

You and him own Solo and have done so many big things. And I want to meet those people that can give me good connections and that are good connections for me and I can learn so much from. That's great, yeah. Yeah. And speaking of like, NYCHA had the public speaking competition. Tell me about that and what that kind of what that was about, what you talked about. So in my, I wrote a speech, oh, and a speech and a letter, I think. I had to write a letter just to an essay. Oh, an essay, yes. Okay. So I just used the same speech for my essay, too. But a lot of what I talked about is, like, how cutting can help a family just be so much together. I mean, everybody knows that the NCHA family is just massive.

And we try to help each other out as much as we can. And the four people in your corner, I mean, they're everything you got. But the four people in my corner help me like I'm their very own son. And that means a lot that they really treat me and they know how much I care for the sport and how much I like doing the sport. I think that's exactly you hit the nail on the head. Because I know here, whenever we have young people that want to come around, especially right out of high school or college. And I'm like, I can teach you to do anything if you have a good attitude and you're ready to hook up and work. And I think in the horse business, we're always so excited to have youths like you come around that are that way because they're so hard to find.

Don, talk a little bit on your end. You know, you've been in this horse business for so long. If you're talking to a parent today that wants their youth to get involved, what do you tell them? Well, I think that, you know, what we're trying to create is these, you know, young people that have the morals and, the outlook about life and treat everyone, you know, what's the old saying, you know, treat them like you want to be treated. And I mean, you can just talk to Tristan here for 10 minutes and you can tell he's a good dude, you know. These horses are just, I mean, a byproduct of what we have to make good humans. Yeah. You know, with the horse as a vehicle, I guess I should say, to, you know, to grow our kids.

And fortunately, I mean, you talk to people like, you know, Carter Platt, Tristan Crowe, you know, and there's hundreds more. But you can just tell that, you know, sometimes we get scratching our head about the direction this whole world's going in and you think, you know, we're leaving this to our kids. And then you talk to the guys like Tristan and Carter. It's going to be okay. I mean, it's going to be in good hands. And I think that the horse was just the vehicle to get them to where they've become young. I mean, they're young humans. I mean, they're young, grown people when you sit down and talk to them. So that's very refreshing to me. And hats off to mom and dads of, you know, to Kenny and Becca and to Mary and Toby. I mean, they've done a great job, you know, raising these young people.

And, and it's, you know, the, the common thing is the horse. And I think sometime we get too caught up in the winning or, you know, the, the shiny carrot out there that's dangled out there for us, but we lose sight of, of, of what we're really doing is, is growing these kids to be good people. And, and, and the reason we all get together is because of the horse, but at the same time, it's a great opportunity to, to teach these guys. And, and I, and I, and I, and I shared this with Tristan and Mary earlier is the. You know, I'm sure Mary and Toby have always told Tristan, like my parents, you know, always, you know, be on your, you know, mind your manners and cause you never know who's watching, you know?

So Tristan didn't know this, but whenever he came up to tie and I at Riodosa, I knew who he was. And I feel like, and my wife says she can't take me anywhere. I don't know. But the same thing with Tristan. Thank you. He came up and spoke with us. I knew who he was. He didn't have a clue who I was. I knew his dad. We actually called Toby out there when we were at Rio Dosa. And I said, I know your dad. And, but I called Toby to commend him on the job well done because I hadn't got a chance to talk to Tristan that long. I did meet him whenever he was at the Triangle Sale up in Oklahoma City when he was selling horses and he presented the horses. Of like, you're like, I mean, nobody could have done a better job than he did that day presenting those horses.

And I was just, you know, taking mine, the, just his ability to show those horses in that cell ring and, you know, present them and, and they were his horses. So it was his money to lose if he didn't do a good job. So I thought that, you know, just, you know, just a huge, you know, congrats to him for going in there and, you know, when, when a dollar bill is on the line and just to show him, Hey, this is, this is how it works. You raise them, you train them, you can't keep them all, you know, let's sell some of them. And they were good horses, right? Yeah. They were good horses. And, but that's, that's what we do. You know, that's how we make a living. And, and for them to, to give him the opportunity to do that, you know, that's a, that's something he'll never forget.

