THIS WEEKS CAN OF WORMS

A few days ago I posted an article about a couple of incidents that happened in the US that stirred interest and emotion over there. One was about HERDA, the other about raising the age of Futurity Horses. read article

It is apparent that raising the Futurity age of horses has stirred a bit of interest here in Australia as well, thanks to all those who have sent me emails on the article. I will post two emails that expresses the sentiment of all the others that have arrived here to date.

Before I do that here is an interesting piece of trivia for you. The first NCHA futuirty was staged in 1962. Up to that point the most prestigious title for a Cutting Horse to be awarded was WORLD CHAMPION CUTTING HORSE. At that stage twelve horses had won that title. The youngest horse to win the title was a six year old, four horses ages were unknown, five were seven year olds, one was nine, one was eleven and one was thirteen.

Kerry Forster wrote: "I read with interest your article regarding "people in the cutting fraternity now talking about raising the age of Futurity horses to four years olds." I agree it would be better for futurity horses to be 4 and not 3 therefore taking away the need to brake horses in as early as 18 months. Although would it?? It just might mean we end up with 4 year old futurity horses with one more years training. Making getting a futurity horse trained even more unaffordable for the average person.

Would love to hear some comments from professional trainers.

Keep up the good work, Kerry :)"

Well here is what one trainer has to say about the matter. John Howe wrote:

To Justcuttin.

                      I have been involved for over 30 years in the Cutting Horse industry, showing and training professionally in this event as well as Working Cowhorse, Challenges and Campdrafting. I have always felt there has been too much put on young horses to chase their “maiden”event as a 3YO. I have made this comment to Owners and other trainers over many years. There are lots of  issues involved in training young horses. The major problem areas are:

        1  Bone , joints, skeletal structure..

         2  Their mind, immaturity  

 Obviously where there is a weakness in either of these you end up with a 3yo not ready to show!! We all know that a Futurity horse these days needs to go like an “open”horse to be competitive. The result is we definitely end up with some cooked ones, in body and mind.

All our Junior Challenges up this way have always been 4 and under. These usually involve a 2 handed cutting, a dry work and down the fence or draft. Some are now being set at 5 and under! Only a handful of the entries are shown as 3yo's.

I remember back in the 80's we trained “snaffle bitters” as 3yo's for the Cowhorse Futurities. Some could handle the pace of training but a lot didn't and thinking back about this time if we had another year with them the results would have been better. I have been running Cattle Working Clinics the last few years in Queensland and I talk a lot about starting horses on cattle and developing their confidence. This is not achieved overnight and does take time. This reinforces the saying “slow is fast”.

I am now acutely aware of Animal Welfare issues which we have to address to continue to train horses in our industry. We have to look “outside” the square to see how outsiders see our industry. We are only a small group of horse people with a fair bit of “tunnel vision”. The cattle handling side has been looked at and a lot has been done to tackle welfare problems.

I read all the articles you referred to from the US and the training details that were discussed re having a 4yo Futurity were really interesting. NCHA members should make themselves aware of the proposal this article raises.

        John Howe

        Emerald, QLD

OK here's a trainer's son's point of view. Jackson Gray son of Phil is no stranter to the cutting scene and is a very accomplished Youth rider now mixing it with the older competitors.

I read your short article on the website talking about the interesting
idea of raising the age of futurity horses to four, something which,
from the point of view of those who break, start and train young
horses, seems highly irregular. From what I have seen and experienced
throughout my short time in cutting, is that starting a horse to be
trained later than the current norm is often next to impossible.
Horses are ready to begin their ridden training at two years of age;
leaving them unbroken and untried, and even unasked until they are
say, three years of age creates a huge problem. Many horses can be
a lot less receptive at this age, making it often very difficult to get
them broke for our inticate sport. Furthermore, from what I've seen
over the last half-decade, only the best minded horses make it through
a cutting training program if they aren't started until they are say
three years of age.

It is true that sometimes horses break down before their three year old
futurity event; however, this usually comes down to one thing: build.
Horses that aren't well built and are asked to do what a cutting horse
does will sometimes break down, that is inevitable. Well bred, well built
horses under good horseman stand a far less likely chance of breaking down
as opposed to weak, badly built horses. Thinking that raising the age of
futurity horses to four is no answer to horses breaking down in training,
as there would be nothing worse than trying to get big, numb, three year
old colts broke physically and mentally to then go on to be trained in our
industry where horses must be soft, nimble and accepting.

Cheers,
       Jackson Gray

Thanks to all who sent in feedback. If any one else has something to say just email me at admin@justcuttin.com.au.

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