Ever wonder how Trevor Brazille got his calf horse, Texaco?
The
little red horse who’s registered name is Real "Someone offered owner Bob Scott $200,000
for him before the NCHA cutting futurity,"
says Brazile. "Bob turned it down, and in the futurity, the horse ran off
and refused to cut." It turns out Texaco was afraid of calves.
Cool Dual, is a son of Dual Pep,
so he started out life as a cutting horse.
After gelding the horse, Scott gave him to Trevor to train
for calf roping.
"When I got him, he didn't trust anybody," Trevor
says. "He would kick when you dismounted, he would kick when you tried to
put boots on him and he was scared of cattle. When he saw a calf loaded in the
chute, he'd break out into a sweat. He's been the biggest challenge I've ever
worked with."
Getting the horse over his fear took a lot of patience, but
Trevor knew the horse had a lot of potential. Eventually his patience and
persistence paid off, and Brazile earned the horse's trust. The two have been
blazing a trail across the ProRodeo world ever since,
"He can score really well," Trevor says. "And
for being such a small horse - he's only 13.3 hands - he can really fly. He's
always right on the calf. I call him Texaco, because he's my own little oil
well."
There’s only one horse Trevor has ever roped a calf on
without a bridle--Texaco. The pair accomplished the feat at the Fort Worth
Stock Show’s AQHA tie-down roping class late in January 2010. The 7.8 second
run beat every other roper there.
So what made Brazille do it? “Three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo tie-down
roper Cade Swor said it wasn’t fair I was riding Texaco, unless I didn’t use a
bridle. I told him to go get a good seat. It would have been nice if I’d had a
warning and could have tried it once at home. But that’s not how it happened,
so we just had to roll with it.”
The run beat everyone else, but there is an AQHA rule that
states, “in all western classes, horses will be shown in a western saddle and
appropriate bridle, snaffle bit or hackamore for the duration of the class.”
Unfortunately, the run was disqualified, but Texaco has
become one of the best known calf horses ever. For a little guy, he’s left big
horseshoes to fill.
Have you ever had a little horse with a big heart? What is
the name of your favorite horse?
My mare, Image, was a cutting horse. She was just over 13 hands and she was the fastest little thing! Plus she could turn on a dime. I adored her. I've never found another horse like her.
ReplyDeleteI love all the horses I've been lucky enough to ride through the years, but one of the first was Ruff's King Tutt. He was quiet, fast and willing and he taught me so much. Like Image, he was special.
ReplyDelete