On the Road

Horse Sports: A Bit Like Watching Grass Grow

By Emily Esterson, 3-30-06

A journalist friend recently sent me a note asking me what cutting is as applied to horses. I hadn't actually seen a live "cutting" (which actually sounds like something the veterinarian would do to a stallion) but I've watched plenty on TV and of course, I'm an avid consumer of horse magazines in all forms, so I could give him enough information for his story.

Yesterday, I'm happy to say, I watched a live cutting, and fittingly, I watched it in Ft Worth's Will Rogers Equestrian Center. How I ended up there is another story, but suffice it to say I followed the horse trailers coming into town and past the office where I happen to be working this week.

Cutting horses are fit and muscled and sit hard down on their haunches and spin left to right, right to left, matching the cow's every move. They are low to the ground and seem small from where I was sitting, especially compared to the mostly-male competitors. The judges (astride) stand in a circle; the cowboy picks out his cow, and begins his two minute run. Most competitors cut two or three cows during their three minute turn in front of the judges.

There's a quiet beauty to it: the horse crouches, watching that cow intently, spots an iota of movement left or right and moves a shoulder in that direction. Then the cow makes a move. The horse matches it, staying low to the ground. The cowboy keeps his hand on the horse's withers. he, too, seems stooped over in the saddle, low to the ground, closer to the cow's perspective.

I asked my companion how much skill is bred or trained or both into the horse and how much is rider control--because from a spectator's point of view it definitely looks like the cowboy is a mere passenger. Her answer--about 70/30, horse/rider. Of course that varies, but you have simply fall in love with a horse that moves so quickly and bristles with such confidence.

Like watching dressage, which is one of my preferred equestrian pursuits, or golf, which is a sure way to get in a Saturday afternoon nap, if you don't know what you're looking at, it's a bit like watching the grass grow. I, though, could have watched those horses move back and forth, left and right, for hours. It's skill and athleticism and muscle.

And money. Pure money. Equestrian pursuits are never cheap, but it seems cutting is the new "it" sport for the rich. The National Cutting Horse Association has a demographic advertisers might die for: Top level CEOs, company owners, oil and gas guys with big spreads and big wallets (and really big, luxurious horse trailers). A good horse sells for five figures and up to a million dollars. The trade show accompanying this cutting horse competition includes top-of-the-line tack and clothes and horse trailers that double as homes for the competitors, who spend an astonishing amount of time on the road.

English saddle or western, cowboy or dressage rider, the motivation seems the same: the love of the horse, the athleticism of the animal, and the fun of putting it to the test. Although I'm working today, I plan to go back at lunch time, and watch beauty at work.

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