Lions of longevity
What keeps elite heading horses so sound of body and mind they can live a full decade on the highway? Only a handful have done it. It’s an even shorter list than the number of long-lasting heel horses (covered in our next issue). But we picked some brains on just how the likes of Scooter and Walt, Marty and Bob have done what they do for so long.
Innate
Today’s top 15 look around and agree Clay Tryan’s had more long-timers than anybody. Is it coincidence that the three-time World Champ is also a four-time reserve world champ and the high-money BFI leader?
“I’d like to tell you I know something that other people don’t about finding horses that last, but no,” Tryan said. “It’s really just a horse that wants to be good. And you know when you ride him, because he’s not hard to keep working.”
Of course, Precious Speck—the Hall-of-Famer and four-time Head Horse of the Year known as Walt—belonged to Tryan’s brother, Travis, but Walt took both brothers to the 2001 NFR after packing them to 100 rodeos—a piece—that season. In 10 years, Walt won more than $2 million and 15 NFR go-round
