By Ruthie Stewart (Equine Chronicle-August 2005)

     About an hour north of Dallas in the horse-training hub of the country, is Tioga, Texas, and the home of John and Kim Dean. The couple moved to the area in 1982 and run John Dean, Inc. They have two daughters, Alix, 15 years-old, and Katie, age eight. John wanted to be a horse trainer since he was a kid and Kim went along for the ride and found her own niche in the industry. They’re marriage is a lot like the name of their stallion, “A Good Machine.” John and Kim Dean’s life together just plain works.

     Kim and John met in Columbus, Indiana near where they both grew up. John is the oldest of seven and his siblings were friends with Kim’s brothers and sisters. Kim would come home on weekends from Indiana University and her sister, Dr.Julie Janes, braided horses at John’s family farm on the weekends. Kim tagged along and met John. Kim remembers, when she was away in an exchange program in Europe, her mother writing her a letter that said, ‘There’s a huge horse farm going up near us. Dad and I are going to drive over and see it.’ “John’s father moved his family about 10 minutes away from my house and built a big indoor facility, which was a big deal for the area at the time. All of the kids in his family loved horses. We met when I was 18 and dated about four years. It was an instant attraction for me, but he thought I was younger than I was and wasn’t interested. I would come home every weekend (mostly to see him) and they had a really neat place there with an indoor basketball court and all the kids would gather there. I would watch them play ball and hang out. One day John came in and I asked his sister who he was and you know how the sister tells the brother and so on. His parents had a tool and die mold factory and fabricated different materials and weren’t in the horse business as far as being trainers. At night John drove a gas truck for big the stations, and during the day he trained horses. He prepared the family’s horses for them to show,” said Kim.
 

     At their tender ages, they already knew what they wanted to do with their lives. John was set on training horses and Kim wanted to be with John. “I was supposed to go to law school and John really wanted to go work for Tommy Manion. I talked him into going to a clinic to meet him. He fell in love with Texas - we both did - and on our way home he said, ‘how would you like to work down here? What would you think if I trained for him and you were his secretary?’ The Indiana State Fair was in July and Tommy always came down for that and I told John to go and ask him for a job. I told him to do it for free if he had to. Tommy was tentative, but when he heard free he told John to come on down. After two months, he hired him. I moved down shortly after that,” remembered Kim. She never went to law school and although her parents were disappointed, she was happy with her decision. “I didn’t care what I did as long as I was with him. I had my business degree by then and I was at that point where I was tired of school. I brought him out of his shell and we complement each other. We loved working for Tommy right away. We were learning everything about the horse business. It was an invaluable experience for both of us,” she said. When John left to start his own training business, Kim stayed while they built their farm and then continued for six more years.
 

     John and Kim were married in 1984. While John was a trainer’s apprentice, Kim worked the business side of the horses. “I had three positions at Tommy’s and the money was good. I worked on the stallion syndications, advertising and billing. John was doing well and won the Congress his 2nd year at Tommy’s. He worked really hard and, as the apprentice, of course he got the second string horses. They’d go to a show and he’d beat Tommy and then they’d switch horses. John would beat him on that horse, too. It was kid of funny. The success was due to John’s dedication. Tommy taught him western riding, trail and pleasure and I think Tommy and John are the only trainers to have world championships in all three. John is really good at the individualized events,” Kim said.
 

     The Dean’s run a training facility with their assistant trainers. Their 20 acres include a covered indoor arena and full trail and western riding courses. John has been a professional for 25 years and is an AQHA and NSBA judge. He specializes in western pleasure, western riding, and trail. Over these two-and-a-half decades, he has shown three World Champions, six Reserve World Champions, and two Bronze World Champions. He has also trained an Amateur World Champion in Trail and two Amateur Reserve World Champions in western pleasure and trail. Kim manages and markets their stallion. In addition to that, Kim works in Pilot Point for Equine Medical Associates handling their account receivables.
 

     The Dean’s stallion, A Good Machine, stands at Quail Hill Ranch under the direction of Rick McDonald. A Good Machine bred 119 mares last year in 2005. “We became partners with his owners in 1996 and bought him outright in 2001. I’m scared of horses and everyone that knows me knows I’m not interested in riding. I’m a great backseat driver and like to watch John show. With my daughters’ schedules, I don’t get to go to a bunch of shows. I go to the World and the fun ones,” Kim said. A Good Machine came to them as a training horse when he was two. John remembered when he first saw him, “I liked everything about him. He was great minded, talented and trainable.” The pair won Reserve in the Limited Two Year-Old that year at the Congress, top ten at the World, and third in the Junior Pleasure at the Congress. “That was probably the toughest pleasure class I’ve been in. That junior pleasure had a lot of great stallions in it – Blazing Hot and Sweet Talkin’ Chip were there. Just a really incredible group of horses,” he said.
 

     The Deans don’t own any broodmares. “We try not to compete with our mare owners and we buy them as yearlings. We put the offspring on our website to help the owners sell and we buy the ones we can afford. This year was really busy. Katie just started in the walk-trot trail and pleasure. John coaches her and she rides a Good Machine daughter,” Kim said.
 

