Photo by Dennis Taylor

Transcription

1 Photo by Dennis Taylor

2 Waco Bend Ranch Potential Realized First in a two-part series on the Baldwin family and the Waco Bend Ranch. By Katie Tims A crystal ball. Every mother and father wishes they could look, could peer with squinted eyes into the future of their children. Where are they going? What will they be? Will the future bode well? Ray Baldwin didn t have the luxury of a crystal ball. Neither did his wife, Bessie. None of us do. But Ray and Bessie set the example; they taught, they set expectations on the other side of hard work and a job well done. Neither lived to see the potential their youngest son, Louis, realized. Time was far too short. The Baldwins did not get the chance to meet their son s wife or see their grandchildren find their versions of success. It s been decades since that day Ray gave his precocious young son his first job. Now, half a century later, Louis drives to the Will Rogers Memorial in Fort Worth, Texas, on a chilly December night. He s there to view his cutting horses at the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity. He socializes, he cheers, he watches the horses and the competition. But first, before everything else, he notices his father. He sees, he feels his father in the decorative tile murals that line the outside of the Coliseum. Always there, always close. Louis enjoys the cutting sport with his wife, Corliss, and children: daughter, Laura, son, Ray, and daughter-in-law, Jennifer. Family time at a cutting very different from the kind Louis expected when he was a fast-charging executive in the city. But it s now, it s today, and this passion for cutting horses is what cements the parents, the children. Retirement of the not-so-relaxing variety. The draw wraps up, awards go out and everyone goes home. The Baldwins go their separate directions, but they always wind up back at their Waco Bend Ranch. It s (Below) Every time Louis Baldwin comes to Fort Worth to see his horses perform at Will Rogers Coliseum, he sees the beautiful tile work his father did more than a half-century ago. Photo by Sonny Williams Louis and Corliss Baldwin in the early days. The young couple married in She was 19 and he was 20. Photos courtesy of Baldwin Family

3 Waco Bend Ranch home, it s future. It s home to many great cutting horse stars, including Dont Look Twice, this year s NCHA Horse of the Year. It s the future of equine generations to come, the outcome of a sound business plan, impeccable breeding and patience. The crystal ball of the cutting horse world the Baldwins can t see that, either. But they have a good idea of where their Waco Bend Ranch is headed. First job Fort Worth was a different town in those days, back in the 1950s and 60s. According to Louis Baldwin, it was a place where neighborhood kids played outside all day long, no one locked their doors and a little boy and his friends could ride their bicycles on Camp Bowie, catch the bus and go downtown to watch a movie. Happy days. Baldwin s parents, Ray and Bessie, were older 45 and 43 and had four older children when their last son, Louis, arrived in By then, Bessie was ill and Louis remembers her not feeling well for most of the time he was growing up. She passed away when he was just 12. Ray was a contractor who specialized in marble, tile and terrazzo. He did the murals, the tile murals on the Will Rogers [Coliseum] in We have pictures of him from the Star Telegram up on scaffolds putting those murals up, Louis said. I love it. There are all kinds of things that he did, including the floor in the Ridglea Theatre, the beautiful terrazzo floor that complements the mural of the conquistadors. There are lots and lots of buildings downtown [Fort Worth] that he did a lot of work on. Eventually, Ray owned his own business and realized a good bit of success as growth boomed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Ray grew up near Dublin, Texas, and his dad passed away when he was 14. He moved to Fort Worth to live with a sister. Economic times were tough, so he dropped out of school after sixth grade and became a laborer. Bessie was from the Houston area and she met Ray while he was working on a mansion outside of Houston for Ross Sterling, governor of Texas ( ). They were married in When Bessie was alive, the young Louis enjoyed limitless free time and time with his friends every day after school and all summer long. When his mom passed away, that all changed. I was always in trouble because I wanted to play all the time, so dad gave me a job I learned this hard line about right and wrong and that you can t cut corners. Louis Baldwin working down at his office in the construction business, every summer, Louis recalled. That gave me a better work ethic. It taught me a good lesson about hard work. Louis graduated from high school, worked for the summer and then headed south to Austin to attend the University of Texas in the fall of Of course, there were studies, but there were also good times, fraternities and the extracurricular activities that go with the first year away from home. But life can change in a moment, or in Louis case, a week. Tragedy and a first date Louis was still a freshman when his dad died. Five days later, his girlfriend, whom he had dated since high school, was killed in a car wreck on her way home from school in Mississippi. By then, his four older siblings three sisters and a brother were married and had families of their own. They took charge of their brother, making sure he tended to business. It was like you had four sets of parents, Louis said with a laugh. It was like overkill. I mean come parent s weekend [at UT], all four of them or all eight of them would come down. Louis had the support of his family and good friends, but the grief proved too much. He let his grades go, so the University of Texas let him go after the first semester of Louis and Corliss Baldwin along with their kids, Laura and Ray, in the 1980s just as Cross Timbers Oil was getting started. Photo courtesy of Baldwin Family

