The enthusiasm that Danny and Lisa Cantrell share as they talk about their Missouri Fox Trotters, outside Conway, Mo., is positively contagious. The couple, along with daughters, Anna, age 19, and Meg, age 16, maintain approximately 20 horses on 87 acres. When not on a horse or working with them, Lisa works as a counselor at Buffalo High School and Danny works in concrete and construction.
The Cantrells originally met one another through their interest in horses. “I grew up around gaited horses in Webster and Laclede Counties and took ownership of my first registered Fox Trotter in 1973,” Danny continued.
“We live in the middle of Fox Trotter country,” Lisa shared. “I was around horses when I was younger but then got away from them for awhile as a teenager with involvement in sports and other activities. I started showing in 1987 and that’s when I knew and I’ve been with them ever since.”
The Cantrells participate in seven to eight local shows a year as well as the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association events in June and September in Ava, Mo.
“They are so sure-footed,” Lisa added. “We take them down in the Buffalo River (Arkansas) area and that can be a long hard ride. We trail ride our show horses, taking them right from the show and it really makes them better horses. I think it helps them have a more even disposition and makes them easier to work with. You know, you give the horses a break, let them get out there on the trail and then they more willing to do what you need them to do for the shows.”
Lisa admitted the shows are a lot of work but great fun for her and her daughters. “We have so many friends we get to see each time we get together. People have commented to us, about how we all work together, Danny and I and the girls. We have done this now for so long and we each know what we need to do.”
“There’s a real pride involved,” Danny voiced a slightly different view. “It’s really something to see your wife and your daughters win a World Reserve Grand Championship, as they all did last year. I came home with three happy women, winning on three different horses,” he added with a laugh.
“That’s when it’s a lot of fun,” Lisa concluded, “and makes all the hard work of training and summer sweat worth it.”
“Our girls have really enjoyed the horses and the shows,” Danny continued. “We had plans one summer that would have had us missing one of the Ava competitions and both of the girls said, no, they didn’t want to do that. They didn’t want to miss that show.
“We have put a lot of work into it over the years and we just train our own horses. A lot of people feel like they can’t do it themselves and they need a trainer and that’s all fine. But most of the horses we’ve won with are horses we’ve raised and trained ourselves, from colt through adulthood.”
Danny concluded, with a satisfied smile. “When you start the day, admiring a bunch of colts, watching them first thing in the morning, running, jumping, it’s a great way to start the day.”
