May 7, 1938 – January 6, 2025
INDIANA – James Oliver Willoughby (Jim), 86, went to his heavenly home on Jan. 6, 2025
The funeral service will be 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 at the Bowie First Methodist Church with fellowship after.
Jim was born May 7, 1938 in Erick, OK to Dorothy and Ralph Willoughby. He was born into a family of horsemen and cattlemen. The family ranched in the Texas Panhandle until moving to Central Missouri in the mid 1940s. He spent his youth learning and honing horsemanship skills, rodeoing and tending cattle. Jim was the Valedictorian of his Booneville High School class in Booneville, MO. Shortly after Jim’s graduation, he was hired by Mr. E Paul Waggoner of Waggoner Ranch fame.
At 18, Jim left home for the life of a professional horse trainer. He carried with him lessons from his Dad and his uncles. With this knowledge, Jim went on to become one of the top trainers in the country. Jim has left a very visible legacy of accomplishments in life and in his chosen profession: the world of western performance horses.
Jim trained horses for every western discipline. He was partly or wholly credited for qualifying 34 head of horses for their American Quarter Horse Association championships between 1956 and 1967. He was one of the formative members of the National Reining Horse Association. Jim’s accomplishments here included Futurity Champion, Reserve Champion and placings of third, two fifth and two seventh, ninth and a 13th. In open competition, he was a champion and also had two third place finishes.
His futurity and open championships came in the same year (1971), a nearly unheard of feat. Possibly his most important NRHA accomplishment is as the author of “A. General,” the definition of a reining horse. This rule has been the defining standard of a reining horse for more than 50 years. Jim was inducted into the NRHA Hall of Fame in 1992 for his vision and leadership.
Jim’s first love was the cutting horse. Essential to cattle management, a cutting horse is trained to separate a single cow from a herd of cattle and prevent it from getting back to the herd. Jim trained hundreds of cutting horses, including National and Affiliate Champions and Reserve Champions, and National Cutting Horse Association Futurity Finalists and Semi-Finalists. With amazing skill, insight, and wisdom, Jim salvaged even more horses from quitting and running off in the cutting pen. Each salvage horse takes steady patience on the part of the trainer and a willingness to recognize and appreciate each horse as an individual. Jim’s dad always said, “Every horse has a key. The trainer just has to be smart enough to figure out what the key is.”
Jim Willoughby found the keys to understanding and training countless horses. Jim never looked at his profession as simply a money-making career. He loved horses, they were his passion. Even as his life was drawing to a close, a conversation about a horse brightened his face and his voice became stronger; authoritative and eager. Jim carried himself with honor and integrity throughout his career. His word was his bond. He left a legacy that one might consider unmatched.
Jim was preceded in death by his mother and father, Dorothy (Dot) Feilner Willoughby and Ralph (Tex) Oliver Willoughby; sister, Glenna Jo Willoughby Wing; brother-in-laws, Larry Wing and Steve Schumaier; and former wife, Lolly Willoughby.
Jim is survived by his wife, Cara Lea; sons, Bronc, Mark (Shorty) and Bruce Willoughby; daughters-in-law, Patti and Dee Dee Willoughby; grandchildren and their spouses, Justin and Michelle Willoughby, Kisten and Levi Jackson, Cassie and Dustin Mitchell; great-grand children, Madison and Hunter Willoughby, Emma and Lucchese Jackson, Laramie and Leddy Mitchell; his brother, Gene Willoughby; sister-in-law, Mary Ann; sister, Jill Willoughby Schumaier; and nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
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