Peter Campbell’s legacy to horses and riders is honored by horsemen and –women.

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Clinician Peter Campbell spent more than 30 years sharing his knowledge with horsemen and –women in the United States and Canada.

Since becoming a fulltime clinician in 1995–and even before–Peter Campbell has helped improve the horsemanship of countless horsemen and –women. Several of Peter’s loyal followers, friends and family members gathered on April 15 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada, to celebrate his life after his unexpected death on March 22 at age 53.

Peter started working with horses at age 12, when he went to work for Warner Guiding and Outfitting in Banff.

“Peter and I got a job selling parking-lot tickets at the Banff Springs Hotel when were about 9 years old,” recalls Peter’s twin brother, Bruce. “There was a corral nearby that belonged to an outfitter. When Peter saw the horses, he quit selling tickets and got a job with [Warner Guiding and Outfitting].”

He spent about three years there learning about packing, backcountry riding, guiding guest rides and driving teams of horses. Then, at age 16, he went to work for Parks Canada, riding into Banff National Park and clearing fallen timber on trails.

Two years later, he went to work for Ya-Ha-Tinda, a ranch owned by the Canadian government that supplied horses to the park service. He tended the ranch’s mares and foals and started colts. He considered this opportunity the start of his career as a professional horseman.

“To this date, I might be the youngest ever to be hired as a horseman at the Ya-Ha-Tinda,” he wrote in his book Willing Partners, published in 2012. “… I’d ridden lots of miles and plenty of horses for my age but, relatively speaking, I knew little.”

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Peter appeared on the May 2006 issue of Western Horseman.

A turning point in Peter’s career was attending a Ray Hunt clinic in Alberta. Not only did he discover new ways of training and correcting horses, but he also learned about Ray’s mentor, legendary horseman Tom Dorrance. Intrigued by the way Ray and Tom communicated with horses and how they could do so little and gain so much from the horse, Peter went to California to visit Tom.

After cowboying on the Gang Ranch in British Columbia and the Wineglass Ranch in Alberta, (click page 2 to continue)

Peter packed up his belongings and moved to California to be near Tom and continue learning his methods. He worked on ranches in California while helping Tom at his clinics.

“If it wasn’t for Peter I probably wouldn’t be a cowboy,” says Peter’s nephew, Andrew Campbell of Medicine Hat, Alberta. “He was always working hard to be the best he could be at anything he put his mind to, and he would make you strive to do better, too. You were always searching for that approval from him, because you wanted him to be proud of you.”

In the early 1990s, Peter started doing his own clinics while continuing to work on ranches. He also married his wife, Trina, who grew up the daughter of a packer and outfitter in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. In 1999, the couple left California and bought their own ranch in Wheatland, Wyoming, and tailored it to fit clinics.

Peter spent more than 40 weeks a year on the road conducting clinics in horsemanship, colt starting and cattle work. He also was one of the invited clinicians at the annual Legacy of Legends colt-starting competition and one of the “pros” selected to rope at the Buck Brannaman Pro-Am Vaquero Roping held each October in Santa Ynez, California.

“He was a guardian of the horse, and he didn’t really discuss that with many people,” says Andrew. “There was something about him that he could get the horse to change because his timing was impeccable. He passed along his legacy to his family and thousands of people who attended his clinics.”

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Applying the teachings of his mentor, Tom Dorrance, Peter promoted feel and timing in training. “A soft feel is more than your hands. It comes from inside of you,” he said.

Peter was known not only for his innate feel and abilities with horses, but also his straightforward, honest approach of working with people.

“When a friend told me that I should consider riding at a clinic with Peter Campbell years ago, it came with a caveat: ‘He can be abrupt, even harsh,’ but that he was the real deal,” says Canadian horsewoman Laura Laing. “From that first clinic I knew I had found a truth about myself and a better way with horses. Peter’s influence and mentorship has changed me.

“One of my best days in this journey was one evening after a clinic last summer. Peter made a point to tell me that he was proud of me. That soft feel that he extended to his horses, he also extended to humans. It wasn’t a harsh approach as I’d been warned of, it was a raw honesty and the greatest and rarest gift I’ve ever been offered.”

Former Professional Bull Riders competitor J.J. Koopman met Peter about 12 years ago and started going to his clinics.

“He saw something in me I didn’t see, and we became great friends,” says Koopman. “He taught me lots and saved my life on some tough horses through the years. His teachings were about the horse, but you can apply them to anything in life. He always said, ‘Your horse is a direct reflection of you.’ ”

Stefanie Coeler, a clinic host and student from Ojai, California, recalls attending one of Peter’s clinics last fall and how he pushed her out of her comfort zone.

“I was signed up for the ranch roping at the clinic, and I felt a little bit out of my element,” she says. “Peter had us go into the herd, cut out a cow and then try to rope it.

I had never really done that on my own horse and only once or twice at the ranch clinic on one of his ranch horses. I said to Peter this might be above my pay grade. He just cocked his head to the side and said, ‘Well, you might never know, unless you try.’ He was always right, and I trusted him whole-heartedly when it came to horses. I always felt safe when he was around, no matter what he asked us to do with our horses. One of the main lessons I learned from Peter was you have to try.”

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Peter works with his nephew Liam Morris and his friend Scott Davis as they start colts. “The [piece of advice Peter gave me] that stands out the most is to work from where the horse is at, not from where I am at. This has changed the way I go about everything I do with every horse I ride,” says Scott.
Peter leaves behind a legacy of horsemanship that will be carried on in clinics conducted by his wife, Trina, and those who have followed his methods.

“[Peter’s death] has been most difficult on the younger generation, as they feel they have lost that guiding light. But I want to remind [everyone] that we must not look for that light at the end of the tunnel. We must be that light and lead others,” says Trina. “I have chosen to carry on the clinics and help as many people as possible with the truth, the integrity and the honesty of the horse that Peter taught.

“I have always said, ‘If quality sticks together, quality survives.’ I believe that if we can stick together the best is yet to be. We will make Peter proud and do right by our horses.”

For more information on clinics, visit yourinnercowgirl.com. A memorial scholarship fund has been established in Peter’s name at gofundme.com/petercampbellmemorialfund 

 

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