TOPEKA, Kansas – It was a cold day last fall in Idaho when Sheryl Lynde was picking up Gypsy Chic, a 2-year old she knew she wanted after riding a full brother in an obstacle course event she was putting on.
“I didn’t bring one of my own horses to the event, and the manager let me ride this little horse he had had for a just a couple weeks out of Idaho,” said Lynde, who trains along with Rick Hoffman in Anza. “I really liked his mind, and when I learned of Gypsy, I went and got her.”
Lynde found the filly in a pasture, “greener than a March hare” and barely halter broke. She took her to the Colorado facility she and Hoffman were working out of last winter, and the process of making a Futurity Champion was under way. Lynde does the starting, Hoffman the finishing.
Gypsy Chic won over Rick Hoffman from his first training on her last December -- then the mare won over the judges at the 2010 Extreme Cowboy Colt Firearms World Championship Futurity in Kansas on Nov. 12-14.
“We kind of tout our training `foundation to finish’,” says Lynde, who was thrilled when Hoffman rode Gypsy Chic to the Extreme Cowboy Colt Firearms World Championship Futurity title Nov. 12-14. The victory validated her theory that her foundational training combined with her boyfriend’s finishing skills could lead to another level of success. She started the filly, then Hoffman took the reins in December.
They met at Reed Valley Ranch in Garner Valley where Lynde was putting on an obstacle courses event and Hoffman was an Extreme Cowboy race.
“It just kind of evolved into training together because I am able to bring my strengths to his horses — he puts this incredible finish on them,” she said. “It’s great if you have a horse with a lot of finish, but it’s not so great if they spook at everything and they are very fearful. And it’s great if I can put on all this huge foundation, but my missing piece was the polish and the finish. This Extreme Cowboy Race in the Futurity was just the confirmation on our training together.”
Addison Coutts rode Cowboy to the World Championship in the Young Guns Division at the EXCA Colt Firearms World Championships – just ahead of fellow California Young Gun, Maggie Cincotta on Rayo.
Hoffman echoes his partner’s enthusiasm for their teamwork. “When she starts them, she teaches that to them to be calm and to listen,” he said. “That’s what sets the pace on how everything is going to go. She puts that quietness on them, right from the word go.”
The filly’s Reminic lines bring two ingredients to the fore – athleticism and heart.
“They’ve got to be athletic to do what we do, and they’ve got to have a big heart,” said Hoffman. “If they don’t have any heart nor any try, in my opinion, you’re fighting an uphill battle. And a good heart usually comes with a good mind.”
Gyspy Chic is owned by Elizabeth Kretz of Bermuda Dunes, and Lynde is thrilled for their client.
“She’s really sacrificed to keep Gypsy in training with us or a year,” she said. “She’s a huge supporter of us, and she’s become a close friend. For her to see through fruition of all her efforts is just wonderful for us because she believed in us. To have Gyspy win like that was just huge.”
Joe Visser and Meet My Dust won the Youth Division World Championship and finished as Reserve World Champion in the Non Pro Division at the EXCA Colt Firearms World Championships.
Californians fared well at the EXCA Colt Firearms World Championships, which enjoyed a 30 percent increase in entries in 2010. In the Young Guns Division, the top two finishers were Californians – Addison Coutts on Cowboy and Maggie Cincotta on Rayo. Joseph Visser and Meet My Dust won the Youth World Championship and also took the Reserve Non Pro World Championship.
Robin Bond, who trains out of Rancho Dos Palmas in Vista, finished third in the Professional Division on Jose’s Perfection, six points behind World Champion Joshua Rushing of Missouri on Mini Dusty and less than a point behind Reserve Champion Runt Rageth, also from Missouri, on Burdock.
MORE RESULTS: See website: http://bit.ly/012AEXCA
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