Mandy is absolutely hands down one of the happiest, most supportive barrel racers out there. Always quick to pay a compliment to anyone, even someone she doesn't know. I have enjoyed getting to know Mandy and watching her barrel race. If any of you Facebook then you know Mandy gives a lot of updates to what she is up too and is full throttle all of the time with the horses.
Mandy was born in MA, and then moved to VT, then NY. Mandy has been involved with horses for as long as she can remember. Her mom grew up with horses and that’s where she got her passion, it runs in her blood. Mandy has been competing in speed shows/gymkhanas since 1994 and barrel racing since 1999. She trained her 1st horse when she was 10 years old. Mandy was born in 1985 and she is 24 years old, currently. She graduated from high school in NY in the year 2003. Her hobbies: beach, clubs, taking pictures, making web sites, dancing, anything to do with HORSES! She works at Glen Hill Farm right now and she has since Oct 08. She breaks and trains the TB yearlings for the race track. Before that she worked for Rapid Run Farm owned by Jimmy Miranda, and she worked there for 3 years. Mandy has been in Florida since Sept of 05. She worked at a Thoroughbred farm in Saratoga NY before moving down here. Along with working at a tack store (starting at age 14) throughout high school and after she worked at another tack store before starting to work on Race horse Farms.
Mandy's goals are to continue working with the race horses and learning as much as she can in that field. She would like to Pin Hook (buy and break some yearlings for sales/racing) when the market comes back. Her barrel racing goals are a little different. She currently breaks, trains, and campaigns barrel horses, and she would like to be known for raising and training top caliber futurity/rodeo prospects. Her 1st horse that she raised from a yearling then broke, and trained for barrels was Firewaters Fast Cash. She then competed on him in futurities, open shows, and rodeos before selling him. She is looking along with her Fiancé, Rex Amos, to train some quality horses and selling them to people who want to go and compete at top levels whether in futurities, the AQHA circuit or rodeos.
Some horses that Mandy owns, trained or has competed are as follows and this is what in her own words she shared about them:
"HeWillFrostYourGlass- Ed 2007 APHA Palomino Gelding. He is 3 yrs old now, and about 15.3 hands tall. This is my current futurity prospect; I bought him as a long yearling and just love this colt. I have done all the training with him and plan on competing on him beginning in December of this year in the Futurities. He has a great personality and is a pleasure to train.
Just Risk It- Risky 2003 AQHA Gray Mare. 15.3 hands tall. This mare was purchased in late 2009 from Kansis Charles and was patterned by Jesse Elliot. She came off the race track and is by the same stud as Leslie Willis horse Bet Or Check- Dashin Is Easy. She is a nice mare and I can’t tell you a whole lot about her as I have not had her too long. But she is fun to ride and really rates for the barrels and is extremely quick. Our first time running together we placed 4th at a jackpot! She wants you to leave her alone and let her work. THIS IS THE 1ST horse I have ever bought that was trained for the barrels!
C-Frenchmans Muffin- Muffin 2008 AQHA Filly- A filly I picked up to train and campaign in futurities. She is by the great son of Frenchmans Guy, FRENCHMANS FABULOUS."
"A few of my best memories were on Continetal Belle & Firewaters Fast Cash. I patterned Continetal Belle in my early teens and won a lot of belt buckles, jackpots, and competitions on her. I remember going to a show out of state and winning every thing I entered on her that day. We won the AQHA Open & Youth Barrels along with the NBHA Open and Youth for the day. Then I remember winning $100 and setting a new arena record on her! For Firewaters Fast Cash I entered the Fabulous 50 Futurity Slot Race in January of 2008 and we finished 12th and had a super run! He was the first horse I ever trained specifically for the Futurities, and my first futurities as well!! Along with winning over $1,100 in one weekend on him at the Tour Of Champions in July of 2008. We placed 2D 3rd on the first day and came back the next day to place 1D 3rd! I was so tickled. Also when I went to the BFA in Oklahoma City with my stud the 2nd go round of the Futurity we ran a half second off the winning time after hitting a barrel and not pushing him home. Not the greatest to remember but since he only hit 5 barrels that year, I loved it knowing that he could “clock” with the nicest horses."
