True Grit: Whitney's Journey to BLM's Partner Hosted Mustang Challenge Event

True Grit: Whitney's Journey to BLM's Partner Hosted Mustang Challenge Event

Nov 19, 2024

In just five years of National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) competition, Whitney Campbell skyrocketed to one of the top 125 open riders in the association. Maintaining that elite status does not come without hauling thousands of miles down the road to major events, exhibiting client horses at events for big cash purses and prizes.

Heather Tiel-Nelson stands next to Whitney Campbell who is sitting on top of
her horse after placing 4th overall at the 2015 Extreme Mustang Makeover in
Nampa, Idaho at the Ford Idaho Horse Park.

It may seem a bit out-of-place for a professional in an elite discipline to take time away from her show string to train one of the free-roaming wild horses gathered from America's rangelands. But Whitney did not arrive at this point in her career by being born into show horse aristocracy, nor did she get a head start through working as an assistant with a top-earning trainer in the reined cow horse discipline.

"I got my start training mustangs," she said. "I learned so much from these horses. If I hadn't started with them, I wouldn't be the trainer I am today."

The opportunity to get her start in the National Reined Cow Horse Association competing in the Wild Spayed Filly Futurity was the catalyst to making Campbell's dream of being a reined cow horse trainer a reality.

Campbell's determination to become a horse trainer was born from an event that would have turned many away from riding a horse ever again. The horrific accident happened when riding her very first horse at the age of twelve.

"My parents bought me an Off-The-Track Thoroughbred mare and put her in training to help her transition from a racehorse to one that was suitable for a young rider. I was allowed to work with my mare during the time she was in training," recalls Campbell. "But what we did not know was that the trainer who was supposed to be gentling the mare was not actually riding her. I took her out for a hack one day and she bolted with me on her back. As a scrawny 12-year-old, I did not have the body strength to rein her in. The harder I pulled the faster she ran."

The ride that day ended in unspeakable tragedy when the horse ran full speed into a fence post, killing the mare instantly but leaving Campbell inexplicably unscathed, her life saved by a heavy steel belt buckle that bent in half when she hit the saddle horn.

"I never usually wore a belt to ride," Whitney said. "In fact, I don't think I had ever even worn that buckle before that day. If I hadn't had it on, I don't think I would be sitting here telling you this story."

Campbell's parents were not in favor of her continuing with horses after that wreck. But she was determined. She saved up babysitting money and cleaned stalls every day. Within a short time, she bought herself another horse

"I just thought I wanted to do it better," she explained. "People need to have safe horses and trainers they can trust."

She worked on her own training skills in earnest, and at the age of 15 graduated at the top of her class in a John Lyon's certification program.

Campbell continued her education after high school by accepting a training position with Ken McNabb, a world-renowned clinician specializing in gentle training techniques. At the time, McNabb traveled approximately 48 weeks out of the year presenting clinics all over the United States.

"I moved to Wyoming to work for Ken, and for a whole year I was alone at his ranch at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, in charge of training the fifteen or so horses that he had there," Campbell says. "I was all by myself, except for weekends here and there that he came back to check on me and make sure the horses were coming along okay."

Campbell credits this experience with giving her valuable real-life experience in not only training horses but also developing self-sufficiency and determination. The nearest neighbor was miles away. There was no cell phone coverage. She was on her own.

Whitney moved back to Washington State after her apprenticeship with Ken McNabb, where she got married and was not involved with horses for a few years. The Mustang Heritage Foundation's Extreme Mustang Makeover program piqued her interest, however. She competed in her first mustang training competition, The Mustang Million, in 2008, placing 56th out of 200 entries and encouraging her to go forward with her horse training career. From that point on she was a regular finalist in Mustang Makeover competitions across the country.

When the Wild Spayed Filly Competition was announced for the Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity in 2018, Whitney was immediately intrigued.

"I overheard a representative from the Bureau of Land Management talking to a contestant about the Wild Spayed Filly event while I was at a competition in Washington. I immediately knew it was something I had to do," she says. "I always wanted to learn to train a reined cow horse. With my experience training mustangs, I knew this would be a perfect combination of the two."

The timing wasn't great for Campbell. She and her then-husband had just purchased a new property for her to train out of and had barely started the renovations. The auction to purchase the fillies for the event was less than a month away, and she would have a year to train a wild spayed filly to compete in the three events that make up a reined cow horse futurity.

"I knew in my heart that this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, though," says Campbell. "So I called my husband and said 'This is what I've always wanted to do!' He surprised me by giving me his blessing. So I was off and running."

When Campbell arrived in Reno to select and purchase one of the 12 fillies available for the competition, she was crushed.

"I picked out a couple that I liked, walking around and viewing them beforehand. But when they started selling them, they were going for thousands and thousands of dollars," she remembers. "I was not expecting those prices, and with the expense of building our new place, it was really going to be a stretch."

She was determined though, and the desire to compete in this new discipline was so strong she did something she had never done before.

"I called my dad when there were just a handful of horses left to go through the ring," she says. "I tried to explain what a good opportunity it was for me. He didn't ask questions, he just said he wished he had taken more chances when he was younger, and that he would back me if I needed it."

Campbell purchased the next-to-last mare sold, a petite red roan named Roany Wrinkles.

Whitney Campbell cheers as she completes the herd work portion of the Spayed Filly Futurity
competition on Roany Wrinkles.

"Roany had a skin condition that made her all wrinkled; her whole face just looked like a little old man," Campbell says. "She was on the smaller side, and I must admit she was in the bottom two of the horses I would have picked before the sale."

Campbell didn't care though. She was ecstatic for the chance to compete.

"In the end, I didn't need the backing from my dad after all. But I think I just needed the confidence that somebody believed in me enough to offer it," she said with a smile."

Campbell chose the South Steen's horse, Roany Wrinkles, for the futurity. Despite missing a few weeks of riding after a fall during training left her with a broken pelvis, she came in 6th place. The competition was only the 2nd time she had ever gone down the fence.

"After that I was hooked!" Whitney said.

She purchased a filly named Dandy Darla for the 2019 Wild Spayed Filly Futurity, where they ended up Reserve Champion, and the earnings from that event enabled her to begin building her business as a reined cow horse trainer.

Whitney and Dandy Darla earn Reserve Champion
honors at the 2019 Spayed Filly Futurity

As Campbell built her NRCHA clientele, she was forced to cut down on the mustangs in her training barn, necessarily focusing her time on the client horses that allowed her to become one of the cow horse elite. The heads that hang over her stalls are now primarily American Quarter Horses rather than American mustangs.

So why, after five years of success in the NRCHA, did Campbell adopt a wild mustang and train it for the Mustang Challenge, an event that fell right in the middle of the busy NRCHA show season? The answer is simple.

"I will always feel a deep connection to the American wild horse that gave me my start. These horses taught me almost everything I know about training," she says. "You can't just muscle them around or force them to do what you want. You have to be tactful and fair at all times. Those are skills that transfer wonderfully to any horse, not only mustangs."

After all they've done for her, Campbell feels an obligation to educate people about the versatility and potential of our American wild horses.

Audio Description video is also available: https://youtu.be/Ct4kNP0MiNY