Bio

Mary Bauer is a Licensed Equine Veterinary Technician, owner of Painted Ridge Farm, and member of ACHA since 2015. She has over 30 years of equestrian experience, and operates a state of the art equestrian boarding facility, which includes Western horses for sale as well as mare and foal care in the beautiful rolling hills of Lorena, Texas where faith, family, and living her dreams is possible.

As the middle child of large Catholic family, Mary grew up in Plano, which is a suburb of Dallas, TX. As so many young girls do, she dreamed of someday living in the country and owning horses. In high school, Mary participated in organizations like FFA and later became a Licensed Veterinary Technician, which landed her a job working at a large Arabian horse ranch in Waco. During this time, she worked on over 1000 Egyptian Arabians in the Veterinary Hospital and took every opportunity to attend seminars like Ray Hunt, Craig Cameron, and others. At the age of 19, Mary was able to buy her first horse with the goal of being a barrel racer. It was a Tennessee Walker/ Appaloosa. It didn’t take Mary long to switch to a race horse, and together they earned an Amateur Barrel World Champion in 1993.

After 10 years of barrel racing, Mary took the following 20 years to focus more on raising her two sons while operating Painted Ridge Farm and supporting her husband’s career in family dentistry. Their oldest son, Jeremy, is now a senior at Texas Tech University studying to be a mechanical engineer, and their second son, Colton, is a sophomore at Texas State Technical College studying to be a commercial aircraft pilot. Mary’s husband, Dr. Jeff Bauer, is a dentist in the Waco area where he has been practicing for 32 years.

After her sons graduated from high school, Mary decided to pursue a new dream to compete in cutting. She purchased her first and only cutting horse, Shake Your Buddha. With a now or never mindset, Mary jumped into her first cutting competition at the ACHA show in Ft. Worth.  She forgot her chaps, so she showed in her jeans. That's where she met her trainer, John Dublin, who graciously offered to help Mary improve her skills.

 As she set her goals for 2015, Mary planned to learn on Shake Your Budha and then horse up the next year. Over time and weekly lessons with trainer, Mary began to think it would be nice to win a buckle in cutting. Little did she know that she would exceed her expectations as Mary went on to win 8 buckles that year, a saddle, $2500 World Champion, $1000 Reserve World Champion, Rookie of the Year, Horse of the Year.

Mary continued her training this year, and one again began to compete with Shake Your Budah. When Budah got injured mid-season, Mary continued competing with her newest horse, Duke, despite his young age and incomplete training. Together they were able to persevere and are the 2018 American Cutting Horse Association $20,000 World Champions!

Mary is grateful to all the people along the way that helped her achieve her dreams, including her supportive husband and sons, trainer, and all those "turn back" men that graciously volunteer their time to help. According to Mary, the best part is meeting the people in ACHA who have become family, rooting for each other, and sharing our ups and downs. Ultimately, Mary gives the glory to God, who allows her to compete in such a wonderful organization like the ACHA and participate in the sport of cutting.

Awards:

2023 $50,000 ACHA Top Five

2023 Region ASHA LTD open all around champion

2023 $25,000 ACHA Novice horse Non Pro Reserve Champion

2021 ASHA Regional Open High Point All-Around champion

2018 $20,000 non-pro ACHA World Champion (cutting)

2018 APHA Reserve World Champion

2017 Horse of the Year ACHA (Shake Your Budha)
2017 Rookie of the Year ACHA
2017  $2500 ACHA Extravaganza circuit champion
2017 $1000/$25000 ACHA Weekend champion
2017 $2500 NR World Champion
2017 $1000 NR Reserve World Champion
2017 $2500 ACHA World show Circuit Champion
2017 APHA Reserve World Champion
2013 APHA Barrel Race Houston Livestock Show (3rd) 
2012 Elite Barrel Racing Horse Champion 
2011 PTHA World Show Jr. Barrels (9th) 
2010 APHA World Show Jr. Barrels (3rd) 
2009 APHA Freestyle (5th) 
2009 Pinto World Show Top Ten (7th) 
2009 MTQHA Reining Champion 
2008 MTQHA Reining Champion 
1995 Houston Livestock Show APHA Champion Barrel Racing (Amateur) 
1995 ANHA Barrel Champion (Novice Rider) 
1995 Houston Livestock Show APHA (2nd Place Open Barrels) 
1995 Ft. Worth Stock Show APHA (3rd Amt. Barrels, 2nd Open Barrels) 
1993 APHA World Champion (Amateur Barrel Racing) 
1992 APHA World Show (10th Barrel Racing Sweepstake, 10th Amt. Barrels) 
1991 CTBRA Reserve Champion (Novice Rider)