There are many more;
When Mandy was growing up she put a barrel pattern on a super mare. Her name was Continetal Belle. Together over 4 summers they won numerous speed-show day end and year end championships. They qualified for NBHA Open/Youth World Shows several years in a row, as well as winning State NBHA titles. They won jackpots, AQHA shows & circuits, set an arena record and much more. She won well over $8500 with her, that Mandy says, was a lot of money up there! Since she only went to a few rodeos with her and won most of the money was won at jackpots. She remembers winning a jackpot and breaking the arena record one time and it paid $100.
Royalty Has Arrived Purchased as a 14 year old, RHA was used strictly as a team penning horse and roping horse before she bought him, she trained this gelding on the barrels when she retired her main mare (Continetal Belle) to the broodmare pen. Within six months he went from loping the barrels and looking for cattle to running 1D. He won year end belt buckles, helping her finish up the NBHA season to win the State Youth 1D trophy saddle!! AQHA point earner and competed at APRA rodeos as well.
Docazan Owned by her sister but patterned for barrel racing by Mandy, and shown by both Mandy & Rex. They had less than 3 months to put a pattern on this horse and take him to Augusta! He was a jackpot money winner, attended the 2006 NBHA World Show, and made it back to the Finals winning a check & belt buckle.
Firewaters Fast Cash he was her first horse that she picked out and purchased specifically for barrel racing futurities and to stand at stud. She raised him from a short yearling, broke him, trained him and competed on him. They started out his career placing 1D Top 10 at his two Kindergarten Futurities and then placing 12th in the Slot Race. They won over $6500 together in about 18 months of competition. “Cash” was a blast to compete on; he paid his own way when she started competing on him. No matter what she did with him or who rode him he was just fun, so gentle and easy going. He was one of the best broke horses she owned and so well mannered for a stud.
Getting into the training conversation with Mandy she shared she like to keep things simple when putting at horse on the pattern. She will walk them the pattern several times. She makes sure to stop them before the barrel and to back them a few steps before continuing around the barrel, and repeating for every barrel. Then she will jog them up to the barrels and walk around them. Depending on the horse’s ability and natural rate she will continue to stop and back them if needed before going around the barrels. After that she will go ahead and lope the horse up to the barrel and walk around them. She makes sure to take the barrel work slow and one step at a time, never overloading the horses mentally or physically.
As far as the basics Mandy's wants on her horses they are; to be very soft in the face and equally as soft to work off leg pressure while responding to their riders. She wants the horse to be very broke, and able to elevate his shoulder while keeping his rear end tucked underneath them at the same time along with maintaining forward motion the whole way. Mandy feels barrel racing is an art! She says, "When you master your horse’s style of turning and work together it’s amazing to watch!" She likes her horses to flex, bend, and be as broke as they can be.
At at barrel race Mandy has a routine she likes to walk her horses around and stretch them out while seeing how they respond to all her cues and demands. She concentrates on bending, counter bending, elevating their shoulders, keeping their hips underneath them and breaking at the poll. She then does the same at a jog and lope while keeping the horse soft and supple. When they feel like they are riding around good and doing everything well she will let them stand and relax or tie them back up at the trailer.
Her current mare, Risky, is more of a hunter type barrel horse. She is going to fire hard to the first barrel but really rating and looking to turn those barrels. My futurity colt Ed seems like he will be the same type of horse. He hunts a barrel like he hunts cows. Depending on the horse and their style of turning will tell Mandy how much rate and pocket she will allow them. Her old horse Firewaters Fast Cash didn’t need much pocket at all. She would just elevate his shoulder and make most of our pocket on the back side of the barrel leaving room for him to come back to her. Risky is little bit different from him, she needs a little more room entering the barrels and around them. Her colt, Ed, doesn't need much pocket either.
She treats each horse as an individual, making sure not to have a cookie cutter mold training program. She rides her horses a lot. They usually get rode several times a week with competing on the weekends. If all is going well she likes to school her horses on the basics, being soft and supple. She likes her horses to respond to the slightest cues and that’s the same for the barrels as it is for everyday riding. She concentrates on keeping a horse legged up so their fit and loves to take them and work them on cattle to keep their mind fresh.
