Cutting 101

My sweet cowboy husband used to work for a Cutting horse trainer long before we met. So, that gave him a great love of the sport. To add more LOVE to this sport, this is where we met. 

So year after year we go. We sit. We talk. We shop. We eat. We LOVE. And we watch HOURS of Cutting's!!

 To start they have to drag the pen. (Meaning: smooth out the dirt.) Cause you can't ride your horse where the surface is not flat. If the pen is full of holes and ruts, you could cause your horse to trip and fall, then land on you. Not good!!! Dragging the pen is a must.

 Then, they let the cows back in.

And in.......

 
And in.

"Hello Ladies."

 Cutting is a sport that has its origins on the cattle ranches of the Southwest in the 1880s. Ranchers found that individual cows occasionally had to be separated from the rest of the herd for branding, because of sickness, or to sell.





Once the cowboy has picked his cow, he drops the reins and the horse has to do the rest of the work. The horse has to know which direction the cow will go next.

 And stay nose to nose with the cow. Like a mirror image.

 This little move is called a Miss. The horse was too slow and the cow got back to the herd. BAAAAAAAAD for points. Miss: Overrunning a cow, which results in a loss of working position. A miss costs the horse and rider one point. Often a horse will have a miss immediately prior to losing a cow.


 The other guys on horseback are called your "turn-back help." They keep the cow from running out the back door and going to work for Chick-fil-A!!

Not really....your turnback help are two riders that are positioned in front of the herd. These riders are responsibly for driving cattle back toward the herd and the cutting horse while a cut is being made.

The working horse walks into the work area really slow.  

Then makes what is called a Deep cut. Deep cut: According to the NCHA rules, the cutter must make at least one deep cut into the herd. Typically, the cutter will go into the middle of the herd or deeper to qualify for this rule. The opposite of this would be picking a cow off of the edge.



And now you know all you ever needed to know about Cutting Horses!!