"Lynx" Links Owner, Trainer In Pinto World Show Wins Six years ago, Donna Adkins couldn't have told you how to cinch a saddle. In fact, she says she had "...never even been near a horse" in the first fifty years of her life. But in June, she clinched First Place in the Pinto World Show's AM Novice-Walk/Trot Pleasure, English or Western class in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Six years ago, breeder and trainer Mark Baker had a world of experience with horses, dating back to the time he was "...old enough to get on one." He began building his knowledge base helping his father, J.P. Baker, handle the family's cattle operation on a couple of hundred acres near Oxford, Mississippi. He also brought home a First Place title at the Pinto World Show, in the Western Pleasure-Horse 6 & Over class. And a sixth place finish in the Western Pleasure-ST/HN Type Horse, 6 & Over class. Both rode to victory on SCORPS JETTIN DOC, affectionately known as "Lynx." Mark started competing in shows at age nine, but says he "...didn't have best class of horses. I was showing old cow horses" the family used in the cattle operation. Then, some neighbors who also rode show horses offered him better mounts to ride. He also did a bit of open roping. He continued working with his dad, and still lends a hand with 100 head of beef on the family place. Along the way, he earned a degree in Agricultural Education, and now works for the University of Mississippi-Oxford in the area of aquatic plant research. He also picked up some new partners about five years ago: Gary and Donna Adkins. When Gary and Donna retired, they moved from Memphis to the Olive Branch, Mississippi area. The place they chose had five acres and a 5-stall barn, but they didn't really consider having a horse until a friend suggested it. One thing almost always leads to another, and Donna decided that first horse was "lonesome," so the couple started shopping around for a companion. They decided to breed their mare, and they met Mark when they took her to his place to mate with a stallion of his. And while she was there, she also met "Lynx" and immediately wanted to buy him. But Mark wouldn't sell, because the colt wasn't sufficiently broke. "When he rides to break," says Donna, "he rides every single day until they're broke, and he won't let (you) on 'til he knows it's safe." Donna put in a "first option to buy" request, and two months later she and Gary were the proud owners of the two-year-old SCORPS JETTIN DOC. They left him with Mark for training, and Donna decided she wanted to learn to ride. During this process, the Adkins and Mark and his wife, Sylvia, became great friends. So great that the Adkins bought 140 acres nearby and started making improvements such as a 15-stall barn, a 100 x 100 fully enclosed arena, some round pens and more. Donna started learning the ropes of showing horses from the ground up, and she's learned quickly. In addition to racking up wins at the Pinto World Show, the 2006 Dixie National, the 2006 Mississippi Futurity, and 2006 Arkansas Futurity, the retired nurse says she also weans babies, gets them accustomed to human contact for vet and farrier visits, grooms and bathes the show horses, and can "...muck stalls with the best of them," a task she recently took on when their stable hand was on vacation. Baker has been the primary source of that education. Donna says he and Sylvia are "...the most wonderful people...They're like our oldest children" and that she is continually amazed that Mark has "...put up with me for five years. All the thrown reins and stuff." But even students and their teachers sometimes disagree, and Donna said she had to buck Mark a little when it came to spurring Lynx. "It was hard for me to learn to use spurs. It was three years before I finally used them. I fought and fought with the horse, until I figured out Lynx doesn't like high spurring. (Despite what Mark said) I lowered my stirrups, and he started responding much better." Baker's style apparently works for him, though, and Donna says he sometimes amazes other trainers by showing the horse without even lifting the reins. In the course of adopting a new lifestyle, Donna has become an advocate of "equine therapy" for all sorts of problems. "People say you get too old (to do this), but you can ride at any age," she says. "Horses are expensive, but they are the best therapy in world," capable of curing everything from empty nest syndrome to anxiety disorders. It takes a lot of work, but "...if you sit down, it's going to be the end of you...I would give anything to have been raised around horses, and I understand the (horse) camps for challenged children, it does so much for them, all the love that's involved. They're wonderful animals." Mark says the Adkins got a real gem in Lynx, noting that it is "...pretty unusual to win in pro and amateur on the same horse...the first show horse they bought. How lucky can you be?" Donna thinks the arrangement has worked out well, too. Despite being "...plowed down, knocked 25 feet, stepped on, and bitten no telling how many times," she has accomplished in five short years what some riders try all their lives to do. Of the partnership, Donna says, "Not many trainers and owners work together as well as we do. We have very good rapport." While Mark, Sylvia, and Donna are frequently cementing their friendship around the horses, Gary and Mark strengthen those bonds on hunting trips. Donna says he "...rides about once a year" but always makes sure the truck and trailer are ready to hit the road, and helps with feeding and some of the other horse-related chores. "He does the horses for me." The trio has plans for two more major events this year: the Arkansas Futurity in Pine Bluff in October, and the Mississippi Futurity in November. Then, Gary and Mark head off for some pheasant hunting during the off season. Donna says she'll be there to run the farm, something she doesn't mind at all. The former city girl who knew nothing about horses now says, "This farm is my life. I don't care what I have to do, I fix equipment, run equipment, work hay." She plans to spend the winter "...just riding Lynx to keep him in tone, I'll lunge the other horses for tone...We've got some 'pitifully pampered babies.'...Mark thinks I'm carrying it a little too far." They've got a couple of other good prospects in the pipeline, and both Mark and Donna say they're looking forward to the Pinto World Show next year. "Oh yes, we're going back," she said. "And I think we're going to win again."