Bill Norman enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1988 and served as a Scout Sniper with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, deploying during Operation Desert Storm. He went on to spend 30 years in law enforcement, working in specialized units including SWAT and investigations before retiring as the department’s administrative sergeant. He lives in the Bay Area of California with his wife, DeAnna, where they raised their two sons, Billy and Mateo.
Horses came later. A Team Roping Journal story about a Las Vegas police sergeant led Norman to Charlie Five, to a sorrel mare named Jessie and, eventually, to the 2026 War Horse Challenge presented by Icon Global at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity.
The Challenge runs Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, between the finals rein work, which starts at 4 p.m., and the finals herd work. This is the second installment in our series; read Part 1 with Charlie Five founder Jeremy Svejcar.
Photo: courtesy Charlie Five
Horse&Rider: So, Bill, we’re here at the 2026 Snaffle Bit Futurity and you’re gearing up to compete in Saturday’s War Horse Challenge, but how you got here is quite a story, beginning with you joining the Marine Corps before you even finished high school. What drove that choice, and where did it take you?
Bill Norman: So, right out of high school, before I even graduated, I joined the Marine Corps. I had always had an interest in military. I knew that was the direction I wanted to go. I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1988 and went up to bootcamp, did my whole thing there, did really well. I was excelling in the Marine Corps. I really enjoyed it. I was assigned to 3rd Marines in Hawaii and … I put in for, volunteered, to go to a scout sniper unit for 3rd Marines and pretty much spent my whole time there. I went to the Gulf War, the first one, way back when, and it was a great experience. I learned a lot. Went through Army Ranger School, volunteered to go to that as a Marine. It was a lot of fun. Went to jump school right after that.
My plan was to make a career out of it. Shortly after that, I was home on leave. I hadn’t been home in a couple years, and I met my wife, DeAnna.
Photo: Bill Norman served as a Scout Sniper with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines. | courtesy Charlie Five
H&R: Meeting your wife sounds like a pivotal moment. Is that also when horses became a part of the picture?
BN: I was home in California for Christmas leave when we met. I kind of knew I’d be a fool to let that go. So I decided to get out, and it surprised a lot of people. When I exited the service, I knew I had to go to school and get some kind of college education. I wasn’t sure at what capacity I wanted to get a job in, either fire service or police, but I wasn’t having a lot of luck in the fire service. I took one police test and got hired. So I found myself in the academy shortly thereafter that and worked at three different agencies throughout Northern California and spent my last 18 years in a small agency where I lived. So it was fun giving back to the community.
I didn’t grow up with horses. It wasn’t a thing for me. I was more into sports. That was my direction. I really didn’t get into horses [until] I met my wife. She grew up with horses, competing, that kind of thing. And that’s where I got my interest in it. I bought a little cutting crop out after we were first married, and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Took a bunch of lessons, just horsemanship.
I enjoyed that. Did a little bit of cutting, just practice pen kind of stuff. I didn’t compete. I had an interest getting into team roping, but I’m a lefty and didn’t want to learn how to do it right-handed. It was kind of tough.
We started having kids, and that was my focus then. Our focus as parents was to be there for the kids, and me working shift work in law enforcement was really tough. So, that was our focus, and I kind of put [the horse thing] to bed. My youngest son wanted to get into high school rodeo, and that got me going back into wanting to do something, either roping or whatever it might be.
H&R: So you’re leaning in to the high school rodeo scene with your son, and you’re called back to the arena. Tell us more about that.
BN: I was at a friend’s house, and he had a coffee table full of Team Roping Journal magazines there, and I happened to grab one out of the stack and I stumbled across an article about Greg Ziel, a Vegas Metro sergeant. I read his story and I really connected with it, to the point where my buddy’s like, “Let’s go,” but I had to finish the story.
I took the magazine with me and read it a few times, and it had a link to Charlie Five on there. I thought about it for a couple days and put in an application. Jeremy reviewed it and he called me a few weeks later. Eventually, I was selected as a participant.
I was blown away. I was probably a year and a half, two years out from retirement and had to have some knee surgery done. So it kind of pushed things out a little bit, but I was able to travel with Jeremy to a roping clinic down in Texas while we were down there. We met a gentleman that was selling a little mare, “Jessie”, and it just worked out perfect. And so we purchased her and trailered her back to Jeremy’s place and then got her transported up to California.
Photo: Bill Norman and his son in the roping arena. | courtesy Charlie Five
H&R: And that roping was Charly Crawford’s Horns n’ Heroes clinic for veterans and first responders. You didn’t compete that first year, but you went back in 2024 with your mare. That wasn’t so long ago. How did you go from roping steers to running down the fence?
BN: [That clinic] was a great time. I learned a lot. After that, just started doing local jackpots around where I’m from, Central California, kind of between Salinas and San Jose. And yeah, just been having fun with it.
Then, Jeremy invited us as a Charlie Five group to go to War Horses [for Veterans, in Stilwell, Kansas, the following September]. So it was a few guys, we all knew each other. We all hadn’t met, but we’ve talked to each other before. I had never done any kind of cow horse stuff before in my life. And I think it was the third day when Taylor Gillespie got us out there. I was in a meeting with some support staff at the time, and I walked out and it was my turn to go.
I had no idea what I was doing. I was listening to Taylor, and the first time I went down the fence full speed, sliding to a stop and turning that cow back, I was hooked.
I was listening to Taylor and the first time I went down the fence full speed, sliding to a stop and turning that cow back, I was hooked.
