USTA SEP member Patrice Markham has been a fan of Standardbreds for 22 years.

Markham got hooked on Standardbreds 22 years ago when she met and bought Bet Here, nicknamed Royal, an unraced pacing gelding by Royal Ricks Way, out of the Lentsch’s Boy mare Bethany Rita. She bought him from a farrier who rescued him from an abandonment situation. Markham painted the farrier’s house in exchange for the horse.

Royal was “the great love of my life,” she said. “Almost every ride was great. We went bareback 90 percent of the time. Seems like that way we could tell what each other was thinking.”

Patrice Markham’s Slick Tuff & Crackers 2, USTA Photo

Two-year-old Royal was scared of everything at first, and was “kind of dangerous to be around,” Markham said. He grew from a skinny, neglected horse at age 2 to 16.2 hands and 1400 pounds at age 5, through her care.

Though Royal never let anyone else catch, saddle or ride him, Markham could ride him without a saddle or bridle and the gelding trusted her implicitly.

“He really taught me a lot about horses and to ‘listen’ to what he was trying to tell me,” Markham said. “He never refused anything I asked unless there was a good reason, though not always apparent to me at first.”

Like many Standardbreds, Royal was naturally gaited. “He had the most wonderful smooth gaits, including an amble,” Markham said. The pair hit the trails in and around their home in Washington state, and competed in team penning, games classes, and poker rides.

In 2003, Royal was accidentally killed by a friend while Markham was out of town. “I still haven’t gotten over that and probably never will,” she said.

Recently, Markham opened her heart and home to three new Standardbreds. Two are unraced, gray pacing-bred geldings, 5-year-old Im Slick and 9-year-old Im Tuff Enuff, both by Baron Storm. She also owns a bay 6-year-old gelded son of Rustler Hanover, named Pressures On, who has a lifetime mark of p,3,1:57.1f and earnings of $6,230 from 10 starts.

Markham purchased the sons of Baron Storm from Lloydminster, Alberta, breeder Deborah Davies. In 2004, Markham bought the bay Im Tuff Enuff, and she liked him enough to purchase his rose-gray half-brother Im Slick in 2005. She adopted Pressures On through the British Columbia Standardbred Horse Adoption Society, also known as Greener Pastures, after the bay’s racing career ended.

Markham said she loves trail riding her Standardbreds. She is also training the horses in team penning, where teams of three horses and their riders cut three assigned head of cattle into a pen, with the fastest team winning. In addition, Markham enjoys competing with her geldings in speed events such as barrel racing.