michael miola lorenzo vargas web

Silver Spurs Equine Purchases Xtra Quarter Horses

michael miola lorenzo vargas webMike Miola (left) & Lorenzo Vargas • Photo courtesy of Mike MiolaWimpys Little Step, Shiners Voodoo Dr and Wimpyneedsacocktail have a new owner, but they won’t be leaving Oklahoma. On April 13, it was announced that Xtra Quarter Horses’ headliner stallions, as well as the facility they stand at and everything on the property, were purchased by Silver Spurs Equine.

Xtra Quarter Horses, located in Purcell, Oklahoma, was owned by Lorenzo Vargas. Though the ranch was not originally for sale, Mike Miola, owner of Silver Spurs Equine in Scottsdale, Arizona, approached Vargas about buying it three months ago.

“We were looking for a place that would be ideal for us to distribute our foal crops because it was very difficult for us to get many of the horse buyers out to Arizona,” Miola said. “Getting people to come and see our foal crops was a weak link. We looked in several areas and found that Purcell was really the ideal location for us due to its proximity to the [Oklahoma State Fair] show grounds.

“After I explained the vision I had for the combination of Silver Spurs and Xtra as one entity, the process started,” Miola explained.

While there are many reining farms located throughout Oklahoma, Miola had several reasons for wanting to purchase Xtra Quarter Horses.

“We needed a training team that could train our horses and make them sellable, and I always admired Thiago’s training program. That attracted me to Xtra,” Miola said. “Plus, speaking for myself, I always wanted to own ‘Wimpy.’ Then we have ‘Voodoo,’ and [Shiners Voodoo, who is by Shiners Voodoo Dr] just won the European Futurity, and Wimpyneedsacocktail, whose first foal crop is just coming into the show pen this year.

“After I really saw the facility and how it would complement Silver Spurs, those are the main reasons that I pursued Xtra as opposed to any other place in the area,” Miola continued.

Wimpy, Voodoo and ‘Cocktail’ will remain in place in Oklahoma. Miola also plans to send three other stallions – racehorse Im A Fancy PYC, barrel horse The Red Dasher and halter horse Solaris – that currently reside in Arizona to Xtra so that they will be more centrally located. While Silver Spurs will continue to stand the rest of its stallions in Scottsdale, Miola said there will be a process put in place to help make their offspring more available to reiners.

“Once our babies turn yearlings, they will go to our facility in Oklahoma and the training team there will condition them when they turn 2. And we’ll see what we sell as yearlings and which ones we put into training as 2-year-olds, etc. But it’s going to add a tremendous diversity to our Oklahoma division because right now they can only offer Wimpys, Voodoos and Cocktails,” Miola said.

Silver Spurs will be taking full advantage of the on-farm breeding capabilities they will have at Xtra. They plan to have consistent breeding days where they can airfreight semen from their Arizona-located stallions to the Xtra facility to breed mares onsite.

Throughout the process of purchasing Xtra, Miola stressed he wants to keep the entire Xtra staff, as “they have a winning formula, we’re just going to add to it.”

“Xtra is going to continue doing what it has always done,” said Thiago Boechat, head trainer and general manager at Xtra Quarter Horses, which will be operating as a division of Silver Spurs Equine. “It’s going to be the same crew, the same horses, now we’re just going to be a division of Silver Spurs.

“I think the new vision is just to grow it and take it to the next level,” Boechat continued. “We have no plans of changing. According to what Michael said, he doesn’t want to fix what’s not broken. It’s going to pretty much stay the same and try to do an even better job.”

“I’m just thrilled to own Wimpy and Voodoo and Cocktail,” Miola said. “I’m tickled to death that I finally got them in.”