2018 Miniature Horse World Magazine FALL- Volume 34, Number 6 | Page 78

A SHOW OF FAITH
The Skip a Star Story
By Jaclynn Cauthorn
I
could feel the electricity in the air and
the suffocating pressure that was starting
to take me over. Wow, was this what
they meant when they talked about athletes
that couldn’t handle the pressures of the
pros? We had won many championships
at a local level, but this was the National
Show- the Miniature Horse equivalent of
the Super Bowl. I had never competed at
this level before or against as many Grand
Champions at one time including legends
of the Miniature horse industry. We
were competing for the most prestigious
title of the entire show – National Grand
Champion Senior Stallion. The future of
our farm was resting on what happened
in the show ring, and I was feeling the
pressure. All family support had moved up
to the grandstands to watch the fruit of our
labor walk into the show ring, and I was
holding the lead rope to our three-year-
old stallion, Skip A Star who was a stick of
dynamite about to explode! What do you
pray at a moment like this?
I began to reflect back on where we had
been just three years earlier and our first
purchase of a group of Miniature horses.
God had been with us from the beginning.
The year was 1983, An antelope breeder in
East Texas had been to an exotic animal sale
in Cape Girardeau, MO that was a buyers
market for Miniature stallions. Lion and
The North Texas
State Fair was
one of Skipper’s
first wins.
tiger owners were buying the horses to feed
to their animals because the prices were
low. He had an empty trailer, so he bought
a dozen Miniature horses to keep that from
happening and brought them back to Texas.
A partner and I bought this group that had
literally been saved from the lion’s mouth.
There were three weanlings (just taken off
their mothers) that stood out in the group;
Skip A Star and two of his brothers. I
tracked down their papers (which was a
miracle) and found out that they were out
of very prestigious bloodlines. I knew
nothing about Miniature bloodlines, but
God did. My partner and I started showing
and winning, and Donnie (my husband)
got on board after I convinced him to go
to a show with us. My mother bought out
my partner, so now the whole family was on
board!
Donnie and I had agreed to focus full time
on training and conditioning the horses if
I would take care of the daily operations of
our drapery business. I had shown large
horses for several years so I would be the
handler at the shows. Our teamwork paid
off and Skip A Star, a.k.a. Skipper started
winning many Junior Championships.
When he turned three years old and had