Photo by Jennifer Paulson

Are you an experienced, motivated rider who’s up for a new challenge? Does your horse need to be freshened out of same-old-same-old doldrums?

The one-two punch of box-only cow horse class, which also requires reined work, is offered through National Reined Cow Horse Association events, as well as in American Quarter Horse Association competition at youth and amateur levels, including their novice and Select counterparts. These organizations have made cow horse events more accessible and enticing to riders in all parts of the country.

Your horse should be bight and focused when waiting for your cow.

Photo by Jennifer Paulson

Read on, and NRCHA World Champion trainer Blue Allen’s insight will help you decide if you and your horse are ready to get in the ring, as well as explain what’s necessary to have a knockout boxing performance.

What Is It?
“The most important thing to know about the box-only class is that it doesn’t take any less a rider or horse to show in it versus traditional cow horse classes where you take a cow down the fence in addition to boxing it,” advises Allen, from Alamosa, Colorado. “There’s a saying: ‘If you can’t control the cow on the short side (boxing), then you don’t stand much of a chance going down the fence.’ It takes a good rider, with a trained horse, to compete in this class.”

That said, if you and your horse are skilled enough to try out the event, it has two elements: reined work and boxing.

In the reined work, you’ll complete a reining pattern, consisting of the same elements of a National Reining Horse Association pattern—circles with speed changes and lead changes, spins, stops, rollbacks, and a backup.

After your reined work, you’ll move to the end of the pen and call for your cow, where you’ll have 50 seconds to box the cow and show off your horse’s-and your own—cow sense. This is when the real fun starts.

Calling for Your Cow
Once you complete the final maneuver of your reined-work pattern, you’ll trot to the end of the arena where the cattle await in an adjacent pen. This brief time is when you’ll clear your mind and get focused on the cow work. Stop and set yourself up to call for the cow. Leave enough space between you and the fence that you’re confident there’s enough room for you to either stay off your cow if it’s got a little zip to start, or to step toward the cow if it starts off a little dull. (It’s all part of “reading the cow,” which we’ll discuss later.)

Your ability to read your cow will let you know if you need to ride more aggressively on a duller cow, like the one shown here.

Photo by Jennifer Paulson

“Just before you call for your cow by nodding at the gate man, get yourself situated in a confident position, so you’re ready to take control,” Allen notes. “Your horse should be bright, with his ears forward to show that he’s ready, but he shouldn’t be overly strong. He should be set in position and wait patiently rather than anticipate what’s going to happen.”

First Encounter
When your cow comes into the arena, keep your eyes glued on it for the duration of the run.

Your first impression of the cow will give you insight into its temperament—it’s called “reading a cow.”

“Your ability to read a cow comes with lots of practice working many different types of cows,” Allen continues. “When you’re at home or taking lessons, expose yourself to as many cattle as possible, study their reactions to different kinds of pressure, and keep solid mental notes that you can quickly recall when your cow enters the arena at a show, so you can determine what it’ll take to best work the cow.”

No matter what type of cow you get, it’s what you’re stuck with for the next 50 seconds, unless the judge calls for a new cow, which is a rare occurrence.

Greg Ward with Fillinic, the unknown mare he bought in 1962 with $3,000 borrowed from his mother. Fillinic set the young trainer on a path to stardom.

When the call came, I wept. Greg Ward, four-time National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit futurity winner, leading breeder of futurity winners, perennial supporter of the reined cow horse industry, had died December 6, 1998, of cancer. He was 63.

Just two months earlier, he’d claimed his fourth NRCHA Futurity world championship with the most inspirational performance I’d witnessed in 20 years of equine journalism. Visibly battling the illness that would kill him, he piloted his homebred stallion Reminics Pep, a fourth-generation futurity champion, to an astonishing 12-point victory.

The event he won has been called the triathlon of performance horses. It consists of herd work (similar to cutting), a reining pattern, and work with a single cow “down the fence.” It’s a grueling challenge for the hale and hearty. For Ward, whose medical treatments had included 17 hours of cancer surgery, then kidney stone removal, it was an ordeal. But he gutted it out, beating the likes of Bob Avila, Ted Robinson, Bobby Ingersoll, and Doug Williamson.

