story by Ruth Nicolaus
There’s not many people across the western U.S. who don’t know Chris Tester.
At least not many people in the rodeo world and the stock trailer world.
The Nampa, Idaho cowboy, a member of the Idaho Cowboys Association, lives in both worlds: the rodeo world as a former contestant-turned judge, and in the trailer world, as a parts dealer and service manager for Quality Trailers.
Growing up in Nampa, he competed in high school and college rodeo, steer wrestling, team roping and tie-down roping for Treasure Valley Community College in 1992-1993.
After leaving college, he worked for a big corporation, selling trailer parts across the Northwest, then spent two years teaching high school ag education.
In 2001, he went back to work for another trailer parts supply company, spending a lot of time on the road training new hires.
Then, in 2015, he began work with Quality Trailers. He loves it. “I work for a family and we have a really tight relationship. In fact, they treat me like family.” For three years, he did the purchasing and, when his boss asked him to run the service department, he stepped into that role.
Chris has a wide variety of clientele who come to him to repair or service their trailers: livestock people, hobby cowboys, rodeo people, about anyone.
He loves his customers. “I’ve had some of the same customers for 30 years,” he said. There isn’t a place that I don’t go, in the western U.S., where they don’t come up and say, ‘when we get done here, can you come and take a look at something on my trailer?’ and I say, OK.”
People know they can trust him to be honest and fair about whatever their trailer problem might be.
“They’ll come and see me and know I’m a straight shooter. I’m not here to rip them off. I make it right.”
Because he’s trustworthy, customers often send their friends and family to him, sometimes even shipping their trailers to the shop in Caldwell. One time, a lady from Alaska sent her trailer to Idaho to be fixed. “We repaired it and sent it home,” he said.
Chris was an ICA steer wrestler and team roper from 1992-2004, and then switched roles.
Good friends Monty Van Komen and Ty Joslin talked him into judging a high school rodeo, “and it went from there,” he said.
He’s judged ICAs since 2006 and enjoys it.
“I’m a people person,” he said. “There are certain people I only get to see three or four times a year, and then there are people I see every weekend. And I look forward to seeing all of them.”
He married his wife Becky ten years ago; the couple has two children: daughter Faithlyn, who is seven, and son, Jax, who is four. “They’re pretty much my life,” he said.
And now he’s getting ready to haul his kids to rodeos. Faithlyn wants to be a goat tyer and a breakaway roper.
For fun, he chases his kids with their activities, works with the couple’s cow herd, and does family stuff. He has six siblings and is the 75th grandchild on his mom’s side. “We always have family stuff going on. I consider myself a family guy.”
When he’s out with his wife and family, he’s notorious for always knowing someone, wherever they are.
“My wife says I’m running for mayor,” he quipped. When they were dating, they’d go to dinner and there would always be someone he knew. “She just shakes her head.”
He loves the ICA, its reputation as a quality rodeo organization, and what it stands for. People from across the country spend their summers in Idaho, competing in the ICA. The ICA may be an amateur association, but it has great contestants. “You can go from an ICA rodeo to a pro rodeo, and have some of the same people.”
Chris qualified for the ICA Finals in the steer wrestling several times and has judged the ICA Finals six times.
He is an at-large ICA board member.