4 his sophomore year. Louis had to sit out a semester before he was eligible to resume studies at UT. He returned to Fort Worth to work in the family s business and before long was making $200 a week as a tile setter, which were darn good wages for the time. It was certainly enough money to court a young lady he d met at school. Louis was supposed to pick up Corliss Roberts for a blind date one evening in the fall of She was the sister of one of his fraternity brothers. First, he was two hours late picking her up. Then his idea of a nice first date was going to a fraternity party, which probably would have been fine if some girl hadn t drank too much and locked herself in the bathroom, a situation that required the house manager Louis to intervene. Needless to say, the first date did not go as planned. Afterward, sitting outside around midnight, Louis attempted to salvage the situation. He said, I am going to see my family. I ll take you to their hotel to meet them, if you want to, Corliss remembers. Well, I thought I d go with him then. A romantic moment, a life-changing moment then Louis s fraternity brother one Louis was in the middle of characterizing as such a nice boy came by in a car with a bunch of friends. He proceeded to wave and then back up to the car window and moon the young couple. She could have changed her mind then and there, and probably completely justified. Now, 43 years later, Corliss is still sure she made the right decision. Back to school Corliss grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. Her mother worked in a department store and her dad sold office supplies. Her brother went to UT first and she followed in his Longhorn footsteps. She majored in education and had an impeccable report card at the end of the 1969 spring semester, after which she returned home for the summer. It s about a two-hour drive from Fort Worth to Wichita Falls, but the distance wasn t so bad for a young couple in love. Louis and Corliss continued date and they married in August Of course, her parents were concerned about their 19-year-old daughter marrying a 20-year-old construction worker. They were a little apprehensive, but I was being my ole stubborn self, Corliss recalled with a laugh. Louis still recalls his future brother-in-law s reaction to the marriage. He said to Corliss, You are not going to marry that guy, are you?! I mean I really was no catch. I was a mess. Louis Baldwin, executive vice president and CFO of XTO Energy Photo courtesy of Baldwin Family The early years, the first 15 years, were really very intense, and we worked really hard. Louis Baldwin As for Louis parents his brothers, sisters and their spouses they were cautiously optimistic. They thought we were too young, but they weren t openly hostile [to the idea], Louis said. They knew I needed help and that Corliss was good for me. According to Corliss, she saw potential in her young husband. I don t know if there is any one thing in particular, but I just knew he could do it. Because he started out fine and then when his dad died, he just kind of jumped off this cliff. As Corliss recalls, Louis nods his head in agreement, adding, Corliss saved me, she and Mac Churchill, a fraternity brother of mine [who now owns a car dealership in Fort Worth]. I am sure I would have ended up badly, if it weren t for Corliss and Mac. I had just spiraled out of control. In fact, I have a stepbrother my dad remarried after my mom died and I saw him just a couple of weeks ago, and he hugged Corliss and said, Well, you are the woman who saved Louis Baldwin! That is true. Although Louis made a comfortable income as a tile setter, his cousin pointed out that, yes, the money was good now, but it would never get much better. He continued to explain that Louis would be better off to bite the proverbial bullet now, give up the money and go back to school. Louis looked at his dreams, he looked at his young wife the logic made sense. He returned to Austin and enrolled in time for the 1969 fall semester. Formative years Louis and Corliss arrived in Austin without a job but with a plan. Deal was: she d go to work full time so he could concentrate on school. Corliss found a job at a doctor s office, and Louis enrolled in the business school. I really had no idea of what finance was, but finance sounded like money to me and that seemed to be important, Louis said. But after I got into it, I was really good at it. It was kind of the thing that turned me on. Also turning were his grades. Yeah, I figured out that when you dropped by class, it really wasn t that hard, he quipped with a laugh. I treated it just like a job. I would drop Corliss off at her job and then I would stay at campus in the library or at class until I picked her up. So I really had very little work to do at home usually because I had done it during that time. I learned how to take notes in class and all the habits I didn t have either in high school or early in college, and I was able to develop