— Bill Norman
H&R: So what do you think of getting to compete in the War Horse Challenge?
BN: That following December I got a call from War Horses asking me to participate in the Challenge and I was floored.
I told my wife about it. She was super surprised, and she’s like, “You got to go for it.”
Photo: Bill and DeAnna Norman with their sons, Billy and Mateo. | courtesy Charlie Five
H&R: It sounds like a few cow horse trainers are pretty committed to getting you ready for the Challenge. Who have you been working with?
BN: We’ve gone to Russell Dilday’s in Oklahoma, the War Horses in Kansas and, then, Chris Dawson’s in Texas. And War Horses connected me with Brendon Clark in California. He’s only 20 minutes away from me, so I’ve been going to Brendon and Lizzy’s and training with them. It’s been awesome.
H&R: How has the reined cow horse world received you?
BN: Man, once you get exposed to all this different stuff, I’ll tell you what: the reined cow horse, the whole industry, everybody—they’ve been super supportive, very friendly. You talk to anybody and it’s just, these are some things you can work on. And Brendon and Lizzy have been fantastic, and I hope to keep going with it. I don’t know what direction, how I’m going to afford to get a cow horse, but I’m going to work on it.
H&R: Saturday night, you’ll ride in the 2026 War Horse Challenge at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity. How are you feeling?
BN: A little nervous. I know we’re competing against each other for a really beautiful trophy saddle that we just saw earlier today. Martin Saddlery donated a sweet cow horse saddle. … It’s beautiful. But for me, it’s just, I want to be able to show the people that took the time to teach me that I learned something and I can go out there and put it down during a Saturday night for the packed house. That’s all I want.
I want to be able to show the people that took the time to teach me that I learned something and I can go out there and put it down during a Saturday night for the packed house.
— Bill Norman
H&R: You’re riding Stylish Metallica, the same Metallic Cat stallion Mark Nutsch rode to the 2025 War Horse Challenge title. What’s he like?
BN: Yes. His name’s “Ken.” He’s a big strawberry roan stud. Great horse. I rode him a few times before. We really didn’t start connecting until the trip out to Chris Dawson’s.
I’m so fortunate, to be honest. [Ken] won it last year with a Challenge competitor, and so he knows his job. I just got to do my part. He’s well-bred. I think he’s 11 years old, so his career out here is done, but … he’ll be super chill out here and doing his job.
H&R: It’s almost two years since you retired from law enforcement and arrived in the arena at the Will Rogers Coliseum. That kind of shift from high-intensity work can be its own challenge. What role has Charlie Five played in your retirement experience?
BN: Some guys have a hard time adjusting to that civilian life, but I had hobbies outside of law enforcement and a lot of friends outside of law enforcement. So I think that helped the transition, but getting involved in Charlie Five and having that opportunity to focus on horses and horsemanship, I really kind of just dove into it and I was riding every day.
[Jeremy] is just an awesome guy. We talked a lot on the phone, but when he invited me to go to that Crawford Clinic—the first one—I didn’t compete. I just went to help out and watch him. And that’s where we spent a lot of time on the road driving from New Mexico out to Texas and talking a lot. And then the whole time there hanging out and just learning about each other and our families and growing that bond between the two of us. It was fantastic. And while we were there, that’s where I met the War Horse folks.
Photo: Bill Norman spent nearly three decades in law enforcement. | courtesy Charlie Five
H&R: Sounds like you’ve found a new brotherhood.
BN: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we go months without seeing each other, but we’re always talking or chatting or texting or whatever. The family that’s grown from there, Charlie Five and the War Horses community has been great. These four other guys that are with me during the Challenge, we get along great, and it’s a lot of fun.
Photo: The Norman family: Bill, DeAnna, Billy and Mateo. | courtesy Charlie Five
H&R: What has this experience given you personally?
BN: Well, a lot of it is very new to me, and especially the horsemanship, just learning from these awesome instructors and professionals that have taken the time out of… This is their livelihood and they sit down with you and teach you the right way to do things and to better your horsemanship, to better your skill set. And it’s awesome. I learn something every time we go out there and do something. You don’t realize you’re doing little things, and they spot it and they correct you and it just makes things so much easier.
Jeremy talks about earning it and doing something with that opportunity. You don’t need to go down the road and compete and do whatever you’re going to do, but use that energy and that opportunity to better yourself in whatever capacity. I really enjoy it. I love spending time with my horse and learning new things and it gets me out of the house.
Photo: Bill Norman and his rope horse, “Jessie.” | courtesy Charlie Five
Charlie Five
Charlie Five is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded and run by Jeremy Svejcar and his wife, Rose. It creates opportunities for qualified military veterans and first responders who need a horse to take them to the next level in the Western performance horse world. Since its founding in 2016, Charlie Five has filled a gap for men and women who find healing through horsemanship programs but graduate without a next step. Under its motto, “Earned. Not Given,” Charlie Five matches warriors with horsepower that can carry them into the industry’s most competitive arenas.
“We expect a lot from the veterans and first responders who want to become part of Charlie Five because the horse doesn’t get a choice in the matter. Our first responsibility is to the horse. When we place a horse with someone, that person assumes responsibility for another living animal. The participant has to be willing to learn, prepare, show up, ask for help, put in the work and provide the level of care that horse deserves. We can support them, mentor them and create opportunities, but we cannot do that work for them. That responsibility is part of the growth.”