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EXCA National Championship Top 5
2008
1. Cam Schryver - National Champion - California
As Craig made very clear I am 59 years old. I'll be 60 in June. I have
been married to my wife, Lori, for 27 years and we have four children.
They range in age from 26 to 3 and yes the last one was a big
surprise. Our house is like some combined gym and stunt man training
center. It is not for the faint of heart and the youngest one might be
the wildest. That's what we deserve.
My family had horses when I was younger. I cannot remember
when I was not interested in horses and the people that were handling
them. About high school economic circumstances prevented that luxury. I
stuck to sports in high school and through junior college, mostly
football. I missed the horses and figured I had better get a job on one
of the ranches south of Sacramento. To my dismay I was not qualified
to get hired as a cowboy. There were men on all those ranches who were
skilled and serious about what they did. What I could do was build a
lot of fence and feed a lot of cows. A good cowboy and rancher, Oscar
Haise , saw my interest and started teaching me to start colts. Things
built from there. I worked on a lot of ranches up and down California
and tried to go where there were good hands. I generally started colts
everywhere I went. I worked for Gary Baumer , a guy who had won the
Snaffle Bit Futurity in the early days and he exposed me to
Ray Hunt and his ideas. I was able to meet with Bill and Tom Dorrance
and worked with them a little. Tom helped me start a set of colts I
thought were difficult.
I feel that you can learn from just about everybody. I watch
horses and people as closely as I can to see what the successful
pairs are doing. I have had a lot of help along the way. Recently a
big influence has been Pat Wyse of Townsend , Montana. He partnered with
Monte Foreman on the book " Horse Training
Science" and was the first Foreman accredited instructor. Their method,
the "Basic Handle" is the foundation for what I teach at The Thacher
School.
Almost 19 years ago I was hired by The Thacher School to run
their horse program. It seemed like a challenge and a good change of
pace. Boy Howdy. We keep 120 head of horses, will have 80 to 100 kids
riding , ongoing faculty development and a packing program to promote
horse trips into the national forest and wilderness areas in the
mountains behind the school. I did not have huge respect for the
teaching profession but gained that respect very quickly. Riding and
teaching riding are two different things. I work hard at being both a
good horseman and a good teacher of horsemanship.
Craig's Extreme Cowboy Race is a great competition for
expanding one's horsemanship. I am sure a lot of people around the
country are riding better because of their involvement in this event.
It's kind of a catalyst. I have really enjoyed competing and I think
its a great event to watch. I hope to see the association and the
contests expand.
2. Teryn Muench - Reserve National Champion - Texas:
I emphasize in training and showing horses in cutting, ranch horse
competitions and reined cowhorse events. I have also competed in the
Extreme Cowboy Race. I have won 4 races, 3 of them on a 4 year old
gelding that I trained, TQH TBars Last Cal, "Calvin". Calvin and I also
were the very first Extreme Cowboy Race National Champions in 2007. In
June of 2008, I won another race on 3 year old gelding that I trained,
Playboys Inna Spin, "Peter". Peter and I also finished Reserve in the
Extreme Cowboy Race National Finals in 2008.
I was born and raised in Alpine, Texas, where I began riding horses as a
child. I started my first colt when I was nine years old with the help
of my dad. While living in the Big Bend area, I worked on large cattle
ranches as a cowboy and resident horse trainer. In the Fall of 2005, I
relocated to Whitesboro, Texas, to ride and train cutting horses. Most
recently, I have returned to Alpine and currently ride and show horses
for the public. I look forward to pursuing competition in a variety of
events. I also enjoy ranch work of all kinds, spending time with my
family and traveling.
3. Jennie Wentworth - Missouri
Jennie
Wentworth’s love affair with horses has been life-long and ardent. It
began on her family’s New Hampshire farm when she was big enough to
cross the road to the barn—the hub of a business (with the odd name of
Silver Ranch) featuring English trail riding, and carriage and sleigh
rides. “Although everything in our operation was English, I was a
frustrated cowgirl from an early age,” Wentworth contends. “I lived for
the annual town parade, when my cousins and friends were allowed to
dress up as cowboys or Indians with my grandfather’s small western tack
collection otherwise kept under lock and key.” Although she dabbled in a
bit of 4-H and Pony Club, and she guided trail rides for the business,
she spent the next three decades pretty much horseless—until she
relocated to Missouri five years ago, to a farm in the middle of the
Mark Twain National Forest.
Jennie’s new to competition, although you wouldn’t know it from her
success (she won the 2008 non-pro in Kansas City, placed 3rd in the 2008
national finals, and, in a total of six races, has never been out of the
top ten). “When we moved here, I expected to be riding trails. Thinking
I could make myself a good horse for this, I bought a few instructional
DVDs. Then I started tuning in to RFD TV, and after watching a few of
the ECR broadcasts, I was convinced it was something I could do—and
would love doing.” She talked her husband into building various
obstacles on their farm; then she rode and practiced and practiced and
rode. In her first ECR—Eagle, Colorado, June 2007—she and her horse Otis
placed 7th. “I was hooked.” Balancing this new love with her work as an
Emergency Room RN wasn’t easy, but she was determined to continue racing
wherever she could. “Each race is inspiring to me,” she says. “I meet
the nicest people from all over the country, each with his or her own
style and strengths. Riding among these excellent horsemen and women
motivates me to ride harder and smarter.”
More broadly, Jennie contends, “These ECRs are the best thing to hit
horse competition. We all owe the Camerons a huge thank you for bringing
them to us. It's all about the quest for the perfect broke horse,
teaming up with a rider in trust and confidence.”
4. Lee Hart - Kansas
5. Wylene Wilson - Arizona
2007
1. Teryn Muench - National Champion - Texas
I emphasize in training and showing horses in cutting, ranch horse
competitions and reined cowhorse events. I have also competed in the
Extreme Cowboy Race. I have won 4 races, 3 of them on a 4 year old
gelding that I trained, TQH TBars Last Cal, "Calvin". Calvin and I also
were the very first Extreme Cowboy Race National Champions in 2007. In
June of 2008, I won another race on 3 year old gelding that I trained,
Playboys Inna Spin, "Peter". Peter and I also finished Reserve in the
Extreme Cowboy Race National Finals in 2008.
I was born and raised in Alpine, Texas, where I began riding horses as a
child. I started my first colt when I was nine years old with the help
of my dad. While living in the Big Bend area, I worked on large cattle
ranches as a cowboy and resident horse trainer. In the Fall of 2005, I
relocated to Whitesboro, Texas, to ride and train cutting horses. Most
recently, I have returned to Alpine and currently ride and show horses
for the public. I look forward to pursuing competition in a variety of
events. I also enjoy ranch work of all kinds, spending time with my
family and traveling.
2. Wendy Stephens - Reserve National Champion - Louisiana
3. Jerry Diaz - Texas
4. Cliff Hall - Kansas
5. Lee Hart - Kansas
