At Only 7 Years Old, “Romeo” has Captured Hearts and Created an Unforgettable Legacy Under Bud Lyon’s Guidance, Including NSBA’s Horse of the Year

Ranch riding and Bud Lyon are synonymous these days. In the past six years, the Whitesboro, Texas, trainer has racked up a long list of world champion titles in multiple organizations, including the American Paint Horse Association (APHA), American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and the National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA). While Lyon’s barn is full of talented equine athletes, one gelding has helped him reach new heights as a trainer and exhibitor: Sumac Gunnabeflashy, better known as “Romeo” — NSBA’s 2023 Horse of the Year.

The 2017 sorrel gelding by Gunnatrashya and out of the Whiz N Tag Chex mare Chics Graceful Whiz boasts a wide white blaze and white socks that help make him not only a barn favorite due to his striking looks and unique personality, but he’s also a crowd and judge favorite in reining and ranch horse events. Though Lyon pilots Romeo, his owner is a fellow professional, horsewoman Leslie Lange of Greeley, Colorado. It’s a unique partnership that neither realized would be as fulfilling as it has been in the past four years. “It’s always a roll of the dice and a guessing game when buying a prospect,” Lyon says. “And, I’m grateful it worked out the way it did, and Leslie was willing to take a chance on me and on that horse.”

While ranch horse events have become a cornerstone in this western performance trainer’s program, it didn’t begin that way. In fact, he was relatively new to the events before Romeo stepped into the picture. Today, they are one of the winningest duos to enter the show pen.

From Reining to Ranch

Lyon has earned a reputation as a fierce ranch rider, especially at the AQHA World Championships. It began in 2018 aboard Chics Dream About Me when he claimed the Ranch Riding title. He followed up on Lil Trash Talk with wins in the 2020 Junior and 2021 Senior divisions. The following two years, he rode Gunner Got Out to back-to-back Ranch Trail titles, then capped 2023 with a Senior Ranch Riding win aboard Romeo. With that résumé, it is hard to believe that initially Lyon was reluctant to try the event.

Lyon grew up in California showing all-around under the guidance of Dana Hokana, a top female trainer in the Quarter Horse industry, before moving to focus on reining and reined cow horses. After college, he went to work for Randy Paul, a renowned reining and cow horse trainer, for nearly eight years. In 2008, Lyon launched Bud Lyon Performance Horses in north Texas and began training horses on his own. He and wife Kim Colvin Lyon purchased Lectric Chic Olena, a Smart Chic Olena stallion, from the Babcock Ranch dispersal sale with the desire to show him in reining.

“We thought he had all the parts to be a nice reining horse, but he didn’t,” Lyon recalls. “Kim had always enjoyed riding him and asked if she could go do the ranch riding competitions on him. It gave him a job and let her have some fun, but when she asked me to go with her, I said absolutely not.” Kim got the horse qualified in the Amateur Ranch Riding and Senior Ranch Riding and continued asking Lyon to show him in the Senior, which he declined because of his lack of knowledge of the event. “Long story short, I got drafted to show the horse, and I got lucky in the prelims, scoring well,” Lyon says. “Then, in the finals, I got my butt kicked and was the first finalist called off the rail.” As a fierce competitor, this gave Lyon the appreciation he needed for the sport and how deceptively difficult it could be. From then on, he was hooked. “It’s truly an art form to do it well and make it look easy. That springboarded my foray into the ranch events,” he concludes.

Soon, Lyon was brushing up on transitions and focusing more on a horse’s quality of movement. He and Lange were friends, and she was also an accredited horsewoman in the ranch riding classes, holding the title of AQHA’s Most Valuable Professional. One day, she casually mentioned she was looking for a new ranch prospect. While Lyon heard it, he didn’t understand her intent to keep the new horse in his program.

On the Hunt for a Winner

For more than a year, Lyon looked at different horses, but none measured up to his expectations. “Leslie is an established, respected and successful trainer that competes successfully in the ranch events,” he says. “I was extremely flattered she would have the confidence that I could do that on her behalf, but I also felt an enormous sense of pressure when it came to finding a prospect for someone like her, who I admire as a horsewoman.”

That was when fellow horseman Garth Brown sent Lyon a message about a Gunnatrashya gelding in reining training. When Lyon rode the gelding, Romeo had all the parts he was looking for — reining foundation, good movement and a presence. He called Lange immediately.

“Romeo was purchased as a prospect to have fun,” Lange recalls. “Bud and I, we didn’t aspire for him to be as successful and as solid as he has become.” While the horse has come with challenges, it is a winning partnership that neither takes for granted. “It goes without saying that the horse has achieved far beyond our wildest dreams,” she admits. “It is a combination of a good horse purchase, good horse training and a good program. It all fell in place.”

