Mathieu Buton celebrated sweet redemption Nov. 30 as he piloted Quinns A Tricky Chic to a 219.5 and the win in the Honorable Mention Futurity class at the 2023 National Reining Horse Association Futurity at the OKC Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.
“I started her as a 2-year-old,” Buton said. “I’ve had her the whole time in my program, and I loved that mare from the get-go. She’s owned by my very dear friend and customer, Jeremy Zangl. They’ve been with me pretty much since I went on my own, and she’s probably the best horse they ever got to raise at this point.”
At the Futurity, Buton had bad luck with her and wasn’t able to show her to her full ability.
“We talked about it – we all know the potential of that mare,” Buton said. “So we decided to put her in there for one more run and go at medium speed. That way, she could have a nice, clean run and then build up for next year.”
That second chance was the Honorable Mention Futurity class, and Buton had his plan to stay safe and give the mare a soft, clean run.
“She’s such a great mare, and she just gave me everything, and we had no bobbles that time until the last rundown and stop,” Buton said. “Everything stayed right. We’re at 19 and a half, and she can do that all day long every time if I do my job.”
Quinns A Tricky Chic is a 2020 mare sired by Tricked Out Spook and out of BT Smartest Tivito by Smartest Chic Olena. Jeremy Zangl is the owner and breeder.
The mare has $3,095 in earnings from the 100X Reining Classic Invitational.
“I think it’s just the beginning,” Buton said. “Great things I hope will happen for her down the road. So I want to thank Jeremy so much for all the support and never giving up, and always being there for me, my wife, my whole team, all my customers. I’m just very blessed to have all those great people around me.”