I thought of his hat, a battered straw Resistol, size 7 1⁄4, that I’d bought at an NRCHA fundraising auction in the ’80s. It was then and is still sweat-stained and dirty, with smudged strips of double-stick tape inside the crown. The brim dips down in the front and back, as all of Ward’s hats did, and so it reminds me of him.

I paid $40 for it, and would’ve gladly paid much, much more. Here’s why.

A Dynasty Begins
Greg Ward was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, the son of a real-estate broker father and schoolteacher mother. His first real contact with horses came in high school, when he packed during the summertime for the Yosemite Park and Curry Company. A gifted athlete, he also played varsity football, baseball, and basketball, but his hopes for an athletic scholarship were ruined when a tractor accident his senior year damaged his peripheral vision. He went on to study animal husbandry at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, where he competed on the rodeo team and began a lifelong love affair with roping.

In 1957, at the age of 21, he married his high-school sweetheart, Laura “Shorty” Odle. He then left college to earn a living as a ranch hand for Floyd Lamb in Alamo, Nevada, where he learned, to his chagrin, that “cowboying” had more to do with putting up hay than with riding horses. Later he returned to Bakersfield to work in the feedlots before landing a job as an apprentice with horse trainer Harry Rose. They became partners, and Ward was later fond of saying that he and the curmudgeonly horseman “split everything down the middle—Harry took the profits, and I took the losses.”

In 1960, Ward went out on his own, establishing the Greg Ward training Stable in Porterville, California. He and Laura also started their family. (Son John went on to attend college on a baseball scholarship, later joining his father in horse training. Daughters Wende and Amy, also talented athletes who rode horses, are now both married with children.)

In 1962, at age 26, Ward made a purchase that was to alter the course of his life. With $3,000 borrowed from his mother, he bought a 4-year-old Quarter Horse he had in training. A smallish mare, she’d arrived in California with a carload of horses from a Clovis, New Mexico, sale yard. By a sire Ward said “nobody’d ever heard of” and out of a half-Thoroughbred mare, Fillinic was hot-tempered, sensitive, and quick as a cat. It was that catty athleticism and a deerlike lightness that convinced Ward he had to have her.

After a sensational show career, including wins at the premier stock-horse events of the day—the Salinas Rodeo and the Grand National Horse Show at the cow palace in San Francisco—Fillinic became a broodmare. Her 10 foals and their offspring changed the face of the Western-performance horse world and established a dynasty for the Ward ranch that includes the likes of cow-horse supersire Reminic, National Reining Horse Association Futurity champion Boomernic, and scores of cow horse snaffle bit futurity winners. See Ward's complete dossier.

It was the get and grand-get and great-grand-get of Fillinic—the fruits of a breeding program cannily orchestrated by Ward—that the horseman rode to such renown over four decades, the 1960s through the ’90s.

Can your horse roll back on the fence? You may think of rollbacks as part of a reining pattern or something a cow horse does. But in fact there are many practical reasons why you might want your horse to perform a rollback—even if you never set foot in a reining or cow horse pen.

In this month’s arena exercise, I’ll show you how to teach your horse to roll back along the fence. You’ll ride a circle near the fence, then approach the fence at a 45-degree angle. You’ll let the fence stop your horse, then use your leg and rein to ask him to collect himself on his hindquarters, execute a 180-degree rollback, and continue in the opposite direction.

Why You Need This
Rollbacks are the easiest way to start teaching your horse to move his front end, work off his hindquarters, and collect himself. They’re especially beneficial for horses that want to run around on their front end and resist carrying more of their weight on their hindquarters.

This exercise is also great for horses with “sticky feet” because it gives them a reason to get up and go somewhere.

Another advantage of rollbacks is that you can start teaching them even with a colt that’s had only five to 10 rides, because you’re not forcing him into anything—you’re just using the fence to redirect his energy.

