Cutting Horse Virgin

I went to my first cutting finals this evening at Silverado on the Brazos in Weatherford, Texas. Now I have to admit that despite my 13 some odd years of showing horses, I am definitely a cutting horse virgin. I know that it involves horses and cows, but beyond that, I have very little knowledge of this side of the horse world. However, from watching videos and speaking to a few top competitors I have learned a little something.

To begin, a horse and rider get two and a half minutes to exhibit their skill at separating two to three cows from the herd. Secondly, a run can be judged on criteria like correctness, eye appeal and amount of time actually spent cutting each cow. Thirdly, they compete for a whole lot more money than we do.(Meaning the pleasure horse industry in general) In fact, someone once told me that the cutting horse business is a close second to thoroughbred racing, when it comes to amount of money produced and transferred within the industry. I believe the figure reaches approximately $35 million in prize money given out per year. At the Brazos Bash this week, there will be $285,000 in added money up for grabs to those who can combine their superior skill and technique with some cooperative cows, a willing horse and a whole lot of luck.  Now when you divide that up per capita, per cow, per cut, there’s a lot at stake when entering the pen for those two and a half minutes, or 150 seconds, whichever way you look at it.

            But don’t be mistaken, it isn’t all about the money. On the contrary, even with a lot more at stake, the cutters seem to have developed much more camaraderie with each other than another other equine discipline I have been a part of. In fact, I felt more welcome there, than at some of the horse shows I have been going to for years. Now granted, this could be attributed to the fact that I enter their world as a spectator and not an exhibitor. However, my personal opinion is that they seem to have written the book on how to compete and (Gasp) socially interact with each other in a friendly manner.

Case in point, when a cutter goes to the herd to select his first cow, he/she has about four other riders in the pen serving as the “turn back” crew. Their job it is to help contain the rest of the herd, help the competitor locate his/her cow of choice and generally to give the competitor his/her best chance at performing successfully. Now, each competitor can select the people who will be in his/her turn back crew, but more often than not, these riders are competing in the same classes with each other. Therefore, the scenario is often that one person may complete their run and turn right back around and go in the pen to help their competitor as part of their turn back crew. That’s right people, I did say help their competitor. While this idea may seem foreign to some, it seems to be working quite well for the people in the cutting industry and might be something interesting we each could try implementing in our own respective disciplines.

Another observation is that cutters generally do not wear numbers. The order of go is often posted the day before and each rider and horse combination is announced as they enter the pen to work. Now, some people might think that this practice could increase the likelihood of judges playing politics, where the big name riders receive leniency or favoritism. However, there are two additional methods that are used to counteract the possibility of nepotism. First, cutting is a scored event, which serves to eliminate much of the objectivity in the first place. Second, judges sit high atop a white platform (an ivory tower if you will) each in his/her own little cubicle when the scoring takes place. At the end of each run, the judges’ scores are tabulated and immediately posted on a scoreboard. While no system is without its flaws, this procedure seems to keep most people happy.

One of the best parts is to watch these athletic equines crouch down on all fours and contort their bodies into seemingly impossible positions to prevent a cow from escaping back to their bovine buddies. It’s no wonder these animals are likened to being as “smooth as a cat.” Action photographs or slow motion video taken head on exhibit this view to the utmost. It’s truly incredible to see a horse rocked back with its hocks buried in the dirt ready to launch in either direction at any imperceptible movement of the cow.

            As far as results are concerned, tonight’s winner of the three year old open was Phil Rapp on Iced Out with a score of 220. Rapp’s check was for $17,500.00. Winning reserve was Clint Allen riding Chiefs Hawkeye with a 219. In the five and six year old open, Jason Clark on Wise Little Miss won and Paul Hansma with Cats Little Tank was reserve. Clark took home a check for $20,000.

