EC March/April 2008

Trainers Murray and Robin Griggs, of Jasper, Missouri, have a knack for turning out excellent all-around youth and amateur competitors…and making sure they don’t forget the fun.

Murray is right at home in Missouri…

Murray was born and raised in Jasper, Missouri, where his folks, Loren and Avanell Griggs, were grain farmers. They had cattle as well, and liked to show horses as a hobby. Murray got interested in the horses when he was about 11 years old he says, following in his sisters’, Amy and Allison, footsteps. “My sisters started out in open shows and then switched to Quarter Horse shows, and I kind of followed along with them,” Murray explains. “I did mostly all-around horses until I was about 15 or 16. Then I continued with the all-around but added the roping.”

Showing as a youth in AQHA all during high school, Murray hauled with Cecil and Ann Hurley; then when he started roping, he says he spent a lot of time at Billy Allen’s. Following graduation from high school, Murray farmed with his dad for a couple of years, then began training horses for a living. “When I started, it was only pleasure horses and the futurity horses, and then later it just kind of grew into the all-around horses.”

Robin got her start in sunny Florida…

Robin Wimbush grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, and although she wasn’t born into a family with horses, that wasn’t going to stop her from having a horse. “I guess I was just one of those kids that always loved horses…and I begged my parents for riding lessons,” Robin recalls. Apparently it was a pretty easy sell as Robin’s mom had always liked horses but had never had the opportunity to show.

“I was about 8 years old when I started riding lessons,” Robin continues, “and was probably in the sixth grade before they bought me something of my own. She was a large pony that did the hunters. She had Quarter Horse papers, which is how we started in Quarter Horses.” Under the guidance of Linda Wooten, with help from Sandy Vaughn, Robin showed at the Florida Gold Coast in working hunter, hunter hack and hunter under saddle.

Robin showed all during high school, but after heading off to college at William Woods in Fulton, Missouri, she says she backed off the showing for two years. “I thought I was going to get to ride and show a lot, then I got to school and I just didn’t. Instead, I did the college thing.” So after a couple of years of college, Robin took a break and began showing in hunt seat classes for western pleasure trainer Jim Bryce in Moberly, Missouri. After about a year off from college, she was ready to return to finish her degree, and it was about that same time that she met Murray. “We met at the Congress,” Robin recalls. “He helped me with a horse that we had started in the hunt seat and that’s how we got to know each other.”

Starting a life together…

A year later Robin and Murray were married and after graduation Robin began working full-time as a horse trainer beside her husband. (Her degree was in Fashion Merchandising with emphasis in Design, and Robin’s sense of humor emerges as she notes, “I get to use it every time I tell Murray, ‘Yes, your shirt matches your show pad just fine.’”)

For Robin and for Murray, their family is the most important thing to them. They have two children, a 12 year-old son, Carson, and a 10 year-old daughter, Connor. “Carson is extremely intelligent…and I don’t know where that came from,” Murray says with a laugh. “He’s not particularly interested in the horses–he likes things that challenge him like computers and school work. And he loves to hunt.” Robin says Carson also enjoys playing basketball and is in the school band.

Robin and Murray note that Connor is very intelligent, too, and that both children are in the gifted class at school. Of the two children, Connor is the rider. “She just started showing this summer in the Novice Youth all-around events,” Robin notes. Murray adds with a chuckle, “She would rather live outside than in the house–she loves the horses!” Aside from the horses, Connor’s favorite activity is volleyball.

The Griggs note that they are fortunate to have Murray’s parents nearby; in fact, his parent’s house adjoins Murray and Robin’s 40 acres. Murray says his parents have been very supportive of him through his years as a professional horse trainer. “Even to this day, Robin nor I, either one, could do half of what we do–they’re just very supportive. They help in every way they can; they help with the kids.”

Murray’s sisters are still into the horses and live not far from Jasper. “They both come here and help us out,” Murray adds. Robin’s parents, Pen and Linda Wimbush, now have a place in Jasper, too, where they spend three or four months a year. The rest of the time they live in Colorado.

Training horses side by side…

Murray and Robin’s horse operation, Murray Griggs Quarter Horses, concentrates on all-around horses, showing horses and training youth and amateur riders. Robin says they keep about 25 horses in training and haul perhaps 10 to 12 to the various shows. At this point in time, they have several youth and select amateur riders, a combination that seems to work well for them. “Both of those are a pretty fun group,” Murray confirms. In the past they started a lot of young horses but now their focus is more on the older show horses.

Besides being talented as a rider and trainer, Robin notes that Murray is extremely laid back…and very honest. “It’s like if somebody pays him a dollar, he’s going to give you a dollar-fifty worth of work.” He’s strong on patience, too, she adds. “He’s very patient and will work with a talented horse that may not have been in a good program before, or has just been scared or intimidated and isn’t a good show horse any more.”