And personally, I never forgot it either. And then whenever I saw him out there at Rio Dosa. You know, little did he know, I already knew who he was, but, uh, yeah, it just was very refreshing to sit there and talk to him so whenever I saw him you know he actually I saw his mare I'm like I need to try to buy that mare and then I started doing my research and I saw a couple interviews where you said how much you loved I thought I think they just better breed that mare that yeah, so this this podcast all started with a conversation yesterday uh between Don and you guys about breeding that mare to shoddy and we were like we need to get them on the podcast that That would be cool, but just so everybody knows, that was kind of how it started.

Tristan, your mom talked about the guys that you guys, Sean Flynn and Lloyd Cox and Clay and Cody and everybody in between that you guys have worked with. When you think of maybe the one or two people that have had the biggest impact on you so far, who do you say that is and why? Well, first of all, Lloyd. And second, I would say Clay. Clay Johnson, he's a great guy. He's hilarious. He is. I mean, there's never a dull moment.

I mean he's such a great guy he he grew up kind of where we live and he learned the hard way how to work and he's a very hard working guy and he tries very hard for his customers and lloyd he's a great guy too, he he's a he's such a good guy and he trains a horse so well, he's very nice to his horses he doesn't he doesn't treat them bad he loves the horses just as much as anybody else does and just a great guy he's pretty funny too yes he is the boy is definitely entertaining as well.

And kind of to go back on what Dawn said, in an industry where you're showing high stakes, the pressure's on, and things go wrong that are out of your control, you can be completely prepared. You can have the best horse there that day, and you get run over by a bad cow. I think I want to start with Mary on this question, but I want to hear from both of you guys. How do you teach him to be a good loser? We talk about short-term memory a lot, A whole lot, especially if we're somewhere where we're showing or he's showing more than once a day. You know, you've got to let that run go and know that you did your job. And that's something that Toby especially has always relayed to Tristan is that. I'm okay with your run, even if it doesn't work out, as long as you did your job and you had your horse in the right place and you did what you knew you needed to do.

That's in cutting cow horse, you know, that's the variable is that crazy cow that can take you out in that fast. And so as long as you've gone and done your job. And the other thing that we talk a lot about is. When you try to make it happen and you try to force it, it usually never works out. So just go out there and do what you know how to do and let the chips fall where they will. That's applicable to life every day. Yes. Those are big life lessons that you're learning. You may not know it, but you're learning. So Tristan, how do you handle those days that, you know, you do have the bad cow and still keep a good attitude? What in your mind, what goes through your mind to kind of help you there?

Like my mom said, we're big on short-term memory. That's something we focus very much on. And like she said also, my dad, he's pretty proud of me if I do my job. We're big on the actual cut of the NCHA. Like when you're cutting your cow, that's one of the most important things because there's a saying, if you cut a bad cow good, it's going to be better than cutting a good cow bad. And I think that's very true. I mean, and so I just try and focus on just doing good and just keeping a short-term memory and keeping my mind fresh. I mean, I may not have done what I was supposed to and I could have helped some things, but we're not going to make a big deal out of it and ruin my next run. We're going to try and keep it positive and just keep on going and going.

And we always video every run, even if we're at a show that's not a major show, where we can go back and watch it and go back and critique. Oh, you did have your horse in the right spot here, or, oh, see how you're short over here and long there. We can't correct that right here, but we can correct it in our next turn. And so there is lots of learning opportunity. So, you know, obviously you don't just compete in the youth class. I mean, you're competing in the non-pro and the amateur. So you see all these guys that, you know, that you obviously look up to. And then you're going to go down there and try to beat them or, or obviously you, you have beat them before. So I know, I know I will say this, you know, one of the owners in, in shoddy is Todd Carpenter.

