Breaking horses his living

Deputy editor

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link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Tripp Townsend of Earth, on board Dallas Fort Worthy, shows what the horse can do at Friday’s afternoon Ranch Horse Competition & Demonstration at the Curry County Events Center. Townsend took first place in the competition.

Tripp Townsend grew up on a ranch, riding horseback and managing livestock in Earth and later on the Blackwater Ranch east of Portales. His dad urged him to do something else with his life and get a different job, but ranching is just in his blood.

“It’s just all I’ve ever wanted to do,” Townsend said. “Out of lack of anything better to say, it’s what I grew up doing. It’s what my dad did.”

Despite his father’s urgings to find a different career, Townsend has made his living training horses and selling them at livestock auctions.

“I like to take a young horse and see how broke you can get him and come to town and compete, kinda see how you measure up,” Townsend said at the Clovis Livestock Auction’s Ranch Horse Competition on Friday afternoon at the Curry County Events Center.

Townsend rode hip No. 9, Dallas Fort Worthy, in the competition where they performed tricky maneuvers, watched cattle and, within seconds, roped a cow.

Townsend and Dallas Fort Worthy was just one pair out of 27 that competed in Friday’s competition — and won first prize.

According to Steve Friskup, livestock horse sale manager, the competition was a new addition last year to the horse auction they have annually. The ranch horse competition is now in its second year.

“We created a competition that gives these guys an opportunity to compete for some money,” Friskup said. “Not only does it give them a chance to compete for money, it also gives prospective buyers the opportunity to see these horses in action.”

Townsend said he appreciates that the auction is starting to incorporate things like the competition.

“It gives a guy a chance to show your horse a little more than just riding him through the ring and selling him,” Townsend said. “You can tell people how good your horse is, but today you kinda have to prove it one way or the other.”

According to Friskup, competitors pay an entry fee, which goes toward five money prizes. This year, Friskup said, the top prize receives $2,750 and a new saddle, plus owners get to sell their horses in the auction. Horses sell for anywhere between $3,000 and $15,000 each, Friskup said.

“It’s just private sellers that are competing today,” Friskup said. “Most of these guys either work for a ranch or train horses themselves. All of ‘em have some connection to the equine industry.”

Each horse is judged on several skill sets during the competition, Friskup said. Horses have to maneuver a particular pattern, and judges look at their ability, appearance and correctness. Horses are also judged on how they watch, maneuver and control a cow. Then, horse riders attempt to rope the cow.

“All those things are judged somehow by how you do it,” Friskup said. “But a lot of this will directly correlate to everyday ranch work. That’s why they call it a ranch horse competition.”

But breaking a horse in and training it is no easy task, Townsend said, especially when you’re piecing different aspects of horse training together in one show. According to Townsend, it takes three different kinds of horses to put together one wholepackage on one horse.

“Like, it’s easy … well, I shouldn’t say it’s easy, but you can get a horse to stop or you can get a horse to turn around, or you can get a horse to watch a cow,” Townsend said. “But to put it all together and have a complete package is … you gotta have a reigning horse, a cut horse and a rope horse to do what we just did (on one horse). It’s a challenge to put it all together.”

This certainly isn’t Townsend’s first rodeo, either. He has several competitions under his belt and has won five national finals since he’s started competing, he said.

“I’ve been showing in ranch horse competitions probably for the last 15 or 20 years,” Townsend said. “It’s just what I do for a living. I have a little feed lot and run wheat cattle and just made a living on horseback. These competitions and stuff just seemed like th

e logical thing to start trying.”

Townsend was first in Friday’s competition, followed by: Curtis Bass, second; Jace Crabb, third; Gideon Peterson, fourth and Matt Mardis, fifth.