AWARDED - 2014 Best of Houston Equine Riding & Training Facility
AWARDED - 2014 Best of Houston Equine Riding & Training Facility
International Endurance Champion – Owner of Cypress Trails Ranch, LLC
Passionate but clueless in 1981, Darolyn Butler stepped into the endurance ride world for
a single race – the Tevis Cup. 35,000 competitive miles later, she has never looked back!
Darolyn started riding before she could walk, and cried when taken off horses as a toddler. Even though there was no such thing as endurance riding in her native state of Oklahoma in the 1960’s, she claims to have been born to do just that. Early years found her riding for hours and hours, exploring the countryside on and near her family’s farm and ranch.
Darolyn was soon active in horse shows and barrel racing, as that was the thing to do in Oklahoma in the ‘60’s and 70’s. A stint as Miss Rodeo Oklahoma, (she also won the Horsemanship Division in the Miss Rodeo America pageant), and a job as Miss Ford Country, (a cowgirl advertising campaign for Ford Motor Co.), gave her another boost in the equine direction.
In 1972 she was crowned Miss Oklahoma State University and after graduating from there, she represented Tony Lama Boot Company in East Texas and Southern Louisiana, which spurred her relocation to the Houston, Texas area. Horse shows and rodeos still filled her spare moments until she discovered endurance riding in 1981. A short year later, all the performing quarter horses had been replaced by Arabians and cross-Arabs, the breed of choice for endurance riding.
Her previous experience with horses served her well as she moved into the ultimate sport of endurance riding with devoted enthusiasm. Endurance is normally a one-day event (much like a human marathon), of distances from 25 to 100 miles. The famous Tevis Cup Ride, (considered the toughest ride in the world), was her third endurance ride, and she won her first of several National Championships in 1984.
With the change in her horse sport came a career change also. She became the owner and producer of Horseman Video Showcase, a premier video production company that specialized in producing equine training videos and equine product promotional videos. With more than two dozen instructional videos under her belt, including her own “Long Distance Riding” video and the top selling equine instructional of all time, John Lyons “Round Pen Reasoning”, she produced 8 Issues of Horseman Video Magazine, and nearly 40 thirty minute television shows entitled, The Horse Show.
Her daughter Rima was born in 1979, and in 1982, she was joined by her sister Cecilia, and, as they became old enough, joined their mother, as she continued her hobby/obsession of endurance riding. Darolyn gives clinics and private instruction on her favorite sport, competes internationally, and has won team and individual medals of Gold, Silver and Bronze, in the U.S. and abroad. One of her greatest thrills was winning the Gold Medal and Best Condition at the World Nature Games in Parana, Brazil in 1997.
Cypress Trails Ranch
21415 Cypresswood Dr, Humble, TX 77338
Copyright © 2023 Cypress Trails Ranch LLC | DAROLYN BUTLER - All Rights Reserved.
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