Obviously it is an honor. Because there are a lot of guys that can train horses and when you get to that stage where I am, you are so honored to have the people that you have mentored along the way, do so well. To me it is just a real honor. I am serious about it, I am really humbled by the guys because they still give me credit for it, which is really cool. It is really neat to have my name mentioned as a mentor. I do not think that anyone left my program without appreciation of what I did for them, and I have had life long friends because of it. That is a big deal. Creating Champions and relationships that have stood the test of time is the most rewarding part. I just had dinner at the AQHA Convention with Larry Gimple, Pete Kyle and John Pipkin. Those guys are such good friends. All these years together, It's like a fraternity that never ended!

When Rick Johns first came up with the idea, it was so cool. It sure has stood the test of time. When it first happened we all thought that it sure was a good idea. This is fun, and blah, blah, blah, but look at what it has done! People come from all over the World to show there, not just out-of-staters.

When we first held Sun Circuit, it was kinda cool because all of the guys could get out of the cooler weather and come back here to Arizona for all of the shows. I would see people I never saw before! When I was a kid showing at Sun Circuit it was like a who's who of trainers that would show up there. In those days we did not have all the large associations and events, like the NRHA, NRCHA and such. So all of the best cow horse people showed up, all the best ropers, all the best reiners were here. It was spectacular! For a young kid like me to see that and then become one of the older guys that is still doing it. That is cool that it can go that way. It is amazing to see what that one show has done for the entire industry — isn't that something?

Ruth Adams was there from the start as well. If you think of all that she did, not just being the secretary, but because everyone knew that it was so much fun and that it was going to be good if Ruth had something to do with it. I am just amazed that the Sun Circuit has come up in the ranks. It is where people want to show, it is where people want to be in the winter-time. They come to show and get huge amounts of points, but they also come to find out where they are in comparison to the rest of the people. Because, if you can win at the Sun Circuit, you can win at the World Show!

I missed one year because I was busted up, but I have shown every other year. It is a neat deal that we are still considered a show that is super competition, but also is friendly to the exhibitor. There are so many fun things to do, parties and awards, classes, prizes and of course the Scottsdale weather! It has become a destination event. Even if you are not riding, you can really go and enjoy yourself. It is a real event. On the other hand, a lot of people think Rodeo is the DEAL, and we have that too! What is neat about that is that folks stay around and enjoy the show when they come to see the Rodeo. So they get to see the horse show too.

When I wear my cowboy hat on the airplane, the first thing people say to me is, "Are you in Rodeo?" That is the first thing they say. It's on TV, cowboys, Rodeo, bucking broncos, that kind of stuff. I explain to them what it is that I do, and they find it hard the believe I still do this at my age. I tell them that ABSOLUTELY I DO! I am blessed that I am still able to do what I do, and it is amazing that you can have such longevity in this business. Just because you got a little older, you do not have to quit. That is a plus over Rodeo right there. Rodeo is tuff! It is tuff on your body! If I tried to compete at the Parada del Sol Scottsdale Rodeo for 49 years, I would have missed more than one year from being busted up! I have competed in just about every event at Sun Circuit, even English classes. I won't show you the pictures.

Sometimes it is hard for a young guy too afford to buy land. Don Dodge always told me, "The only true value is in the land." I have lived with that idea knowing that I wanted to make sure that I didn't just do the horse business. I wanted to make sure that I was a business man too. I wanted to really profit from training horses by offering more than the normal trainer had to offer. It was because of my mentors along the way, I always wanted to make sure that I was more than just a horse trainer. I wanted to be a businessman also.

My father in law, George Lasley, who way back when was President of the Arizona Horse Exhibitors Association when it was a major organization. He said, "Al, I will let you marry my daughter, but I want you to be more than a horse trainer. I want you to be different, I want you to be a step ahead of the rest of them. I want you to think different, I want you to be classier. You need to treat your horses better, I want you to treat your clients better and you run it like a business. Keep your books right, bill on time, do everything right like a businessman does. Do not give everything up just to ride a good horse!" I knew that if I could own my own place, that I could control my own destiny. I would not have to rely on somebody else all of the time to make sure that everything was handled. I wanted to have roots for my family too. Scottsdale is my place! I never wanted to move, I never did move. I had offers to move many times. To California, Texas, and Oklahoma. When I was in my hey day the job offers were from everywhere. Everybody wants a winner in their stable. I wanted my own thing, I wanted to control it.

