Braxton McCoy grew up on a little horse ranch in southern Utah. His love of the animal was sparked when his mother met and married a cowboy who had raised and roped off horses for nearly all his life; that love rarely waned since. While Braxton did grow up working on local ranches when they could use his help it was the horse, not the cow, that he loved. This love of young and wild horses was (and is still) deeply ingrained in his soul, but when it came time to chase life on the edge and rodeo in his youth it was bulls he chose ride. During this time of rodeoing on the weekends and working during the week Braxton joined in the Global War on Terror.

While fighting in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006 Braxton was severely wounded by a suicide bomber and told he may never walk again. That was the end of his time in the saddle, or so he thought. Crushed by the apparent reality that he would never again sit a horse he eventually sold his horses and most of his tack. Then, after about eight years of rehabilitation he finally gained enough mobility and strength to ride again.

Now, instead of riding colts at home in Utah, or just riding inside horses, he works full-time as a horse trainer in south eastern Idaho. He rides and sells inside horses and trains outside horses, but prefers colt starting. Since his reputation for honesty is rock solid and his prices are affordable he rarely struggles to fill his schedule. This has made it so that he can choose who he works with and he “will not work with a person who will mistreat a horse.”

If you’re looking for a horse trainer who will teach your colt the foundations of ranch work and put time on him in the mountains, not just an arena McCoy Family Ranch is the best bet in the west.