5 Waco Bend Ranch them. I found out that what you enjoyed doing was kind of fun. Finance is really about the time value of money, and if you have a dollar in your pocket today, that s worth a dollar. If someone is going to give you a dollar in 10 years, it s not really worth a dollar today. That s how you look at rates of return and it all made sense to me. The University of Texas, at the time, did not require MBA students to first obtain five years of real-world working experience, as it does now. Therefore, Louis was able to go straight from undergraduate studies into the master s program, on the fast track. His grades were good enough that most his graduate-level education was paid for by scholarships. His and Corliss living expenses were covered by the money she made at her fulltime job. (Left) Louis always found a way to manage work and family. Laura followed in her dad s footsteps; she graduated from the Plan II honors program at University of Texas Phi Beta Kappa and later earned an MBA from SMU. She started her career in investment banking and equity research and worked her way to vice president of investor relations for hospital operator Triad Hospitals. (Below) Louis and Corliss in a recent photo with their daughter, Laura, and their son, Ray, and his wife, Jennifer. Photo courtesy of Baldwin Family Louis graduated with his MBA in finance in 1973 and relocated to Shreveport, La., where he had been hired to be the assistant to James Conley, president of Beaird- Poulan, the company that manufactured Poulan chainsaws. When Louis and Corliss made this move, they had been married 3 1/2 years, and their daughter, Laura, was 2 months old. I got to do a lot of different things in that job, and I worked for a guy who was really an old-time, honorable guy, Louis said. He was the perfect guy to be a mentor to you when you first got out of school. It just gives you an anchor. It gives you something to hold on to. Louis worked for Conley for four years, until Beaird-Poulan was bought out by Emerson Electric. He still speaks fondly of his first boss and the lessons learned during that time. From him and my dad, I learned this hard line about right and wrong and that you can t cut corners, Louis said about Conley. You have to do things the right way and you have to kind of be true to yourself. You don t always know what the answer is, but you know what the process is and you know what side you want to end up on. [In business] you have got to pick between what is expeditious and what your principles are. A lot of times, you have some very, very tough calls. It s a lot easier when you don t have to remember what you told somebody I told somebody this, I told somebody else this. Which one? You tell everybody the same thing, what you believe. I ll be back When one hears about the success of another, it s as though it happened overnight. School, job, success boom, boom, boom. Truth is, it s never like that. When Beaird-Poulan sold, a new president came in and the work atmosphere just wasn t the same, and Louis decided to move on. He found a job with Southland Royalty Co., a Fort Worth, Texas, oil company. At the time, Jon Brumley was CEO and Bob Simpson was vice president of finance those are the men for whom Louis worked. Against the backdrop of finance and accounting, Louis learned about the acquisition of oil and gas properties and subsequent financial management of those assets. Louis worked for Southland for 10 years, moving up through the ranks until 1985 when the company was bought by Burlington Northern Railroad. The deal concluded on the other side of an unfriendly tender offer (potential purchaser passes management and

6 takes offer straight to stockholders). Needless to say, once Burlington put its new management staff in place, Brumley, Simpson, Louis and several other executives found themselves without jobs. By now, the Baldwins had two children, Laura, who was 14 and Ray, who was 9. I don t think we were at all scared. It was kind of exciting, really, Louis answered when asked how he felt about the transition. We had golden parachutes they weren t as golden as they are these days, but we felt like we had some flexibility. Simpson, Brumley and Steve Palko, who had been vice president of reservoir engineering at Southland, decided they d get together and see if they could get a business of their own up and going. That was in the spring of So they went to work, Louis said. I actually didn t go to work with them. They just gave me an office and I hung around. Everybody [people let go from Southland] hung around until we figured if they were going to have a company. It was about six months I guess. Everybody wanted to go to work with those guys because you knew if they were successful, you would be successful, too. The partners Simpson, Brumley and Palko named their new company Cross Timbers Oil. Cross Timbers refers to a vast swath of land that begins in south Kansas, extends through Oklahoma and ends in Central Texas. It separates the populated Oklahoma City from the plains to the west, and it divides urban Dallas from Fort Worth. In the 1800s, Cross Timbers literally separated the settled areas from the untamed Indian land and open plains. The company has a bronze that Jack Bryant up in Jacksboro made, called I ll be back, Louis explained about what adorned the offices of the original Cross