PREMIER - October 2023

edge: The Cutting

Earns Success in Multiple Arenas

Non-pro competitor Lindy Ashlock is no stranger to the winner’s circle. Though unlike many of her peers in the show horse industry, her wins have come from two very different arenas. “I was raised in the cutting horse industry,” says Ashlock. Ashlock’s father Tom Merryman began his career as a cutting horse trainer under the legendary Buster Welch. “When I was young, we lived at Buster Welch’s for several years before my dad went out on his own.” A true family affair, Ashlock met her husband Wes when he came to work for her dad training cutting horses at just thirteen years old.

Today, the couple owns and operates Wes Ashlock Performance Horses in Abilene, Texas. Ashlock’s husband, Wes, focuses on training and selling top two-year-old cutting horse prospects. In recent years, he’s earned recognition not just for the quality of horses he’s sold, but for topping the record books for highest-selling horses at the Western Bloodstock Sale and Western

As a non-pro, Ashlock is well established in the cutting horse industry, having earned close to $2 million dollars in winnings. “I mainly show the young horses,” says Ashlock. She shares that two horses have helped to define her success. “I’ve had several great horses, but two that I’ve won the most on are In Reyverse and Little Miss One Time,” Ashlock says. In 2017, Ashlock and In Reyverse won one of cutting’s largest titles with the NCHA Super Stakes. He later went on to win Horse of The Year. Little Miss One Time amassed over $300,000 in earnings. Today the Ashlocks are showing her babies.

Their children Clara and Cash are also part of the family business. Sixteen-year-old Cash enjoys team roping in High School Rodeo and through AQHA. He competed at his first AQHA World Show this past year. Thirteen-year-old Clara competes in

cutting and on the AQHA circuit in western pleasure. She is the primary reason her mother made a return to the pleasure pen after

“My Dad and now husband being trainers made it easy to compete in the cutting, and I love it. When I was growing up, we raised and showed what we had,” she says. “My granddad, Raymond McNutt, passed away several years ago, but he loved paint horses and always had a lot of them when I was growing up. He did a little bit of everything with them, but occasionally we would show some in the pleasure. I bought my first actual pleasure horse when I was twelve years old from Greg Reisinger in Iowa. She was the only pleasure horse I owned that was actually bred for it until Clara came

Ashlock says that her daughter Clara was born with a love for horses. But when she began competing on cutting horses her small size made things a bit challenging. “Clara was small, she was only about six when she started showing cutting horses and they whipped her around a lot. She asked what I did when I was young, and I told her I rode pleasure horses. She became intrigued immediately,” says

Clara’s interest in western pleasure horses led the mother and daughter pair to Buddy Fisher who gave Clara a lesson on an all-around mare. “She immediately fell in love,” says Ashlock. It wasn’t long before they found themselves showing in walk-trot at an open show and shortly after that they purchased a mare for Clara from Cole and Liz Baker. “Clara showed that mare, Miss RL Flashy Goodbar, for about a year and a half. Unfortunately, we lost her after the NSBA World. Shortly after that we found a horse from Clay Arrington—Made In The Dark. He and Clara are inseparable now,” Ashlock

Clara and Made In The Dark or “Bud” have taken their incredible bond to multiple wins, including back to back World Championships in 13 & Under Western Pleasure at the AQHYA World Show. “It was huge for her to win two years in a row,” says Ashlock. “She has a great horse and a great trainer. I think

she’s been successful because she works so hard at it; she rides every day.”

Clara still competes in cutting and has earned multiple accolades. “Clara shows in whatever she can. She’s similar to me in that she loves to show— whatever she can show in, she’s ready,” Ashlock says. She adds that the pleasure has proven foundational in developing Clara’s skills in the saddle. “One of the reasons I encouraged Clara to pursue the pleasure at an early age is that it lays the groundwork for strong riding no matter what discipline you decide to pursue.”

As for the differences between the cutting and pleasure arenas, Ashlock says that cutting offers the rider far less control. “There are so many variables in cutting,” she says. “The cows, the horse, you don’t have nearly as much control of the situation. You learn to just focus on doing your job. If you do your job well, you leave it up to the judges to determine the outcome.”

She says that the western pleasure allows for a different mindset in that the rider is able to prepare and envision their ride in ways that cutting simply doesn’t allow. “In pleasure you’re able to go in with more of a plan for how your ride is going to go—there’s a lot more the rider is able to control.”

Though Ashlock showed Bud herself a few times, she felt the urge to venture back into the pleasure arena on her own mount. “I’m not good at sitting at the

shows—having something to do is great.” Earlier this year at the Arizona Sun Circuit, Ashlock had her eye on a prospect that would turn into more than she could have expected when she purchased the 3-year-old mare Saay My Name or “Chevy.”

“I’m a sucker for a pretty bay mare,” Ashlock admits. “I had seen her early in the show and mentioned her to my trainers Aaron and Courtney Moses. Toward the end of the show Aaron tried her and loved her.” It didn’t take long for the wins for Saay My Name and the Ashlock and Moses team to begin rolling in. “Aaron took her straight home and got to work, and it all came together really quickly.”

The mare took home the top spot at the 2023 Virginia Maiden and went on be named the Madness Novice Horse Champion and 3-YearOld Open Champion. At the NSBA World Show, Saay My Name was World Champion in the 3-Year-Old Open with Aaron Moses and was the BCF Champion in the Non-Pro with Ashlock. She credits the mare’s talent and demeanor with the impressive success she’s had so far.

She says, “When we bought her, we had no idea where things would end up. But she’s great minded and loves her job.”

The team looks to keep their momentum going at the Congress, where Saay My Name will compete with both Moses and Ashlock in the 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure events. Clara and her beloved gelding will also be there competing in 12-14 Western Pleasure events. As for the future with Chevy, Ashlock shares that they’re excited about her prospects as a producer and are eager for the major fall shows, including the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and AQHA World Show later this year.

For the Ashlocks, horses aren’t just a business or a hobby, they are a way of life. A fact evidenced in the passion each family member brings to their sport whether they’re cutting a cow, throwing a loop, or loping a line down the pleasure pen.

Article Written by: Elizabeth Arnold

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