Doug Williamson: Remembering the Cowboy
In our modern era, fewer and fewer horsemen and horsewomen have a deep and well-rounded background in both performance horse training methods based on a background of ranching. One of the riders the cow horse community considered to be a rare kind of consummate cowboy was Doug Williamson. Over his many decades in the saddle, he not only garnered accolades in the show pen but also inspired generations of horsemen to emulate his methods. Williamson was one-of-a-kind, and after his long battle with cancer ended in his death at the age of 82 on August 14, he’ll be sorely missed.
Ranching backgroundWilliamson was born in 1942 and grew up ranching near Vale, Oregon. He took over managing his father’s large cattle operation when he was 14 after his dad had a wreck with a horse that severely injured his knee. He would continue to run the operation each summer for years.
The youngster competed in reining from a very young age, as well as calf roping and other rodeo events, riding racehorses, and in high school, was a state champion all four years in wrestling.
Doug still rates Baldy C as the greatest horse he ever rode. The 1945 stallion helped him win numerous calf ropings and was the AQHA High-Point Cow Horse in the nation two times. Photo courtesy of Doug Williamson.
Well-rounded horseman
Williamson began training horses at age 17 while he was the cattle foreman for the Markham Cattle Company. He rodeoed for a decade, starting in the mid-1960s. In 1978, he moved to Nampa, Idaho, and began training horses in a variety of events, from halter to English equitation to cutting and cow horses. Horses he trained earned over 30 American Quarter Horse Association championship titles.
The National Reined Cow Horse Association Hall of Fame inductee Bob Avila met Williamson in the ’80s when he had customers living in the area. He says their first introduction was quite memorable.
“I was up at my customer’s, looking at horses at their place, and a guy came riding in on a gelding with a pack horse and another gelding leading on the other side of him, with a 30-30 [Winchester rifle] underneath his leg,” Avila says. “He was coming in from the mountains. We got to be great friends over the years.”
First diagnosed with cancer in 1987, Williamson nearly died from the condition early on. As acquaintances, Avila recalls sitting with him in the hospital in Nampa on a trip after he’d been judging a horse show in Boise, Idaho.
“I never thought he’d get out of the hospital then, but he gives the title ‘cowboy’ new meaning for being tough,” Avila says. “He was a good guy, and from then on, we became really, really good friends.”
Williamson rallied and returned to competition seven months after treatment, winning a reserve title at the Biggest Little Cutting in the World.
Later, Williamson began working for California’s Tejon Ranch in 1990 and began training with his own business in 2002.
NRCHA Million Dollar Rider Kelby Phillips met Williamson around 2006 when Phillips moved to California from Texas to work for another trainer. Sharing a ranching background similar to Williamson’s and hearing about his reputation, Phillips wanted to learn from the older horseman.
“I grew up being a cowboy, not having anything to do with horse training until I moved out there, so he was always a person that I really looked up to because of that aspect,” Phillips says. “Before I even knew who he was, everybody said he was one of the best, had so much feel and could do things so naturally with a horse.”
With a ranching background and a lifetime spent training horses, Doug Williamson has earned immense respect in the reined cow horse industry. Photo by Ross Hecox.
Arena success
In the show pen, Williamson racked up many accomplishments, mainly in reined cow horse competition. These include two NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity championships aboard Mr San Olen in 1992 and in 2002 with that horse’s son, Doc At Night. He won the Hackamore Classic Championship, Open Bridle World Championship, National Stock Horse Association’s World Richest Stock Horse, NRCHA Western Derby, Reserve Champion at the World’s Greatest Horseman and many other major NRCHA event awards. His lifetime earnings were over $1.6 million.
Williamson was an NRCHA Million Dollar Rider and was inducted into the NRCHA Hall of Fame.
Phillips has learned much from Williamson and says he was an example for other horsemen.
“He’s one of the older guys that all of us younger guys coming along later really idolized, and he has impacted us as a younger generation of how to take a horse down the fence; he was pretty traditional to the reined cow horse tradition,” Williamson says. “He could do it all. He was good with the snaffle bit, the hackamore, the bridle, the rope. That’s what had the most impression on me — someone I would want to look up to.”
Williamson’s advice on horses and life has stuck with Phillips.
“He was always asking me to keep my head up,” Phillips says. “Even in the bad times, he stayed after me. I had a pretty bad problem not doing that, and he was always very supportive. He could read other people really well.”
Williamson continued successfully competing into his later years, always with his signature wild rag tied around his neck. Phillips recalled one of his top performances at the Bridle Horse Spectacular in Paso Robles, California, in 2019.
“He marked 70s across the board, and he was 77 years old,” Phillips says. “That was something, not just because of the score, but just how much everybody really cheered for him and how he acted. He knew he was going to win when he went in there. It didn’t matter how old he was — that was just him. The passion of how he was going to figure out a way to win.”
Phillips says he’ll always remember how Williamson treated him and his wife like family.
“He’s a person I would say that I want to strive to be like in that way,” Phillips says. “I am sure going to miss him. I think about him every day.”
Avila counted Williamson as a good friend, and the two traveled together to shows many times over the years. He enjoyed living only 3 miles away from Williamson’s place, where the cowboy lived with Carol, his wife of 20 years. Avila says Williamson was a talented horseman, and much of it was intuitive.
“He had so much feel on a horse and so much talent that I think half the time he didn’t realize how much he had,” Avila says.
In an era where specialization of horses and riding is increasingly desired, Williamson’s multi-discipline expertise stood out.
Doug and Carol share the same passion for horses and competing in reined cow horse events. Photo by Ross Hecox.
“He was a cowboy’s cowboy,” Avila says. “I think he was more than just a horseman. He was one of the last all-around cowboys, all-around showmen. He was the real deal. He could do anything with horses. And he did everything his way.”
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