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Welcome to the
Extreme Cowboy Association
We are excited about 2010 and the many fun filled and
exciting Extreme Cowboy Racing events that are on the
schedule. The formation of
EXCA has been an thrilling and challenging adventure!
Many people have worked tirelessly to create an association
that you will be proud to tell your friends about.
This is the latest issue of your monthly newsletter,
The Brave Horse.
You will receive it each month electronically around the
middle of the month. The Brave Horse will be full of
interesting stories,
EXCA event results, point standings, human interest
stories about
EXCA members and Tips and Tales from our founder, Craig
Cameron. We encourage you to communicate your
suggestions for stories and ideas that will make The
Brave Horse fun, better and more informative.
The Brave Horse the best
newsletter in the equine world. Please forward your
ideas and suggestions to Bill Hull at
bhextremecowboy@gmail.com.
UNDERSTANDING HORSE BEHAVIOR
Every
Leader Has Followers
By Craig
Cameron
Horses run in herds for two simple reasons: safety and
companionship. They are like a military unit; there’s an
officer and there are soldiers. Every herd has a leader and
followers. Herds vary in size from very large to as few as
two. Horses quickly learn the herd order or pecking order.
A horse may also challenge the leader and win the top slot
through intimidation of combat. If the order changes, it is
typically because a horse gets hurt, sick or taken away from
the herd. At that point, the pecking order changes.
As a horseman, you must also develop the pecking order with
your horse. It goes without saying that you need to be the
leader. You can only accomplish this with your horse
through trust, work and understanding; it should not be
accomplished through fear or pain. Developing trust and
understanding requires time, patience and consistency. This
is the only effective way for your horse to develop trust
and respect for you as the leader. Once your leadership is
established, always keep in mind that it took time to create
your leadership but it only takes an instant to lose it.
Always treat your horse with kindness dignity and respect
with appropriate discipline. With that approach, he will
respect your leadership and you will become the leader of
the herd.
Ride
hard and always Ride Smart.
Craig Cameron
EXCA IS AN ALL BREED ASSOCIATION
By Tracy Pinson
I have been involved with horses in some form or fashion for
over 30 years, and every day with horses I learn something
new. They are my therapy from a career in consumer goods
sales and marketing, where I have been employed for 23
years. Before I give away my real age, I’ll move on to how
I became involved in the Extreme Cowboy Association.
After watching Craig Cameron’s Extreme Cowboy Race on
RFD-TV, I knew that it was something we (Skyjacker’s
Mountain High aka “Tuff” and I) had to try. Who knew, just
a short time later, that Wayne Conkle, Tuff, and I (along
with our good friends Lisa Steinbach and Diane McMurtrey who
attend most of our races) would be traveling from Florida to
North Carolina, Maryland, and Kansas to actually compete in
these events.
If you haven’t competed in an Extreme Cowboy Race, I must
tell you that they are even more fun to compete in than they
are to watch! Craig summarized the race best with his
description – Kamikaze speed with surgical precision. The
courses require the horse and rider teams to run at full
speed and then be able to rein the horse back to perform
flying leading changes, ground tie, climb moguls, cross
water, side pass over logs, go through tunnels, shoot
balloons from horseback, joust, jump ditches, ride through
trash, or navigate tight obstacles. The course is timed,
but horsemanship is a larger factor in the overall score.
Your horse has to lope well, respond properly to cues, and
be able to negotiate any obstacles without hesitation.
These events combine my love of speed events (Pole Bending
and Barrel Racing) with the trail obstacle courses that Tuff
seems to enjoy.
In order to qualify for the World Finals, horse and rider
teams are required to compete in events within a region,
then the top teams from each region are invited to the
finals. Since there were no events in the Southeast, we
traveled to the Mid-Atlantic region where events were held
in North Carolina and Maryland to qualify for the World
Finals. While at our first event in North Carolina, we were
fortunate enough to meet Joyce Lewis, who had competed in
several of the Craig Cameron races on television. She
mentored and coached us, so that we knew what to prepare for
in regional races, as well as the world finals.
The Extreme Cowboy Race World Finals were held in Topeka,
Kansas last November and attracted horses from 26 states.
