Horses part of Clovis woman's early memories

46-year-old competes in National Reined Cowhorse Associtation; holds 8th place national ranking

By Joy Pickering / Special to The Clovis Independent Friday, Mar. 28, 2008

For a woman who has spent most of her life on a horse, one of Tish Wilhite's earliest memories is of being bucked off one and then being kicked in the head by it.

When Wilhite was 4, she was riding through a patch of deep grass on her grandparents' property in Sanger and fell off her horse.

She jumped up quickly to show she was OK, but the scared horse kicked her. She was rushed to the hospital and ended up with 12 stitches.

"I started kindergarten with a partially-shaved head," Wilhite said.

Wilhite, now 46, did what any good cowboy does -- she got back on the horse. This could be due to the fact that she comes from a long line of Clovis natives who ride, raise and compete with horses.

Wilhite was just 6 months old when her mother carried her in her arms as she rode a horse in the Clovis Rodeo Parade. She was taking riding lessons by 3 and began showing Appaloosa horses at 5 and continued until age 17.

She holds an impressive list of titles in her years as a rodeo beauty queen: California High School Rodeo Queen in 1976, Ms. California Rodeo at Salinas in 1979 and Ms. Rodeo California in 1983.

It was the Ms. Rodeo California win that enabled her to compete for Ms. Rodeo America in Oklahoma City where she finished in the top six and won Ms. Photogenic.

Wilhite now competes in the National Reined Cowhorse Association and is ranked eighth in the nation. She hopes that will change.

"Of course, my goal is to be No. 1," Wilhite said. "Before I'm 50."

Wilhite spends about 10 months a year training and competing locally and around the country in the National Reined Cowhorse Association. This is a competition in which horseback riders perform and are judged in three events -- herd, rein and cow work.

She described the fast-paced events as a "gritty performance," intense and often dangerous. She trains six days a week and spends one of those days with a trainer who gives her riding lessons geared toward the three events.

"It scared me to death when I first started," Wilhite said. "But with the patience of a trainer, I got past it."

Trainer Lyn Anderson of Madera said Wilhite had the drive to work herself through her initial fear and is now showing at the top level of the National Reined Cowhorse Association.

"She really wants to be a better rider and wants to make her horses better," said Anderson. "That's the difference between her and other riders." Mother Jo Wilhite said that she saw natural abilities in her daughter from the beginning.

"As time goes by, she has proved she's a winner," said Jo Wilhite.

Tish Wilhite buys her quarter horses as 2-year-olds that have never been ridden. She saddle breaks them herself, gently preparing them for when she's ready to get on.

"I'm not a rough, tough cowboy," she said.

Once trained, Tish Wilhite shows the horses when they are 3, 4 and 5 years old. Then she sells them, using the earnings to buy her next young horse. Her prize winnings for the year are in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.

"It's a hobby but it's also a business," Wilhite said. "Although I have taken less money for a lot of my horses, just to make sure they go to a good home."

Competition has taken her all over the country including Reno, Nevada and Stephenville, Texas. The 2006 world finals in Stephenville stand out as an experience she will not soon forget.

On the trip over, Wilhite got a flat tire on her trailer, fell with her horse in the finals and got food poisoning. To top it off, on the way home, she hit a deer.

Wilhite has had times when she's taken a hiatus from competing full time and tried out different career options. She has worked as a paralegal, a buyer for Macy's, a Western clothing store owner and more recently, ventured into the restaurant business with longtime partner Brian Avery. But she always came back to her horses.

"That was my sanity, working with my horses," Wilhite said.

Friendly Faces is an occasional series about people in Clovis who make it a great place to live. To nominate someone to be profiled in this series, please e-mail Patti J. Lippert at plippert@clovisindependent.com