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E-Quine E-Tips Free educational newsletter for horse enthusiasts! http://Equinetips.HaveYourOwnHorseShow.com September 17,2004 You are receiving this because you subscribed. If you have changed your mind, and would rather not receive it, there are instructions for discontinuing at the end of the newsletter. Questions or comments? Send them to dusty@duo-county.com Contents 1. Welcome 2. Article 3. Resources 4. Fun 5. Privacy Policy 6. Subscribe and unsubscribe 7. Disclaimer 1. Welcome to Equine E-tips. Can you beleive it's almost Fall? The summer has certainly flown by. The absolutely best time for trail riding is about to BE HERE! (My opinion:)) The weather is much more conducive to horse and rider alike to set out for a day of adventure. Cool temperatures and beautiful Fall color schemes are at their peak very soon. I hope you find some useful info in this issue that gets you out of the house, and onto the trail, wherever you might be! You can also look forward to some early Christmas specials I am looking into for you only, as subscribers to this list. You will be kept posted! If you would like to contribute an article, resource, or anything we would be happy to consider your submissions. Send them to dusty@duo-county.com Do you show your horse? We have a certified judge ready for any questions you might have. Send questions to dusty@duo-county.com with judge in the subject line by the 10th of the month to be published in the next available space. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this issue. I'm sure you will find something you were looking for! 2. Guest Article "Top Five Myths About Cutting Horses" By Larry Trocha A pro's advice about what it takes for a horse to be successful in the cutting arena. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright ?© 2004 Larry Trocha During my career as a professional horse trainer, I??™ve heard horse owners tell all kinds of reasons why they think their horse could be a winner in the cutting arena. Unfortunately, when it comes to cow horses, a lot of folks are misinformed as to what is fact and what is fiction. And of course, any time you're talking about horses, there are always exceptions to the rule. But, for the most part??¦ Here are a few of the most common myths. Myth #1. My colt should really make a great cutter. Whenever our "dog" goes into the pasture, the colt chases him around and works him just like cutting a cow. (For the word ???dog??? you could substitute ???goat???, ???another horse???, ???a person??? or ???whatever???). I wouldn??™t enter him up at the Fort Worth futurity just yet. Here??™s the usually disappointing truth. The dog isn??™t a cow??¦ The colt is doing this without a rider on his back??¦ And most importantly, the colt is doing this activity without any rules he has to adhere to. In reality, there are a lot of colts that like to have fun chasing something around. It??™s play, pure and simple. It??™s another thing entirely for a colt to become a cutter. First of all, the newness of working the cow will wear off and the training will eventually become work. When the colt finds out he has to work the cow with precision, form and style, he might not want to do it. That??™s why it??™s so important your cutting prospect is bred to be a cutter. If the sire and dam have the attributes to be successful in the cutting arena, the colt has a lot better chance of being successful also. Myth #2. My colt should make a great cutter. I rode him out to gather some cattle for the first time and he was really good. He wasn??™t bothered or scared by the cattle and acted like it was nothing new at all. Like I said earlier, there are always exceptions to the rule. But, when a colt doesn??™t show much of a reaction to a cow it usually means he??™s not going to be a good one. Every top cutting horse I??™ve ever trained, either was fearful of the cow and wanted to keep a safe distance from it or was aggressive towards the cow and wanted to dominate it. The 1990 NCHA futurity champion, Millie Montana, was the dominant kind. The very first time I worked her on a cow she wanted to take charge. Her head went down, her ears went back and everything about her body language told the cow that she was the boss. The great NCHA world champion mare, Doc N Missy, was the exact opposite. She was in my string when I was working for Gene Suiter in Arizona. I??™ll never forget her reaction the first time I introduced her to a cow. She was so scared of it she literally tried to jump out of the arena. The cow would be 150 feet away down at the other end of the arena, but that was too close for comfort for her. It actually took a couple months before she got confident enough to move the cow. Myth #3. My colt should make a great cutter. He is 99% foundation bred. His bloodlines trace back to Wimpy P1 five times on the top side and three times on the bottom. Those old foundation horses were real cow ponies. Now, if you own a foundation bred horse, don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way. Our topic here is modern-day "competition" cutting. I've ridden plenty of foundation bred horses that would definitely work a cow. But... If you go to any of the top cutting trainers and ask them to describe what it??™s like to try to get one of these old-time ???foundation bred??? horses to cut, here is the answer you??™ll get 9 out of 10 times: A - Most don??™t have enough cow or intensity to make it in modern-day cutting competition. B - They??™re difficult to train for today's type of cutting. For example, they either learn too slow to be ready for the futurity or they want to argue too much. C - If you manage to overcome A and B, it's still tough to win because many of them don??