Bottom line: Mastering the rollback will improve your horse’s steering, collection, and overall attitude. Plus it will set you up for next month’s arena exercise, stopping on whoa.

For Best Results…
• Practice this exercise next to a sturdy fence that’s ideally at least 5 feet high. Avoid fences that are too short, made of flimsy or barbed wire, or potentially dangerous in any way, as these could cause injury to you or your horse.
• Outfit your horse in a snaffle bit; you’ll be riding with two hands for clearest communication.
• Do groundwork first to get your horse relaxed and using the thinking side of his brain.
• Learn this exercise at a brisk trot. I prefer to ride a rollback at a lope, and the photos show me at that gait, but I recommend you start at a trot so you can understand the steps before

going faster.
• Allow at least three or four sessions of working on this exercise, ideally on consecutive days, to give your horse enough time to “get it.”

As your horse rocks back and turns into the pocket you've just created, look back over your inside shoulder to put your body in the same position as your horse's body, making it easier for him to balance and come through the turn.

Here's How
Warm your horse up by walking, trotting, and loping around your arena’s perimeter. When you’re ready to begin, hold the reins in both hands, with your hands comfortably out in front of you. (For this exercise, your hands should never come back past the saddle horn. If they do, your reins are too long and you won’t be able to be effective with your cues and timing.) Ride your horse at a brisk trot, posting (rising slightly out of the saddle every other step) if need be.

Now, begin making a 50-foot circle right next to one of the long sides of your fence. Every time you come around to the fence, you should be near enough that you could reach out and touch it with your hand.

Complete at least two circles, or as many as needed to get your horse to relax. When he does, as you come around to the fence, approach it at a 45-degree angle (see diagram). This will create a “pocket” for your horse to roll back into. (If you were to draw up to the fence so that your horse’s body was parallel to it, he wouldn’t be able to get his front end around without bumping into the fence. He’d have to kick his hindquarters out before bringing his front end through—the opposite of what you want. The goal is for him to stick his hindquarters in the ground and roll over his hocks.)

Watch Clinton perform a rollback on the fence at the video below.

Lucas Metal Works, Inc. has generously agreed to provide the premiere arena grooming tool, “The Ground Hog.”

The Ground Hog Arena Tool was designed in 1996 by an avid arena owner, Raymond Lucas, who wasn’t satisfied with the arena grooming tools that were making their way through arenas throughout the nation. Raymond desired to have one tool, that could groom the arena ground in one pass, and produce the same consistent result every pass of the unit, safe and flawlessly conditioned ground. Having been the grandfather and father of national renowned barrel racers he was able to observe the downfalls of other tools throughout the nation. In 1996 Raymond developed the first model of The Ground Hog Arena Tool that enabled arena owners to not only rework the surface with the unit’s hydraulically operated ripper shanks but also fill in the holes that are dug by the horse when going around a barrel. This was accomplished with the unit’s double grader blades, which allow for dirt to be carried by the unit and in turn evenly distributed throughout the arena. Allowing for the unit’s pegged finishing roller to lastly compact and finish the ground safely for the horse and rider.

NIRA Commissioner, Roger Walters said, “We are very happy to have the support and assistance of Lucas Metal Works with their generous contribution to the 2012 CNFR.” He added, “The success and safety of our contestants is paramount, and with the use of The Ground Hog, we feel we can better our production and provide added safety for the participants.”

Lucas Metal Works Director of Marketing, Anthony Tucker, said, “On behalf of The Ground Hog Arena Tool brand and the parent company, Lucas Metal Works, we couldn’t be more excited about our recent agreement with commissioner Roger Walters and the College National Finals Rodeo to become the official ground tool of the 2012 College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. We strongly support and advocate for opportunities for young adults to further their education through the opportunities provided by collegiate sports. In addition our company has a long history in the rodeo industry having had several nationally renowned barrel racers within the Lucas family we strongly support rodeo as a sport in universities and colleges across our great country. We look forward to providing safe and flawlessly conditioned ground for all participants in the 2012 College National Finals Rodeo. We hope that the relationship with the CNFR and The Ground Hog Arena Tool will continue to grow to allow for future opportunities for The Ground Hog Arena Tool with the CNFR. We look forward to seeing all participants and spectators in Casper, Wyoming.”

