Scamper (horse)

Scamper was a bay American Quarter Horse gelding foaled in 1977 and given the registered name Gills Bay Boy. Walter "Buddy" Draper raised Scamper in Wetmore, Colorado. The gelding could be tracked to Three Bars on his sire's side.[1] When Scamper bucked Buddy off, sending him to the hospital,[2] he sent the horse to an auction. Scamper was resold several times via auction before landing in the James family's feedlot in Clayton, New Mexico. Charmayne's father picked up the gelding from a cowboy who worked there, paying $1,100.[1] One of the cowboys in the James' feedlot, Ron Holland, patiently retrained the horse so there were no issues with him any longer. They used Scamper to sort cattle; the horse was so nimble he excelled at it. However, Charmayne, had been searching quite some time for a replacement for her last barrel racing horse, Bardo, who had broken his leg, and appealed to her father for help. Her father then mentioned the little horse in his feedlot. He said the horse was "cold backed", so "do not lope him right off." Nonetheless, 12-year-old Charmayne took the horse where no could see him and loped him. The horse bucked a little, and she laughed. The horse looked at her, and Charmayne later stated that she felt the horse would not harm her. When she first started him running him around the barrels, he took right to it. When her father was watching, he commented, "He sure wants to scamper around those barrels", providing his nickname. Scamper was 4 years old when he started barrel racing.[2] A couple weeks after James started running Scamper, they took their first win at a small playday.[1]

In professional rodeo, the only women's event is barrel racing, which is the second most popular event in rodeo, after bull riding. Barrel racing is a timed event where horse and rider run a cloverleaf pattern around three preset barrels in the fastest time. The best times are obtained by running around each barrel as close as possible without touching it or knocking it over, which results in a five-second penalty added to total time. Winning times average between 13 and 15 seconds per round.[3]

For a rodeo contestant to become a WPRA card holder, also referred to as "filling her permit," she must purchase a permit, then as a permit holder, earn a minimum dollar amount at sanctioned rodeos. Becoming a card holder allows the contestant to compete in final events and be officially ranked.[4] In 1983, after competing in some local barrel races, James filled her permit for the WPRA following a win in a barrel racing competition at Dodge City, Kansas.[2]

James believes Scamper hit his peak as a barrel racing horse around 1986–87; in his peak years, she said, "he dominated".[2]

According to James, Scamper wasn't always the perfect horse:

There were years when Scamper struggled to keep his lead, and there were extenuating circumstances that people didn’t see or know about, but he always came through. A major factor to his success was keeping him conditioned and sound with a lot of physical therapy. I breezed him quite a bit, and at times, when he had respiratory issues from hauling, we used oxygen to overcome it. One myth about Scamper is that people assumed when I gave him oxygen treatments that he was being drugged instead. The ironic thing is that drug testing in rodeo was implemented when Scamper was running. He was just good.[2]

With Scamper's assistance, James became the first $1 million professional cowgirl in 1990.[2] The two ended up winning the WPRA World Championship every year from 1984 to 1993. They won a record 10 straight WPRA World Championships. They won multiple NFR World Championships. Scamper was semi-retired from competition in 1993 before being fully retired a few years later. For example, he competed at one of his favorite rodeos, Rodeo Houston, in March 1996 where he won $8,000.[7] Scamper died on July 4, 2012, at the age of 35 and was laid to rest at James' ranch in Boerne, Texas.[2]

Scamper was honored in 1992 with the AQHA Silver Spur Award which is only awarded to quarter horses who bring attention and recognition to the breed. Scamper is the first barrel horse inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1996.[8] In 2017, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame announced its inductees for the year and they included another timed-event horse, barrel racing horse, Star Plaudit (Red), so Scamper will no longer be the sole barrel racing horse in the hall.[9]

A feed company once endorsed James and Scamper, renaming a feed after the horse.[12] Because he was a gelding and as such cannot reproduce, James made the decision to clone Scamper. James researched cloning for about six years prior to making a decision.[13] She chose ViaGen, an animal genetics corporation based in Austin, Texas.[13] ViaGen is a commercial cloning company who charged $150,000 to perform the procedure.[13]

The ensuing foal, nicknamed Clayton, was born in 2006. He was kept a stallion and now stands at stud.[14] Because the AQHA does not accept cloned animals for registry, Clayton and his offspring cannot be registered. However, breed registration is not required for horses to compete in barrel racing or other rodeo events.[14]

• James, Charmayne. Charmayne James on Barrel Racing. Western Horseman Books, 1st Ed. 2005, ISBN 978-0-911647-76-1.

• Identify Your Breyer – Scamper
• Charmayne James & Scamper – 1987 NFR Rounds 9 & 10
• Charmayne James & Scamper – 1988 NFR Barrel Racing
• Charmayne James & Scamper – 1992 NFR Rounds 8, 9 & 10
• Charmayne James & Scamper – 1994 Tribute Clip

Videos

• Wrangler NFR Greatest Moments: Charmayne James Loses Bridle … Wins
• Rest in Peace Gill's Bay Boy AkA Scamper – YouTube