EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLEGoing round and round pays off for horse trainer

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 13, 2008 by Carolyn Kaberline

By Carolyn Kaberline

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Growing up in town might be considered a handicap to being a horse trainer, but it definitely hasn't hobbled Brent Wright, of Ottawa: He recently became the 11th rider to earn $1 million in lifetime earnings in National Reining Horse Association competition.

That goal was obtained in April at the National Reining Breeders Classic in Katy, Texas, aboard Miss Rey O Shine, a 4-year-old mare owned by Gloria Bahn, of Wildwood, Mo. The duo won the first go- around and tied for ninth place in the open finals, earning more than $43,000 in prize money.

Wright, who has been competing in the show ring for more than 20 years, said getting to the million-dollar mark was always in the back of his mind, but it wasn't until the 2007 year end statistics came out that he found out he was close.

"I had almost $974,000 at the end of last year," Wright said, then added with a chuckle, "I thought I might make it if I didn't fall off too many times."

Wright makes riding reining patterns -- known for their fast pace, spins and sliding stops -- look easy, it wasn't always that way. In fact, he didn't even plan to become a horse trainer.

Growing up in Iola, Wright said, he was always around horses, despite his town background.

"My grandparents on my mom's side had horses, and I spent a lot of time with them," he said. "They raised some colts, and I helped break them to ride, but we never went to shows."

Wright later attended Baker University, where he studied to become a physical education teacher with hopes of doing some coaching on the side. After doing his student teaching, though, he changed his mind. When he had the opportunity to buy some farm ground near Uniontown, Wright and his wife, Jan, did so and farmed for the next 15 years.

"I always had some horses there," Wright said. "I built a little barn and roped quite a bit."

The turning point for Wright came when he and a neighbor attended the World Championship Quarter Horse Show in 1976 and watched the roping, cutting and reining classes.

"I had never seen a reiner until then," he said, "but I really got the bug there. I went home and tried to do the same thing by trial and error."

At first he trained only his own horses, but soon began to ride for others. The first NHRA show he went to was the Lazy E Classic in Guthrie, Okla., in the spring of 1987, a show he described as "pretty much a wreck."

"I took a horse that probably didn't belong there, and I hadn't shown enough," he said. "After that, I decided that I needed to get a whole lot better or get into another line of work."

By the time Wright went to the NRHA Futurity the next fall, he had gone to a lot of small shows where he did well. But even then his Futurity debut was less than he had hoped for: He spun five times instead of four in the first round and received a zero.

Despite these less than notable beginnings in NRHA competition, Wright continued to practice, and it wasn't long before the wins started to come in. They included a top spot in the Southwest Futurity, a third-place finish in the NRHA Futurity, a tie for first in the 2001 AQHA Congress Reining Futurity, a win at the Lazy E Classic and too many others to possibly list.

Wright is quick to express his appreciation to his sponsors -- Purina feeds, Bob's Saddles, Rio Mercedes boots and Twister trailers -- for their help in his success. He also praises the accomplishments of his son Todd, an up-and-coming reining horse trainer, and points out his business is really a family endeavor.

"Todd starts most of the colts. Jan takes care of all the records, gets us entered and does a lot of the grooming," Wright said.

And what are Wright's plans after becoming a million-dollar rider?

"I don't have any long-term plans," Wright said. "As long as God gives me health, I'll keep riding. I like to ride a good horse. I'm very competitive; I want to continue doing this as long as I can be competitive."

And if the past is any indicator, Wright will be doing what he loves for a long time.

Carolyn Kaberline is a freelance writer in Topeka.She can be reached at ckaberli@aol.com.