Amateur rider, Sandy Huebner, of O’Fallon, Missouri, couldn’t agree more. “Murray takes the time to very slowly train the horse and doesn’t mess with his mind. He respects each horse individually.” She adds, “He is very truthful with you…very truthful about what your horse can and can’t do.”

As for the qualities Robin brings to the mix, Murray notes, “Robin is very good with the hunt seat horses…and she started showing in the western events the last couple of years and she’s really starting to have success there.” He adds, “She’s very good with the customers and makes everything fun for them and they all really like her.”

“She’s very funny and she’s very confident in what she does,” says youth rider Rachel Pendergraft, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. “We always have a good time whenever we’re practicing. And if we don’t do something right, she has a good way of correcting us.” Rachel adds that Murray always tries to get them to work their hardest in practice, but when something doesn’t go right he always just giggles about it and they try it again. Sarah Ann Pendergraft (Rachel’s sister) agrees. “They’re really fun and we always have a good time.”

Their dad, Neal Pendergraft, likes the fact that Murray and Robin are constantly lifting up the girls even when they are correcting them. He adds, “As horse trainers, they put a lot of effort into teaching our kids…and also teaching them things like respect for horses and respect for the people around them.”

Talented trainers who enjoy what they do…

As a trainer, Murray likes a quiet horse with stamina…meaning mental stamina. “Some horses are born with it; some horses don’t have quite as much “try” as others,” he notes. Murray says their job is to preserve that quiet mind and stamina because they are important traits in a successful show horse.

Robins says she likes to see a horse that is athletic, talented and pretty…and agrees that if they’re good minded that is better for her and Murray. With a laugh, she adds, “If they’re not good minded, we just have some wet saddle pads.”

Both trainers lend a helpful eye to one another. “We’re brutally honest to each other,” Robin notes, “especially since we’ve started judging. If we don’t tell each other the truth, the person standing in the middle is going to tell the truth–that’s their job as a judge.”

Longtime friend, Liz Hay, an amateur rider who was Robin’s roommate in college and now lives in Siler City, North Carolina, sums up these two very talented trainers by saying, “They are the type of people that actually enjoy what they’re doing. They always seem to be in a good mood and happy for other people when they do good.”

Liz notes that she and Robin certainly had a fun time in college. “She’s a lot of fun! She has a very dry sense of humor–she always makes you laugh.” As for their times at the horse shows together in those days, Liz adds, “Robin was always the one that told everybody else ‘good luck.’ She always wanted everybody to do good and was happy for her friends and other competitors when they did good.”

Both Robin and Murray are carded judges. Murray has been a judge for several years now and has his card in AQHA and NSBA. His reason for choosing to become a judge is simple. “I wanted to put back something in the business that we do.” As for what he looks for when he judges, well, that’s pretty straightforward, too. “Consistency and quality…two traits that stand out and are easy to see,” he notes.

As for trends in the pen right now, Murray says he is liking all of them. “The pleasure right now is better than it ever has been…and the pleasure is where we get our all-around horses.” Murray notes that was not always the case, but now the pleasure horses are the first place they go to find their good all-around horses.

Longtime friend and fellow trainer and judge, Jeff Mellott of Andover, Kansas, says Murray is “top of the line” when it comes to judging. “He has a vast experience…from roping as a youth…to helping his wife prepare hunters…to everything in between.” On a personal note, Jeff says Murray is a very reliable friend as well. “The best you can have!”

Robin is a respected judge in AQHA and NSBA as well. Fellow AQHA judge and close friend, Cindy Hale, of Perryton, Texas, (who, along with her husband, Greg Hale, judged the 2007 AQHA World Show) says, “Robin is an excellent judge. I think because she works with so many events on a day-to-day basis that it makes her very knowledgeable.”

Robin got her card about five years ago and notes that because of the horse operation and because of the children, she and Murray try not to be off judging at the same time. “There will be times that we just can’t turn it down, like when we got to go to Germany to do the European Championships,” Robin notes. “But on a week-to-week basis, one of us tries to be home.” (Robin says she doesn’t have a favorite class to judge. She likes to judge anything with good horses).

Looking back; looking to the future…

As to what they see for their horse operation in the future, both are pretty much happy with the way things are right now. In years past, Robin and Murray say they probably had twice the number of horses and clients, but now feel they are keeping it to a better working number. It works out better for them on a personal level, too, as both are quick to note that their favorite non-horse activity is just “hanging out” with their children.

Looking back, Murray says that there is not one special horse that helped set them on their present course, but many good ones. “I was extremely lucky when I first got started because there were several good young horses that I did the futurities with.” Murray wraps up by saying that the best part of making a life as a horse trainer is the people that they meet. “We meet so many great people and we have friends all over the country.”

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