DT Horses
Scottsdale, Arizona
DTHorses.com
480-471-4348
DT Horses, owned by Dean and Leslie Tuftin, is about much more than just breeding futurity-winning horses.
DT Horses’ mission is to instill excellence at every step of the process: from crossing the best bloodlines to create premium prospects to fostering the growth of young trainers to build exceptional horsemen and horsewomen and people, to educating the average team roper who comes to DT Horses looking for a rope horse or looking for advice.
In the end, these three prongs of the DT program are pushing the industry forward like few others have done before.
The Horses
DT Horses is headlined by the $2 million sire Hickory Holly Time (2024 stud fee of $3,000), who won multiple world titles and has earned more than $260,000 in his career. Tuftin crosses Hickory Holly Time on his exceptional mare herd, all ridden and proven in the arena and on the ranch.
Tuftin raised the stakes for 2023, with a DT Horses incentive that paid out $50,000 to top-earning DT Horses offspring competing at the Riata Buckle. Douglas Rich, won the Riata Open on a Hickory Holly Time son, won an additional $16,000, while Dave Williams won $12,000, Dwight Adams won $8,000, and Marissa Boisjoli won $4,000—all for winning on Hickory Holly Time offspring at the Riata.
INCENTIVES, Hickory Holly Time: Riata Buckle
The People
Currently, seven trainers work at DT Horses, and Tuftin has made their continuing growth and education a major priority at his Scottsdale, Arizona, ranch.
Tuftin’s goal isn’t just to help the top prospects get into the top hands. He wants his trainers riding every prospect to the best of that horse’s ability and finding that horse’s highest potential—whether it’s at the Ariat World Series of Team Roping or the NFR, in the barrel racing arena or at the local cow horse competition or at the World’s Greatest Horseman.
What’s more, Clinton Anderson himself is starting some colts for Tuftin and will show some of Tuftin’s horses in the reining and cow horse.
The Education
Tuftin’s doors are always open to horsemen and horsewomen looking for their next mount or just wanting to learn how the DT Horses’ program works.
“An impressionist artist said, ‘Perfection is not in the eye of the beholder. Perfection is in the eye of the creator.’ Anyone can slap paint on a canvas, but a great artist puts perfection in every stroke of the brush. For me, I’ve built [this program] in the same way. A great artist holds themselves accountable for every stroke of the brush. People say they’re a trainer, but a great trainer holds themselves accountable for every move that horse takes, every feel. For me, that’s a big piece of it. My mission statement is to build champion horses with solid training techniques while developing the mind of a horse positively. It’s not just, ‘Let’s go win at the futurities.’ And I want to pass that all on to the horse industry as a whole. So, our doors are open to those who want to learn.”
