Age: 61
From: Payson, AZ
Phone: (951) 202-7475
Tim Smith
Money Won
$6,000,000Titles/Finals
- NCHA Futurity Finalist x6
- NCHA Futurity on Smooth Peanut Butter (3rd)
- Won over 100 Limited Aged Events
Top Three Horses Trained
- WR This Cats Smart
- Travelano
- My Lizzy Babe
How I got started: I went to college in Minnesota on a basketball scholarship and got hurt in the first year. I didn’t really want to go to college so I came to California where my brother Mike was training cutting horses. He basically got me started. That was the mid-70s. He actually wanted me to keep my non-pro card. Kind of a funny story.
Biggest mistake I’ve made in cutting: I over-estimated the ability of some of the colts out of some mothers that I really had success with.
Biggest myth about cutting: That you don’t have to put in the time to be successful. If you don’t know what you’re doing and don’t put in the time you cannot be successful at the top level.
Favorite quote: “It’s a contest between a horse and a cow with the rider having the best seat in the house.” – Buster Welch
Most memorable moment in cutting: It was in 2013, marking a 232 on My Lizzy Babe in the last aged event of her career in Paso and beating all of the top 5/6 year-old’s. Also in 2005, winning the World Finals on WR at his last show.
Training philosophy: It’s evolved as I’ve gotten older: Let the horse be an individual. Let them tell you how good they’re going to be. We train them all basically the same, but some are better than others bottom line.