Lucas Metal Works recently added an optional watering system to the unit to allow for the user to maintain the moisture of the surface in their respective arena. This in essence also helps keep the horse and rider sound again by not allowing dust to enter both horse and riders’ lungs. In addition to allowing the unit’s rippers to work the surface easier with moisture now present in the surface’s terrain.

Consistent, that is the word The Ground Hog’s manufacturer, Lucas Metal Works, hears the most when talking with their customers who own the unit. That is exactly what Raymond set out to accomplish when designing The Ground Hog for his family of barrel racers, a unit that was consistent ever time you used it. Now arena owners, barrel racers, rodeo associations, expo centers, and the granddaddy of all rodeos, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), trust The Ground Hog Arena Tool to provide them with the consistent safe surface they seek.
For more information about The Ground Hog Arena Tool and The Ground Hog Watering System:
Call a Ground Hog Expert 866-689-8904 or visit www.TheArenaTool.com

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The national headquarters of the NIRA are located in Walla Walla, Washington. More information on the association and results from recent events available on www.collegerodeo.com.

Press Releases for the NIRA are sponsored by our friends and national sponsors: Ram Rodeo, Copper Spring Ranch, Cactus Ropes, Cactus Saddles, Heel-O-Matic, ProEquine Products, Maynard Buckles, Wrangler Jeans, and Powder River Livestock Handling Equipment

Controlling the environment during the breaking-in process also reduces the chance of injury, such as knocking a steer down and breaking a horn. What you’re basically doing when you break in fresh steers is keeping them in a pattern going straight down the arena and teaching them to lead on the end of the rope.

There’s also a point to be made here about the feed management of steers. I’m not saying to starve steers down, but you don’t want steers full when you rope them anymore than you’d want to play basketball on a full belly. The level of nutrition is dependent on the type of steers you’re roping. You don’t want to free feed strong, Longhorn-type cattle, but you might want to free feed dairy-type muleys that you use to train young horses. It’s been a common observation of mine that recreational ropers sometimes overfeed their steers, and those strong steers start getting away and learn bad habits. That results in steers with a high degree of difficulty, which aren’t much fun to practice on. In fact, there are times when you might want to go back to the breaking-in process to get your practice cattle shaped back up into steers you want to rope.

When you put your rope on in the chute, you’re ready to leave with the steer so he doesn’t get to running fast the first few times you turn him. This avoids possible injury, and helps condition a steer to being turned on the end of the rope. You may have to turn a steer repeatedly before he’s ready to heel.

Leaving with the steer doesn’t allow him to build a lot of momentum before you turn him. You’re also functionally hazing the steer to go straight. You do have to be careful not to leave too early, as that can head one off and cause him to stop. That’s something you want to avoid, because it’s a potential bad habit once the steer learns to get away by doing it.

This steer has been turned a couple times going down the arena and is now staying on the end of the rope and hopping in stride, which is the desired result. Steers should be turned in a controlled manner until you reach this end.

Fresh steers that want to run up the rope or cut behind the head horse should be heeled, stopped and held for a short time, because it helps pattern them to stay on the end of the rope. Steers that get caught consistently will automatically do this, but steers that are getting away should be turned until you can heel them and hold them for a few seconds.

This has the leaders in the roping community crying foul because it will dramatically alter the economics of the roping industry since the cheapest—and in many opinions, best—roping cattle come from south of the border. And perhaps more significantly, these industry leaders feel the horned cattle are being singled out as a scapegoat for the Mexican-originated bovine tuberculosis problem.

About 85% of the 16,000 roping cattle imported come from the state of Chihuahua. (About 1 million feeder steers cross the border each year.) And this ruling came down after the discovery of one roping steer in Arizona infected with bovine TB. However, Lindsay Cole, Public Affairs Specialist for APHIS said that there are eight confirmed cases and four pending cases of Mexican-originated TB in feeder cattle. The problem is that the feeder cattle are still allowed to cross from Chihuahua with inspection from USDA-approved veterinarians. Horned cattle are not.