After the purchase, the 3-year-old joined Lyon’s barn. It wasn’t an immediate rise to the winner’s circle though. The horse remained inconsistent into the next year. So much so that Lyon decided to work him a little harder and not only do the ranch classes but he also added back reining to the 4-year-old’s training activity list.

“I genuinely believe he was one of the best junior ranch horses that year. He just wasn’t ready to be consistent,” Lyon explains. “It took a little while to achieve that consistency, which is ironic because that is one of his hallmarks now. I proposed to Leslie that we go back to showing him in the reining to give him something new and different to do,” he says. “He had a background in reining, and I had shown him in reining a handful of times, though never seriously.” It was this combination of reining and ranch class work that challenged him to step up.

Romeo on the Rise

When the stout sorrel gelding enters any show pen warm-up area, other exhibitors take notice. Today, it’s likely Romeo will walk away with whatever title Lyon aims him toward, though his success wasn’t always a given. As a 4-year-old, Romeo and owner Lange showed in the AQHA World Championship finals in Ranch Riding and Ranch Trail, then Lyon took the reins full time.

As a 5-year-old, Romeo began to mature, saving his personality for the barn and going full business mode in the show pen. That maturity continues to help the horse achieve wins today. In the past year, Lyon and Romeo have amassed a slew of titles, including the first rider to win the Ranch Horse Triple Crown Challenge Champion title. The event showcases horses in ranch riding, ranch rail and ranch trail. In 2024, the third year of the event, Romeo won all three classes to clinch the coveted title. “When the Ranch Horse Triple Crown Challenge was created, I was excited about the opportunity, but I didn’t know if that title could ever be achieved,” Lyon says. “I knew it would take a special horse. It would take a lot of luck and everything lining up just right.” Lyon believed that if any horse could, it would be a horse like Romeo. “I am exceptionally grateful that we were able to achieve it, and that Romeo was the first horse to do it,” he says. “I can’t think of any horse that deserves it as much as Romeo.”

Adding to the accomplishments, he was also the first horse to win the NSBA Horse of the Year by showing exclusively in ranch horse events. That year, the pair also set a new score record on the way to earning the 2023 AQHA World Champion Senior Ranch Riding title. In 2022 and 2023, Romeo rode to multiple NSBA World and Reserve World Champion titles, including Reserve Champion titles in Open Conformation, with Lange at the lead, and All-American Quarter Horse Congress Champion titles.

Among all those, Romeo also took Kim to The Run For A Million, where she earned the Co-Reserve Champion title in the Rookie Level 2, showcasing his versatility and athleticism.

“It’s been special for my household and for Kim and I to have a fun year,” Lyon says. “It is great for her to have a horse that is trustworthy, reliable and gifted. I think doing all the events on Romeo keeps him fresh and engaged and has provided the platform for him to develop that consistency now that he is a senior horse.”

Bud Lyon has been a Platinum Performance® client since 2009.

Bud Lyon has been a Platinum Performance® client since 2009.

Enjoying the Ride

As they prepare for another run at ranch class titles in Oklahoma City at the 2024 AQHA World Championship monthlong show in November, Lyon says that the horse has accomplished more than they ever thought he would. And while Romeo’s show record impresses most people, it’s his personality that endears him to those around him every day. “I would not say there is even a close second to him as the barn favorite!” Lyon says. “He’s got a great personality. He’s a gentle soul, but he’s also a horse that really enjoys people.” The good-natured gelding’s quirks and idiosyncrasies keep everyone in the barn on their toes and entertained “He loves to sleep and snores really loudly,” Lyon jokes. “He’s also a Houdini and is very good at getting out of his halter.” With this giant personality, he lives up to his name because everyone who meets him falls in love. “There is not a single person that I would not put on his back,” Lyon continues. “There isn’t a thing that horse would not do for you if he trusted you. He’s a unique individual.”

And one with a résumé that showcases his breeding and training. For Lange and Lyon, the gelding falls into the once-ina- lifetime-horse category. The two are of the same mind about the 7-year-old’s future.

“We are trying to show him sparingly and wisely to expose him to other things and keep him fresh,” Lange says. “People ask me what we are going to do with him, but we are just going to stay the course for now and see what next year brings for him. At this point, we are just enjoying him and letting him do his job.”

Romeo and Lyon continue to showcase the heights ranch horses can reach. The gelding has more than $138,000 in earnings, making him one of the winningest ranch-focused horses in the country. For Lyon and Lange, however, he’s priceless.

“If he never wins another thing, never shows again, we are content with that,” Lyon says. “Having said that, we are going to let Romeo decide.” Since he is relatively young, the superstar gelding has the potential for a long career ahead. Lyon adds, “He’s already accomplished so much; we don’t have any goals for him because he’s exceeded them all.” The plan is to continue showing and enjoying Romeo as long as he can keep doing it. “He doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, but we will continue to challenge him and ourselves to forge a path in the ranch horse events to see where we can go,” he concludes.