He's very intimidated by you. Yeah. So tell us how you, how you kind of focus on, on that. Do you just concentrate on your own run or do you concentrate on, you know, Hey, this guy's coming. I know his horse because, you know, obviously, you know, pedigrees. So you study the, you study your sport and, and you know, so-and-so has got this great horse coming. I mean, are you worried about that? Are you just concentrating on having the best run that Tristan Crowe can add? A little bit of both. I love my competitors. Some of them are great friends of mine. The Huntleys, Christina and EJ, there's a lot of good people that we compete against. And most, I'd say for the most part, the way ENCHA is, it's just a big old family.

That's just pretty sweet to each other. And we cheer for each other. And like I said, we're always cheering for each other and hoping for the best. If it doesn't go our way, well, let's hope that person does good. Because they're just so great to the NCHA. And, you know, it is a little intimidating just because, like I said, I mean, some of the non-pros, Dustin Adams, he's won $3 million in the non-pros.

I mean, it's kind of hard to think about. But just like him, such a great guy. And if it doesn't go his way, I know he's cheering for me because that's just how he is. He's going to have on some funny sweater or something. Oh, I should have thought of that. Christmas sweaters, they don't eat me. When he first started, I don't think he realized. I think it was just, I'm going out there and I'm having fun. This year at the Futurity in the non-pro is when I started to see the nerves kind of come out and him actually tell us, I'm nervous about this. I'm having to compete at the Futurity. It was Allie Good and Colt 45. And, you know, Toby and I both just- I think there were some open trainers over in 10 to 8. Yes.

But just reminding him, hey, go do your job. You go do your job and it will take care of itself he's become. A showman we talk a lot about you know there are horse trainers that are not as good as showmen they do a fantastic job training the horse but they don't get the presentation down as well and then you have those that, are not as good as trainers but can have come out there and, spank everybody in the show pen and so teaching him that, you need to be pretty good at both you don't have to be the best at either but be pretty good at both where you can go and be confident in yourself and what you're fixing to present sure, yeah absolutely and so Tristan you're homeschooled when your friends are doing the normal 12 13 year old things what do you tell yourself to to stay grounded and stay home and get to work.

Man, I love my friends. I have two of them that are best friends. They come over tons of times, but I just have to think about, I mean. These horses, they need to be exercised. These horses, they're so big on athletes. I mean, these horses need the exercise. I mean, they need it. It's absolutely, it's something that just has to happen. And so I start to think about that and what they want to get out today. If I want to run, well, I'm sure they do too. They want to move their legs. They're in a stall and they don't like being cooped up all the time. So I have to think about that and let them get out and see the world and have fun and buck or play or turn them out in the arena, whatever I have to do to, just remind myself that, hey, my friends, yeah, they're my best friends. I love them.

I mean, they're like brothers to me, but at the same time, these horses, they're like my family. I mean, there's nothing more important than mom and dad and God than those horses. That kind of mindset comes from a parent that is constantly saying the right things and fostering those right conversations. Now, I'm not putting you on a pedestal to say, you know you haven't made mistakes as a parent i i'm sure you there's things you could go back and say i wish i would have done them differently but for the parents that are listening they're like man i just want, my my kid to understand and put those horses first you know and those things like that like what are the conversations that you've had with them or you and toby have had with him to make sure that, that's his line of thinking we've had tons of conversations about you know yeah, your friends have called and you want to go with them but we're leaving for a three-week show, and your horses have to be ridden before we get down there, and just the importance of, That, that has to take precedence if you want to continue to be successful.

If you don't want to continue being successful and this isn't your priority anymore, then we need to go do something else. You know, when you decide this isn't fun anymore and you don't love it and enjoy it and crave it, then it's time for us to move on and do whatever that is. But at the same time, reminding him, you know, on those days where he's like, oh, I might want to move on and do something else. Okay but your long-term goal is to be a equine repro vet. Making those choices to go do something else instead of be out there with ashley when we're palpating or breeding or foaling whatever it is, which one is going to help you in the long run and and for the most part he's he's pretty good at that and.