            Be sure to stay tuned to receive updates from the Brazos Bash during this week. Who knows, maybe this die hard all-around competitor might add a new event to her repertoire…

Uncommon Courtesy

Okay everyone, this is less of an informational/interview type blog than it is a commentary on a trend I have been noticing at recent shows. For anyone who has been showing horses for a long time, or just beginning for that matter, the hectic and often stressful experience of trying to warm-up before a class is a familiar one. Especially when the time for western pleasure rolls around, the warm-up pen can be an intimidating place. It is often a daunting experience to round the corner to the arena, only to be assaulted by a barrage of sequins or an onslaught of rhinestones as riders lope toward each other in opposite directions, stopping, turning, spinning, backing and jerking. It’s enough to make your head spin.

            Now this is obviously something we can’t avoid, that is unless there were multiple warm-up pens all within equal distance to the show ring allowing for more than enough room for every exhibitor to prepare for their class. (If someone ever finds this magical show grounds please let me know) However, there are a few simple guidelines exhibitors can follow to help make the experience within the warm-up pen a much more positive, productive and safe one for all horses and riders involved.

            Depending on each person’s experience level, age of their horse and trainer’s instructions, everyone goes into those last five minutes before show time with different priorities in mind. This often results in a scene akin to that of a psychotic carousel with horses going left and right, having repeated near miss collisions. You know what I’m talking about, the kind where you swerve just in time, but can’t avoid sideswiping the other person with your stirrup? Now I’m not saying I have never been guilty of this offense myself, because I have. My trainer has repeatedly accused me of using my horse like a bulldozer. But, I think that as a self-professed occasional “bad driver,” I have come to realize the importance of paying attention to where I am going.

            As my trainer likes to say, or shout rather, “there’s no money on the ground, so look where you’re going,” or “even if you stare at its head long enough it’s not going to go where you want it to.”

            So, I thought I would share a few of my own tips which help to minimize the number of head on collisions my horse and I are involved in. First, it is unavoidable that people are going to travel in different directions when they don’t have an announcer to guide them. Therefore, whenever possible, I try to “go with the flow,” of traffic that is. If everyone is going to the right, follow suit. More often than not the majority of the pack will decide when it is time to change directions. And please, it doesn’t help the situation to scream at the top of your lungs that you plan to change directions. (I have actually encountered this on more than one occasion). Generally, it just makes people mad enough that they will continue going the same way just to spite you. However, there is nothing wrong with politely asking a few people to join you in changing directions so everyone else might follow your lead.

            Secondly, if you can reach out and touch fingertips with the person riding next to you, you are too close. There should be, at the very least, twice that distance between you and any other rider. I am aware that horses are pack animals and generally like other horses, but riding or passing someone that close is just asking for trouble. When in doubt, ride further away. This applies whether you are riding towards someone or traveling in the same direction. Unless your last name is Earnhardt you shouldn’t be passing that close.

            When it comes to the number of people packed into a warm-up pen, less is always more. Please use common sense to help you decide when you need to head up to the pen. Probably ten classes before is a little excessive. I always follow this rule; if your class is going in before mine, you have priority. That means for rail space, choice of direction, etc. But, I do expect people to give me the same courtesy as well.

            Now picture this scenario. Two riders are loping along on the rail in different directions as they get closer and closer, neither one is willing to relinquish their coveted rail spot.  Sometimes I just sit back and watch as people go around and around “playing chicken” with every person they meet. Now if we were riding in bumper cars this might be great fun. However, I don’t think any horse appreciates being jerked to a halt when it comes nose to nose with another animal just because both pilots are being stubborn. I generally try to follow the “every other time” rule. If I get off the rail for you once, then the next time around you should get off the rail for me. Obviously this isn’t a perfect solution, but it seems to help minimize the chances of being in a head on collision. There are a few exceptions though. Always get off the rail for children and novice riders. If someone is having that much trouble getting around the pen, don’t make matters worse by hogging the rail just because you can.

            Just think, if everyone followed these simple rules what a safer and less traumatic experience warming up before a class would be.

Eye-D: The First Portable Equine Iris Identification System

At first glance, this new technology might sound like something out of a science fiction movie. However, Mark Clifton, the vice president of products and services at the Sarnoff Corporation, says the development of the GAM-Cam will revolutionize animal identification within the equine industry. The GAM-Cam will be part of the animal identification solution, Eye-D™.

