TRAINING HORSES or training people, Joe Wolter says it's best to try to look at problems from the viewpoint of the trainee. Often a "horse problem" turns out to be a "people problem" instead. And, he adds, it's okay for a trainee to make a mistake.

Horse And Human Trainer Finds
Best Viewpoint That Of Trainee

By David Bowser

AMARILLO — Preaching, teaching and cowboying are not jobs. They are callings. Those who follow those professions generally say that anyone doing it without a call will quickly become miserable.

Joe Wolter, however, is one of the happiest men around. After working on a number of ranches as a cowboy, he now both trains horses and teaches others how.

Born and reared in Northern California, Wolter says he's always loved horses.

"We always had horses," he says of his youth.

When he got out of high school in 1972, he had a chance to go work in Northern Nevada on some big cow outfits.

"Most of the big outfits were there," Wolter says. "I would spend my spring and summers in Nevada and fall and winters in California. It was a good deal."

He says his big break came when he went to work for Ray Hunt.

"He was cow boss on a ranch near Gerlack, Nev.," Wolter recalls. "Through him I got the chance to meet the Dorrances."

The Dorrance brothers, Tom and Bill, were oldtime cowboys who had their own way of doing things, a way that appealed to Wolter.

"I always liked to cowboy, but their way of doing things really fit," Wolter says. "It appealed to me the way they handled their horses, and how they handled people."

Wolter says Hunt credits Tom Dorrance with changing his life. Wolter credits Hunt and the Dorrance brothers with changing his.

"If there's something good going for me, it's because of them," Wolter grins. "If there's something not so good, that's Joe Wolter. I'll take full responsibility."

While Tom Dorrance studied horsemanship, Wolter says, Bill Dorrance studied roping — ranch roping versus arena roping.

"He's an excellent horseman also," Wolter says of Bill Dorrance.

Wolter was so taken by the Dorrances that he found a job at a neighboring ranch so he could learn more. For several years, he went to brandings with them. Whenever he had a horse problem, he'd go to Bill.

"It wasn't always horse problems," Wolter shrugs. "A lot of times it was Joe problems."

Wolter says one of the most important things he learned from them and something he emphasizes in his clinics is to look at things the way a horse would, to take a different approach, a different outlook.

"The cattle are just trying to take the path of least resistance," Wolter says. "The same with the horse."

It's this philosophy that he uses to base his clinics. He offers clinics in horsemanship, colt starting and ranch roping.

"I like variety," Wolter says. "You can do too much of anything."

Wolter started with ranch roping clinics.

"I met Bill Dorrance in 1974," Wolter says. "He helped me with my roping."

Ray Hunt had been doing horsemanship and colt starting clinics. Dorrance told Wolter in 1974 that he thought there was a need for a ranch roping clinic.

"I'd go over, and he was always showing some young guy or somebody that was needing help, so I kept that idea in my head and in 1989 I had the opportunity," Wolter says. "I was renting a place. I had a little bunch of cows. So we just had one."

The first few years it was Bill Dorrance, Billy Askew and Wolter. That led to the colt starting and horsemanship clinics.

"That was around Salinas," Wolter says. "It just kind of grew from there."

A lot of things grew from there. It was while working at a ranch in California that Wolter met his wife, Jimmie.

"I met her in 1989," he says.

Originally from Aspermont, Texas, she went to California to work for the Oxbow Ranch.

"I was a neighbor, and I rode colts for them," Wolter says.

The two have been married for five years now. Her two sons from a previous marriage are in college. Will goes to Texas Tech, Ross to Texas A&M. His two kids from a previous marriage, Jess and Emily, are still at home.

"My little kids are at home, and they're a great help," Wolter says. "Will and Ross, when they're home, are a big help, too."

In December, Wolter and his wife are planning to take another step in their careers. They're moving to Weatherford, Texas, closer to her West Texas roots.

"I'm going to ride colts and do my clinics around the country," Wolter says.

He also might conduct some clinics there.

"In the past, we've had one or two at home," he says. "Most of them have just been people calling and asking me to come there."

Wolter does about 20 to 25 clinics a year. He's been from Los Angeles to Maine, usually flying in and flying home so he can keep his horses going.

"What I like is to go someplace like Texas or Montana, where these guys are using what you're talking about," Wolter says. "They know what you're talking about."

He admits he could make more money in Southern California teaching weekend ropers, but he says he finds it frustrating knowing that they may try it once and never go back to it.

But whether it's a group of cowboys from ranches competing in the Working Ranch Rodeo finals in Amarillo or a bunch of yuppies in L.A., Wolter says he tries to give them something they can take home with them.

"As far as the colts go, I'd say learn from the horse," Wolter says. "Pay attention to what he's feeling and what he's thinking. For both of them, for the human or the horse, it's all right for either one of them to make a mistake."

Wolter says he learns from his mistakes, then grins and adds that he learns something almost every day.

"I learn more than the people here at my clinics do," he says. "I learned a lot today."

Wolter admits that he gets a little nervous at his clinics.

"I told my wife, if this is what God wants me to do, how come it's not getting any easier?" he says. "She said that maybe if it did get easier, you might not do as well, because that's when you might get cocky or bored."