Timbers Oil office. It s a cowboy riding, and he is galloping on a horse. His shirt is all torn, and he has lost his guns, and he is waving his fist. That bronze represents the story of the company. We lost Southland Royalty to Burlington Northern, but we started over there. It was never an idea that we would build a great big company. We just wanted to do something to where people that enjoyed working together could continue to work together. Brumley led the way as chairman, Simpson was CEO and Palko was president and oversaw the engineering. They hired Baldwin as treasurer. Brumley and Simpson were hard-edged leaders, and everybody there was determined they didn t mind the risk and sacrifice, as long as their eyes stayed on the ball. The partners did not initially draw a salary, and lean times meant that executives shared desks with administrative staff everybody was in for the long haul. The rise of Cross Timbers Oil was nothing less than meteoric. It was incorporated in 1990 the same year Baldwin became CFO and went public three years later. According to company literature, at that point the company had 40 million barrels of oil reserves with revenues at $92 million and a net income of $7.1 million. Once the IPO was completed, Cross Timbers had a market cap of $200 million. Indeed, these men were back. Fast track Millions and millions were invested to build Cross Timbers oil, and it went through several changes details could fill volumes. Simply stated, the company s basic strategy was to step in and purchase high-quality oil and natural gas reserves, then upgrade and extend them to the fullest. The objective was contrary to what other oil companies were doing Cross Timbers bought when the market was down and scaled back acquisitions when times were good. It was no easy feat. The early years, the first 15 years, were really very intense, and we worked really hard, Louis recalled. We worked most weekends, worked late in the evenings. Ray Baldwin remembers his dad working at all hours, but he also recalls that Louis carved out time for his family. He was home late every night, but he was there for dinner. Even though he worked very hard, it wasn t his entire life. He still came to Laura s functions and to my baseball games and football games, and that really meant a lot. He still had time for us, so that made a big difference. It was a hard job to do to manage all that, and he did a great job of it. There were also lean, lean times. Challenges were major when the bottom dropped out of the oil market in the late 1990s, when the per-barrel price plunged from $40 to $10. Although it was not the first period of uncertainty for the Baldwins, this was far different from what it d been when Louis was just starting out. It was just kind of a good learning experience, Louis said about the rough times. Honestly, the less you have to lose, the less traumatic it is. I didn t think that it was such a big deal [in the 1980s] and yet, 1998 and 2008 just seemed like terrible, terrible things because you had something and then you are in danger of not having it. In the 80s, we were just working stiffs. You just had a job, and if that didn t work out, you would go get another job. But after you kind of move up and there is something to lose, it somehow gets scarier then. Yet, the late 1990s oil market drop played into risk-takers hands. Cross Timbers took on debt and bought all the reserves it could, plus it made the move one that was unconventional at the time from oil to natural gas. The company spent nearly $1 billion between 1997 and Company history states that Cross Timbers lost $71.5 million in But a sharp rebound in fuel prices pushed the bottom line to black a year later, and into the stratosphere from there. By 2001, the year the company changed its name to XTO Energy. It was one of the largest independent owners of natural gas reserves in the United States, with net income topping $250 million. We were all together for so long that we could play to our strengths, Louis explained. If I wasn t so good at one thing, then someone else was. And if I was strong in one area, then I did that. Professional jazz played on full volume. The stress was intense. Stress can be bad, but it can be addictive, too. You become a junkie and you really thrive on it, Louis said. You look for stressful situations, especially if you have a little success. Based on that stress, you look to repeat it. And the guys at XTO, generally, they were stress seekers. Of course, there s another side. Louis found that while his family loved him and they were a solid unit, there was a bit of a disconnect. Sometimes I would come home on the weekend, like late Sunday, and nobody cared that I was home, Louis recalled. They were all doing their own thing. So I said, This isn t working, I ve got to pull back. That opportunity would soon avail itself. Louis calls it being a good dancer. It s knowing the best time to find the song, best time to pick a partner, best time to leave the dance floor. By mid-2009, XTO Energy had 3,500 employees and was the largest producer of natural gas in the United States. That s also when a deal was struck to sell the company to Exxon for $36 billion. The sale kept the company in Fort Worth, it benefited the shareholders, and it allowed Louis to take a little closer look at his ranch by the river. (Read the second part of the story of the Baldwin family and Waco Bend Ranch in the Dec. 15 issue of Quarter Horse News.)

