Hunt Co. woman reins in big wins

By DAVY MOSELEY | East Texas Edition

Maryse Dupaul, a native of Canada, has developed her riding and training skills well enough to earn some impressive championships. From a very early age, Dupaul knew she 'had to ride.' Courtesy photo

November 29, 2001 -- For months, Maryse Dupaul of MD Reiners, near Quinlan, has been preparing for the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity in Oklahoma City. The event started Nov. 23 and ends Dec. 1.

The NRHA Futurity is the biggest show of the year for the association. And it is a big show for Dupaul. She's there now, doing what she does best.

Raised on a dairy farm in Quebec, Canada, Dupaul has always been drawn to horses and riding.

"I always knew. Even when I was 3-years-old, I remember asking for a horse. I didn't get one, so I tried to ride cows. Everyone would always say, 'Oh, you don't know what you want.' But there was just something there. I just knew that I had to ride," Dupaul recalled.

At the age of 13, Dupaul started work at a ranch near her Quebec home cleaning stalls and helping with chores. Her payment, at that time, was being allowed to ride the ranch's horses. Things would soon change, however, and the blossoming equestrian would be hired to do nothing but ride and train horses - and get paid to boot.

Dupaul saw a glimmer of what she wanted back home. She did a little bit of showing: Western pleasure, reining, barrel racing, and even worked under a reining trainer there. She was one of the youngest individuals to become a Canadian riding instructor. But that wasn't what she wanted.

Not content with the laid-back pace of the Canadian horse industry, Dupaul decided to head south to America questing experience, competition and good horses.

When Dupaul stepped foot on American soil in 1992, she had no idea where her path would lead.

"I remember arriving in New Jersey. I saw a man in a cowboy hat and asked him if he knew of anyone who needed a rider. He said he knew of a ranch in Cleburne, Texas, that did; so I went to Texas," Dupaul said.

Her first job in Texas lasted about three months, and from there she job-hopped through several states, several ranches, and several years, until a job opening came up in the Greenville, Texas, area.

"I found the more you get into the horse business, the more I found that there was more to learn. It just seemed like there was no end. So, I just couldn't go back home yet," she recounted.

Back in Texas, Dupaul realized it was time she rode alone. That was 1998, six years since she first began her equestrian quest. Since she stopped working for trainers, and training for herself, the wins have started to stack up.

Some of Dupaul's wins include the Rocky Mountain Reining Horse Association Summer Slide Futurity Open and Limited Open Champion in Denver in 1998; NRHA Derby finalist in 1999, National Reining Breeders Classic Intermediate Champion in 2001; Governor's Classic Novice Horse Champion in 2001; Missouri Reining Horse Association Intermediate Champion in 2001; Southwest Reining Horse Association Snaffle Bit in 1999; Top 10 in the NRHA Limited Open Division in 1999; and Top 10 Intermediate Open Division in 2001.

Dupaul has received four bronze (first place) placings in the last five shows, and says next year is going to be an even bigger year.

At the Futurity in Oklahoma City, Dupaul is riding This Is How Its Dun, a 4-year-old, owned by Scatterbranch Ranch in Commerce in the intermediate open division at the NRHA Futurity. She is riding another Scatterbranch Ranch horse in the intermediate open show.

Like the NRHA Futurity, Dupaul enters other major shows, but she also competes in smaller shows to give local people the opportunity to see what a finished reiner is.

"I like to take horses to smaller shows to give them some experience. I don't like doing just major shows," Dupaul said.

NRHA is her main focus, but it is not the only thing she wants to do. She works with cutting horses and barrel racing horses - any discipline that can benefit from a reining base. She trains from start to finish and rides 14 to 16 hours a day, six days a week riding eight to 10 horses a day.

Dupaul says it is hard to predict early on if a horse will be a good reining horse.

"I've worked with horses that physically should not have been able to do (the maneuvers), but they had so much heart, so much want-to, that they could do it. So I don't say no to any horse. I give them 60 days, and if I see they aren't cut out for reining, then the customer has not lost anything, because the horse is just more broke."

Dupaul says she can give only three guarantees for people when they bring a horse: "I will feed your horse, I will ride your horse, and I will not abuse your horse.

"My main thing is I want what is best for the horse. I try hard to get the horse to like what they do," said Dupaul.

When asked what it is that draws her to reining, Dupaul said, "It is the total control of the horse. You want the horse to be one with you, not to be ahead of you, but to be waiting for you. To be able to make all those complicated maneuvers appear effortless. It's just magic, really.

"Some people like cutting, and the way the horse works with the cow, but I want the horse to work with me. In reining, I am the only thing in his life. And when I have that, when the horse is waiting on me for everything, it's rewarding. It's fun," Dupaul said.

When asked how someone from Quebec, Canada, settles in Quinlan, Texas, Dupaul said, "One of the things that attracted me most to (this area) is that the people are so warm. When we moved from one place to another, my customers showed up to help me move, and even brought over a load of two-by-six planks (to help me get started on my facilities). I just drove up and there they were with a big ribbon on top. I really appreciated everyone's help."

Dupaul has many goals for her business. She is intent on expanding people's knowledge of reining, and to increase its popularity.

"I just feel there is a great lack of knowledge when it comes to reining in East Texas. That's one of the main reasons I enter local shows, so that people can see what a finished reining horse is all about."

She also wants to expand and improve her facilities, built in 2000, so she can handle more horses, and have more wins.

"She's living her dream. She had everything in the world against her," said John Elliot, Tri-County Feed in Sulphur Springs. "She's a very humble person. She lets her actions speak for themselves."

Dupaul stressed that anyone is welcome on her place if they want to come and ride.

For more information on the National Reining Horse Association: www.nrha.com. To contact Maryse Dupaul at MD Reiners: (903)883-9856, or mdreiners6@cs.com.