            “Animal identification is not nearly as efficient or as simple as it needs to be,” Clifton says. “We are pleased to join forces with Global Animal Management and apply our many decades of research and expertise in iris recognition technology to develop the GAM-Cam for the equine industry.”

            Global Animal Management, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and market a non-invasive biometric iris animal identification system. They will be working in conjunction with Iristrac, LLC, a Kentucky-based animal identification company.  

            “We are delighted to provide this technology to GAM,” says Daniel E. Stewart, chairman and co-founder of Iristrac. “We have spent the last ten years researching and developing this technology. GAM has built the highway that this product needs to run on, and we look forward to working with them to bring iris identification to the equine industry.”

            The GAM-Cam, is a portable device that will capture the image of a horse’s iris with a low visibility infrared light source. The non-invasive device will help reduce the amount of stress on horses that can be brought on by present methods of identification, like tattooing and microchipping. 

            “The GAM-Cam will allow users to quickly and accurately identify horses without undue stress on the animal,” says Jim Heinle, president of Global Animal Managment. “The non-invasiveness of this device will present a friendlier method of animal identification compared to more invasive methods, and in turn, will help protect the health and well-being of the horse.”

            The GAM-Cam uses the unique features of an animal iris to establish an identification code in much the same way that iris identification has been perfected for humans. The technology has been of recent worldwide interest by helping to develop a non-invasive, accurate, low cost alternative to microchips, tattoos and phenotypic markings currently used by animal owners.

            “Accessible and fraud resistant methods of identifying horses will facilitate a more uniform standard upon which the equine industry can build data and valuable information services,” Heinle says. “The Eye-D solution will enable transactions, registrations, health management and related industry management practices.” 

     The Eye-D solution incorporating the GAM-Cam will be on the market in late 2010.

Troy Oakley Health Update

As of this morning, Vicki Oakley reports that Troy’s condition is slowly, but steadily improving.

A little over a month ago, the entire horse community was shocked to hear that renowned Quarter horse trainer Troy Oakley had been rushed to Baylor Heart Center in Plano, Texas with symptoms resembling a heart attack. Only later did doctors discover that Oakley was suffering from a Type A aortic dissection. After six hours in surgery and eight days in intensive care, Oakley was discharged and is now back at his home in North Carolina.

 “He is much better, but he is very weak,” Vicki says. “I think his pain is getting better and right now his weakness is probably holding him back more than anything.”

She says that Oakley is able to walk around the house some everyday, as long as he feels able.

“I think he is out of the woods now,” Vicki says. “The main priority is keeping his blood pressure under control.”

Vicki says that stabilizing his blood pressure is the chief concern of his doctors. According to a description given by the Columbia University Medical Center, “an aortic dissection, or dissecting aneurysm, is a tear within the inner lining of the aorta.”

The type of aortic dissection Oakley suffered from is considered to be the more common, but more dangerous of the two. This is because a Type A dissection occurs in the ascending aorta, the major blood vessel that supplies the brain. While a Type A is considered to be a surgical emergency, with a mortality rate of 3-5% per hour after the initial onset, Type B, which involves a tear in the descending aorta, can be treated with medication.

“What they repaired was the large aorta headed towards the brain,” Vicki says. “Now the aorta going toward his stomach is weak, but they can’t repair that, they can just control it with blood pressure medication.”

As far as a timeline for his recovery is concerned, doctors predict Oakley will be able to return to normal activities in two or three more months, Vicki says.

“He has improved a lot, he just doesn’t think so,” Vicki says. “But I can see him getting better.”

In fact, Vicki reports that Oakley has been catching up on his football as a way to alleviate the boredom of bed rest.

Vicki also commented on the outpouring of support their family has received from the horse community.

“We have had so many calls and letters, it makes you feel good that people you haven’t heard from for years are calling to see how he is doing,” Vicki says. “You don’t realize how much you need that or how much it means to you until it happens.”

More Monkey Business

 What kind of animals would you expect to see at a horse show? Horses? Definitely. Dogs? More than likely. But monkeys? Well, no one would’ve ever imagined such a thing, that is until now.

