The road to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth will go through Okotoks for some of the world’s best horsemen and women.
The Calgary Stampede qualifying rounds for penning and cutting will take place at the Okotoks Agricultural Society arenas this week. The penning is July 6-7 and the cutting is July 11.
Aldersyde’s Peter Fraser, a judge in the penning competition, said some of the best penners in the world will be riding for a berth in Calgary.
Penning starts with 30 head of cattle at the end of the arena and they are numbered from zero to nine. A number is called at which point three cowboys or cowgirls must ride down and separate the three cows with the co-ordinating number from the herd and move them into a pen at the other end of the arena.
“You get in trouble when a wrong numbered animal, which we call trash, comes across the centre line,” Fraser said. “You are only allowed to have one wrong numbered animal across the line at one time, any more and you will be disqualified.”
Any “trash” must be returned to the herd before the clock stops. Teams have up to a minute to herd all three cows into the pen.
The strategy used among the three riders will depend on the type of cattle.
“If the cattle are really wild, that will mean a lot of them will start leaking up to the trash line really quick,” Fraser said. “In those cases you might have one guy going in to get the cattle while the other two stay back to keep the cattle back.
“If the cattle are soft, that means two guys can cowboy up and go into to herd to get the animals. That makes it quick.”
He said with the high-quality of competitors in Okotoks, there will be some times less than 20 seconds and quite a few under 25.
“That is very rapid,” Fraser said. “These are the very best. We have them (competitors) coming from Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and across the western provinces.
The top 20 teams in each class in Okotoks will be in the running for the $220,000 prize money in Calgary.
“They will also be performing in front of the largest crowd to watch team penning ever in North America.”
The Calgary Stampede penning qualifier will begin at 8:30 a.m. on July 6 and 7 at the Okotoks Agricultural Society Arena north of Okotoks and will run for most of the day.
The finals for team penning will be held July 8 to 11 at the Saddledome.
A cut above
When it comes to a horse cutting competition, the best offense is a good defense.
A horse and rider trying to stop a cow from returning to its herd has to act like a defenceman in hockey or a defensive back trying to stop a wide receiver from going downfield, explained Guy Heintz, a world-class cutter from the Cayley area who won the Calgary Stampede Open in 2007.
“I always say think of defence,” Heintz said. “That horse is just like a defencman. He is jumping backwards counter-acting the moves… It’s total defence.”
In cutting horse competition, horse and rider cut a cow from the herd and work the animal as it tries to get back to the herd. Once the cow has been cut from the herd, the rider drops his hands and the horse is working on his own.
Typically, two or three animals are cut in the allotted two-and-a-half minutes.
“The more time you spend cutting the higher you’re going to mark,” Heintz said. “If you are trying to cut four cows, you aren’t going to score very high.”
An ideal cow will be out in front of the horse jumping back and forth, trying to get back to the herd while the horse is mirroring its every move.
“A cutting horse is basically like a border collie,” Heintz said. “He is very intense, low and ‘crouchy’”. Heintz said the rider might use his legs to give a few cues, but not too much.
Scott Wardley, president of the Alberta Cutting Horse Association, said its members are now competing after concerns about the horse herpes virus.
In fact, Wardley plans to compete in the non-pro category in the Stampede cutting competition.
Wardley, who lives outside of Okotoks, was a finalist in the non-pro division last year, on board his horse, Hah Rey.
The qualifier in Okotoks starts at 8 a.m. on Monday.