7 Photo by John Brasseaux

8 Waco Bend Ranch Ranch Realized The Baldwin family builds a cutting business on the bend of the Brazos River in Texas. Part 2 in a two-part series. By Katie Tims Some call it retirement. Second chapter. Rest and relaxation. Life s phase two. Louis Baldwin calls it something he never expected. Four decades of rocking and rolling going Louis and Corliss Baldwin on their ranch Photo courtesy of the Baldwins to school, earning the MBA, starting work, building a business, keeping the ball rolling plus balancing the scales between career and family. Now, the company is sold and work s whittled down to family concerns. Baldwin grew up in the city and never pictured himself outside of urban conveniences. And yet he and his wife, Corliss, are busy in rural Texas building one of the industry s finest cutting horse programs. When the couple and their family are at the show or at the ranch in long-sleeved shirts, jeans and boots you d think they d been there the whole time. Actually, Baldwin spent more than half of his life working toward lasting success in the oil and gas business. Now, he s investing time and resources in an equine legacy, a family endeavor designed to last. Call it fate. Call it going back to the basics. The Baldwin family calls it Waco Bend Ranch. Waco Bend Ranch When Louis Baldwin was in the middle of helping build XTO Energy into the largest natural gas producing company in the United States, one of the company s founders, Jon Brumley, gave him a book: Goodbye To A River, written by John Graves, who told of a canoe trip he took down the once-wild Brazos River. The Brazos is 840 miles long, making it the longest river in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States. Dams were built on the upper river, thus creating three large reservoirs: Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Granbury Waco Bend of the Brazos River, where Waco Bend Ranch is located. Photo courtesy of the Baldwins

9 Waco Bend Ranch and Lake Whitney. The book stirred emotion, unexpectedly so. It wasn t that Baldwin was a man who longed for the rural way of life, he wasn t. But something about that river and its history touched a nerve. So, when a ranch on the shores of Possum Kingdom Lake came up for sale in 2004, Louis bought the property only for investment purposes, of course. Little did he know what was in store. In the 1800s, 36,000 acres west of Fort Worth were designated as an Indian reservation. The Waco tribe had its camp on the Brazos River, on the land the Baldwins purchased. That particular part of the river is known as the Waco Bend of the Brazos River thus the name of Waco Bend Ranch. There s a lot of history there, Louis said. We have found bowls and mortars and pestles around the ranch, and I really feel a connection. By that time in 2004, the Baldwins children were out on their own. Daughter Laura had graduated from the Plan II Honors Program Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Texas and earned her MBA from Southern Methodist University. She started her career in investment banking and equity research, then worked her way to vice president of investor relations for hospital operator Triad Hospitals. The Baldwins son, Ray, also attended the University of Texas, and he worked in the computer and information systems industry. Ray and his wife, Jennifer, a CPA and controller for the Waco Bend Ranch, were just starting a family of their own. Louis did not long for horses, cows, tractors and everything that goes with building and operating a ranch. But Ray jumped in with both feet. He s his mother s son, Louis explained with a laugh. Corliss continued, I ve always liked being outside. When I was a child growing up, my grandparents lived in the country. We d leave in the morning, go ride the horses and go tromping around, come back at noon and leave on the horses again. Louis chimed in, I wasn t a guy who wanted a tractor or bulldozer and go out there and do that. Same thing with the horses, you know. I really don t show or ride horses much, so I am more of a hands-off kind of delegator. And that really goes back to my background; it s more urban. Laura is like that. I mean she likes to go out to the ranch, but she doesn t like the ranching part. Ray has always had an interest in the ranch and the horses. At first, the Baldwins set out to stock their ranch with cattle, and they hired an ex-oilfield worker as the foreman. Louis admits there was a bit of a learning curve. Team of the year! (left to right) Phil Rapp, Corliss Baldwin, Dont Look Twice, Mary Ann Rapp and Louis Baldwin. Photo by Susan Morrison Well, it was pretty steep, Louis confessed. I was really more of a city boy and we had a ranch when I was growing up. My dad bought a ranch and I would go out there and work on that when I was in high school, but it wasn t something that I really had a great interest in. My focus was more urban. But Louis did recognize the spark in his son, and so he encouraged Ray to work hard and follow dreams. Before long, father and son were working side-by-side, each with different roles but always with the same objective of breeding, training and showing world-class cutting horses the best. They worked toward building the brand of Waco Bend Ranch. The introduction Louis and Corliss purchased their first horses at a Waggoner Ranch sale, a couple of geldings just to ride around the ranch. Then they went to Western Bloodstock sales held in conjunction with the NCHA events in Fort Worth. That was their first exposure to cutting horses. I had lived here in Fort Worth my whole life and never been to a [cutting] show, Ray said. We didn t realize