Canadian Cutting Horse Association - Competition

Competition

The sport of cutting involves the working of cattle in a manner similar to that seen on ranches. However, some changes have been made from true ranch-style cutting to increase the entertainment value of the sport on a competitive level. During the event, each horse and rider pair takes one steer at a time from a herd in the arena. After cutting the animal from the herd, they move it to the other end of the arena and keep it from returning to the herd. The horse is trained to focus on the steer and respond to its every movement. If the cow gives up on returning to the herd, the rider can signal the horse to return to the herd and select another cow. Each horse and rider pair have two and a half minutes to demonstrate their skill at the sport, and during this time two or three cows are generally cut and worked, although the number may be as many or as few as the rider wishes.

After each session, the horse and rider are scored by judges based on the judgement and reactions of the horse and rider and the challenge presented by the steers selected. Points are deducted for letting a cow return to the herd or quitting a cow before it obviously loses interest in returning to the herd. As the horse is supposed to be making the judgements of which movements to use to keep the steer at the specified end of the arena, points are also lost if the rider obviously cues the horse or makes movements or noise toward the steer. More points are lost for separating more than one steer from the herd or pawing or biting at the cattle.