            If you frequent some of the major Paint horse shows in the Texas area you have probably become acquainted with Tohni Jones of Trademark Ranch and her one-year-old Capuchin monkey named Romo. Thanks to this modern day Dian Fossey, the sight of a tiny primate perched atop a horse has become a familiar one for Paint horse exhibitors.

            Jones says she has always had monkeys and currently operates her own wildlife rehab center just outside of Wise County, Texas. As a federally licensed rehabilitation specialist with a degree in zoology, the animals she treats include lions, tigers, baboons, cougars, owls and even snakes.

            “The animals we get are the ones that people have purchased for pets, that are now ill or that need to be pulled out of a zoo,” Jones says. “The goal is always to put the animals back into the wild.”

            However, Jones found herself in a difficult situation about a year ago, when a very sick 10 day old Capuchin monkey came to her rehab center.

            “I had him on me 24/7 for the first couple of months because baby monkeys need to cling to their mothers,” Jones says.

            After spending so much time with him, it soon became clear to Jones that since this baby monkey had become so attached to her, he would be better suited as a pet as opposed to being rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

            “His name was going to be Romeo,” Jones says. “But monkeys don’t do well with three syllable names and my husband really likes the Dallas Cowboys, so I named him Romo.”

            In fact, Romo is often seen proudly sporting his diaper cover with the trademark Texas star, perhaps to pay homage to his namesake, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

            Because Romo was so sick for the first few weeks of his life, Jones says he will probably only grow to be four pounds rather than the typical six to ten pound range common for Capuchins.

            Up until just recently, Romo was the only monkey in Jones’s life. However, with the addition of a new member to the family, Romo will have to share the spotlight from now on. Jones recently put in an order at a private breeder for a four month old female Capuchin, but what she received was a four week old baby who was so sick that she could hardly hold her head up. Jones says that she considered sending the tiny female back, but couldn’t once she looked into her “big seal eyes.”

            Romo’s new little sister Risky has already found her place alongside her big brother traveling around in the family motor home to local horse shows. When the pair isn’t in their two story cage at the front of Jones’s stalls, they spend their time in a playpen in the motor home.       “They’re just like having children,” Jones says. “Romo likes to string toilet paper throughout the motor home and on the way to the show he pulled all of the wet naps out of container and spread them all over the bedroom.” 

            Jones says that Capuchins won’t chew up your shoes and destroy things, like some dogs do. However, they do like to hide things from you, she says.

            Capuchins are the closest primate to humans, because they are the smartest and easiest to communicate with, Jones says. This breed of monkey is often used in the military to sneak into enemy camps to send messages to prisoners of war, and even as a service animal to help handicap people by brushing their owner’s teeth and microwaving food.

            In fact, Jones is very proud of the fact that on October 10^th Romo will receive his service animal vest and be able to accompany her everywhere she goes. The preliminary animal service training begins when a monkey receives its vest and is taken into the public so it can get used to being around people, she says. The goal is to teach them not to constantly seek the attention of others.

            “They are not like apes or other larger primates,” Jones says. “They don’t have super human strength and think more independently than apes do.”

            As far as Romo’s diet is concerned, Jones says that he eats meat, vegetables and fruit, but definitely prefers McDonald’s cheeseburgers to his monkey chow. Romo also drinks two bottles of baby formula a day and Risky gets her bottle every three hours.

            Looking toward the future, Capuchin monkeys have a life span of 40 to 50 years, so Jones has prepared by developing a trust fund for both monkeys and selecting guardians to care for them.

            While Romo does have many admirers at the horse shows, there are a few people who have expressed concern about the possible dangers of having a monkey around horses.

            “He is out at the barn and rides with me every day,” Jones says. “I have never had a horse be scared of him; he is more scared of them.”

            She says that Romo likes to ride with her as long as he is securely tucked inside her sweatshirt, but would never jump off because then he would have to actually touch a horse.

            “They chirp like a bird,” she says. “So if your horse isn’t afraid of birds, it won’t be afraid of a monkey.”

            Jones believes that Romo thoroughly enjoys going to horse shows and would be devastated if she ever left him at home.

