The Down and Dirty Sport of Cutting

A horse and cow are playing a game of cat and mouse. The horse spins and stops, ears flicking and listening, watching and matching each miniscule movement that the cow makes. The quickness of the horse and the degree of determination that it has for keeping the cow away from its herd is exciting and inspiring.
 The cat like equine crouches deep in the dirt, on its hocks, as if ready to spring; the rider, also highly focused, anticipates the movements of the horse as well as the cow in order to stay on board. This is the fast, exciting equine sport of Cutting.

Cutting traces its roots back to the days when cattle ranches in the American West had to sort, castrate and vaccinate their herds. Ranchers relied heavily on their mounts and “cowiness,” or the desire to work cattle, was a trait that was highly valued. After a time, ranches began to compete with their best mounts, showing off their quick moves and challenging each other for prize money.

 The first competition for this sport was held in 1898 in Haskell, Texas. In 1946 the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) was created to help promote and hold sanctioned shows. Today, NCHA approved shows give away 39 million dollars a year to top competitors. Cutting horses are bred by selectively choosing bloodlines of horses that have been proven to have “cow sense.” It is an inbred desire to chase or work cattle, brought about by carefully choosing horses that have already been shown to carry this trait. In an arena, the horse is asked to split a cow away from the rest of the herd. The cow, being a herd animal, attempts to return, and get past the horse. It is the horses’ job to keep the cow separated. It uses quick rollbacks, stops and quick jumps forward to accomplish this task. The horse is given points according to how well it anticipates the cow’s every move, and tracks it. The rider chooses cows that will show off the horse’s natural talents, and normally two or three cattle are used to do so. Two and half minutes are given to show the horse to its fullest potential. The shoulders of the horse must be parallel to the cow during the run, and rollbacks, sliding stops, and sharp darting quarter turns are just some of the fast maneuvers that the rider must be able to sit.

The American Quarter Horse is the most popular horse for this sport, although, any breed of horse can be used for this as long as it has a desire to work cattle. The down and dirty sport of Cutting is an exciting activity to watch as well as ride, and hundreds of sanctioned shows are held throughout the country every year.

Author: D.Overman