Coleman Proctor has an ace of a head horse in his trailer named SCR Sporties Playgun, and the 16-year-old gelding has carried him through six trips to the NFR, earning $377,953 inside the Thomas & Mack alone.
To further cement his mastery of the building, Coleman, Heisman and partner, Logan Medlin won Round 7 of the 2024 NFR in 3.5 seconds for $33,628, pushing the gelding closer towards the $400K mark at the Finals.
The bay boasts lifetime earnings of $811,286 at just two rodeos—The American and The NFR. In 2019, Proctor and partner Ryan Motes secured the win of a lifetime at The American, executing a 4.24-second run that made them the only team ropers who have secured the $1 million payout at The American Rodeo, to date.
The beginnings of SCR Sporties Playgun
Proctor bought Heisman in 2015, but the geldings’ story goes further back than that. Bred by Sorrel Canyon Ranch of Brownwood, Texas, Heisman is an iconic Quarter Horse mix of Playgun and Haidas Little Pep, who was sired by Peppys San Badger.
With bloodlines like that, Proctor acknowledges that Heisman can get a little rowdy when it’s game time.
“I mean, he’s like your friend in college who’s your hype guy,” Proctor said. “He’s the, ‘Let’s do something silly tonight’ guy. The problem is in college, I was the hype guy too, so we get in the box and we start getting nervous. But I think that’s one thing I most enjoy about him at the finals. He may not be perfect, but he’s always getting me in a good headspace because I have to be the one saying, ‘Hey, that’s enough, cut it out, let’s get to work here.’ It takes my nerves out.”
Heisman was initially trained by Bobby Lewis, but Proctor was first introduced to the gelding by friend Shane Boston, who’s son had been riding him.
“Shane said, ‘You have to buy this horse,'” Proctor recalled. “He hadn’t been to any rodeos, so he was kind of green. But Shane said I had to have him, so I bought him.”
Proctor was about to leave for the Reno Rodeo, meaning he had to outsource the typical seasoning that comes with a new rodeo horse. So, he left the 7-year-old in the hands of friend Justin Turner.
“I just asked him to take him to every amateur rodeo he could,” Proctor said. “Justin is actually the one who hauled him and seasoned him for me. The first time I ever rode him was that same summer when my good horse Carmine had pulled a shoe in Lovington, New Mexico, and was sore. Heisman got the call, and although he was a little green, he was a still a long-four-second-run. And here we are, a few years later and he’s the one I ride at the NFR.”
Heisman wins inside the Thomas & Mack
Proctor and Heisman excel on shorter scores together, with Proctor usually selecting him for the winter buildings and the famed Thomas & Mack. 2024 marks Heisman’s sixth year within the yellow walls, where he’s won more than $377,000 throughout 2017, 2019 and 2022–2024.
“What makes him so good at the NFR is—he gets across the line in a hurry and he never lets me get pinned up against the wall, even when the other night I ran him into the wall,” Proctor said. “There was yellow all around me and he just zips into the corner, spins on a dime and jumps back… he wants to win just as bad as I do. That’s a rare find in a horse.”
And Heisman can really read the cow. Proctor says steers will sometimes break left at the NFR because the heeler is rolling up on them out of the box when they usually stay a little wider at other rodeos.
“You can actually start Heisman towards the chute so you can get to the cow, and then when the cow steps in front of me or comes left, Heisman is so good about maintaining my lane and letting me rope,” Proctor said. “Then he’ll step up in front of the steer to grab ahold of his head and start leading the turn. And when it’s time to start moving the steer laterally, he’s strong enough to do it. That’s what opens these steers up and puts them on the end of it. He’s good at moving the horn.”
One thing that took a little tuning for Proctor and Heisman to get right was the box component. Proctor chuckled to himself when he noted that the two of them can’t back into the corner, nod and go like some of his peers. Instead, the pair need to make a few spins. Once he’s settled, Proctor said he can score—but that’s ironically one thing that’s not very needed at the NFR.
“When you want to make a good horse for the NFR, that’s kind of one of the first things you want to take out of them,” Proctor said. “They need to be pulling you out of the corner trying to get gone. And he’s adapted to that style very well.”
Proctor isn’t the only roper that’s benefitted from Heisman’s talents. In 2019, Tyler Wade was on the bubble roping with Billie Jack Saebens, and Wade’s horse had gotten hurt. Proctor said he gave Wade the choice of his horses, and he chose Heisman. With the bay’s help, Wade made the Finals that year.
Heisman’s alter ego
While Heisman may be a dragon in the head box, Proctor noted that he’s the quietest horse at home. His wife Stephanie has barrel raced on him and can walk him up the alley.
“You can take him to the branding pen with no tie-down in split reins, and he’s quiet,” Proctor said. “In 2018 when I didn’t make the Finals, we went to the branding pen to help some neighbors out. I drug close to 40 on him one day and he was so quiet. You would never guess he was an NFR-caliber head horse.”
At only 16 years old, Heisman likely has several NFR trips left in him. And if so, at his current pace, there’s no telling what the horse’s final NFR earnings total could be.
