Chris Cox

Cox’s grandfather was a member of the Batey family who helped found the Blackman Community.

The Batey family was present when Blackman was still called Wilkerson’s Crossroads. After the Civil War, Wilkerson’s Crossroads was renamed Blackman.

The Batey family eventually left Rutherford County to move to Australia in 1968, because there were more opportunities in agriculture and cattle raising.

Cox returned to the United States as a teenager to pursue a career in horsemanship.

The Road To The Horse competition is one that aims to incorporate competition and education.

Each competitor chooses a horse with no previous contact with people and breaks it over the course of the three-day competition.

Cox has participated in the competition three times and has won three times.

His strategy going in to the competition was to “be myself and stay true to my horsemanship.”

Cox’s main focus during all of the competitions is the horse, because at the end of the weekend, the horse will either be bought or it will go back to the ranch it came form.

Cox wants the horse to have a good future and says he doesn’t use the horses just to win the competition.

This dedication ensures Cox’s success in both the competition and teaching good horsemanship back at his home in Texas.