the impact it had on Fort Worth and this area. We really got interested and tried to learn as much as we could. The Baldwins knew they d need to get help before investing in the cutting business. Where to get help that was Corliss idea. We would drive by this ranch near Weatherford and the sign said Ben Emison Cutting Horses. I said, Well, we don t know him but we can call, and the worst thing he can do is hang up. So, you know Ben, he was very talkative. It was great. He said, Sure, I will do whatever you want me to do. And then Ray took it from there. He had the knowledge about the bloodlines and the sale part of it, but he also had the patience, Ray said about Emison. He is such a genuine guy. He really sat with us the first few months. He helped me ride and get started and was a cheerleader for me, even though I didn t know what was going on. He would make it fun and make it feel like you were getting better. He taught me the basics of riding horses and working cows. From that first [ride on a cutting horse], I knew I wasn t very good, but I knew I wanted to get better. The only thing you can do is just ride and ride and get as much experience as you can. It helps to have a mentor like Ben, someone to get you started and to really give you the confidence. Louis father was a hard-working man who dropped out of school in the sixth grade, went to work as a tile setter and built his own successful company. Louis dreamed of emulating his father and going into the construction business but his plans changed abruptly at 18 when his dad died and the family business was sold. Louis and Corliss were married young and she worked as Louis earned his degree in finance and MBA from the University of Texas. After college Louis started his career with a chainsaw manufacturer and worked his way to become a key player in the success of XTO Energy. He knows winning doesn t happen overnight. With Waco Bend Ranch, both Louis and Ray

10 have taken their time, sought advice and waited for nature (and lessons) to take its course. I think the hardest thing to do (and probably the most important) is to have patience, Louis said. You really can t just barge into a sport that has this kind of commitment from the other owners and do it just instantly. It was a little daunting getting into the business, Ray added. We had absolutely no experience, but we knew that we loved the horses and we wanted to get into it [cutting]. I think you really have to listen, Louis added. I know a lot about finance and oil and gas, but I knew that I didn t know anything about horses, so I tried to find someone to listen to and take their advice. The first test in advice taking came in April Louis had made it clear to Emison that if the right mare came along, Waco Bend Ranch was ready to make the plunge. The right one was consigned to the 2005 NCHA Super Stakes Sale. She was Dually Sunette (Dual Pep x Sunette Olena x Doc O Lena). She was sold with a foal by Smart Little Lena, and she was bred back to Smart Little Lena. He [Emison] came up and pointed and said, This is the one that you need, Louis remembered about the mare who sold to Waco Bend Ranch that day for $187,000. Dually Sunette was going for a lot more money than I was planning to spend. But if you ask somebody for their advice, you ought to take it. At that same sale, Waco Bend Ranch also purchased Miss Peppy Jay Bar (Peppy San Badger x Miss Dual Bar x Colonel Jay Bar), a 1992 mare with $169,725 in earnings. She sold that day for $75,000 with a Bet On Me 498 foal and she was bred back to Bet On Me 498. After about a year of giving cutting lessons to Ray, Emison informed his young charge that he d taken the process about as far as he could. Best thing to do, Emison explained, was for the Baldwins to invest in a trained horse and for Ray to begin working with Phil Rapp, who is today s leading cutting professional. Emison made the introductions. Little did he know at the time, he was altering the course of the Baldwins, the Rapps and the cutting industry. Setting the stage Blissful was the first deal the Baldwins made with Phil and Mary Ann Rapp. This 2000 mare (Smart Lil Ricochet x Shes Pretty Smooth x Wheeling Peppy) started her career with a trip to the Open semifinals at the 2003 NCHA Futurity with Phil and then continued on to major success in the Non-Pro divisions with Mary Ann. Blissful s dam is also the dam of foals that have won just under $1 million, including Smooth As A Cat ($500,038) and TM The legendary Playboys Ruby Photo by John Brasseaux Ray and Jennifer Baldwin with their girls, (left to right) Brooke, 5, Kate, 2, and Rachel, 4. Photo courtesy of the Baldwins Quiver ($155,480). Blissful posted $77,914 during her career, and she s now an important part of Waco Bend Ranch s breeding program. A horse deal evolved into a working relationship, then into a friendship. The Baldwins conferred with the Rapps and took advice. Together they formed a long-term strategy. I talked with Phil and he helped us come up with a program, Louis explained. Phil said, In two years I would like for Ray to be at the top of the Amateur group, and in five years, I would like for him to be very competitive in the Non-Pro. Now we re in our fifth year, so it s really worked out like the plan said it should. But I didn t know how hard it was going to be. Breeding and promoting from within was a big part of the objective for Waco Bend Ranch, and that s where the prep work was put in motion. In July 2006, Ray purchased Ruby Red Cat (High Brow Cat x Playboys Ruby x Freckles Playboy) as a show horse. The two started competing and doing well in the Amateur division, while Phil continued