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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Cutting Show

We went into Ponoka for supper on Friday night and on the way home, it was raining, this we knew was a bad idea since we knew snow was forcasted.  We got home and when we got up Saturday morning it looked not too bad, so we went over to the barn and we werent sure if the show was a go cause in front of the cow guys trailer was a 4 foot drift.  But he made it and the show was a go.  I was warming up one of Vics horses he was gonna use as a turnback horse and after that I got to watch most of the show. 

They do the regular cutting classes first, which is where the horse does all the work and your hand is down on thier neck, its pretty cool, but the horse has to be well trained.  After that is the ranch cutting classes which are where you can still hold on to the reins and direct the horse.  This is where the horse is still learning.  This is where I would have competed.  Also where Jardi competed with Avril in th Open class, and Maddie in the youth class.  I believe they are ACHA shows (alberta cutting horse association)  but not totally sure.  They call it Rimcuts, which used to be held in Rimby but has been moved to Ponoka.

After the show was over, we used thier used cattle to practice on again and I still have trouble getting a cow out of the herd, but I can scoop one off the front.  After that we had a few more awesome turns and we had to quit.  But before we left the arena we stood in the corners while Bill Speight worked a 3 year old, that was pretty cool to watch him work with that colt and he sure improved.

The weather looked bad, so we thought we would stay overnight and go home Sunday afternoon.  I had learned so much, I just wanted to ride more, but I knew our horses were done.


The first two are Matt, a high school rodeo kid I was practicing on, and the second twoa are Jardi and Avril.  I still got to practice my timing cause its not quite right, but I think I will have lots of chances in the next few weeks.

5 comments:

Linda said...

Sounds like fun.....I've always wanted to try my hand and cutting other than "prairie cutting".

5 Starr's Farm said...

Good for you Crystal, My Grandpa had cutting horses and a couple of time I got to show against the big boys (I'm sure they were shaking in their high dollar saddles) mostly I competed in high school rodeo show. Stay with it, it's a lot of fun.

Shirley said...

I bet you loved every minute of it. That's the only thing I really miss about Alberta, is the phenomonal horse community there. There are always shows, gatherings, clinics, and horses everywhere. I am trying to get a cowhorse club going here. I so want to try cutting.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Cutting is very exciting to watch. The horse is totally in control, while the rider is there for the wild ride. And it's easy to see if the horse has the heart for it's job or not. Some horses, I imagine probably terrify those poor cows. lol!

~Lisa

Janice Grinyer said...

thank you for sharing this - with your words I felt like i was watching alongside with you :)