™t have the athletic ability and style of modern-day cutting horses. If you want your colt to be a good cutter, the least you can do is make sure he comes from bloodlines that produce good cutters. And yes, there are horses that are exceptions to the rule, but they are few and far between. Myth #4. My colt should make a great cutter. I??™m going to put him in training with this hot shot trainer for six months and have him shown at the cutting futurity. Actually, this is a misconception a lot of people have about training a cutting horse. It takes a long time to get a horse to the point of being "showable" at a contest. To have a colt ready for a futurity takes a minimum of 18 months of training. If the colt is an exceptionally fast learner, you might get lucky and have him ready in just one year. This means to have a colt ready to compete in the fall futurities as a 3year old, he needs to be started on cattle in early spring of his 2 year old year. Owners are afraid of starting their colts that young, fearing injury to the colt from starting him too early. In reality, a good trainer never works a young colt very hard. The idea is to give the colt a solid foundation built slowly so there is no stress. When this is done right, seldom will a colt get hurt. Myth #5. I??™m going to buy my first cutting horse and take him to a show next week-end. I should do pretty well. After all, cutting horses are trained to work on their own. The rider doesn't have to do anything but hang on. I sure wish it was that simple. It would make my job as trainer and coach much easier. It??™s true, cutting horses are trained to work on their own. However, the rider has a "big" influence on how well the horse works. An inexperienced rider can cause even the best cutting horse to make mistakes. The most common ones are??¦ rounding the turns, missing the stop and being out of sync with the cow. Most new cutters don??™t realize they could ruin their horse if they don??™t learn to ride correctly in a relatively short period of time. The best plan is to find a knowledgeable coach that will help you learn to ride your cutter the right way. If you're looking for the best cutting videos, click here: http://horsetrainingvideos.com/cuttersonly.htm Good luck, Larry Trocha --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teach Your Horse to Stop, Spin, Change Leads and Work Cattle California cutting and reining trainer, Larry Trocha has created the ultimate horse training videos. In each video, you'll see proven, easy to learn methods that are guaranteed to work. Check them out at www.HorseTrainingVideos.com. Get Larry's Horse Training Tips newsletter and video clips, Absolutely Free! Get them here: http://www.HorseTrainingTips.com @~@~@~@~ Thought about having your own horse show? It's not as hard as you might think. Step by step guide to all you need to know and materials you need to have. Easy to use show forms included. Simple directions to get ready, get set, and GO! http://www.HaveYourOwnHorseShow.com @~@~@~ 3. Resources Check out the absolutely easiest to use software for horse record keeping on earth. I tried a better known brand first, then went back to this with great relief. There is a free 30 day trial you can download! That is how I started. It didn't take me long to decide to upgrade! Fantastic customer support! Save yourself time and aggravation! The program I use is Equifacts Horse Management Software. When you get to the page, browse the catalog, then select computer software. (The Horse Software link on the main page was not working this morning). http://www.horseinfo.com/cgi-bin/main.pl?AID=048684&LID=3945 If you are going to take advantage of the upcoming season for trail riding, you can go to this link for a collection of tips for the trail. Covers many topics and potential situations. A lot of good information http://www.equisearch.com/sports/trailriding/archives/ Having trouble finding a place to trail ride? Here's a map of the U.S. you can use to find a good spot! http://www.horseandmuletrails.com/Ky.htm This next link has quite a bit of information. The part I want you to be sure and pick up is the very last link on the list. It's a pdf download of how to prepare for and go on a successful and safe trail ride, and how to take care of the trails you are enjoying. You can go to the site, then right click on the last link on the page (Horse Sense Pamphlet) and save it to you computer. http://www.kentuckyhorse.org/trail_guide/ Here is some pointers on how to prepare and care for your horse before and during a trail ride. http://www.californiastatehorsemen.com/enviro-whytrailride.htm 4. FUN! Here are some rather corny horsey jokes for you.... http://www.horsebarn.com/fun.html Horse Word Games! How much do you really know? http://www.kkreate.com/fun/ Horseland horseless horse owner game! Play the game online (without having to clean the stall!) http://www.horseland.com/ Check out these educational games on CD Rom! http://members.aol.com/dsaur/page4.html Do you like what you got in this newsletter? If so, tell a friend! They might like it too! 5. This is a strictly optin list. We value your privacy. Your details will never be sold, traded or exposed in any way. 6. To subscribe send a blank e-mail to 85168-subscribe@zinester.com . To unsubscribe there are instructions below. 7. The contents of this newsletter are for the purpose of information and entertainment only. E-Quine E-Tips is not responsible for any results, good or otherwise, from the use of any information contained. Please use good judgment and practice safety precautions when you are exposed to potentially harmful situations. Employ the services of a qualified professional when the need is indicated. Terry and Mary Porter 855 Melson Ridge Road Jamestown, Ky. 42629 |
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