There were six divisions (Pro, Non-Pro, Youth, Ride Smart,
Novice, and Young Guns) – all offering the best teams from
all over the country. Tuff and I competed in the Non-Pro
division, which was the largest with 34 entries.
The Non-Pro course was the same as the Pro division and we
faced obstacles including shooting, jumping, running,
roping, dragging, loading in a trailer, bareback,
ground-tying, standing in the saddle, teetering bridges, and
many others. Each rider competed in two rounds and the top
ten cumulative scores went back in the final round. With so
many awesome teams from around the country, making the top
10 was no easy task.
After the first two rounds, Tuff and I were in second place,
with only a half point separating us from the first place
horse – this just seemed surreal. Just before the final
round, the course was posted and I was excited to see that
half way through, we were required to strip our saddle and
remount bareback. Running, jumping, spinning, and
performing rollbacks while riding without a saddle – what a
blast!
Tuff’s sire, Coin’s Skyjacker, was a multi-time world
champion versatility horse and won Florida’s battle of the
breeds. Wayne and I bought Skyjacker through an auction as
a four year old and had him 16 great years before we lost
him in 2004. Fortunately, Wayne bred him to his one of his
best mares and produced Tuff before his passing. Destined
to walk in his father’s footsteps, Tuff told us early on
that he was also going to be a versatile horse. He
completed his Supreme Versatility Championship by the age of
four and has already won numerous World Versatility
Championships and High Points in his eight short years.
With a Walking Horse winning the Non-Pro division and a
Spotted Saddle Horse winning the Youth division, it proves
that the Extreme Cowboy Association is an all breed
organization. If you’ve got a horse that can compete, rest
assured that the EXCA judges will look at all breeds
objectively – Something rarely found in many equine sports.
We are honored to hold the 2009 Extreme Cowboy Non-Pro World
Champion title - having competed with the best in the
country is an experience that we will never forget
and we do not take that title lightly. The response that we
have received from so many people in the horse industry has
been awesome – we hope to be good ambassadors for the EXCA,
as well as the Tennessee Walking Horse.
Who knows what’s next…..So far this year, Tuff and I have
done several exhibitions, including Road to the Horse, and
have appeared in RFD-TV programs, as well as many national
publications. I attended the EXCA Judging Clinic that Craig
hosted to get my level 3 judges license and hope to judge
some events this year. As a member of the EXCA National
Advisory Board, I am working with various groups to promote
Extreme Cowboy Racing and develop new events in the
Southeast. We never know what the future holds for us, but
as long as I am able, I’ll be “riding extreme”!
Special thanks to Craig for bringing your idea of the
Extreme Cowboy Race to the world! Dalene, Bill, Barbara,
and Frank – Thanks for all the hours you have put in to make
Craig’s dream a reality – We have all benefited from it!
Good luck to everyone this year and hope to see you all
soon!
Tracy & Tuff
EXCA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The
EXCA Regional Championships are fast approaching! We
encourage all EXCA members to support your Regional
Championship event. The host Club is going to significant
effort and expense to produce a high quality event for you.
The continued success of local Clubs and the EXCA depends on
you supporting the events in your Region. Most of the
Regional Championships are posted on the Event Schedule page
of the EXCA website. The Regional Championships that are
not yet posted will be posted soon.
Good
luck to each of you as you continue your 2010 EXCA season!
EXCA RIDES AGAIN ON RFD-TV
EXCA
Founder, Craig Cameron has teamed up with RFD-TV to bring
Extreme Cowboy Racing back to television! This Extreme
Cowboy Race will be for EXCA members only!
The
Race will be held in Bluff Dale, Texas on the original
Extreme Cowboy course located on the Double Horn Ranch. You
will ride some of the original obstacles and you can be
assured there will be some new ones! After all, Craig is
the original Extreme Cowboy.
The
dates of the Race will be August 15-17. Check in at the
ranch will be on August 15 at 4PM. The Race will be on
August 16 & 17.
The
entry application can be found on the EXCA website. You can
send your application by email or mail it to EXCA, P.O. Box
50, Bluff Dale, TX., 76433. Sixteen EXCA members will
be invited to compete in this race. All applications will
be considered. It is not a Pros only
event!! This a televised event only - it is not a WPQ
event.
You
will find additional details on the EXCA website.
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