2007 Congress News

Congress Cutting Explodes in 2007
by Carly Williams

Big moves. Hard stops. Straining lungs. Pure horsepower.

These are things that addict many Cutters to their event. Cutting has become one of the fastest growing equine sports in the world, attracting owners and riders from all over the United States, as well as many other countries around the world.

The National Cutting Horse Association, the governing body that oversees all approved Cutting events, was formed by a group of cowboys and ranchers on May 1, 1946. These men had several goals in mind, including promoting Cutting competition, standardizing rules for the events and preserving the western heritage of the Cutting horse.

The first Cutting was held in Dublin, Texas, in September of 1946 and the event has exploded in popularity ever since. Today, the NCHA holds more than 2,200 shows each year and awards prize money in excess of $36 million annually.

The All American Quarter Horse Congress has always been known for “keeping up with the Benjamins,” and the Congress Cutting events are no different. Cutting entries for the 2007 Congress exceeded everyone’s expectations, nearly doubling several of the largest Non-Pro Cutting classes from the previous year.

Chuck Smith, Congress Cutting Coordinator, attributes the multitude of entries to several changes that were made in 2006. “We changed the way we ran the non-pro limited age classes in 2006, and it caused our entries to really increase for this year. The exhibitors seemed to appreciate the changes, and it shows in our entry numbers,” Smith said.

The limited age classes at the Congress include the Open Congress Cutting Classic, Non-Pro Congress Cutting Classic, Open Congress Cutting Derby, Non-Pro Congress Cutting Derby, Open Congress Cutting Futurity and the Non-Pro Congress Cutting Futurity. Prior to 2006, each of these classes held two go-rounds. The scores from these go-rounds were then averaged, and the top 25 percent were selected to compete in the finals. In 2006, the non-pro classes were changed to allow for only one go-round, with 35 percent selected to compete in the finals.

This change allowed for competitors to have a lower class fee, as the entries now work less cows.

Although Cutting is a large part of the All American Quarter Horse Congress, it is an event that can be confusing to a newcomer to the horse industry. According to the National Cutting Horse Association, the challenge of cutting is to select a single calf from the herd, gently guide it to the center of the arena, and then prevent it from ducking past the horse and escaping back to the herd.

The ‘nutshell’ description of Cutting makes the event sound quite easy, but Cutting combines intelligence, training, breeding and skill. The horse and rider must work together as a team to demonstrate their cattle-handling skills, showing off all their hard work in a round that only lasts two and a half minutes.

To start a round, the horse and rider will approach the herd, concentrating on moving the cattle to separate one specific animal without provoking the entire herd. The rider chooses the calf carefully, as the total score includes the activity of the calf. Once the rider chooses the calf, he and his equine partner must move the calf to the center of the arena, where the horse begins to show off his ‘cow sense.’

The horse will control the calf with speed, agility, balance and motion, matching the calf move-for-move to keep the calf from returning to the herd. A true champion will react instinctively to the calf’s movements, with only minor need for help from the rider. In fact, the rider must keep the horse on a loose rein for a high score.

Once the calf turns away from the horse and quietly moves toward the opposite end of the arena, the cut is over. If time allows, however, the horse and rider may choose another calf and try for an even higher score. The contest time limit allows enough time for two to three animals to be cut, but the rider chooses how many calves to cut and how much time to spend on each animal. The horse may “quit” a calf with only a three point penalty if the calf is obviously stopped or turned away from the horse, but if the calf is “lost,” a five point penalty will be assessed.

Cutting at the 2007 All American Quarter Horse Congress will go from Saturday, October 6 through Friday, October 12.