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Makin Me Willy Wild 28 | PREMIER | DECEMBER 2023
FORM TO FUNCTION:
Maki n M e W i l l y W i l d M a k i ng His Ma rk a s A Sire For the past several years a top young stallion has been making his mark on the industry. Makin Me Willy Wild, also known as Geoffrey, has garnered serious attention as a sire given the impressive early success and trainability of his offspring. Owned by Debbi Trubee and Roger Landis, Makin Me Willy Wild stands at North Farm in North Lawrence, Ohio. The 2015, 15.3 hand black stallion is sired by Winnies Willy and out of the mare Wildly Available. Landis and Trubee have developed a remarkable reputation as top breeders and stallion managers, having stood the incomparable Invitation Only. North Farm is also home to The Best Martini and Geoffrey’s sire, Winnies Willy. After decades in the industry, Geoffrey is the first stallion that Landis and Trubee have owned. “He was the one,” says Trubee. “There’s no other way to put it.” Trubee shares that they did offer Geoffrey for sale one time as a long weanling, but soon rethought the decision. “We sat down and watched him, and Roger said, ‘I want to keep that one.’ Even if he’d never made it as a show horse or a sire, I would have wanted to keep him. He’s such a beautiful animal to look at, I think I would have been satisfied just watching him eat grass.” But the young stallion has done much more than eat grass. Shown as a two and three-year-old, Geoffrey boasts numerous accomplishments which include winning the 2018 NSBA World Championship in Performance Halter Stallions, 2018 NSBA Reserve World Championship in Three-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure, 2018 Congress Championship in Performance Halter Stallions and Top Five in the 2017 Congress NSBA Futurity Two-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure. PREMIER | DECEMBER 2023 | 29
Following his two-year-old year Trubee says that she and Landis wanted an early look at what his breeding career might bring. “When we had him home after his twoyear-old year we did two test breeds because we wanted an early look at what his babies were going to be,” says Trubee. She adds, “You just never know with a young stud, but by the grace of God Geoffrey showed us early on that his babies had promise.”
Makin Me Happy
Makin It Platinum
One of those babies is perhaps Geoffrey’s most successful foal to date—Makin Me Happy or Bean. “As a two-year-old we sent Bean to Kenny and Ashley Lakins who had also trained Geoffrey. After his third ride we posted a video and Angela Fox contacted me. She had to have him. Initially I didn’t want to sell him, but what better program could he go to than High Point and Beth Case. Bean has since gone on to earn multiple World and Congress Championships in Hunter Under Saddle and Performance Halter. Geoffrey’s second foal from his test crop was Makin Me Willy Famous who went on to an incredibly successful career in youth western pleasure. “Geoffrey was fortunate to have some early winners in his first foal crops,” says Trubee. For her, the early success has been encouraging, but her experience in the industry tells her that it takes years to truly develop a winning reputation. She shares, “To get an overview of what any young stud will contribute, it takes years and years. For me, this is not something you want to undertake if you don’t have a lifetime to devote to a stud.” Following the successful conclusion of Geoffrey’s show career at three years old, he came home to North Farm for a full breeding season at four. At that point, Landis and Trubee began to see the qualities of Geoffrey’s foals that would lead them to the winner’s circle. “Since the first crop of yearlings his foals have dominated the longe line,” says Trubee. She credits his foals’ success in the longe line with their, “amazing cadence, self-carriage, and wicked front leg.” “It all goes back to conformation,” says Trubee. “Geoffrey has a high wither, short back, massive shoulder, and his knees and hocks are low to the ground. He has passed those characteristics along.”
Willy Makin It
Geoffrey’s sweet personality is also evident in his foal’s good minds. “He’s very kind,” Trubee says. “He’s honestly a 30 | PREMIER | DECEMBER 2023
bit of a chicken heart. When he was a baby, he was always in the back of the pack, he never wanted any trouble. It takes a lot for us leave anything a stud around here, but with Geoffrey if you just said his name sharply, he would straighten right up.” Trubee and Geoffrey have always had a special connection that continues today. She says, “He’s always hungry. When he sees me, he knows I give him treats and bangs on his stall door. Roger has just about banned me from going in the stud barn because of it, but I get a kick out of it.” A stallion owner’s goal is always for the sire to stamp his babies and consistently pass along their most positive traits. Trubee believes that Geoffrey is proving he can do just that. “I think you can pick one of his babies out in the crowd because they are full strided, correct, and lope with quality. She adds, I think that’s why they’ve won so much in the hunt seat. His babies get really big and some who have ended up excelling in the hunt seat were bred with a western horse in mind. His boys get very big; it’s nothing for them to be over 16 hands. They’re big, beautiful movers and great minded.” Trubee believes that the positive qualities she sees in Geoffrey are indicative of many of the positive strides that have been made in the breeding industry as a whole. She shares, “We have so honed the breeding to where we have eliminated poor conformation, bad neck carriage and hocks. We’ve arrived at a place where what we’re putting out there are natural gifted athletes. You can’t fool people with the ones that are not naturally gifted because they can’t make it in the longe line or riding. Our horses must be made in a way that they can easily do the job. Kudos to all breeders for improving and making the bad qualities go away.”
Makin Me Pretty
You Talkin About Me
She goes on to say, “Form to function provides good horses that are staying sound longer through life. That’s a good thing for everyone. It all ties back to conformation. We have bred out a lot of poor conformation that leads to strains, pains, and orthopedic issues that arise. Seeing horses have longer careers is something we want to strive for. All around competitors are showing horses older and older, and even with age we’re seeing those horses maintain their value. It’s a great thing for our industry.” When considering what todays owners and breeders are looking for in a sire, Trubee believes that trainability and a
Do I Willy Have To
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Makin Shine
good mind top the list. “I think people are looking for many of the same things they always did—but owners are more knowledgeable now than they’ve ever been.”
Dun Makin Me Wild
In recent years Trubee has also seen more and more competitors choosing to take on much of their horses’ training themselves. “So many more people are DIY these days,” she says. “They want user friendly, good-minded babies. The longe line is a big class and so is the walk-trot. We’re seeing the shows offer more classes that cater to the DIY competitor; the cost of showing probably contributes to that as well. All that means that mare owners are looking to breed horses that people can enjoy—whether they’re doing it themselves or not.” At the end of the day, for Trubee her satisfaction as a breeder and stallion owner comes down to the love and admiration of the horse. “For me, it’s not what they win. It’s watching a field full of mares and babies picking grass. It’s the hopes and dreams we attach to every baby that’s born here. In that moment when a foal is born every dream and great thing you’ve imagined as a breeder is attached to that baby. Those dreams are why I do this.”
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Article Written by: Elizabeth Arnold
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