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KNOW THE PRO Idaho-based trainer Callee Miller didn’t start out intending to train reined cow horses, but ever since trying out the sport 11 years ago she’s been hooked. By Kristin Pitzer
C
allee Miller has always enjoyed the Western lifestyle. Her dad rodeoed and trained rope horses, and while still in high school she started training horses herself. Originally from central Oregon, Miller studied accounting at Lamar Community College in Southern Colorado. She paid her way through school by working for cutting horse trainers and learning from instructors like J.J. Rydberg, who trained cutters and tie-down roping horses. Though
she enjoyed her accounting classes, Miller soon discovered that her passion was training horses and she changed career paths. Miller dabbled in reining and cutting and worked for other trainers, including Chet Burrows, Cody Duvall and Doug Milholland before starting her own business in 2003. For the first few years, she mostly rode colts and general horses, but then she was given a cow horse as payment for a training bill. Intrigued by the sport, she went to her
local affiliate to try the discipline. “Lo and behold, I was on the board within a year, and I’m still on that board!” Miller said. Eleven years later, Miller is still hooked on cow horses. She still uses Rydberg’s philosophy in her program and credited Duvall for influencing her colt-starting methods. With nearly $40,000 in lifetime earnings, Miller appreciates the versatility of reined cow horses, the camaraderie of the people and the history behind the sport. ROCKIN HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Miller rode SBF Smart Lil Boon, owned by Dave and Rebecca King, to the Limited Open Reserve Championship at the 2020 Utah Reined Cow Horse Association Derby.
36 MAY/JUNE 2021 | REINED COW HORSE NEWS
