How I Got Started: When I was 12 years old my dad bought a 27-year-old horse called Shiny Pants M. Dad and his friends used to buy a handful of cattle every couple of weeks and one day he asked me to go get on Shiny Pants M and have a go at cutting. I said “No Dad, I’m going to be a roper.” Dad said, “No son I’ve seen you rope, go get on Shiny Pants.” So I did and I was hooked as soon as Shiny Pants worked the cow by himself.
Most memorable moment in cutting: When my son Sam who had only been riding horses for a week, went and showed for the first time scoring a 75 on Doc 0 Ninety Five.
Biggest mistake in cutting: It’s not really a mistake, but I remember I was asked to go look at a green 2-yr-old and see if I wanted to train him. I said no because I didn’t think he would be good enough. I told them to send him to Tom Shelley, he will do a really good job on him. Tom rang me a year later and said come and look at this 3yr old I’ve got. My jaw dropped when I watched him. I couldn’t believe it was the same horse. It ended up ok because I catch-rode him for Tom and ended up Reserve Champion to Smart Little Lena in 1983 at the Futurity.
Biggest myth about cutting: That horses do it themselves! If that was the case I would let my horse go pat him on the butt and say now go win me a check. Favorite quote: “A bad cow cut good is better than a good cow cut bad.” – Buster Welch
Training philosophy: Keep it basic! Go left, stop. Go right, stop.
