The Wrangler Horse and Rodeo News

July, 2024 • The WRANGLER • 41 Callie Turner and Bitsy Bay Boon, aka Cupid. Photo Credit: High Cotton Promitions love for her horses, and life with them also came into consideration. "You get to asking yourself, what are you going to go to school for? How are you going to make enough money to do all of the things you want? I just kept coming back to the thought of, if I do that, then I'm not going to get to ride all of the time. I'm not going to have time to compete at the level that I want to compete at. So that's kinda how I decided to start and train horses for the public." Callie currently works under her father, Matt Turner, respected reined cowhorse and versatility horse trainer located in Bryan, Texas. "All in all, I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do to make a living." An accomplished showman, with a long list of horse show career highlights, Miss Turner grew up riding and showing at reined cow horse and ranch horse versatility events throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and the surrounding area. In February of 2023, she qualified for the Celebration of Champions, held in Fort Worth, Texas, in the Limited Open Bridle aboard Bitsy Bay Boon. It's always been natural for her to be in the saddle. At a young age, she began to put together the pieces of how to train with her own horses, guided by the help of her father. On occasion, he'd need to step in and help fix them in a few places, but that's where she found the confidence to try new things, and begin to hone her skills in horsemanship. She shared how she feels like her father has given her some freedoms to experiment with training horses, and given her the opportunity to develop into the horsewoman she has become. It's in this relationship that Turner had found such success while competing as a Non Pro. Although the transition from being a Non Pro rider to her current role as an Assistant Trainer seemed almost seamless from the outside, her approach to stepping on a horse had to change from the inside. Turner shared that the mental aspect of her day to day role has become quite a bit different for her. She no longer gets on her own horses, knowing how they need to perform for herself. It's one thing for a professional to be able to get a horse to do a maneuver, but to be able to ask them to do it in a way that a Non Pro can follow, can often require a completely different approach. She has to think of the clients and how their equine partner should be expected to show up specifically for them. Her goal is and always will be, to continue to make the horse better each day. The day may come when she decides to venture out and train under someone new, but for now, she is going to enjoy the time that she has to learn from the wisdom and experience of her father. When asked about her career goals down the road, it was no surprise that the Snaffle Bit Futurity and The World's Greatest Horseman surfaced to the very top of the list. As any reputable trainer would desire, Turner's mission is to send out great horses from their barn that can function, do their job well, and are versatile. Although she does want to win some of the major events, developing well trained horses is more important to her than a list of accolades. She knows that a trainer's reputation is always on the line, and making good horses will definitely keep you headed in the right direction. She stated, "I want to be able to train a horse that anybody can get on and it'll do its job. At the end of the day, I do want to have a good show horse, but I also want to have a good-broke horse that'll do their job and enjoy it, too." This summer will be a busy one for Miss Turner as they gear up for the horse show season, with many stops on the schedule. She is an active member of the Stock Horse of Texas Association as well as the National Reined Cow Horse Association. You can follow Callie and the team at Matt Turner Performance Horses on Facebook: @matt-turner- performance-horses.

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