What started as riding therapy for brain cancer survivor Jeffrey Carver more than 12 years ago has carried the teen and his parents down the horse show trail to trophies and fame across the nation.
Jeffrey, 18, of Hambden Township, and his Quarter Horse gelding, Whiskey Cat, won the National Cutting Horse Association $15,000 Amateur World Championship in December.
Their story began more than three years ago, when Jeffrey had a young mare in training with Tyler DeLange in Michigan. The trainer urged the Carvers to look for a more experienced horse if Jeffrey wanted to get serious about competing at recognized cutting horse shows.
Jeffrey and his parents attended the National Cutting Horse Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas, and met up with Scott Amos, a cutting horse trainer from Colorado who introduced the teen to the talented Whiskey Cat.
When the pair won at the American Quarter House Association Congress in Columbus Ohio in 2021, they relocated to train with Casey Crouch, a famed cutting horse trainer. Under his tutelage, they placed seventh at the NCHA World Championship that year.
Over the next year of travel and competition, Jeffrey and Whiskey were in the top 10 finalists at the Eastern Nationals in Mississippi and the top 20 at the National High School Rodeo Association competition.
In December 2022, they won the NCHA World Championship for Jeffrey’s division.
It’s been a whirlwind of a year.
Before he partnered up with Whiskey Cat three years ago, Jeffrey spent much of his youth trail riding with his family at their farm in Hambden and competing at area shows in team penning and team sorting. He got his start in the latter with local horseman Rich Bradshaw, who recalled Jeffrey’s early days riding.
Jeffrey was diagnosed and treated for brainstem cancer at the age of 4 — resulting in several developmental disabilities.
His mother, Jan, was told to “take him home and give him the best life you can.”
To help him regain his balance, his grandfather, the late Jeff Carver — Bradshaw’s friend and a well-known horseman — put the boy up on a horse and it was the beginning of a lifelong passion.
“To get him off a horse is the problem,” Jan said in a recent interview.
His grandfather brought Jeffrey to Bradshaw for riding lessons and Bradshaw said despite Jeffrey’s issues, he learned to ride, sort and pen, a precursor to cutting horse competition.
Success in either venue requires a relaxed rider and a well-trained horse.
Learning to slow down and let the horse do its job was a challenge Jeffrey, “but he was a real good listener and he had other people coaching him,” Bradshaw recalled.
Jeffrey can make a plan when he starts his ride and he knows how to cue the horse to which calf to cut out of the herd and where to push it, he said.
“I’m real impressed with his mind,” Bradshaw said. “For what the kid went through, he’s got a lot in there. The cutting sport is perfect for him. He’s a very relaxed rider and he fit right in.”
Once her son partnered with Whiskey, his parents knew they had something special, but they needed to find a professional cutting horse trainer to work with the pair.
“There is not a lot of cutting horse trainers around,” Jan said. “In the space of three years, we went from, ‘We’ll try it a couple of times’ to buying a trailer for them to live in.”
That trail ended up with Jeffrey’s championship ride in the NHCA $15,000 amateur division, open to riders who have not won more than $15,000.
The stakes have gone up this year and Jeffrey is competing against riders who have won $50,000 and above, Jan said.
Jeffrey Rides High
Home-schooled all his life due to learning disabilities, Jeffrey is set to graduate from high school this year.
It is his last year competing in High School Rodeo Association shows.
Whiskey, only 13, has about topped out for competing in the NCHA shows because he has won roughly $150,000 over his lifetime, Jeffrey said.
He could compete in open classes, might be leased to someone learning the sport or just be retired, since Jeffrey is so attached to him, Jan said.
Replacing Whiskey could be difficult. Jeffrey understands the champion’s ability to focus makes him fantastic at what he does.
“He likes to eat, sleep and play with cows,” he said.
Jeffrey credits Crouch with getting him and his horse to this level and admires Crouch’s strategy behind moving up in the winnings divisions.
“Casey knows what shows to go to that pay well,” he said.
Jeffrey also comprehends the realities of the dreams he and his parents have been pursuing the last few years. It’s complicated – and expensive.
“Now we need a new truck, a new trailer and a new horse,” he said, adding the Ford that pulls their living quarters is three years old and has 94,000 miles on it.
“Most of that time, it’s hooked up at four- and five-day shows,” Jeffrey said.
But horse shows are not all glamour and trophies. There is work to do and a fair amount of time when nothing is happening. Jeffrey will take a nap during the day because many times, his classes run into the wee hours of the morning, Jan said.
When the lights go out, it is time to pack up and move on.
“They travel at night because of the heat,” Jan said. “When it’s right for the horse and time to go, you go.”
The distances in Texas are huge and restaurants are often a long way from the show grounds, so anyone free from the class schedule for a few hours may carpool for a sit-down meal.
“It’s nothing for us to drive one or two hours to go to dinner,” said Tim, Jeffrey’s father.
Jeffrey recently relocated to southern Indiana to study with cutting horse trainer Nick Pilchers. There, he and Whiskey can compete through the winter — difficult to do in more northern areas because of winter weather.
Jan said his 3-year-old quarter horse filly — currently housed at local trainer and family friend Emma Bates’ stable in Hambden — will be joining Jeffrey to start training as the next cutting horse for him.
And while the teen admits to enjoying the glitz and excitement of traveling and showing, he knows where his ultimate interests lie.
“I just like to ride horses,” he said, adding he isn’t necessarily aiming to become a trainer, but would like to stay in the horse show business one way or another, and has already talked to Bates about his future and the huge responsibility of a career in training, teaching and showing.
“I’ll probably help a trainer somewhere,” he said.