to show the mare in the Open. Waco Bend Ranch also formed, with the Rapps and Tommy Manion, Autumn Partners, and stepped up to the plate on Awesome Autumn (Smart Little Lena x Autumn Boon x Dual Pep). Headlines are made when a buyer raises his hand on a big bid at the public horse sales. But it was quiet when, in October 2006, Waco Bend Ranch dove into the cutting horse business on the other side of a major (perhaps one of the industry s biggest) private-treaty transaction. This is when Waco Bend Ranch formed a partnership with the Rapps on stallion Autumn Acre, plus purchased the legendary Playboys Ruby and great mare Tapt Twice. Autumn Acre (Bob Acre Doc x Autumn White x Smart Little Lena) is a 2002 stallion who won $365,436 in a career that began with his tying for fourth at the 2005 NCHA Futurity with Phil. That October acquisition catapulted Waco Bend to the front of the class, as far as mare power. Playboys Ruby (Freckles Playboy x Lenachick x Doc O Lena) is the cutting industry s No. 2 all-time producer as dam of offspring that have won just under $2 million. Her list is topped by Jack Ruby (DNA) ($257,779), Little Janey Lena ($234,855) and Playin CDs ($223,931). Plus, the mare, who sadly passed away earlier this year, won $268,411 while performing from 1990 through Tapt Twice (Dual Pep x Tap O Lena x Doc O Lena) posted $285,226 during her days in the cutting pen, and her offspring earnings are creeping up on $1 million. Part of that money is from winnings posted by Dont Look Twice, the 2005 High Brow Cat mare the Baldwins purchased in September 2008 from Phil and Mary Ann. Dont Look Twice has gone on to win more than $600,000 and is this year s NCHA Horse of the Year. Those three horses Autumn Acre, Playboys Ruby and Tapt Twice set the stage for Waco Bend Ranch s program. And what started as a basic lessons/horse buying relationship between the Baldwins and the Rapps has evolved into an authentic, long-lasting friendship. I mean it s a dream come true, Ray said about Phil and Mary Ann. Not only are they the best in the business, but they are the best people that we ve ever met. Louis concurred, adding, It s been a great relationship and really they ve become part of our family. I think we re part of their family also because we do so much together. We rely heavily on Phil and Mary Ann for not only the training, but also our acquisitions and strategy.

11 Waco Bend Ranch Ruby Too, clone of Playboys Ruby, and her Autumn Acre foal Photo by Dennis Taylor Ray Baldwin and Catlike Kit making their winning run in the Classic Open at the 2011 Augusta Futurity. Photo by Dave Hart Making it happen XTO Energy sold in 2010 and that allowed Louis and Corliss to spend more time at Waco Bend Ranch. Along with Ray, they continued to make key purchases of broodmares and performance horses, including Cats Twisted Whisker (High Brow Cat x Spins Gay Lena x Docs Spinifex), a 2003 mare with $129,901 in earnings all won with Waco Bend Ranch as the owner. Lil Super Sweet (Sweet Lil Pepto x Hearts O Lena x Doc O Dynamite) is a 2004 mare with $105,015 and she s the one who Ray rode as he made the transition from the Amateur to the Non-Pro division. There s also Zacks Fifth Avenue (Zack T Wood x Peppy La Pu x Peppy San Badger), a 2005 mare with $90,029 in winnings and also a consistent show horse for Ray. Catlike Kit (High Brow Cat x Billie The Kit x Kit Dual) is a 2006 mare who Ray rode to his first major limited-age event Non-Pro title, accomplishing that feat earlier this year when he won the Classic Non- Pro at the Augusta Futurity. By the end of October this year, Ray s earnings stood at $366,638. He won at Augusta and then did it again with Catlike Kit in the Classic at The Non Pro. He also made the Non-Pro finals at the 2010 NCHA Futurity on two Waco Bend Ranch-bred horses: Proofrocks (Dual Smart Rey x Blissful) and Sammi Cat (High Brow Cat x Dually Sunette). That show the 2010 Borden Milk/NCHA Futurity was significant for Waco Bend Ranch. Louis and Corliss saw the success of their breeding program come to fruition along with being there to see their son have a good deal of success on homebred horses. Plus, there was more. In the Open finals at that show, Phil showed Lahina Lena and Smoothe Bye Design. Lahina Lena (Dual Rey x Tap O Lena) now belongs to Waco Bend Ranch, and Smoothe Bye Design is owned by Smoothe Design Ltd., an entity comprised of the Baldwins, Rapps, Tommy Manion and Lyn Leedy. To date, Smoothe Bye Design has $77,874 in earnings and still has two more years of limited-age competition ahead of him. You talk about stress, I mean it s a pretty stressful thing when you go in there and you have a horse like Smoothe Bye Design that you think could win [a major NCHA event], but you don t know if he can get past each single stage and then survive the semis to get in the finals, Louis said immediately after Smoothe Bye Design made the Open finals at the 2011 NCHA Summer Spectacular. And it s even more stressful for us when Ray is competing. We get more stressed out when he is showing than when Phil is showing. As for Ray, he s grateful for his accomplishments, success that he attributes fully to the Rapps. They are very patient and they are very knowledgeable, and so they have been the best teachers. I probably should have had a lot more success considering the trainer I have and the horses I have, but they made it fun and taught me so much. I can t ever thank them enough. Tim Boyd, manager at Waco Bend Ranch Photo by Dennis Taylor Perseverance These days, Waco Bend Ranch is not buying as many horses it s raising, training, showing and selling them. The ranch stands two stallions, Autumn