Road to the Horse Craig Cameron captured the 2010 World Champion of Colt-Starting title By Nancy Brannon Craig Cameron of Bluff Dale, Texas captured the 2010 World Champion of Colt-Starting title at Road to the Horse in Murfreesboro, TN, March 7, 2010. Cameron, who has competed at Road to the Horse twice before, said his victory couldn’t taste any sweeter. Road to the Horse producer Tootie Bland said that Cameron’s win carried special meaning for her. “Craig and my late husband Steven were very close and it would just mean the world to him to see Craig win this,” she said. In addition to the Champion title, Cameron received a check for $10,000 from Road to the Horse producer Tootie Bland; a memorial Steven “Dookie” Bland trophy saddle provided by Martin Saddlery, featuring conchos by Gist Silversmiths; a handcrafted Road to the Horse buckle by Gist Silversmiths,; a CSI saddle pad; and an original “Blue Horse” painting by artist Henry Patton, which was featured as the cover image of the event’s souvenir program. Cameron competed against 2009 Road to the Horse winner Richard Winters and Ken McNabb for the coveted horsemanship title. The seven-year-old competition gives three top clinicians a little over three hours over two days to gentle three unbroken colts, using their own styles of natural horsemanship. Cameron was complimentary of his competitors, “You won’t find a bigger gentleman that Richard Winters and you won’t find someone with a bigger heart than Ken McNabb. They impressed me with not only their horsemanship, but also their demeanor. I would do anything for these guys and will always be close to them. It’s a cowboy brotherhood that we’ll always carry with us.” Host for the event was Rick Lamb, author and star of the weekly syndicated television program “The Horse Show.” Judging the event were Jack Brainard, Toni Warvell, Marian Buehler, James Gholson and Eitan Beth-Halachmy. The audience also had an opportunity to cast votes for whom they thought should win the event. The compiled audience votes favored Cameron to win. Jody Wood, owner of Wood Ranch in Heber Springs, Arkansas provided the remuda, his second time doing so for Road to the Horse. [For those unfamiliar with the term, remuda is a herd of horses from which ranch hands choose their mounts for the day.] All the horses were performance-bred horses on Wood Ranch; all three-year-old geldings. Wood said, “They have all been running together for a while. The horses have had minimal handling. When we weaned them from the mares, we spent two weeks halter-breaking them; then they were turned out. They were brought up again as two-year-olds and gelded. They get dewormed twice a year, but spend most of their time in a 500-acre pasture in a herd of 30 horses. These ten were chosen to bring to Road to the Horse.” When clinicians picked their horses on Saturday, Cameron chose a small 2007 AQHA palomino gelding, WR Shining Alamo. “He was the little ragamuffin of the remuda, but he was low-headed, curious and brave, and I was lucky to have him. The first day I didn’t think he was such a good choice in the first half hour, but in the end, he made me use all of my skills and gave me a lot,” said Cameron. Watching the running of the remuda, it was evident that this colt was the low man on the totem pole. On several occasions, he remained separate, while the rest of the herd went to another part of the arena. Ken McNabb chose a gray colt WR Turning Diamonds. Though the colt was nervous and had head-shyness issues, McNabb was pleased with his progress enough to purchase the colt. He said he will use him for ranch work and travel with him over the next year, then sell him at the annual Diamond-McNabb 2011 ranch gelding sale in Douglas, WY. Winters chose a sorrel colt, WR Shiners Flashback. On Saturday, Winters was the first of the three competitors to touch and rub his colt, and the first to successfully halter his colt. Winters’ wife bought the gelding for him during the second round pen session, ironically just before the colt started a two lap around-the-round-pen bucking spree, which Winters quickly brought under control. On Sunday the round pen work progressed more quickly for the competitors. After the round pen work, the competitors each showcased their colts adeptly through the required rail work and obstacle course. Adding to the “you-never-know-what-they’ll-come-up-with-next” nature of the event, the clinicians had to navigate a surprise obstacle: a person sitting in a chair wearing a gorilla costume. Surprisingly, all three colts felt pretty comfortable with the fake ape and breezed through the unusual obstacle without drama. After completing the required rail work and obstacles, each clinician presented a freestyle ride that they felt best encompassed their colt’s unique talents and accomplishments over the two short days. Cameron rode his colt to his favorite George Strait song, and at one point purposefully dropped the reins at a canter to do his own “king of the world” move horseback with arms outstretched. McNabb emphasized his colt’s ability to move out in the large arena by hitting a dead run with his colt, then bringing him back calmly at the end. Winters tracked a calf during his freestyle “to give his horse a job,” he said. The event is more than just a colt-starting competition. Preliminary events included mini-clinics with each clinician explaining his training philosophies and demonstrating their techniques. [See the trainers’ section of this issue for details.] Highlight of the entertainment was the One-Arm Bandit, AKA John Payne, riding his jumping mule, who dropped jaws with his daring acts! His performance didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary at first n another cowboy herding animals, this time buffalo. But when his flashy gooseneck trailer pulled into the arena, that signaled the beginning of his grand finale. He thrilled the audience when he jumped his mule onto the back of the flatbed truck, then up the ramp to the top of the trailer. But that was only the preview of coming attractions. Soon he had one buffalo on top of the trailer. Then the second buffalo. Then he and his mule joined the two buffalo on top of the trailer, and he stood in the saddle on his mule. For his piece de resistance, he did spins on his mule atop the trailer, as the trailer pulled out of the arena. An amazing spectacle!