---

Age: 37
From: Abilene
Phone: (325) 370-8013

---

Wes Ashlock

---

Money Won

$554,708

---

Titles/Finals

• 2020 Western Bloodstock Sale record holder ($1.05 Million)
  
• 2020 ABILENE SPECTACULAR Open
  
• 2020 ABILENE SPECTACULAR Limited Open Derby Finalist
  
• 2019 NCHA Futurity Open Semifinalist
  
• 2019 WEST TEXAS FUTURITY Intermediate Open Futurity Finalist
  
• 2019 The NON PRO PLUS OPEN Derby Open Intermediate
  
• 2019 THE NON PRO PLUS OPEN DERBY OPEN FINALIST
  
• 2019 ABILENE SPECTACULAR OPEN DERBY CHAMPION
  
• 2X 2018 NCHA OPEN FUTURITY SEMI-FINALIST
  
• HIGH SELLING 2YO AT THE WB NCHA FUTURITY SALE "TINMAN" $500,000

---

Top Three Horses Trained

• Reyce Moon
  
• HC Tailgate Date
  
• Smart Suger Kitty

---

Wes has won in excess of $500,000 in the show pen and topped the 2yr old NCHA Futurity sale in 2018, selling Tinman for $500,000. Wes now holds the Western Bloodstock sale record after selling a 2 year old for $1.05 million at the WB Futurity Sale in 2020. Wes is extremely passionate about working with young horses and developing their confidence. In these exceptional videos on CHTOlive.com Wes gives you a great insight to his program, making sure he doesn’t skip any steps, making sure the foundation he puts on his 2yr olds can go on and have a very successful show career and have the ability to adapt to any trainers program.

How did you get into cutting?

“My dad and mom raised horses, and they wanted to upgrade their program. There was a guy that had a son of Little Peppy. So we made a deal to breed some mares to his stud… We did some welding to pay for the breedings. That man was Tom Merryman who is now my father-in-law. I quit school in 8^th grade and I was over there helping my dad with welding. I saw Tom cutting and he asked me if I wanted to turn back for him. I had no clue what that was but I said yeah I’ll try it. I started helping him and ended up working for him for 3 years…”

Ashlock worked for Josh King for a time at Silverbrook Ranch, and Buster Welch for a time. And then he went out on his own. He says his wife has taught him more than anyone about horses. Lindy has been showing for a long time, and she has just been around a lot of great people. He says the list of trainers that have helped him along the way is huge, he couldn’t name them all. Nearly every trainer in the business has given him some good advice along the way. If you do want to learn, the opportunity is there he says.

What is your most memorable moment in the sport?

“Selling Tin Man was…I’ve made the finals, I’ve won some big stuff, but for me selling that horse was probably the biggest blessing for me and my family. And one of the neatest experiences I’ve ever had was doing that. He was a special horse for us.”

Tin Man was sold at the Western Bloodstock Futurity sale in 2018 for half a million dollars.

[Updated in 2021: Wes Ashlock set a record for highest selling horse ever sold in the Western Bloodstock Sales hitting a record bid of $1.05 million in the 2020 Futurity Sale.]

What is the biggest myth you’ve heard in the sport?

“… Not being raised in this, from the outside looking in, I just felt like it was an impossible mountain to climb. I wasn’t a non-pro ever, I just started off in the open. I think a lot of younger people that want to be trainers see us out there competing and they think I want to do that. I think people think it’s easier than what it is. It’s not easy, it’s a lot of hard work, but it is achievable. One of the toughest things about this business is finding [people] that want to spend the time, the work and the effort to do this.”

How would you describe your training philosophy?

“I love horses, that’s why I do this. I try to keep that in mind everyday. My philosophy is just pressure and release. The more I do this [sport] the more I try to just stick to that. The cow or flag is the release, if the horse wants to stop with that cow and get in the correct position it feels great. If they don’t, then I do some different things with them to put their feet to work and then they get soft and decide that cow is the release. I feel like the horses identify with that. My strategy is that the cow is the reward, and I just try to make that a good place to be.”

What advice do you have for up and coming trainers?

“For me personally, I’ve learned more from asking questions. But paying attention is very important, I’ve learned more from watching people than I have from anything. You watch Jesse Lennox or someone like him, he has spent hours and hours during the cattle changes, he would write down every set of cows in Ft. Worth he was in or not in. And he would study those cows. Be passionate about it, and invest all of your time in it…”

What is the best advice you could give an amateur or non-pro just getting started in the sport?

“Buy a really good horse. For me personally, I’ve learned more from good horses than I have people. Once I got the opportunity to ride a really good horse, which it took awhile to get to that point, it was a game changer for me. Gale Holmes sent me a mare called Reycy Moon, and I never felt a horse be that natural about stopping and reading a cow…I think people really struggle because they don’t buy a good enough horse and they go in there and they won’t do any good and they beat themselves up. They feel like they aren’t doing any good, but really they don’t have a good enough partner.”