FloJo & Chayni
8
From mother
to daughter to
granddaughter,
how FloJo
touched
them all.
SUMMER 2015
•
rodeofame.com
It isn’t really a fairy tale because it’s all
true. Also, there’s no handsome prince
who rides in on a white horse. It’s all
about a very talented and sensitive
gray horse and how he wove five
Texas women into his own Cinderella
story. This is about 9-year-old Chayni
Chamberlain’s FloJo and in all reality,
it’s a love story.
Mary Ellen and Larry Flo and Susan
Martin are horsemen of the purist
kind. Gifted people who understand
and honor the ways of the horse; all
have horse minds and slow hands.
Their friendship goes back to the roots
of organized barrel racing and the
foundation of the state’s racing industry
that took hold in West Texas earth.
Susan is a top hand barrel horse trainer.
Her origins and philosophies were
shaped by her grandfather who was a
foreman for the 6666 Ranch. Cutters
and racehorses were living textbooks
for the lessons her grandpa taught the
young girl. She spent as much time on
the 6666’s as possible.
Years later, Whose Dat Bunny’s owners
sent him to her as a long two year old
to begin his career as a futurity barrel
horse. Susan knew he was special. The
young stallion was tense around men,
so she warned her help off of him and
committed to taking the colt every step
of the way herself.
One fateful day, she had to run to town.
When she returned a short hour later,
Whose Dat Bunny’s future had been
forever altered by one brutal man. He’d
been beaten, nearly lost an eye and had
fractured bones in both front legs. More
continued on page 10