Mandy does not have a big collection of fancy tack. She competes in a Rocking J Trophy Saddle that she won, an old barrel saddle and roping saddle she rides daily in. She mostly rides in simple easy bits. She has a couple snaffles/twisted snaffles, a draw gag bit, ported correction bit, jr cow horse, a combo bit, and a short shank hack.
Mandy feeds FRM Grain. Made in Georgia, with an Alfalfa or Alfalfa mix hay. She tries to keep the grain and hay consistent and simple. She likes to feed corn oil to help promote a nice shiny coat. She will have the Vet out when needed to draw blood and give their shots. She tries and have their teeth done or looked at yearly and uses Sergio Bevacqua. She de-worms the horses every 6-8 weeks and rotate between brands. She takes the horses to the Sanctuary for P3- magnetic massages and for lazoring. She is hoping to take her horses and swim there some too. Her Vet is Peterson & Smith/Greg Fowler. Her fiancé Rex Amos does her horses hooves.
What gets to Mandy at barrel races is "Poor Horsemanship!" and horses being run hard again and again in exhibitions, when some things should be taken home and worked on slow, she says. Mandy says, "You need a good base and foundation before asking this much of horses and I hate to see things skipped or pushed too much." She says, "Get someone to teach you horsemanship skills, and to learn on the right horse that will help you not get you discouraged."
We talked about common problems and some common sense solutions Mandy offered are as follows;
Alley Way- 1st see if the horse has soundness problems or poor fitting equipment. Then take the time to bring the horse in and out of the pen on a practice night and not run him, just build your horses trust back up. Rate- Take the horse home and start at a walk going to the barrels and stopping and backing up the horse. You need to practice perfect and it will hold up better for the faster speeds. Sit up coming into the barrels, your body position will help your horse to rate, make sure your not leaning over your horse while asking him to rate. Body position? Is your horse in the correct body position around the barrels? That would be my one tip. Get that horses positioning correct and it will save a ton! I like to watch videos of my runs to study what I am doing and what I can do better. I am hard on myself after a bad run, and sometimes after a good run too. I am ALWAYS thinking how my run can be better and what I can do to improve. Its those times that help me benefit overall as an individual and a horseman.
Lastly for advice Mandy says you should set goals, always have something you are working toward in life! Never give up, hard work and determination will pay off. Currently, Mandy competes in NBHA and AQHA. She is too busy training horses and riding race horses to compete in rodeos, and haul far.
Mandy has spent a lot of time learning and has many people along the way to thank for that. When she was up North she took some basic horsemanship lessons weekly for two winters with George Peters. Growing up her mom helped her a lot with the barrel racing, she hauled me everywhere she wanted to go all the time and always pushed me to do more. A great friend of mine, Wendy Bink, was the first person who taught her about getting a horse broke and soft in the face. After moving to Florida learned a lot from different people she worked for breaking race, pleasure, reining, and show horses. She offers a huge thanks to Alan Staley for teaching her a lot with my prior horse Firewaters Fast Cash. Mandy met him and asked him for some lessons a month before her first futurity, and it was some of the best spent money that year!
When Mandy is looking for a prospect she loves a well balanced horse with a good eye. Big, small, or average, she likes something that looks athletic. Nice feet are a must, and a good horse is never a bad color for Mandy. For bloodlines Mandy loves: Firewater Flit, Dash For Cash, Easy Jet, Sun Frost, Doc Bar, Frenchmans Guy. She LOVES the combination of speed and working lines.
In addition to the people Mandy thanked above she would also like to thank her fiancé Rex! He has been with Mandy over the past three and a half years and has had her back along the way. He has proven to be the best partner she could ask for and helps her with every horse they have. Rex has been there for Mandy and has taken her so many miles in the truck to barrel races! She loves him and appreciates all of his help and thanks him for participating in the barrel racing with her when he can!
Mandy would like to mention that Rex and she have a web site together promoting their business. You can learn a lot about their history, jobs and horses there at
www.mrpeformancehorses.com
Thank you Mandy, Best wishes to you and Rex and all of your barrel racing dreams!
By- Tina Spangler