Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey: Trained border collie has a monkey on his back

When Whiplash comes galloping into the Resistol Arena on his trusty steed on a Saturday night in Mesquite, the Rodeo Capital of Texas, the crowd cheers wildly.

Could be his colorful cowboy duds and his Justin chaps.

Or the fact that he's a seven-pound Capuchin monkey riding a saddled-up border collie.

Trainer Tommy Lucia of Weatherford, said he spent eight months teaching Whiplash to ride. There's western riding, English riding, and then there's monkey riding; Whiplash has his own inimitable style. "He wraps his tail around the dog's middle, and his feet hang onto the dog's shoulder hair. He has a saddle bard that he grips and hangs onto with a hand or two or whatever he feel like doing," Mr. Lucia said.

Each performance is a little different Whiplash has been known to tip the saddle over, or yell at someone as he gallops by. "He's got his own personality and several really unique facial expressions. The camera loves him," Mr. Lucia said.

Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey and His Dog Spot is an act with international flair. Known for their diminutive size and sharp intelligence, Capuchin monkeys hail originally from the jungles of Central and South America. The current Whiplash is 20 years old and he's been riding for 17 years. In captivity, the breed has been known to live to 45, so he could have some good career years still ahead.

Spot the border collie is a native of Scotland and the real, if unsung, star of the show as he heeds Mr. Lucia's commands to maneuver three shorn sheep from one side of the arena to the other, before they hop obediently into their trailer. "Right in the pen they go! Whiplash the cowboy monkey!" the announcer yells, and the crowd goes crazy.

For Spot, it's just business as usual. "The dog is acting from herding instincts it's natural. My part is to be able to control those instincts, and make sure they don't get out of hand by overworking. The monkey is along for the ride," Mr. Lucia said. "All the animals are happy and enjoy what they're doing."

Popular attractions at major stock shows and private shows for celebrities and foundations, the duo has been on Good Morning America, on ESPN, and shows including Hannity and Colmes and The O'Reilly Factor.

With 1,000 hits a day on his website, Whiplash is something of a phenomenon, and perhaps one of America's most downloaded monkeys. The diminutive cowboy packs serious promotional power under that teeny-tiny hat. When the Taco John's chain featured him in their ads as a teacher's pet who brings his teacher a taco and as a circuit-riding taco deliverycowboy, they saw a surge of 21 percent, said Mr. Lucia.

He guards Whiplash's image carefully, turning down appearances on Montel, Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel and the Best Damn Sports Show. "Each day, beingon a different program? I don't think that would do him any good," Mr. Lucia said. "We've turned down a lot of TV shows, like Letterman. I don't want to have him making fun of my animals so he gets a higher rating I don't need his sarcasm," he said. "My animals don't deserve that -- I live with them day and night, they're like family. I'd rather have him on something I think is suitable for family, so the kids can enjoy him as well as adults."

Back at the trailer after the show, Whiplash enjoys a snack and goes to sleep but sometimes, keyed up after a performance, he chatters away. "He will talk and talk and talk and talk I'm thinking, Am I married to you or what?'" Mr. Lucia quipped to a videographer.

The Mesquite Rodeo doesn't disappoint. Friday and Saturday nights at the rodeo offer a tightly-packed program of entertainment chuckwagon races, barrel racing, team roping and steer wrestling events. There's the toughest payday of the week, the popular "cowboy poker," where the last cowboy seated at a card table when an angry Mexican fighting bull comes into the arena wins a $400 jackpot. For the kids, there's mutton bustin', where the littlest cowpokes try their hand at hanging onto wily, bucking sheep, and the calf scramble, where hundreds of young buckaroos try to nab the ribbon off an evasive calf.

The rodeo's public relations director, John Painter, said from frequent appearance through the years, Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey and His Dog Spot have become the attraction's single most requested event.

"They may not remember the name Whiplash, but they remember the Cowboy Monkey," he said.

-- J. Louise Larson http://jlouiselarson.blogspot.com/ See Whiplash's official site here: http://www.whiplashrides.com/ Watch video, see Whiplash's Taco John's commercials: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3716656868007810218