For Veteran Roper, Balancing Horsepower Simply Comes With The Job

Between 10 horses across the country and competing in two events, Coleman Proctor finds a way to make everything work while remaining in contention for a World Championship.

Coleman Proctor is running about 10 horses between his two events, team roping and steer roping, with a focus on returning to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for fourth-straight year. / Roseanna Sales/For PRCA

Before Coleman Proctor even realizes it, he’s talked for about six minutes and covered a lot of ground. 

When asked about his horses, the Pryor, Okla., cowboy doesn’t take much prompting to get going, rattling off crucial details about each one. Admiral is back healthy but needs good ground to compete on. Charlie Daniels is in training to replace his primary heading horse, Heisman, one day down the road. Mills likes longer barriers but can really run. Gambler just keeps winning and Cheeto gives him a chance every time he backs into the box. 

It’s a wealth of info to process, but to Proctor this is what guides the logistics of an entire season. Without these insights, he wouldn’t be in contention for another trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this December. 

“It takes a lot. When you look at it, that’s about 10 horses that I keep in rotation for any one moment,” Proctor said. “I’m not saying that any one horse wouldn’t work in any of the setups, I just try to keep them where I know they’re going to prosper, where I know they’re really going to fit.”

As a steer roper and the header in a team roping partnership with Logan Medlin, Proctor is no stranger to success. He’s reached the NFR eight times as a team roper, including each of the last three years alongside Medlin, piling up more than $1.5 million in career earnings.

Proctor with horns, Medlin with feet. That's money. pic.twitter.com/7jdushk32G

— The Cowboy Channel (@Cowboy_Channel) April 19, 2024

As August quickly draws to a close, he’s currently sitting third in the PRCA All-Around World Standings, while holding down the fifth spot in the header rankings and the 24th slot in steer roping. 

Accuracy when throwing a rope is one piece of the puzzle required to be competitive, but having good equine teammates is equally – if not more – important. 

For Coleman, that means a roster focusing on two different events at all times. After pushing hard to grab some significant earnings during the winter, Proctor and Medlin have traditionally tapered down their schedule in the spring in preparation for the summer run. 

Starting with Reno in June, Proctor’s rig has spent much of the summer out West with his primary horses, before inching upward into the Northwest. He’s also got horses in Medlin’s rig, which began the summer in the Midwest before moving West. Proctor also has some horses stashed back home in Oklahoma ready for when he returns to do steer roping or jackpot events. Additionally, some of the horses he owns are in trailers with other cowboys, mostly for steer roping competitions he will have to dart off to on occasions. 

None of that includes the fact that Heisman, the horse he’ll ride at Thomas and Mack Arena during the NFR for team roping, isn’t even competing right now. He’ll get minimal use until November in preparation for the season-culminating event. 

It’s a balancing act, not only for Proctor but for the animals as well. 

“These horses, they get just as tired and frustrated as we do, so you try to let them rest. And we have great friends all over the world it feels like. We’ve got a great spot around Reno that we got to leave some horses for a few weeks, so they kind of started their summer nice and easy,” Proctor said. “We try to use both rigs that we have, not a whole lot, but to keep our horses well-rested and not have one horse that’s just getting beat down the road. And then it makes it easier on everybody.”

When the regular season concludes in September, Proctor will head back to Oklahoma, using the month of October to decompress, drink coffee on his front porch in the morning and drive the kids to school. There will be some jackpots to run at, as well as the circuit finals, and he’ll get a chance to train some project horses as well.

Come November, it’ll be time to amp up and get focused for the NFR. The practice arena will come alive as he and Medlin hone in. 

It all sounds like a lot, and it is. But for Proctor, it’s the norm. Managing the usage and training of 10 horses along with a hectic travel schedule is just part of rodeo, a fact he’s come to appreciate and even enjoy. 

He’s grateful for the 10 he gets to ride and the success they allow him to have. But, at any point, 10 could become 11 or even 12. Proctor is always looking for the next equine partner to join his team because he knows a deep stable today can quickly change tomorrow. 

“That’s our job. If you’re not continually looking for a horse, you should,” Proctor said. “It sounds like I have a lot, but it doesn’t take very long for them to get hurt or this one get crippled, this one get a little tired or not wanting his job any longer. You can go from really well mounted to nothing in a hurry. And in this business, everything we do is because of that horse.”