by Cindy Reich photos by Julie Kitzenberger
versatile arabian
the
the
part x
Ranch Work,
Naturally!
A
of articles showcasing Arabian horses excelling in activities outside the show arena. We will be traveling around the globe to highlight the versatility of the Arabian horse in ways you may never have imagined!
118 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ NOVEMBER 2015
Andy Camacho on the Half-Arabian gelding Sin Derella WP (Trick R Treat by MA Gallant Ladd x Rockys Filly) cutting out a steer.
WRIGHT PHOTO
This is the tenth in a series
ndy Camacho has had his share of winning Championships in main ring at Nationals and Scottsdale. He is carrying on the legacy of his father, Felix, and mother, Katy, who founded Rancho del Charro, in Nipomo, California. Utilizing Crabbet, Kellogg, and Hearst bloodlines in their program, they stood the stallion Pico Haat Shaat (Haat Shaat x Jolley Pico by Rahmoun), who was also Felix’s parade horse in full Charro regalia. Andy continues to turn out main ring working cow horses, and reined cow horses, but his current passion is competing in Open Ranch Versatility classes and classic California Reata and Stock horse competitions with both purebred and Half-Arabians. In fact, it was the purebred Arabian Parade V (Huckleberry Bey x Pavane V), bred by Shelia Varian, that started Andy’s love affair with the working cow horse. “I never touched a show horse until he came into the barn,” Andy remembers. “He came in as a burned-out show horse. I used him to ride out — to trail ride and to gather cattle. He taught me how to settle down and become a partner with my horse. Parade had done cow work but had never been roped from — however, he became Parade V (Huckleberry Bey x Pavane V), above, with Andy’s sister, Maddi. They both successfully showed him in cutting and the best cow horse I ever working cow horse. owned, hands down. He set the bar for all the cow horses I train.” Here is an example. “I was at Rancho Murieta in a cow horse class on Parade V,” Andy says. “We were going down the fence on the second turn against the fence and he turned so hard I lost a stirrup and almost came out of the saddle. I was so far gone trying to hook the stirrup and just stay in the saddle, that he blasted the cow into the center of the ring and circled it up both directions — by himself — absolutely correctly. He took care of me and he was so honest about it. He was also very stoic. He was always the horse I worried about — his
health and soundness. Parade would never show if he was sick or sore — he would work 100 percent, always. “He taught me: Trust your horse. Sit in the middle. Ride your cow. “He was 17 years old before I started showing him, and my sister Maddi and I both used to show him in working cow horse; Maddi in amateur and I’d show in open. We did that for years and he won National Championships in Working Cow Horse and Cutting. That tells you what kind of horse he was. He is 29 years old now and still lives here on the ranch and we love him.” Now Andy competes primarily in open competition in Working Ranch Horse and Ranch Horse Versatility events. These events usually involve a reining component, cow work, and roping. “Arabian shows are limited in
what they can offer due to the cost of cattle, chutes, facilities and such as well as the time frame they have to work around, so I decided that if I was really going to do this, I would have to do it in open competition, and it forced me to step up my game. The events are very specific and the rules very deliberate — they want to see the horses perform specific moves and score accordingly,” Andy says. I asked him if he felt that Arabians were at a disadvantage in the roping competitions, due to the fact that they generally lack the weight and muscle mass of other breeds. “Not really,” Andy replied. “It causes one to have better horsemanship skills. You can’t just rope, dally off (wrap the rope around the saddle horn), and go drag the cow across the pen. There is more horsemanship and stockmanship involved. For example, 119 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ NOVEMBER 2015
I might not drag a cow to the pen, but might move it off and drive it up toward the gate before taking a dally. I do what is called ‘slick horn’ roping, which means I don’t have any rubber around the saddle horn for the rope to grab on to and hold. When I start my horses in training the horse never learns that the cow is too heavy to pull. I keep sliding the rope and keep the horse’s feet moving. In slick fork roping you are using a longer rope, and you can manipulate the distance between horse and cow, so you never have the horse come up against an immovable object. When they pull, their feet move and the cow moves and they are taught that there is nothing too heavy to pull. As a result, our horses are always ready to pull because they believe they can. “We’ve gotten pretty good marks and even the other competitors have said that
by Cindy Reich photos by Julie Kitzenberger
versatile arabian
the
the
part x
Ranch Work,
Naturally!
This is the tenth in a series of articles showcasing Arabian horses excelling in activities outside the show arena. We will be traveling around the globe to highlight the versatility of the Arabian horse in ways you may never have imagined!