            “If he sees me packing he pulls on my leg and throws himself down on the floor,” she says. “He doesn’t like to be left behind.”

Waco, Texas Wrap-up

According to reports from the “Warm-up for the APHA Fall World Championship Show” in Waco this weekend, several people will be filling out judge’s evaluation forms to comment on what they believe to be the unsatisfactory performance of a few judges.

As the last day of the show came to a close, the barns were a buzz of activity as a number of people passed out judge’s evaluation forms and insisted that exhibitors and trainers fill in their own comments on the judge’s performance and send them in to APHA.

Some of the complaints included a judge making inappropriate comments to youth exhibitors, setting up patterns incorrectly and numerous instances where cards had to be sent back down to the judges because some exhibitor numbers that were written down weren’t in the class.

Additionally, people commented on the questionable placing of several classes, a judge who altered his/her positioning in a showmanship class to accommodate different horses, a judge who asked an exhibitor his/her opinion about the setting up of a pattern and even allowed an exhibitor, who was competing in the class, to physically assist in the setting up of a pattern.

It is important to note that the opinions about the judges performance included within this blog are not those of the author or of The Equine Chronicle in general, but of the individuals who volunteered the information for this blog.

Another hot topic from the Waco show was the final results of the Super Horse Competition. The winner, who received a saddle, was Chris Schoeneburg with Instant Cowgirl. The second place exhibitor, who also received a saddle, was Chris Schoeneburg with Pepto Flyer.

Waco, Texas

Due to the storm that has been showering Waco with rain of biblical proportions, the power went out at the Heart of Texas Fairgrounds last night. Or this morning rather, since it was 12:30 am. While one unlucky working cowhorse exhibitor was completing his reining pattern, the lights went off and didn't come back on until 4:30 am. As a result of this unexpected power outage, the remaining cowhorse, reining and speed classes that were unable to be completed last night started back at 7:00 this morning. Therefore, the halter that was supposed to start this morning will be delayed for approximately 2-3 hours until last night's classes can be completed. Oh, the excitement that comes along with showing horses!

A recap of yesterday's results for the second set of judges, Betty Wilson and Jim Mulhausen, is as follows. Earnest Wilson and JR Smokin Bear won the All Age Cutting, Kaden King and Fax Me A Sock won the Novice Youth Trail, Sherie Elsey and Forever N Ever won the Novice Amateur Trail, and Amanda Ringer and Timeless Assets won the Junior Trail.

Stay tuned to see what the weather will bring, and other exciting updates from the "Warm-up for The APHA Fall World Championship Show," in Waco, Texas ...

2x2 show in Waco, Texas

With the APHA World Championship Fall Show a little less than two months away, many Paint horse exhibitors chose to attend the first ever "2x2 show," in Waco, Texas. The event is organized by the combined efforts of the Texas Paint Horse Club and the Northeast Texas Paint Horse Club. By combining the two club's shows, exhibitors are able to squeeze two full show days into the three day weekend. Our referees for this show are Sherry Haynes, Michael Jesch, Jim Mulhausen and Betty Wilson.

One of the highlights for this weekend is the "2x2 Super Horse" competition. For exhibitors who show in halter and at least three different performance categories, the possible prizes include saddles for both Highpoint and Reserve Highpoint and buckles for 3rd through 6th place.

Today's competitors had the option of showing in halter, showmanship, hunter under saddle, over fences, equitation, longeline, horsemanship, western riding and speed classes. A recap of today's results is as follows: Paige Stawicki with HR Zip Me won both the 18 and under and Open Hunter Under Saddle classes, Brittany Bevis and Its All Bhindthe Zipr won the Amateur 19-44 showmanship, Jan Wolfe and Illustrated Zippo won the Amateur 45 &over showmanship, and Linda Hill and Zipped Up Rockies won the Amateur 45 &over Horsemanship.

On the slate for tommorrow's schedule is western pleasure, reining, cowhorse, two sets of trail and more speed classes. Sunday features a complete show day, minus trail. Stay tuned for more results and an update on who is leading the Super Horse Competition...