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Although we no longer own "Shine" we take great
pride in having been a part of his career. There will always be a
special spot in our hearts for him.
For a glimpse into our past folllow me down memory
lane.
Both Cotton and Carroll grew up in the "country". Although Cotton didn't
have a horse of his own, he
rode borrowed farm horses and dreamed of one day having his own.
Carroll was really a country kid - She even rode her old horse to
school (by her choice, not her parents!) What an incentive to make
you want a real cowhorse!
The Couple met in Marshall, Texas and got married in 1961. At that time,
Cotton and Carroll considered themselves true East Texas rodeo
folks. Their circle of friends included the likes of Nancy Shoults,
Tootie Hester, Norman Gatlin, and Martha Josey.
Eventually, Cotton and Carroll moved to Beaumont. Not long after in 1964,
their son James Phillip was born. Through their son, the Waldrons
would end up becoming actively involved in Boy Scouts and 4-H as
adult leaders, which led to exchange trips, record books, breeding
beef, chickens, and steers and horses. You name it - they did it!
But when Phil grew up and got married, the Waldrons decided it was time
to do "their own thing".
So they packed up and moved to Alaska-a lifelong dream of Cotton's- where
he went to work at Kuparuk Oil Field on the North slope of Alaska.
At that point, the Waldron's acquired a couple of nice mares, and a
good ol' case of horse fever set in.
The couple became involved in showing, hauling to shows from Anchorage to
Fairbanks. They had quite a bit of success, and after Cotton retired
from Atlantic Richfield, they decided to move back to North Texas
and set up the horse ranch they had always dreamed of.
That was in 1995, and as Carroll puts it, the Waldron's soon realized
that a dream is fine until reality sets in!
So they worked hard to build their dream ranch, and to find the right
horses to lay the groundwork for a successful reining and working
cowhorse based operation.
After careful research, lots of questions and many books, the Waldron's
started to go to a few sales in hopes of acquiring the horsepower
they needed to build a solid breeding program.
 As
luck would have it, they happened upon an ad for Carol Rose's sale.
Since her place wasn't too far away, Cotton drove over to her
facility a week or so before the sale to check out the prospects.
It didn't take long for him to pick out the cream of the crop, and he
came home to tell Carroll about a little palomino stud that he
couldn't get off his mind. At that point and from past experience,
Carroll knew this was a special kind of horse. Two more pre-sale
trips, and the Waldron's were hooked. One way or another they were
going to make that yellow colt theirs.
Cotton still remembers the first time he laid eyes on the the horse that
would end up playing such a big role in their lives.
"I saw this pretty little yellow stud. He was a late 2-yr old, but had
enough riding done that we thought he could maybe be futurity
material. We decided he was the one! That day Twice as Shiney came
into our lives-and nothing has been the same since. ""Shine"" is our
dream come true," he explains.
It didn't take long for the Waldron's to realize that they had found
themselves a great horse.
In 1999 when Twice as Shiney was a three year old, he proved that he had
the talent to go all the way. In his trademark physical style, the
stallion ended up winning the NRHA Intermediate Open Futurity with a
blistering run and made it back to the Open Futurity Finals as well.
Even more impressively, he accomplished all of that not too long
after showing at the demanding NRCHA Snafflebit Futurity in Reno,
where he ended up 6th.
Twice As Shiney has since gone on to garner many more show ring
accomplishments, including an AQHA Reserve World Championship in
Junior Working Cowhorse. The versatile athlete now has over $80,000
in lifetime earnings.
After their success with "Shine", the
Waldron's decided that futurities are a lot of fun, so they went s hopping
again. They found Haidas San Caroline at a sale in Ft Worth. They
took her to the Cowhorse Finals in Reno, where she finished in the
top 10. Another Waldron standout is Smart China Rose, who by
Cotton's admission, "just dropped in one day and stayed around until
she won the 2001 Limited Open Futurity." They also had success with
Snazzy Chinalena, their 2002 futurity horse.
Along with their never tiring quest to better their knowledge and
skills, the Waldron's have come to rely on the advice of several
trusted professionals, whose help they are grateful for.
"With the help of good men in the Reining industry , we've done pretty
well for our short time in the business," explains Carroll.
In Alaska, Carroll showed in all-around competition, and Cotton showed a
little himself. So the Waldron's are looking forward to getting back
in the showring. In the meantime they are building up their
broodmare band with quality performance bred mares that have a show
record and are money earners.
We really would love to hear from you about your "Shine" babies
and we wont forget to send it on to Dande.
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