Texas cowgirl, Molli Montgomery

Molli Montgomery was miserable when, as a kid, she and her family visited Disney World.
That’s because she couldn’t stand to be away from her horses at home.
The Purdon, Texas cowgirl grew up loving horses and has made them her life’s work. As a kid, she’d spend all her spare time in the pasture with the horses or with the best babysitter she could have, a pony named Charlie.
“My mom would saddle him up and put me on him, and I would ride him for five hours a day,” she recalled. “I’ve always loved riding and the horses.”
Molli, her husband, brother and sister-in-law and other family members run Montgomery Barrel Horses and have anywhere from 80 to 90 horses at various stages of training. Some are customer horses, some are their personal horses.
They specialize in four-and five-year-old futurity barrel horses. Molli has trained and run winning horses like FeelintheFirewater, A Dash to Glamour, Strawflyin the Gold, Heavenly Firewater, and TR HeavensIlluminated.
She is a 5 Star Equine team member and loves their products, including the saddle pads, using mostly the 7/8 barrel racer with the gullet hole.
“I really like that one, because I feel it fits really well. It molds to a horse’s back,” she said. “We don’t have any problems with the saddle pad slipping or sore backs. It’s natural, all wool, and I feel it keeps my horses safe.”
She also uses the performance boots. They are made of “real stretchy” material, “which I feel gives your horse’s leg a lot of support, and they have double straps, to support the suspensories.” The boots fit nicely, to keep the dirt out. “Mine never have dirt in them, ever.”
Molli appreciates the customization that 5 Star Equine allows their customers to do, all online.
“I love going through the website and trying different colors,” she said. “I love how you can cus-tomize it yourself and see it before you buy it. You don’t have to wait, you can see your product right there.”
She believes in repetition when training her horses, “the consistency of that monotonous type of training, every day, riding,” she said.
Taking a horse to a futurity trainer is a huge advantage to the horse, and the owner, she believes.
“You’re always going to come home with a better horse than what you sent off, if you send to a good futurity trainer,” she said. “That horse will stand for the farrier, will be soft in the body and the face and well patterned. Whether they go on to be a standout futurity colt or not, they will have a solid foundation for their future.”
Molli compares futurity training to school, “pre-K, K and first grade for horses.”
Sending a colt off to futurity training is a way to discover the rare “unicorns,” she believes.
“If you can’t afford to spend $200,000 or $300,000 on a horse, which is what it takes to win on these days, and you’re wanting to create a great horse for yourself, put that horse in training.
“We have horses that can barely have a halter on, and within eighteen months, they’re running the barrels. Even if that horse doesn’t go on to be one of the greats, you can sell them for more than what they would have been worth. You pay for the horse, the training, and now you have a horse that you couldn’t have afforded to buy.”
Molli prides herself on horses with a solid foundation. “That translates to years of longevity in the performance of a horse.
“It takes a solid foundation for those horses to stand on, and win for years. That’s what I feel like is the secret to futurity trainers’ programs. We’re very dedicated to riding and laying a solid foundation for these colts.”
She’s proud to be one of many successful futurity trainers.
“I’m one of many talented futurity trainers, and there are lots of great trainers that do amazing jobs. People don’t realize what we do for the industry and for horses, to further their future.”