Birth name Berry Matlock Rose Died 5 January 2008 | Occupation Horse trainer | |
Discipline NCHA cutting
AQHA performance horses Born August 12, 1924
Little Elm, Texas ( 1924-08-12 ) Major wins/Championships AQHA World Champion, 5 times NCHA World Champion Lifetime achievements NCHA Rider Hall of Fame, NCHA Member Hall of Fame, AQHA Hall of Fame | ||
Matlock Rose, born Berry Matlock Rose (1924–2008), was a professional horse trainer for over 60 years. He established a reputation as an all-around cowboy and trainer of champions. Rose was often described as stonefaced, a man of few words, but long held the respect of his peers. He was referred to as a trainers' trainer, and considered a legend. He trained multiple AQHA world champions, five NCHA world champions, was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2001, as well as both the NCHA Rider Hall of Fame and the NCHA Member Hall of Fame. The first famous cutting horse he trained was Jesse James and many other great horses followed but he was best known for training Peppy San and Peponita.
Contents
Matlock rose the horseman
Early life
Matlock Rose was born and raised in North Texas near Hill Town, later known as Little Elm which is located approximately 15 mi (24 km) from Aubrey, Texas. He was the only son of five children born to Pauline and Sam Rose. Sam farmed oats, wheat, maize and corn, and also raised cattle. As a small boy, Matlock often rode double in the saddle with his father to check cattle. He grew up working on the family ranch under his father's guidance, which is where he learned horsemanship and developed his early skills as a trainer. He knew how to shoe horses, and train them in various disciplines but he was particularly fond of calf roping and cutting. He was also a good competitor as he demonstrated early on in high school playing catcher on a championship baseball team. After graduating, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Career
Matlock trained and showed many horses to earn their championships in various performance disciplines in American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) horse show competition, including halter, reining, roping and cutting. He also competed successfully in National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) cutting horse events.
After his service in the Navy, Matlock returned to ranch work and secured his first major job training Quarter Horses at 3D's Stock Farm for W.T. Waggoner from 1946—1948. At the time, Bob Burton was foreman of the horse division, and Pine Johnson, who trained and showed Poco Bueno, was their cutting horse trainer. His next job was at Lester Goodson's J3 Ranch in Magnolia, Texas. It was at J3 Ranch that he and Bubba Cascio worked together and became longtime friends.