You know his he really has been given some god-given talent with a course and so So I think he's naturally drawn to a horse anyway. He can do some pretty special things with those babies that don't necessarily want to, you know, they're curious, but they don't really want to be caught or mess with that much. And he can do some pretty special things with those guys. So I think as much as Toby and I, there's some other God-given talent that goes along with it, too. Absolutely. And so, Tristan, for you, when did this start feeling like something that your parents just do and start feeling like something that was your true passion? Like you said, I've always rode horses. I've always had a loved one, but...

When I first rode the cutting horse, it just felt different. I mean, something that really caught my mind was how hard they try for you. My mink mare, she is a cowie horse, and she just tries so hard. What's part of it for her is that she knows she's getting cookies at the end of it. That's definitely a little part of it. But no, I mean, the horses, they try so hard for you. And what made me have a love for it was I wanted to try harder for them, too. I mean, like I said, these horses do so much for us that it just makes you think. Think, well, if they want to do this hard for us, we need to return the favor, and let them have babies and so people can have their prodigy and all that. That's awesome. And okay, so let's say you're getting ready to walk into the show pen and we all know that familiar feeling of your heart feeling like it's going to beat out of your chest.

How do you mentally talk yourself out of that stress, I guess I would call it, when you're getting ready to go in and show in the non-pro its maturity this year. So the non-pro was a little different. I mean, like she said, Allie Good was in it. Big competition, obviously. I feel like, and not that I'm not, I'm definitely nervous, but I'm not a super, like I don't get, I don't get racing about anything. I don't get very nervous just because I feel like I have a job to do and I know how, I know I can do it. I know I'm capable of it. And so I know that if I try my hardest at what I'm good at, I can do a good job of presenting myself. And so I don't know that I get so much as nervous as I do. If I'm nervous, it's more of like I need to make sure that I can do my best because I know I can do it.

I know I can do it. And if I'm good like I can be, it can be great. Yeah. And Mary, how do you think, from a parent's point of view, you've been able to foster that attitude right there of like confidence but not boastful? We talk about that a lot. You know, it's it's fine to be good and confident in yourself and your abilities, but you're not going to go and be a jerk and make people not want to be around you. You be kind and humble. We talk a lot about humbleness and cutting is a very humbling sport.

On its own. Absolutely. You know, you can you can be the amateur super stakes winner and then turn around and and have it all fall apart. And so we've we've talked about that a whole lot but just being encouraging to him, as he gets ready to go in we have a thing and we give a fist bump and I tell him to go do his job let her do hers and that I love him and that's that's how he walks to the herd and he's so funny when you ask about, how he calms himself he doesn't even realize he does it I can tell as he's answering you but he takes about three really deep breaths and you can see him go in and out and then he pulls his hat down so, tight apparently we really discussed that with him a lot as a small child because he is not letting that hat come off.

But but those are ways i think that he he finally calms himself as he's getting ready to walk to the herd that's awesome and okay so tristan you couldn't be in the horse world for a reason. What would you see yourself doing besides this? I think that's a tough question because I don't really see myself as anything else. Like she said, I love the repro side of the horses. I think that's the best side. I love messing with the mares. I like seeing the insides of them. I like doing all of that stuff. I've done a C-section on a cow recently, and I don't know. I don't really see myself as anything else, which is bad because you always need something to fall back on. And I do plan to go to college and get a degree, and I guess we'll just kind of play it as it falls. But I'm trying to stay in the horse business as long as I can stay.

I saw something the other day that you might fall back on. I'm going to share it with you guys. You know, if this, you know, repro vet deal don't work out, I mean, I saw this video of you dancing. Oh, no. I'm going to go back to Dave. That's you. That was a mission. Is that, a joke? That's a lie. I did. You know, yeah. That was great. We'll have to show that on the podcast.