It's funny because I have seen so many guys that have moved. This was a little pond at one time. It was my pond, but it was a little pond. But it was a real good one then and now, just much larger now. My father in law said, "It is better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big pond." I knew that if I was going to stay in my pond, and do it right, that I needed to own my own place. I needed to have a base. I needed to NOT move around. I wanted folks to say, "Al is from Arizona, represents Arizona, and he is always there." They do not have to wonder if he is here now, and next minute somewhere else. I wanted to be known for that like John Hoyt and Jim Paul who were in Arizona, but I wanted to take it to a new level. To a more modern level. This meant I wanted to have a good education, which I got. Then I married the right woman that wanted to be my partner. That wanted to help me succeed. Then the final thing was I wanted to have my ranch. I wanted to raise my family on a ranch in a Western atmosphere under that lifestyle of horses, and ground, and dirt and having our own place. Having a base and knowing that my kids always knew that they had a home. Those things were important to me. There always was that thing in me that I wanted security. I wanted my family to feel it. The clients, the people they had to come to me.

Sure! I have had as good a guys as they get work for me that I have mentored along the way, and you could say what I did for them, but they sure did a lot for me! But, would they have come to work for me if I was a fly-by-nighter? If they wondered if I had a base? Many of the guys that worked for me said to themselves, "I want to be a success. I see Al as a success and how did he get there?" They all wanted a piece of what I had, a piece of the rock, let's say. If you think of all of these guys and what they did. The Casey Hinton's, the Mike Wood's, the Pete Kyle's of the world, they all went on, they all had their own place, they all had a little extra business. If it was breeding, tack, or something that I did.

They all learned about sponsorships, how to handle your sponsors, how to nurture your business. I have always taught, I learned this from my father in law again (George Lasley, Becky's dad), he said to me, "Al, you have got to give back." he also put it this way, "Al, you have got too give back, that way they will want to be part of what you are doing." And, "You have to work to be the president of the association." I have been president of the AzQHA, the AzRCHA, when I was real young, I was on the Board of Directors of the AQHA, I have been on the judges committee of every major association. All of that is not for me. I did it too give back for what those associations gave to me. I did not have to go to the AQHA convention this year in 2022, but I wanted to go. It is part of where I started, and I want to continue to see it go right. I told all those guys that they had to be part of the association's, you have got to be a judge, you do all these things.

#1 — You have to marry the right person.

#2 — You have to have a balance.

#3 — You have to make sure it is just as good for her as it is for you! You have to make sure and give back! You have to care about the other person, more than you care about yourself.

How do you find the right woman? Well, you think that you love somebody when you marry them, but you really don't. You do not truly love somebody till you go thru the ups and the downs and everything else and see how it all plays out. You also have to care about them more than you care about yourself. I really think that's what made us go — I think Becky does the same for me, and I think I do the same for her. I think we care about the other person more than we care about ourselves. That includes my success too! I have been successful, but I wouldn't have been successful without her. Look at my family. I have a great family! But I would not have that love in my family without Becky.

I do not have a next! It will be more of the same, there is no next because it has been the right formula. I do believe that you have to reinvent yourself all of the time. When you stop reinventing yourself, you die off. What I did every year is I used to write down all my goals for the year. I have not done it lately because it is in my head right now. I would work hard each year to get them all done, my goals. I thought ahead, I planned ahead. I was not like the rat in a wheel going around and around and around. I was not running thru my head — train horses, ride horses, show horses, win at the Futurity. I was always thinking what is next? What can I do different? What can I do better? I am still thinking that, and that is what keeps me going. I am a little ADD or something like that, because I am always going. It is hard for me to stop, rest and not stay awake at night thinking about what I can do next. I am always writing stuff down, all the time. I write down how to change something, how to make it better, or how to help the association improve, how to train my horse better. I am always working on that. One other thing that had kept me going really good is I surround myself with the right people. The right, positive people that make me really good, that make me better!

When you surround yourself with the right people and you know that you are working hard enough and know what you can do, then somewhere along the line you have to be satisfied with yourself and what you are doing. A lot of people are not satisfied. They win an event and they are satisfied with that. They train a good horse and they think they are great. I don't think I have ever been very satisfied with staying on the same keel. I have always wanted to say that there has got to be something else to this. There has got to be more. So you ask, what is next for me? Right now, I do not know what is next because tonight I might think of something.

Yes, I will be doing the same thing and will keep on going. They are going to say I am retiring, they have said that before too! Back when I sold my ranch on Shea Blvd., everyone said I was going to retire way back then. Then we put on that event right here, and you and I put it on, do you remember that? Yes, I do Al. We had 500 people show up, do you remember that Tracy? That was when we opened this Rio Verde ranch up, and it was wild times again!

I love helping people. I love training horses. I love my family first. I am a very spiritual guy about my faith. All of that stuff combined is what keeps me rolling. I am going to go as long as I can go, as long as I can do it at a decent level, and help lots of people.