     “Katie and I just get along. She’s been showing about a year and I just treat her like a customer. It’s been working so far. She goes out after school and practices every day,” added John. Alix is into softball and plays for  Texas Elite. She plays second base and shortstop.
 

     During their limited free time, the couple attends Alix’s games. “We both run and lift weights. I have a trainer and we started awhile ago. John’s very dedicated and works out every night at nine on his own. I go to the gym at six a.m. to meet my trainer, then take the kids to school and work for the vet all day. When the kids get home, we do homework and then dinner. John comes in for lunch. My office looks into the arena, and we made our home comfortable with all the amenities to keep the kids at the house. All their friends come here to hang out and visit,” she said. The Dean’s home environment is reminiscent of John’s when he was growing up.
 

     What makes this couple work so well together isn’t overly complicated. “It was pretty much an easy fit. We both have different strengths and complement each other. The girls are more like him, intense and focused. Winning is important to them. They will go back and work harder if they don’t win. They were like that from birth. They look like him and act like him. The littlest is a daddy’s girl. They both can get him to do just about anything. He’s always available to them and if Alix says, ‘Hey dad, I have a big tournament coming up. Can you go and hit balls with me?’ he’s right there. They push themselves, but he’ll help them do whatever they want to do,” Kim added. “Kim is a great mom. She takes care of everything when I’m gone,” John said.
 

     John also has a large number of amateur exhibitors in training. “I don’t give any lessons. For the horses I have in training, I coach my amateurs how to show them. I don’t teach them to train their horses, but I teach them how to use the cues I put on their horses effectively,” said John. Although not every trainer makes a great instructor, that’s not true for John. Kim said, “He’s a really good teacher. We’ve had one client for over 15 years, Pat Clements, and most of his biggest championships have been with her. She’s been with us through everything and is like a second mom to both of us.”
 

     Pat echoes the sentiment,“Thirteen years ago he helped me qualify my horse for the World. I never went back to my other trainer. We both won the World that year. I like his organization, and I like when somebody says they’re going to do something they do it – he’s like that. He’s dependable. He’s quiet and calm and takes his time with the horses. He doesn’t rush, so therefore they last a long time. He likes to say he doesn’t give lessons, but he’s great at teaching you the position you should be in before you get to the obstacle. He’s a man of few words and when you’re working with him, he’s all business. When the work is done, it’s really fun,” said Pat.
 

     Pat feels the couple is perfectly suited for each other. “Kim is a ton of fun. They’re a perfect match. She is his light side and she converses for him. I think he’s a little on the shy side, and I respect that. He just doesn’t like a lot of people in his space. Kim is so great and she has her business and she’s raising two girls. It’s a real harmonious relationship. She’s really outgoing. I would say that this is definitely a case of opposites attracting. She’s very strong, and also a very nice person. When we’re at a show, John is on the phone keeping in contact with her and the girls. He does his job well. We have enjoyed knowing each other a long time and they’re probably the reason I’ve continued showing,” she said. Once a week, Pat drives over to ride with John, and before shows, she goes twice, sometimes three times. “The drive is the pits, but it’s worth it,” Pat added. Their exhibitor/client relationship is one they work at, but all in all, it’s a solid one. “I think I’m a good listener and they are, too. If you’re reasonable, he’ll listen and if not his ‘shade’ shuts. He’s a perfectionist. When I do well, he gets a big smile on his face and we high five. He makes it fun.” She mentions one of his more humorous habits. “He has a hamburger with nothing on it. I tell him he’s eating his hockey puck,” she laughed.

      They say the key to true success is finding what you love and doing it and the rewards will follow. That has certainly been true for John. “It doesn’t feel like job to him. He loves the horses and doesn’t use them solely as a vehicle to get where he wants,” Kim said. In an industry where a trainer needs to practice a certain level of detachment to move from horse to horse to succeed, John displays uncommon emotion for someone in his line of work.
 

     Kim had one particularly moving story that demonstrated John’s depth of emotion for horses and his depth of character. “John buried Chips Sugar Cookie, his first western pleasure world champion, with his show shirt and a flake of hay here at our place. We had to put her down, she hadn’t gotten up for three days. Every time we’d go to call the vet, she’d rally back. Finally, she was in too much pain. It was an agonizing decision and a really bad day,” she recalled.
 

       Along with John’s big heart is a keen and perceptive mind. “He’s really smart and great in business, he looks at every bill and he’s on top of everything. We’re really conservative and we’re very much alike. We have the same views and ideas,” said Kim. With the exception of the TV, the couple is in total agreement. “He has control of the remote and it’s always on sports. As a husband, he takes care of the little things and when I want something, he buys it. He really likes giving me something that I want.”

       Running a successful training operation, marketing an in-demand stallion, and raising two young girls is no easy feat. Together, John and Kim have several full-time careers. They’ve got a busy schedule, but the Dean’s have struck the right balance of friends, family, and work. They’ve made a nice life together with their daughters and, due in part to good fortune in the horse industry, it all works much like a “Good Machine.”