Another Congress Championship for Bud Lyon and Sumac GunnaBeFlashy in Open Ranch Trail Stakes NSBA
By Sarah Welk Baynum
Bud Lyon and Sumac GunnaBeFlashy, also known as “Romeo,” owned by Leslie Lange, added yet another championship to an already impressive early Congress run when they topped the Open Ranch Trail Stakes NSBA at the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
The victory marked Romeo’s fourth win of the show and his second stakes title, continuing what has become a remarkable career for the 9-year-old gelding.
However, the horse’s consistency and longevity mean even more to Lyon than his growing list of accolades.
“He’s a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” Lyon said. “Every time we think he has done everything there is to do, he proves there are still more goals, achievements and accomplishments to be had. I’m very grateful to Leslie Lange for allowing me to continue to be this horse’s partner and co-pilot. He’s the one horse in the barn that, if he wasn’t standing there, I think it would make me a little sad every day not to have him around. He just continues to amaze me.”
Lyon has been part of Romeo’s career since the end of the horse’s 3-year-old year. Although at the time, there were few guarantees he would develop into the dependable show-ring veteran he is today.
“When we first got him, he was fairly inconsistent, and I think that’s a good testament to how you never really know how horses are going to turn out,” Lyon said. “These days, consistency is kind of his hallmark. He’s Mr. Reliable. He and I know each other so well now, and that makes my job really easy. He takes care of me when I don’t do my job very well, which is always a luxury and a blessing. We’re just going to keep riding the wave until he tells us he doesn’t want to do it anymore.”
That reliability proved especially valuable in a 55-deep and highly competitive Open Ranch Trail Stakes field that Lyon described as representative of just how competitive ranch events have become at Congress.
“The quality and depth of quality in the ranch horses at this horse show has been outstanding,” Lyon said. “This is the cream of the crop for what we’re doing. We’ve seen some incredibly high scores, and when it takes a 244 or 245 just to make the top 15, you know you’re in some deep water. To come out on top is always a blessing.”
Lyon particularly enjoyed a pattern that asked a lot of horses early in the course.
“You come in the gate and get to show off the extended walk right away, do your drag and then go right to your lope-over, so it starts with a high degree of difficulty,” Lyon said. “Then you have to change leads, extend the lope and come back down to the walk before the bridge. There’s a lot coming at you in a very short amount of time, and I think it gave horses that are willingly guided, very broke and have a lot of handle an opportunity to shine.”
At the same time, ranch trail leaves little room for error, particularly over the poles.
“With the walk-overs, trot-overs and lope-overs, you prepare as best you can and then hope for the best when you get in there because every hit is going to be a penalty,” Lyon said. “Luckily, my horses were very good with their feet today. But weird things can happen when you’re showing—things you can’t predict or see coming. I thought it was a really fun pattern because it gave our horses a chance to show off, but there was also enough degree of difficulty to create some separation.”
Lyon had the additional challenge of showing four horses in the class in relatively quick succession, requiring him to adjust his approach to each individual horse while relying heavily on the preparation done before show day.
“It’s a luxury of riches in some respects to have four or five really good ones to go show, but at the same time, you don’t get to spend as much time on each one,” Lyon said. “Your preparation has to happen leading up to that day, and then you have to rely on your training and be confident in it. Every horse is different, so you have to tailor your approach to the personality and tendencies of that horse.”
With his first horse entering the pen at draw seven, Lyon said the day quickly settled into a rhythm that carried through the remainder of the class.
“We just sort of found a rhythm after that,” Lyon said. “It’s always fun to show when you can get into that flow state and don’t have to overthink it. You can just flow from one horse to the next and through the pattern. Days like today are a lot of fun. You find that rhythm and comfort zone—and now it’s time to reboot and worry about tomorrow.”
All four ultimately landed in the top 10, a result Lyon was quick to credit in part to his team at Bud Lyon Performance Horses.
“I have an outstanding support staff, and they make me look way better than I really am,” Lyon said. “They had the horses cleaned up, warmed up, prepared and ready for me because I basically had to jump off one and get on the next. They’re excellent and incredibly hardworking, and they deserve a ton of the credit because I can’t do what I’m doing without them.”