“It’s political rhetoric and these Corrientes are an easy scapegoat,” said Kirk Bray, president of the United States Team Roping Championships. “They’re accepting feeder cattle as long as they’ve been TB tested by a Mexican vet on an USDA-approved list. But if Corrientes are tested by that same vet, they won’t let them cross.”

In addition to cutting off the flow of horned cattle, the USDA will downgrade the state of Chihuahua from Modified Accredited to Accredited Preparatory as of August 18, 2011. Effective that date, the testing standards will change for all bovines coming from Mexico into the U.S. In the meantime, the beef producers in Mexico are sending cattle across the border as fast as possible before the standards change.

“The USDA is shoving beef cattle across the border as fast as you can imagine,” said Matt Sanchez, who imports about 75% of the roping cattle from Chihuahua to the major U.S. roping associations. “But to ‘address the TB issue,’ they’ve stopped crossing horned cattle. It’s politically driven and the beef industry is a big industry.”

“APHIS is under severe political pressure from dairy groups and state health officials to take some type of token action concerning the Mexican TB,” said Denny Gentry, owner and founder of the World Series of Team Roping.

Before June 20, bovines tested by USDA/SAGARPA (the Mexican version of the USDA)-approved Mexican veterinarians with the necessary paperwork could cross the border. Feeder cattle were not retested after crossing until slaughter, but rodeo cattle were.

Ward aboard the hot-tempered Fillinic, whose wins at premier stock-horse events of the '60s included the Salinas Rodeo and the Grand National Horse Show at the Cow Palace.

The June 2011 issue of Horse&Rider featured a touching, poignant tribute to “The Master”, reined cow horse trainer Greg Ward. Here’s his dossier to further demonstrate just how much of a successful trainer he was and what an important role he played in the development of the reined cow horse industry.

Born: October 8, 1935; Bakersfield, California.

Died: December 6, 1998; Visalia, California.

Lifelong Occupation: Professional horseman, breeder.

Major Accomplishments:

• Four NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity wins: Sugarnic, 1972; Sugar Remedy, 1981; Smokinic, 1986; Reminics Pep, 1998. Four futurity reserve championships: Sugar Fred, 1975; Nic A Chex, 1986; Peppy Remedy, 1988; Plain Sugar Remedy, 1992.
• Other NRCHA championships: Snaffle Bit Maturity, Roanie Blue Pony, 1985; Snaffle Bit Stakes, Sister Train, 1991, and Just Sugar Remedy, 1993; All-Around Stock Horse Contest (herd work, steer stopping, reined work, and cow work), 1974, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’90, ’92.
• National Cutting Horse Association Futurity finalist seven times; semi-finalist 12 times; NCHA earnings over $800,000. 1981 NCHA Futurity champion stallion honors and third-place finish with Reminic.
• 1975 Pacific Coast Cutting Futurity Champion on Sugar Fred (not affiliated with the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association and predating the PCCHA Futurity).
• 1973 Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Maturity reserve champion on Sugarnic. 1981 PCCHA Futurity co-reserve champion on Sugar Remedy. 1993 PCCHA Cutting Stakes champion on Just Mister Dual.
• Raised and trained numerous well-known stallions, including Boomernic, 1992 NRHA Futurity champion; Dual Pep, winner of over $300,000 in NCHA purses; and leading cow-horse sires Master Remedy and Reminic. Owned and/or stood at stud stallions Docs Remedy, Just Plain Colonel, and Sugar Vandy.
• The Ward Ranch has produced 143 NRCHA Futurity finalists from 197 through 2010, including nine open champions, six open reserve champions, five non-pro champions, and six non-pro reserve champions.
• Ward Ranch mares, most related to the dynasty-founding mare Fillinic, have produced offspring earning well over $1.5 million in NCHA events alone.
• Received the PCCHA Dave McGregor Achievement Award for sportsmanship, 1995. Inducted into the NRCHA Hall of Fame, 1996. Inducted into Kern County (California) Hall of Fame, February 1999.

