Story and photos
by Dwain Hebda

As world headquarters go, Infinity Faith Performance Horses is hard to beat. The rolling hills and lush banks of trees frame emerald pastures where in the distance, horses slowly graze in the heat of midmorning, their coats stark against the endless green of the field. 

“It’s peaceful out here,” said Amanda Kyne, owner. 

“It could use a little brush hogging, but,” she said, cocking her head to one shoulder as if to say, “What are ya gonna do?” 

Kyne can be forgiven for her pasture being a little on the shaggy side. The 40-year-old tends and trains 24 horses (13 of which are hers), so it’s easy to see where the day goes. But the Texas-born mother of two wouldn’t have it any other way.

“A horse is an animal that has always been instilled in me,” she said. “I’ve always had a passion and a desire to understand them, to read them. It’s something that goes way back, and it’s very deep. That to me, understanding them, is fulfillment, and I have the ability and I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to do it from 8 to 5 every day.”

Kyne’s lifelong equine love affair led her to ride and rope at an early age. She competed in rodeos growing up, all the way to becoming a collegiate-level roper while attending Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. She founded Infinity Faith Performance Horses in 2014 where she trains barrel racing stock — both her own animals and others’ — on her spread outside of Greenbrier. 

It’s a crowded marketplace, horse training, but one where she’d excelled. Just this year, her horses have placed in the money at major events in Texarkana, Tunica and elsewhere. That kind of success has both the stables and her heart full.

“I give all the glory to God because we have prayed and prayed and prayed about all this,” she said. “And there’s so many people (training horses) around here. But I don’t think they’re as deep in booking out as we are. It’s just been people coming in left and right.”

Kyne is so at home here, lugging saddles and hay, it’s hard to believe she actually got out of the horse business entirely for a stretch. When her eldest started into sports, she decided it was time to move into another chapter of her life. She made it six years, but the pull of the ranch was just too strong. 

“I just like to work with a horse,” she said. “They’re 1,200 pounds; they could kill you. Why they want to work with us, I don’t know. And I see so many of them where the horse is trying to tell people, ‘I don’t like this,’ or ‘Please get out of my way,’ and people don’t listen because they’re so focused on phones or technology or how they look and just not paying attention. These horses put up with us.”

Even though she’s been back in the saddle — literally — for some time now, Kyne has cut back on the number of rodeos she’ll attend in a given year. When she does attend, she watches her mounts from the stands and tries hard not to be a “horse mom.” 

“I try my best to stay quiet, but inside, there’s this huge chaos going on,” she said. “A lot of times there’s personality number six and 13 and 23 that want to yell, ‘Don’t do this. Don’t do that.’”

Kyne, who serves as president of the Arkansas Barrel Racing Association, said Arkansas is producing a number of quality competitors. Racers get their competitive start before the age of 8 and compete in everything from local contests through a national championship, where Arkansas riders regularly place in the top five.

“Barrel racing is growing,” Kyne said. “We have really good rodeos and really good barrel races around here. We’ve got probably 10 or 15 pens in Central Arkansas that are notable for good ground; people can come and run a race and know that it’s going to be run smooth.”

Being involved with the sport and watching her horses win has inspired Kyne to get back into the competitive arena herself. In December, she will attempt to qualify for The American, a rodeo featuring elite athletes and a $1 million payout, including a $100,000 first prize to the champion barrel racer. 

“I’m looking to make a comeback, so to speak,” she said with a big smile. “Used to, you would have to be on the road all the time (to qualify). The American, and some of these bigger rodeos, to get qualified you only have to go to one (event).”

Whether or not she can make that happen, Kyne still has a life she loves to come home to. Yes, there are stalls to clean and horses to curry and a pasture that needs the brush hog. But Kyne isn’t complaining.

“My faith is what got me here, and every morning I thank Him,” she said. “And every night, I’m safe, we’re walking and all of them are fed and nobody’s down and the vet didn’t come. So we’re good.”