Herd Work Basics
Learn a little more about herd work from world champion trainer Brad Barkemeyer.
In a reined cow horse competition, there are three components a horse and rider must compete in. The herd work, reined work, and fence work. The basic fundamentals of herd work are to enter a herd of cattle, cut one out from the herd, and work it for an appropriate amount of time while keeping it away from the rest of the herd.
You’ll have 2 1/2 minutes to work up to three cows, and in that time the judge will assess the form and quality of your horse while working the cow.
Keeping Calm
Before you even approach the herd, it’s important to take a deep breath and relax. While it’s easy to have your adrenaline rushing as you walk in the show pen, the last thing you want to do is run toward the herd and have them scatter in every direction. So avoid any sudden or fast-paced movements. Instead, slowly approach the herd, which lets the cattle know they are free to just walk out away from you and then deliberately make your cut. This is also going to keep your horse more relaxed in the long run. If you have high energy every time you approach a cow, your horse will feed off the energy, which can creat anxiousness and lack of control.
Give yourself and your horse the advantage by starting your work quietly in the middle of the pen. This will give you a greater chance of maintaining control of the cow.
Cutting The Cow
When you’re cutting a cow, there are two ways to approach the herd.
You can search out a specific cow, or you can bring a group of cattle out and allow all of them to travel back to the herd except the last one. This is referred to as cutting for shape. When just starting, It’s very common to cut for shape.
However, you might notice that during the cutting, some riders sit in the arena on their horses and take notes on the cattle as others compete, so they know what cows to work and what cows to avoid.
The disposition of the herd, how experienced