October
20, 2005 News
David
Dellin and One Hot Krymsun add Congress Maturity to their resume
The duo of One Hot Krymsun and David Dellin added another
major win to their stellar careers Thursday night when the pair
took the Congress Markel Insurance Western Pleasure Maturity. "He's
just such a special horse," says Dellin. "You know I really
didn't appreciate him as a two- and three-year-old, but after I
had ridden several other horses, I realized how special he really
is. He's one of a kind."
The
brown stallion known as 'Jet' had a large fan club cheering for
him as he entered the arena and as his number was called during
the Maturity finals. Dellin and Jet earned two firsts and two seconds
from judges Bob Kail, Tom McBeath, Patty Campbell and Rick Christy.
"It
was a tough class, and there were several nice horses that I wouldn't
mind being beat by, but it was nice to get this win," said
Becky Bailey, Jet's owner. "We got him to David a little bit
late, and he just did an awesome job of preparing him in a short
period of time." Jet arrived at Dellin's Pilot Point, TX farm
a scant two weeks before the start of the 2005 Congress.
Dellin
and Jet will make their next appearance at the AQHA World Championship
show in November, competing for the Senior Western Pleasure title.
"We'll make sure David has plenty of time to work with him
between now and then," assures Bailey.
At
age 28, David Dellin has accomplished more than most trainers hope
to accomplish in a lifetime. With multiple World, Congress and futurity
championships under his belt, it’s hard to believe Dellin
has not even had his 30th birthday.
David
and his wife, Julie, and son, Gage (age 2), live in Pilot Point,
TX, where David works as head trainer at Northwind Ranch. The entire
family is active in the horses. David is obviously the most active
in the horse business, but Juli rides regularly and has a passion
for cutting horses. Gage especially enjoys riding and is preparing
for his future lead-line career. He is already finding time to ride
at the Congress.
Dellin was born and raised in Oklahoma, where he showed 4-H and
rode reining horses. His parents didn’t have a lot of money
to buy finished horses, so David taught himself a lot about horses
through the unbroke two-year-olds he had as a youth.
David found training young horses to be especially rewarding. He
was able to teach himself the mechanics of how a horse’s mind
works, enabling him to understand the ins and outs of training an
advanced horse. “The whole experience of teaching an animal
something new completely boggled my mind,” Dellin said of
working with the young horses. “It was just amazing how they
could learn things when I offered the information in the right way.”
At age 13, David started riding horses for Jeff Herd in Tulsa, OK,
where he stayed through high school. He left Herd’s to attend
Oklahoma State University, where he graduated in 1999 with a degree
in animal science and a minor in agricultural business. While at
OSU, David made friends with a classmate who happened to be a client
of Gil Galyean. During his senior year, David met Galyean at a horse
show and was impressed with his professionalism and talent.
After graduation, David went to work for Gil Galyean Quarter Horses
and stayed for the next three years. While at Galyean’s, Dellin
was given the opportunity to ride and show some truly talented horses.
He had the honor of showing One Hot Krymsun, owned by Becky Bailey.
He showed “Krymsun” to a World Championship in Two-Year-Old
Western Pleasure in 2001, a World Championship in Junior Western
Pleasure in 2002 and a Congress Championship in the Open Three-Year-Old
Western Pleasure Derby in 2002.
Dellin values the three years he spent working for Gil Galyean Quarter
Horses, and thinks of Gil as a mentor. “Gil taught me an incredible
amount and I owe him a lot for that… I wouldn’t change
a thing about working for him,” David says of his former employer.
Not only does Dellin appreciate the horses he was able to show,
he also recognizes the merit of the program he was involved in.
In 2001, David was the NSBA Limited Rider of the Year. His highlight
of the year, however, was when Gil was named the NSBA Open Rider
of the Year, because that showed the quality of the Galyean program.
“Gil’s a horseman. There are lots of horse trainers
out there, but very few horsemen.”
Showing
and winning at this level is thrilling for David, but he says the
most enjoyable part of his job is having two assistants, Brent Specht
and Megan Silverman, to work with. He is following Galyean’s
example and spends much of his time teaching them to become horsemen.
David not only tries to teach them about horse training, but also
about the importance of communication, inner-drive and a good work
ethic in this business, all qualities that he believes have helped
him to succeed.
In 2002, Dellin moved to Northwind Ranch to train for the Kern family.
Although he wished he could have stayed at Gil Galyean Quarter Horses
for a long time, Dellin was thrilled by the prospect of working
at Northwind, training their horses along with outside horses.
David is again showing One Hot Krymsun in the Western Pleasure Maturity
at the 2005 Congress. “Krymsun is, without a doubt, my favorite
horse. He has personality and charisma; he has an amazing presence
unlike any other horse I’ve seen or ridden,” Dellin
said of the brown stallion.
Not only is David keeping himself busy at the 2005 Congress with
One Hot Krymsun, he also has nine other horses showing. He can be
found working at almost any time of the day or night.
Article
and photos by Carly Williams, OQHA public relations and editorial
intern
CONGRESS
NEWS ARCHIVES - 2005