In an arena where horses can cost up to half a million dollars, one of the best cost just $250.
Casino horseman Neil Flynn, 79, has a knack for finding diamonds in the rough and turning them into performance horse champions.
Mr Flynn’s keen eye “saw something” in four-year-old gelding Woody Be Metallic, so he snapped him up.
And his outlay of $250 paid off — Woody be Metallic earned $13,000 in prize money this year, at his very first cutting horse event.
Cutting involves a horse and rider separating a cow from a herd and then preventing it from returning.
Once split from the other cattle the cow is worked by the horse — its rider setting his or her hand on the horse’s neck and only using their feet to assist the horse in its job.
Breeders earning thousands
Performance horses are bred to compete in a wide range of disciplines such as cutting, campdrafting and western pleasure.
The industry has come a long way in recent times, and demand for the best horses has seen breeders earn prices from tens, up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In 2022, three-year-old filly Bad in Black fetched $550,000, breaking all Australasian sale records for a performance horse.
For Mr Flynn though — a retired panel beater — the horse that catches his eye is often an undiscovered gem in the saleyards or a paddock.
Horses like Woody Be Metallic, who Mr Flynn said was definitely not in peak condition when he first saw him as a four-month-old foal.
It turned out Woody was sired by a well-known American stallion called Metallic Echo, but he had no paperwork.
“He wasn’t registered, he had hair on him about four inches long when we got him,” Mr Flynn said.
“I don’t know what it is but I saw something in him.
“We kept feeding him, worming him and we grew him up.”
Making the futurity finals
Grow is exactly what Woody did, and at 15 months old Mr Flynn started training him.
Flash forward to 2023 and he has begun competing against some of the most expensive horses in the performance horse industry.
He has also given the 79-year-old his first placing in a cutting horse non-pro futurity final, where they placed third in June.
A futurity is competition for younger horses coming up in the ranks.
“I was in three futurity finals — it was a dream you couldn’t even explain,” Mr Flynn said.
Don’t dismiss cheaper horses
Performance horse breeder Amanda Nicholson agreed sometimes there were horses that went unnoticed.
Ms Nicholson was born into a horse breeding family and now owns Texas Star Performance Horses with her partner, Neil Faint.
One such unnoticed horse was a mare Ms Nicholson still has today.
“I used to see this bay, baldy foal going to school and I used to keep nagging Mum and said ‘I really want to buy that horse’,” she said.
“We would ring up the owners and she wasn’t for sale and when it was time for her to be weaned obviously their circumstances changed … they rang mum and said ‘If you want that foal, she’s for sale’.”
The foal — Mandy’s Moonlight — cost just $200 and is still with the family today, aged 26.
“$200 now it just seems crazy, but that horse went on to be one of our best performance horses,” Ms Nicholson said.
Never be afraid to ask
While a five or six-figure price tag for a horse may be daunting to some, Ms Nicholson said those with smaller budgets should not let themselves be deterred.
As she and Mr Flynn have both experienced, there are cheaper horses out in paddocks or through private sales waiting for the right rider to turn them into champions.
“Don’t be deterred … if it is a high profile stud or business or trainer,” she said.
“If you don’t ask the question you’re never going to know if there is something that might suit, but it’s always a good thing if you have a budget in mind.”
Ms Nicholson did have one recommendation for any prospective buyers.
“Try to have a few specs when you go and enquire about a horse … give them some insight into what you’re actually looking for.”
