“Horses are born cheats,” New Zealand Cutting horse Association President, Graeme McInnes, claimed.

Steve Gregory - riding Hillbilly Boy.

“You can show a horse the right way to do something a thousand times, and trust them with it, but on the thousand and first they’ll do it wrong! That is why the discipline of western riding is so good. It is always a challenge and you simply don’t let your horse do things wrong.”

Rural Living caught up with Graeme at a Cutting event in Northland recently.

 “Western riding evolved from the pioneering days of the American West. With enormous ranges to cover, riders needed a specific kind of animal to serve them and their job.

“They had to move easily and do everything in a nice relaxed manner. They should flow from one obstacle to another with a very loose rein, while being completely under control, and above all be willing to do their job. This led to the ‘pleasure horse’.

“With such long distances to cover a horse needed to have a ground-covering gait that allowed the cowboy to see the problems as he travelled. There are three gaits upon which a horse will be judged at competition – the walk, the jog and the lope. All are relaxed and easy, and at the end of the day a cowboy should be able to say – ‘Well, that horse was just a pleasure to ride’.”

The art of cutting was a development of western riding, caused by the need to sort large heads of cattle.

Catherine Ladd, riding Royal Whiz.

“Out on the ranges they didn’t have pens to hold their cattle, and the easiest way to separate them was by using a horse with good cow sense to cut them out of the herd, for branding, vaccinating or sorting. From that, the contest and a set of sophisticated rules, developed.

“A rider has two and a half minutes in which to ‘hold’ a cow. In that time they need to be able to cut out the animal they chose from the herd and prevent it from getting back to join them. The rule book states that if the rider takes two steps towards a cow, then that is the cow the rider has chosen.

“Very much a part of the art of cutting is selecting your cows well – if you chose a feisty one, it will run all over you and lose you points. Some of the professionals make notes as the contest takes place, and will avoid cows that have already been cut out.

“There again you do get bonus points if you chose a skittish animal and you can hold it. The intriguing part is that you can be the top rooster one day and the feather duster the next. If you pick the wrong cow your whole contest can turn to custard quickly!

“You’ll find the top cutters are top cattle people too – and a major component of these competitions is that we change the cattle regularly. It helps to understand your cattle to be a good cutter. You need to look after their welfare too.”

Graeme is saddened that the image of ‘cowboys’ has such negative connotations. “We really have to fight that image, as western movies have done us no favours what-so-ever.

“You frequently see completely the opposite of what western riding is about in movies, which is finesse and control. That’s why we are so happy to do exhibitions at Mystery Creek and Field Days to demonstrate what an exacting sport and art this is.”