Somebody put us to be on dancing with the stars i don't think that's going to be my career, mary what the very biggest most important lesson the horse industry has taught tristan what would that be probably kindness um honestly kindness to the horses kindness to the competitors kindness to the people that come up to him, to kids. He's getting to the age now where little kids will come to him. And, you know, if he's not paying them the amount of attention, I think that he should. After they go away, I'm like, listen, there was an older kid that paid you attention. You thought they were the coolest. Brandon Westfall is one of his very dear friends. Brandon's in a folder. He didn't have to pay Tristan attention.

And he spent the time and took the time. And so I always tell Tristan, it doesn't matter who it is you've got to spend the time and be kind and so, i think that's probably well you guys have done a great job with him i mean he's a he's a he's a great young man i know, ty he just walked in here but uh. Uh we i flew out there to ty the bridos and we talked about it all all the whole way back is uh you know how much we enjoyed talking to him because he like you said He knows the pedigrees. Oh, he does. And let's say he really didn't know who I was, but I saw it as kind of goading him a little bit just to see how much he knew. And I said, I want to show you a really good cutting horse, you know. So I pulled up a video of Shoddy. He says, I mean, it didn't have his name or nothing.

And it's just a video. And he said, that's LBR. And he knew him. He does. Yeah. So, yeah, it was, you guys have done a great job with him. Man, you know, it's just, it's very refreshing to see, you know, these young people that are not just good showmen, but good humans. Yes. Well, and on that note, the backstory of Redosa and that he saw Ty and he said, Mom, that's Ty. And I said, okay. And he was adamant that he wanted to go and meet him. And so I was like, okay, take off. And he, He typically didn't get real shy, but he kind of got a little bit shy that day. And so I walked over there, too. But he knows what he wants, and he's willing to go after it.

Tristan, before we wrap this up, I want to talk a little bit about Shoddy. And tell us why you think it's going to be. I want to hear from a pedigree standpoint and a show horse standpoint, kind of why you think this is the right cross for this great metallic gray McMurray you're showing. He's such a pretty horse First of all His athletic ability is out of the world I mean Kenny Kenny does a great job showing him And Shottie I can tell by the way he shows That he wants to help And he wants to be a cow horse And he wants to help Kenny win. And his attitude. I mean, I can tell his attitude's great. He's a good horse. He's beautiful. And another thing, the way he's bred, he can breed to a lot of good mares.

I like that. I think that's very important that we have, we have a stallion, that, I mean, you can cross him to anything, any of these great mares, my mink mare, I think that'd be a perfect cross for him. And I just hope that, I think that those babies will be just the top of the line, top of the tier and most athletic, beautiful babies and just very sweet horses. Yeah, that's great to hear. And so, okay, my kind of final question for you today. Tristan, when you think of what you want your legacy to be in the cutting horse world, what is that? Man, a godly person. That's the top of the list. I want to be a Christian for sure. I want people to know that I was a good person to the world. I want people to know that I love my horses and treat them with the most respect because I do, and I stay out there in folding season and I help them and anything I can do to help them is what I'm going to do and I want people to know that I was a humble person a great person, good my family good my friends and I think I think that's something I could leave them with is, good to my horse is a very Christian person and good to people and be a humble person I mean like she said this this industry is a very humble sport and well if you don't win this time well maybe you'll win the next time but still go congratulate them I mean good for them.

They've done some good today, so, Well, thank you guys so much for coming up and getting on this. I think it's so cool to hear you guys' story and just hear it from both of you on how you guys are, like I said, we're not only developing athletes, but we're developing the future of the sport. And that's so important. And Tristan, whether you know it or not, you're also helping develop that, not just in yourself, but the way you act and how these younger kids look up to you and even older kids look up to you, you know, and how you present yourself and really setting that standard for what's expected out of the youth of our world. So thank you guys so much for coming up here today and for coming and seeing us.

And Dawn, thanks for joining us on here. That'll wrap up this episode of the Business Forces of Solo Select. And thank you guys for watching today. Good work, Snow. Thank you guys for coming up.

Thank you. Thank you. That was fun. It was all coming. It was all good, buddy.