OklahomaHorses Magazine March 2023

March / April 2023 • OklahomaHorses 9 T he first time softball practice got in the way of riding lessons, Olivia Allen was officially done with ball sports forever. She is the self-defined horse-crazy girl who never grew out of what is often waved off as a passing phase. Although she has been blessed with unique opportunities ultimately leading to the formation of Rafter-O Performance Horses, it’s a journey punctuated by divine intervention for the young trainer. “It’s easy to get busy with riding and chores,” Allen says, but her goals as a trainer far surpass developing high- quality equine partners for her clients. Sale-Barn Specials Decked out in breeches and riding boots on many a school day, Allen never cared if the other kids made fun of her for it. A whopping $500 bought her first horse when she was 11 years old. “She was the kind of horse that I had to ride the buck out of before I could do anything else, and all I had was an English saddle to do it in,” Allen said. “She ended up being a nice horse, nothing fancy, but I’m thankful for her because I probably wouldn’t have been as determined to ride nice horses, and I doubt I’d be a trainer without that experience.” Lessons learned from those sale-barn specials gave her a foundation when she found her place under the tutelage of reining-horse trainer Lynn Rohwedder near Saint Louis, Missouri. “I was her only employee, so I did whatever she needed, and that’s where I got my real start in training,” Allen said. “I was finally able to get on some nice horses, the type that I wanted to be able to train. That was a huge blessing. She made it a lot easier for me to get started.” Hailing from Waterloo, Indiana, Allen made her way to the Red Dirt State by way of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. First-Time Trainer Much like her first few jobs with horses, Allen found some trainers who needed an extra hand in Stillwater. It wasn’t until her junior year, when she was starting colts for a local breeder, that she considered herself a trainer. Olivia Allen enjoys establishing a busy horse-training operation in Stigler. Photo by Lindsay Humphrey. Olivia Allen is the self-defined horse-crazy girl who never grew out of what is often waved off as a passing phase. Photo courtesy of Olivia Allen.