Featured Boarder

Bruce LaPoint

Bruce LaPoint is our first “Boarder of the Month.”  Bruce is one of our Western instructors.  We are honored to have him teaching at Double Lucky Ranch and are delighted that he and Buster call the ranch home.

In Bruce’s own words…,

“I seriously fell under the spell of horses at a young age.  My Aunt was the cause of this.  It seems that she entered my name in a contest and wouldn’t you know it – I won!  The prize was a pony.  He was a black and white pinto, not broke and still a stallion.  Luckily in Kenosha in the early 1950’s, you could own livestock in town.

When I was a teen, I would work a paper route all week to earn enough cash to take a riding lesson.  I would ride my bicycle about seven miles to a stable north of town near to where UW-Parkside is today.  I would ride for an hour and then ride home.

After I became an adult and could afford my own horse, I started what turned out to be a life long passion.  I have had the opportunity to have owned some fine horses over the years.  My first good registered Quarter Horse was a mare named Shelly Del Rio.  She was awesome!  I learned to show Western Pleasure and a lot of horsemanship on her.  I also bred and raised my first colt with Shelly being his dam.

I cleaned stalls and did a lot of grunt work at a local stable back then because I owned three horses!  I learned that the reason I have been so successful with my horses is because of all the people that took the time to teach me (and I mean, from grooming to day-to-day care of horses).  I was lucky enough to have taken riding lessons from some awesome trainers.

I bought a bay AQHA mare from a friend in the late 1970’s – My Poko Bean.  She turned out to be one of my favorites.  I showed her in Western Pleasure and showmanship classes at the local shows.  “Wiener” (as she was called) was eventually sold to Oprah Winfrey and relocated to her farm in Indiana.

In 1988, I was introduced to a young trainer who rode reining horses.  Bob trained by first reiner, Snazzy Little Girl.  I won my first belt buckle on that mare.

One of the horses I owned, Lady Jak, an Appaloosa mare being shown by Harvey Stevens, led the nation in working cow horse and junior reining.  She died that year at a show.  Lady Jak was so far ahead of the competition that she ended up winning the year end high point anyway!

Well, anyway, I now own the best horse I have ever owned.  Hesa Dun It Dude (or “Buster” as he is called at the barn), is one of those once-in-a-lifetime horses.  I have been proud to have owned and shown Buster for the last 13 years.  In that time, we have won so many pewter and bronze trophies while showing at NRHA sanctioned shows that I ran out of space to display them!  I brought some out to Double Lucky Ranch to display in the viewing room.

Buster and I have retired from our jobs and I recently started teaching new riders at DLR.  Blame it on Cowboy Roy Rohde!  He talked me into the idea.  I always enjoyed teaching kids when I was involved with the Four-H program and now the experiences I have had over a lifetime in horses is being transferred to my students.”

Bruce LaPoint with his horse Buster.