FROM THE WORD GO
For one person to start with an unruly 2-year-old and mold it into one of the best head or heel horses of all time takes an extraordinary bond, a lot of patience and, let’s face it, a little help from providence. The following four champions have trained—and continue to train—other great horses, but their favorite is always that project-turned-love-of-their-life that shaped their own legacy.
MO AND BANNER
Denny Watkins was winning the World at the ’78 NFR—until the 10th round.
“I lost the gold buckle on that last steer,” remembers Watkins, whom friends call “Mo” (from the nickname Denimo). “I rode back to my trailer, stepped off Banner and uncinched him. Took his bridle off and was just leaning against the door thinking, ‘I cannot believe it; I had it and I lost the world title.’ And that horse walked over to me and literally laid his head on my shoulder and just stayed like that. He could feel my pain. He was my best friend.”
Rewind to 1969. At 14, Watkins told his dad, Eddie, he wanted to start heeling. When some family friends produced a little bald-faced sorrel foal in ’69, the Watkins clan took notice. They’d heeled on the dam and headed on the sire. Eddie traded
