Success from SoCal to SoDak: Becky Amio

At age 45, Becky Amio continues to excel in what she calls a “twenty-year-old’s game” – starting colts. Her combination of grit and finesse set her apart, and her success speaks for itself.

As a trainer, Becky has a long list of satisfied and repeat clients. Yet, her success extends beyond that. She is a six-time champion of the Ranchers Quarter Horse Breeders Association futurity, winning the event in 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2021, and most recently, this past August. She has also been finding success in the SDRA barrel racing.

Becky, who lives near Blunt, South Dakota, grew up in southern California, getting her first horse when she was ten. When her parents were able to buy horse property in Riverside County, she was able to have her horse around all the time, often going to the local public riding arena. As a young girl who felt drawn to agriculture, she was active in FFA in high school and raised a few pigs, sheep and a few head of cattle, while also remaining active with her horse projects. Becky went on to college at Cal Poly Pomona, earning a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s Degree in equine science and business management. All the while, Becky was working in the horse industry, learning and honing her skills that would set her up for a successful career as a trainer.

Becky ended up in South Dakota in the early 2010s and began working for Leslie Merill. While working for Leslie, Becky attended the Ranchers Quarter Horse Breeders Association sale for the first time, and people started noticing what a hand she was, as she was “doing something different” when previewing the horses she had started. They had a gentleness and a soft handle to them that was a rarity for two-year-olds. This wouldn’t be the end of Becky’s success at the RQHBA sale, but there was an interruption.

Becky quickly learned that South Dakota weather was not nearly as forgiving as southern California’s. In 2013, Winter Storm Atlas came through and wiped out many of Leslie’s horses that Becky had started or had planned to start. In short, this was “pretty devastating” for Becky. Leslie had a motto of “get tough or die,” and during that time, Becky learned she would have to adopt that motto for herself to make it in South Dakota.

After Atlas, Becky went to work for Chad and Mindy Hubert. She was able to start horses for Huberts and also take outside clients, which was the first time she swung a leg over a horse from the Lauing Ranch. Becky loved how it rode, and the Lauings loved the work she did. It wasn’t long before she was invited out to the ranch to choose her next prospect. In 2015, Becky moved to the Lauing Ranch in Blunt, South Dakota to work there full-time. She started horses and helped sell weanlings. It was at the Lauing Ranch where Becky believes she really found her niche in starting horses.

According to Becky, “Integrity was always the most important thing to me.” With the horses Becky has started, what you see is what you get, and what she says they can do, they can do. Becky has built a YouTube channel to showcase videos of her working with horses, to create sale videos, and to use for educational purposes. Becky is in a relationship with JD Lauing. The two pride themselves on producing horses that can be sold 1,500 miles away and “work for anybody.”

Throughout her career, Becky has worked for trainers in many disciplines, including western pleasure, halter horses, reining, dressage, and the Monte Foreman method. She has also been involved in beauty pageants and rodeo queen competitions all over the world, which she credits for helping her with the presentation aspect of horse training and sales. All of these experiences, coupled with many years of what Becky refers to as the “school of hard knocks,” have equipped Becky to be successful with horses from any bloodline or background. Becky said, “They can be a mustang; they can be a mutt. They’re all capable of doing these maneuvers.” Becky is able to find what a horse is capable of, use their abilities to present them well, and create a soft, willing horse that can go any direction. Becky recognizes that South Dakota horses are tough, can ride rough country and thousands of acres, but still “go to town.” She uses the analogy of a woman who can get gussied up in her heels and pearls but also put on boots and drive the tractor. With her experience in the horse industry in so many different capacities, she brings that unique pairing to the horses she trains, and that versatility of a horse is important to her.

Even with great success in training and barrel racing, the most gratifying part of Becky’s job continues to be getting “to place these horses in really good homes” and “matching the right horse to the right rider.” One such match was made between a horse Becky started at the Lauing Ranch that was sold to Dr. Erin Crawford, an equine veterinarian from Sun Valley, Idaho. According to Erin, the foundation Becky began in her horse allowed her to “do things with that horse at three that I can’t typically do with horses until they’re five or six.” She was so pleased that she returned to the Lauing Ranch to buy a weanling for Becky to later start for her husband. Erin had this to say of Becky: “What she can get accomplished with a horse and have them ready to ride out, in my opinion, is second-to-none.” Becky’s years of experience as a trainer have helped her develop a sort of “curriculum” that she follows with the horses she starts, ensuring that she works on both the foundational and the finesse, creating safe, solid mounts. Erin adds, “I don’t think you’ll find a better colt starter for something you want to be super versatile and really safe.”

She might be playing a “twenty-year-old’s game,” but it doesn’t seem like Becky plans to hang up her spurs anytime soon. As long as there are Hancock-Blue Valentine horses on the Lauing Ranch, one can bet Becky will be there giving them a solid start.