Country music star Chris Cagle’s first passion in life is music, but horses run a close second At the end of May, Chris Cagle took a break from his fourth Chris ended up attending a Wahl Walkabout Tour and intro- recording project with Capitol-Nashville records (look for the CD duced himself to Clinton. A fan of Chris’s music, Clinton at- in late fall) to shoot a new colt starting series with Clinton for the tended one of his concerts in Ohio and their friendship has been Downunder Horsemanship RFD-TV show. The six-part series will ongoing since. start airing October 30 and run through December 4. The idea of teaming up to film a show together has been in the Known for such songs as “Miss Me Baby,” “Chicks Dig It” and plans for awhile, and when Chris found a break in his schedule that “Laredo,” Chris’s passion for horses started at a young age. His matched Clinton’s, he headed for the Downunder Horsemanship earliest memories of horses come from the days he spent on Ranch as fast as the wheels on his tour bus could turn. his grandpa’s dairy farm helping out with the daily chores. His “I honestly thought it was going to be like ‘Woo-hoo! Cowboys grandpa would wake him early in the morning, and they would and Indians. John Wayne is in the house,’” Chris explained, “but saddle their horses, and then head out to the pasture to round Mickey Mouse showed up instead. That was a tough pill for me to the cows up to be milked. swallow because I go on stage every night and I’m the guy. And As his music career grew, Chris was pulled away from the qui- today, I was definitely not the guy. et life of the farm and put center stage in the public eye. With “You just come in here thinking, ‘Yeah man, I can do this. tours, interviews and autograph signing sessions, there was little Cowboy up.’ Then you walk in and you have no idea what is going time left for him to pursue his horse passion. But three years on. I think a lot of it was nerves. Once I calmed down it was OK. ago, he decided to enter the horse industry in typical Chris Cagle “When they run the show listen to the first time Clinton says, style—the first horse he bought, He’s A Majestic Chic, won the ‘Because two eyes are better than…’ I’m so flakedout that I’m on intermediate open at Quarter Horse Congress in 2006. TV with The Guy that I go, ‘One!’ And when I said it, I went ‘No, Today, Chris owns several top quality Quarter Horses that it’s two heels you moron.’ And he goes, ‘Nope. Two heels mate.’” vary in disciplines—cutting, reining and working cow horse. He Although Chris had the Downunder Horsemanship training takes pride in selecting the right bloodlines to breed his mares DVDs on when he came rolling into the ranch, he found that to. In fact, Cowboy, the colt he used to film the six-part televi- watching is different than learning with Clinton by his side. sion series, is the product of his own breeding program which “I watched the DVDs and you know what? I love them because includes bloodlines from Quarter Horse superstars like Smart they’re structured, easy to follow and so fun. I’ve been to a tour Chic Olena. and enjoyed that, but nothing beats one-on-one in the round pen Although being on the road and promoting his music career experience. That was the end all do all for me. has limited the amount of time Chris can spend with his horses, “If you don’t understand something on a DVD you can hit travelling the country in a tour bus is exactly how he discovered pause, but Clinton can’t talk back to you. Out here I could stop Downunder Horsemanship. Idly flipping through channels, and go ‘What do you mean? What was that? What am I doing Chris saw a horse flash by the television screen so he stopped wrong?’ and looked, and he has been hooked since. “After taping the first day, I went back to the bus that night and “Number one he’s entertaining,” Chris said about Clinton. “It’s I watched a little bit of the DVD. Once you’ve done it and then easy to watch him. There are guys on RFD-TV that I go to sleep to. watch it, it’s like ‘Ah yeah.’ All of a sudden it all comes together.” It’s easy to understand what Clinton wants from both the horse One of the things Chris likes best about Clinton’s training and the human being. That’s what makes him so great.” techniques is his focus on safety, especially with young horses. 12 | No Worries Journal.