Acre and Smoothe Bye Design, along with owning a regal band of broodmares. Although Playboys Ruby passed away earlier this year, her legend lives on and there s more to come. Waco Bend Ranch owns Ruby Too, a clone of the great mare. And the Baldwins are especially excited about Playboys Ruby s 2-yearold High Brow Cat colt that s currently in training with Phil. The objective is to raise winners, for Waco Bend Ranch to come forward with champions year after year. That is really the long-term goal, to give Phil a shot every year at being the leading money winner, Louis said. We also want Ray to be highly competitive in the Non-Pro. So, we re going to have to have a good combination. Now, that doesn t mean Waco Bend Ranch is keeping all the good stock to itself. In fact, the Baldwins consigned a full sister to Dont Look Twice along with two Playboys Ruby yearling colts one by High Brow CD and the other by One Time Pepto to this year s NCHA Futurity sales. Our program is designed where we want to sell quality horses that people are going to be successful with, Louis said. If you don t do that [sell some of your best stock], then you are not really going to have a market. If horses you sell are not successful, then your program is not going to be successful. The Baldwins continue to work closely with Phil and Mary Ann in every aspect of the busi-

12 Mares and foals at Waco Bend Ranch Photo by Dennis Taylor ness breeding, selling, training, buying and showing. Typically, Phil will come with the idea he will see a mare or they will have a mare that they bred and raised and then Ray and I will talk about it; Corliss and I will talk about it, Louis explained about the process of conducting Waco Bend Ranch business. It s kind of a joint decision really between Ray, Corliss, and myself and Phil. I mean if Phil is not excited about the horse and the prospects in training it, then we are not going to make the acquisition. I can t think of one that he s recommended that we haven t done, either. So we ve had really a good deal of success because of his tutelage and his recommendations. I think it has worked for them [Phil and Mary Ann], too. They have been able to keep their program going with a lot of sponsorship from us and training horses with them and buying horses from them. Closer to home, Louis relies a great deal on Tim Boyd and his wife, Diane. Tim manages the day-to-day operations of Waco Bend Ranch, and Diane handles the ranch s office work. The couple previously managed a 10,000-acre ranch in Wyoming for Felix Rohatyn, a well-known investment banker who served as U.S. ambassador to France ( ). They have been a great find for us, Louis said about the Boyds. They have a good deal of experience with horses and cattle and actually running a ranch. They have been learning a lot about the cutting horses from Phil and Mary Ann. Now we are fitting our own sale horses, which is a big job. Louis points to both the Rapps and the Boyds as keys to the Waco Bend Ranch equation. Business is ultimately business. You need to understand what you want from someone and how to compensate them for it appropriately, Louis said. The best thing we ve done is listen to people and learn from them. There will come a time I think when Ray will have enough background that we can rely more on him and his judgment. Corliss chimed in with her own best guidance for new owners. My piece of advice is to not yell at your trainer, she said with a laugh. Everybody has a good day and everybody has a bad day. Just be nice to your trainer. On a more serious note, Louis added, There are so many things that can go wrong, from getting the right product from your breeding program to the training to surviving injuries and keeping horses sound to actually getting the right cows and getting them shown. To have success in cutting, you ve got to listen and have patience. It s just a very tough sport. As for its level of success, Waco Bend Ranch is just getting started. Its breeder record has more than $100,000 posted (through October 2011), in just two seasons with relatively few horses showing. That s going to change in the immediate future as dozens of Waco Bend Ranch-bred horses hit the show pen in the coming years. As owners, the Baldwins have realized the same kind of success that Louis realized in his business life. Annual owner earnings started at $2,693 in 2005, hit a high of $342,573 in 2009, topped $200,000 in 2010, and were close to $200,000 through October of this year. This does not include Ray s rider earnings. It s a tough business to start out, but if you surround yourself with good people and knowledgeable people, then you will have the best chance to succeed, Louis said. But every year we are getting more knowledgeable, and our breeding is getting better, and our horses are improving. It s a slow process, but I feel like we re on the upswing for sure. Building a professional career and successful company taught Louis all about perseverance, and those learned lessons are applied to Waco Bend Ranch. You can be a virtuoso at something and be so brilliant and such a genius at it, but if you can t stick to it, it s not going to turn out as well, he said. If you are bright and hardworking, and have that perseverance, you can end up better than someone who is more talented that can t stick with it for the long run. It s a process that fits at least one hard-charging businessman perfectly. It s very stressful, Louis said with a laugh about the cutting horse business. So if you are kind of looking for stress, it s a good place to get it. I guess we really are otherwise we would not be doing it. It s definitely worth it.