Cutters vie for national honors

By JULIET BRISKIN | Central Texas Edition

August 2, 2001 -- The National Cutting Horse Association recently held it's 31st Annual Summer Cutting Spectacular at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum July 10--29, in Fort Worth. Over 1,000 of the world's top cutting horses and riders competed for a total purse of over $1.3 million. Events included Derby, Classic/Challenge, East--West Shootout and Youth Scholorship Cutting.

In competition each contestant is allowed two and a-half minutes to cut at least two cows from the herd. The rider must bring at least one cow out from deep inside the herd. Each contestant is assisted by four rider s of his/her choice. Two are designated as herd holders and are positioned on either side of the herd to keep the cattle from drifting into the working area. The other two riders serve as turnback riders and stay between the cow that is being worked and the judges' stand. They will turn the cow back to the rider if it tries to leave the far end of the working area. The goal is to single a cow from the herd, guide it to the center of the arena and then prevent it from ducking past the horse and returning to the herd.

Contestants are scored by a five judge panel and are evaluated on several key points; the challenges made by the calves cut; the horse's insinctive reactions; and errors in judgement made by the horse or rider during the competition. Each judge submits a score at the end of the contest period and the high and low scores are discarded. The middle three scores are added together to obtain the final points earned.

According to the NCHA, cutting is one of the world's fastest growing equine sports. Its orgins date back to the Old West when ranchers used cutting horses to separate individual cattle and move them into corrals or pens. During cattle drives the cutting horse was invaluable to the trail boss in helping form the herd. The Fort Worth based NCHA represents more than 13,000 members in 22 countries. To learn more about the sport and see the results from the Summer Cutting Spectacular visit www.nchacutting. com