EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
CLINTON ANDERSON
Q - You recently were competing in Scottsdale at the Cactus Classic Reining horse show against some of the biggest names in the sport, and we’ve seen you competing many NRHA events for years. Why are you taking on that challenge? A - Well I’ve always wanted to be a horse trainer, I never really
wanted to be a clinician. I always wanted to train horses for a living. I’ve always wanted to compete and like competing, but I never got to do it for over 20 years at the level I wanted to do it because I was too busy traveling, touring and being on the road doing clinics. I couldn’t focus on the performance horses, ride 6 days a week and basically put in the effort you needed to put in. I showed when I could and was part of the industry, but now I have somewhat retired from Downunder Horsemanship. We still have the company going but I’m not actively pushing it anymore and I’m certainly not actively on the road. I am only on the road three times a year now touring so I have a lot more time on my hands. So, with that time, I want to get back to doing what I love and enjoy which is showing performance horses. It’s been Reining in the past, but I’m pretty much getting out of the Reiners here soon and going to focus all my effort on the Cow Horses. I just found that the Cow Horse shows are a lot of fun, the people are a lot of fun, a very welcoming industry. Training a Working Cow Horse is extremely difficult because you are training three horses compared to one. It’s a very big challenge for me and I just find that it’s interesting and it’s something new. You know the Reiners I’ve been doing for over 20 years, not that I’ve perfected it by any means but it’s something I’m very familiar with where the Cow Horse is a new challenge, so it’s very interesting. Honestly the horse shows are a lot more fun. Honestly the Reiners are stuck up a little bit, the Cow Horse people are a lot more fun, they are a lot more social. They’ll welcome newbies, they welcome beginners. They don’t give a hoot if you have a million dollars in your pocket or if you are poor and show up with a single horse stock horse trailer with rust in it - they don’t care. They just welcome you. I personally enjoy the atmosphere a lot more. It’s the Cowboys against the cows, where at the Reining shows it’s a lot more of an individual sport. I just don’t find that you have the camaraderie the way that you do with the Cow Horse events. The NRCHA have a special culture and every trainer genuinely wants the next trainer beside him to do well even though they are a competitor. In the warm-up pen everybody’s wishing everyone Good Luck, they cheer for you, and it is not fake. It is not something that is just for show, they genuinely want each other to do well. It is something that I have never experienced before.
Q - You built nationwide brand recognition using RFDTV as a
distribution channel for your TV show, becoming one of, if not, the most recognized equestrian brands in America. Today you’re producing a podcast for your fans, how is that working out? 26
BY TRACY WAGER
A - So far it is working out really well. We have only been doing it
about six months now and the podcast is already in the top 1% of podcasts in the entire Country. There are over 5 million podcasts in America and to make the top one percent you’ve got to have 50,000 downloads per episode within the first 30 days of an episode’s release. We’ve done that on all but one show so far. So, to do that is especially the reason why I think that’s so significant, is that the horse industry is a very small niche industry. Compared to hunting, fishing, racing, sports. You know, horses really are very niche market, so for a horse podcast to break into the top 10% in the entire country is pretty unique. I’m not trying to brag but I kind of am a little bit. Like that stuff doesn’t happen! It’s been watched in over 105 countries all over the World and the whole purpose of it was to talk about people that started poor, started broke, started with nothing in life and through hard work, determination, business skill and sacrifice ended up being very wealthy and very successful. So, I wanted to talk about money and personal lives, and it’s called “Uncut & Real Raw” for a reason. Because we are very raw, we say what’s on our mind. The reason our podcast has been so successful is because I say the stuff that’s on most people’s mind that nobody really wants to say it. It’s been very successful, I only did it for a hobby, I never intended it to turn into basically what it’s turned into. It’s turned into something extremely popular. I just did it because I thought it would be interesting and something fun to do. I really didn’t know if would take off or not but it’s certainly has. I think the public is absolutely starving for genuine uncensored conversation. We are so sick as a culture, sick of politically correctness, cancel culture, all the bull crap politically correct horse shit that has been going on the last 20 years, I think it’s really just built to a complete peak right now where everybody’s had a gut full of it. So I think another reason why the podcast is so successful is because I don’t have a filter, I don’t want the guests to have a filter and we’re willing to talk about not just success, but people want to know our values, they want to know that you get a bloody nose from time to time. You know no matter how much money you have, whether you are poor, whether you’re rich - we all put our clothes on the same way every morning! The podcast to me has been very relatable to the audience because we’re not trying to hide anything. In fact, the uglier the story is and the uglier and more embarrassing it is the more we talk about it, and it makes everybody laugh. It’s relatable. Why do you think Rip’s character on Yellowstone is so popular? It is not a shock that his character is so popular. He is popular because everybody feels that part of Rip inside themselves. Now everybody’s just so scared to let it show anymore. That’s why his character is so successful, because he’s real he is not counterfeit. He’s a good guy, he’s like the modern-day Zorro. He defends the little guy. You know what I mean? He’s tough, he is caring, he believes in the Code of the West, and you either like him or you don’t. And if you don’t like him, he doesn’t give a hoot either. He really does not care. He really does not lose one little bit of sleep.
JUNE 2023