Carmen Buckingham is a National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) champion and passionate RanchHER with a deep love for colts and cows. When she’s not irrigating their desert grass from the crystal waters of the Bruneau River or swimming across it, she’s in the arena training her top-performance horses for both ranch work and reining events.
Outside the arena, she enjoys working on the ranch with her husband, Tom, and her daughter, spending quality time with her two granddaughters, and balancing her competitive spirit with family life.
Buckingham Ranch
Carmen and her family ranch in Bruneau, Idaho, an idyllic part of the American West with a sparse population and expansive vistas.
The ranch is nestled deep in the canyons of the Bruneau Valley—a lush utopia in the middle of the desert (thanks to a glistening river, some elbow grease, and irrigation!) Carmen and Tom thought it was the perfect place to settle, raise cattle, break horses, and start a family.
“We like the desert; it works really well for our operation,” Carmen explains. “It’s our kind of country. We like the quiet. [Tom says,] ‘You can slice yourself off a piece of quiet anytime’…or something like that.”
Today, Carmen and Tom run Buckingham Ranch as a family operation alongside their daughter, son-in-law, and two adorable granddaughters.
Catching the “Horse Bug”
Carmen caught the “horse bug” young. She fell in love with riding and ranch life on the back of her father’s horse.
“My dad had a ranch—I loved helping him do everything; I was just like his little shadow,” Carmen shares. “The horse bug just caught me, and that kind of took over.”
She also participated in 4-H, where she learned what a horse could do and got comfortable in the saddle. Her first job was at a feedlot in Grandview starting wild colts, before she moved to California for seven years to be a cowgirl.
Carmen comes from a long legacy of ranchers and athletes, so sports and competition came naturally to her—but it was Tom who introduced her to reining.
“I dig the cow horse sport; and I got her hooked – I’ve ruined her!” Tom jokes. “She does [smile big when she talks about it], I love it.”
Reined Cow Horse 101
Like a triathlon completed entirely on horseback, Reined Cow Horse includes three events: cutting/herd work, reining, and fence work.
- Cutting/Herd Work: This rapid-fire event is meant to showcase the horse’s ability and agility, requiring the horse and rider to work three cows as much as possible in just 2 ½ minutes and to separate a single cow and maintain control.
- Reining/Rein Work: Similar to dressage, this event always involves a pattern, circles, speed changes, stops, and spins to really test the horse’s obedience, precision, and maneuverability. It also tests the rider’s comfort and control in the saddle and rapport with the cow horse.
- Fence Work: In this event, the rider must circle the cow down the fence at least twice each way. This event requires speed, agility, and courage as the horse keeps the cow on track. Fence work is often the most thrilling event to watch, as it combines the skills from the previous two events with a high-speed challenge that highlights the horse’s bravery and responsiveness.
But which event is Carmen’s favorite?
“It depends on the horse,” she says.
It helps that one of Carmen’s most dynamic cow horses, Kitty Wilkins, is stellar at all three!
Watch this brand-new episode of RanchHER featuring Carmen Buckingham when it premieres on Tuesday, November 5, at 9:00 PM ET only on RFD-TV.
Catch encore airings on Saturdays at 11:30 am and Sundays at 10:00 pm ET. Binge all episodes and past seasons of FarmHER and RanchHER on demand at any time with your annual RFD-TV Now subscription. To learn more, visit https://www.watchrfdtv.com/Account/SignUp.