Mentors: His horses. (Developed his own methods by reading and watching others train and compete.)

Protégés: Son John Ward, the 1994 and 2008 NRCHA Futurity winner; Jon Roeser, 1990 NRCHA Futurity winner and three-time reserve champion. Also Bobby Cotta, Richard Fierreo, Crawford Hall, Gordon Hayes, Wayne Hinder, and Will Landers.

Winning non-pros: Billy Burton, Jimmy Dassel, Billy Freeman, Sheila Head, Jerry Westphal.

Surviving family: Wife, Laura “Shorty” Ward; son, John Ward, who’s carrying on his father’s legacy; two daughters, Wende Ward Lourenco and Amy Aguiar; multiple grandchildren; a brother, Kirk Ward.

In the June 2009 issue of Horse & Rider magazine, legendary horseman and Team H&R member Al Dunning helps our reader identify the characteristics of individual cattle before working them (Ask Team Horse & Rider, "Cattle 101," starting on page 77.)

Here's Al's debut Team Horse & Rider article from our December 2007 issue, "Cutting Aspirations." In this article, Al gives our reader--and you--the lowdown on what it really takes to be cutter, and how to do it without breaking the bank (cutting can be an expensive sport). He also provides detailed info about the cattle used for cutting, and what kind of horse it takes to get the job done. (To order a copy of this issue, call 877-717-8928.)

Question: I've always been interested in cutting, but have never had the opportunity to try it. I've watched cutting events at some of the big shows, and I think I'm a competent enough rider to do it. For the last two years, I've shown my 7-year-old Quarter Horse gelding in barrels and reining, and we've done quite well.

I don't know if he's ever had experience with cows, but he's pretty athletic. Can I make him a cutting horse, or do I need to buy a horse specifically bred to cut? I've also heard that cutting can be pretty expensive. Is there a way to do it on a smaller budget?
Ben Neil
Scott City, Kan.

Answer: Ben, I'm going to shoot straight with you--cutting is an expensive sport. Top-notch cutting horses are expensive; the show entry fees are high; and buying and maintaining cows is costly. The good news: There are ways to participate on a smaller budget. Many local clubs and NCHA affiliates offer shows for novice riders at a more affordable cost. Some provide facilities and practice sessions for riders who don't own cows. But, if you aim to compete at the big shows, you'll need to lay down a good chunk of change. In my following tips, I'm going to address cutting at the novice level and give you advice on how to participate without spending a fortune.

GETTING STARTED

I suggest you watch some cutting events before putting in the money, effort, and time required to pursue the sport. Since you've already attended some cutting shows, you've got a good head start, but I urge you to watch a few lower-level cutting shows. It's important to note the differences between the big dogs and the novice riders. Only watching world-show competitors will likely leave you feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. Keep in mind that many of these riders are pros; you'll be starting as a beginner.

Next, find a local cutting group. Go to the National Cutting Horse Association's website to find an affiliate group in your vicinity. If you can't find a group near you, and trailering your horse to the nearest affiliate isn't an option, call the closest chapter and ask about your area. You might find a small group with the facilities and means to practice. You can also call NCHA's main office and ask for suggestions, or ask fellow horsemen and women in your area or your local tack/feed store owners for leads.

Another good way to prepare is by watching instructional videos and reading books on cutting techniques--and to brush-up on your riding skills. These are also great tune-up tools prior to a competition.

Trainer, First

The most important thing on your cutting "agenda" is to find a good trainer. A good trainer will give you constructive criticism to build your self-esteem and help you enjoy the sport. Cutting is not a sport you can just "pick up" on your own. The NCHA's website has a list of qualified trainers, so look for one in your area.

Once you have some prospects, attend several of their lessons to determine if his/her teaching style is right for you. I also suggest you observe a prospective trainer's coaching techniques at a show to see how he works in a stressful environment. Your trainer should also provide the facilities to practice, and help you determine what tack is best for your horse (more on this below).