118 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ NOVEMBER 2015
WRIGHT PHOTO
A
ndy Camacho has had his share of winning Championships in main ring at Nationals and Scottsdale. He is carrying on the legacy of his father, Felix, and mother, Katy, who founded Rancho del Charro, in Nipomo, California. Utilizing Crabbet, Kellogg, and Hearst bloodlines in their program, they stood the stallion Pico Haat Shaat (Haat Shaat x Jolley Pico by Rahmoun), who was also Felix’s parade horse in full Charro regalia. Andy continues to turn out main ring working cow horses, and reined cow horses, but his current passion is competing in Open Ranch Versatility classes and classic California Reata and Stock horse competitions with both purebred and Half-Arabians. In fact, it was the purebred Arabian Parade V (Huckleberry Bey x Pavane V), bred by Shelia Varian, that started Andy’s love affair with the working cow horse. “I never touched a show horse until he came into the barn,” Andy remembers. “He came in as a burned-out show horse. I used him to ride out — to trail ride and to gather cattle. He taught me how to settle down and become a partner with my horse. Parade had done cow work but had never been roped from — however, he became Parade V (Huckleberry Bey x Pavane V), above, with Andy’s sister, Maddi. They both successfully showed him in cutting and the best cow horse I ever working cow horse. owned, hands down. He set the bar for all the cow horses I train.” Here is an example. “I was at Rancho Murieta in a cow horse class on Parade V,” Andy says. “We were going down the fence on the second turn against the fence and he turned so hard I lost a stirrup and almost came out of the saddle. I was so far gone trying to hook the stirrup and just stay in the saddle, that he blasted the cow into the center of the ring and circled it up both directions — by himself — absolutely correctly. He took care of me and he was so honest about it. He was also very stoic. He was always the horse I worried about — his
Andy Camacho on the Half-Arabian gelding Sin Derella WP (Trick R Treat by MA Gallant Ladd x Rockys Filly) cutting out a steer.
health and soundness. Parade would never show if he was sick or sore — he would work 100 percent, always. “He taught me: Trust your horse. Sit in the middle. Ride your cow. “He was 17 years old before I started showing him, and my sister Maddi and I both used to show him in working cow horse; Maddi in amateur and I’d show in open. We did that for years and he won National Championships in Working Cow Horse and Cutting. That tells you what kind of horse he was. He is 29 years old now and still lives here on the ranch and we love him.” Now Andy competes primarily in open competition in Working Ranch Horse and Ranch Horse Versatility events. These events usually involve a reining component, cow work, and roping. “Arabian shows are limited in
what they can offer due to the cost of cattle, chutes, facilities and such as well as the time frame they have to work around, so I decided that if I was really going to do this, I would have to do it in open competition, and it forced me to step up my game. The events are very specific and the rules very deliberate — they want to see the horses perform specific moves and score accordingly,” Andy says. I asked him if he felt that Arabians were at a disadvantage in the roping competitions, due to the fact that they generally lack the weight and muscle mass of other breeds. “Not really,” Andy replied. “It causes one to have better horsemanship skills. You can’t just rope, dally off (wrap the rope around the saddle horn), and go drag the cow across the pen. There is more horsemanship and stockmanship involved. For example, 119 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ NOVEMBER 2015
I might not drag a cow to the pen, but might move it off and drive it up toward the gate before taking a dally. I do what is called ‘slick horn’ roping, which means I don’t have any rubber around the saddle horn for the rope to grab on to and hold. When I start my horses in training the horse never learns that the cow is too heavy to pull. I keep sliding the rope and keep the horse’s feet moving. In slick fork roping you are using a longer rope, and you can manipulate the distance between horse and cow, so you never have the horse come up against an immovable object. When they pull, their feet move and the cow moves and they are taught that there is nothing too heavy to pull. As a result, our horses are always ready to pull because they believe they can. “We’ve gotten pretty good marks and even the other competitors have said that
Andy Camacho and Chex My Memory (Ima Peppy Chex x CF Memory by Ariston) bringing a calf, left, and Andy with Sin Derella WP taking a break, above.
our horses ‘drag pretty darn good’! Our horses are completely competitive. “The advantage of using Arabians and Half-Arabians is stamina. You can do everything on one horse — go on a big circle, gather the cattle, go to the pen, sort, then rope and brand. You’ve got it all in one package. It keeps the cost down from having to use different horses for different jobs. A lot of the other competitors have to use multiple horses. The horses are trained so much better — it makes them nicer horses and helps me out in the show pen. The horses get really good at handling their feet and balance going up and down the hills. Then they go in the sort pen and have to really learn how to read cows. I might have to spend four hours sorting. We don’t just practice a few times and call it good.
“If they get hot and bothered, you can slow down and let them work it out. You can say, ‘We can sit here all day, so settle down and figure it out.’ If they have a lot of energy you can operate at a tempo that demands a little more exercise and activity, depending on the job. There are more avenues to work the horse. You can stay on the gate, go gather, or go to the back of the pen and push cattle into the alleyway. “Currently I am using two HalfArabians. My best one is Sin Derella WP (Trick R Treat by MA Gallant Ladd x Rockys Filly). She is an awesome cow horse in how she reads and works a cow. Sin Derella always gives 100 percent. She is a dyed-in-the-wool cow horse! She was very easy to train. Once I put a cow in front of her, it was very natural. She found she could control and dominate the cow. 120 ▪ ARABIAN HORSE WORLD ▪ NOVEMBER 2015
She is a good partner in working cows. She is also a great horse outside on all terrain, up and down hills. She is just solid and dependable in any situation. “I bought the Half-Arabian gelding Chex My Memory (Ima Peppy Chex x CF Memory by Ariston) as a four-year-old green broke horse; one of the few outside horses I’ve bought. I finished him, and he was good at everything. If you make a mistake or get in trouble, he will never penalize you for it. He is also a great kid’s horse, and my nieces are using him for cattle work now.” Parade V instilled the love of the working cow horse in Andy Camacho — making Arabians and Half-Arabians his horse of choice in these events. Andy is opening the eyes of the ranch horse world to just how versatile Arabian blood can be!