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REINED COW HORSE ANYONE?
After disappearing off the Australian show scene almost twenty years ago it appears the sport of Reined Cow Horse is well on it's way to a re emergence. The sport was originally introduced to Australia in the late 1967 by Greg Lougher utilizing Clover Lori, dam of of the one of our first NCHA futurity champions Clover Kamali Over the years a number of horsemen in Australia have trained Reined Cow Horses, including Robert and Lori Mackay, Gail Ritchie, Mick Connolly, Ian Francis, and Phil Web to name a few.
The event is broken up into three sections, Herd Work, Rein Work and Cow work. The first part Herd Work is similar to cutting where the horse has two and half minutes to cut a cow from the herd and keep it from returning. The horse usually cuts two to three cows in that two and a half minutes.
The Rein Work is similar to Reining where the horse is required to do flying changes, sliding stops and 360 degree spins.
The third part of the event is the one that is unique to the sport of the reined Cow Horse. The horse is in the arena with a single steer and has to keep the steer confined to one part on the arena. This is the first phase of the cow work, called "boxing". The horse should be alert and attuned to every movement of the steer; should appear almost to be working on its own. The Steer should remain "boxed" until horse and rider obviously allows it to escape down the long side of the arena at the beginning of the fence run phase.
The middle phase of the cow work called the .fence runs,. includes the horse driving a single steer up and down the long side of the arena next to the fence, heading it off and forcing it to turn when a change of direction is desired. The Horse should appear to control the movement of the steer, rather than simply galloping in pursuit of it. They should make at least one clean turn on the fence in each direction. Ideally the horse "holds" steer on the fence during the turn, keeping it from running to the center of the arena.
During the final phase of the cow work, the horse and rider has to drive the steer in circles in the center of arena. This is called "circling up." They should work quickly and efficiently to drive the steer in a full circle one way, and then a full circle the other way. The steer should not escape to another part of the arena. And the horse should not knock the steer off its feet.
The reserection of Reined Cow Horse in Australia was well under way last year but was then stalled by the E.I outbreak. Finally the revival of the sport is now well under way. The ARCHA is now re established and its headquarters are based in Rockhampton Queensland. According to Executive Director Andrew Deacon interest is quite large in the Rocky, Warwick and Victorian areas.
The first event off the block was held last month it was a practice / fun day on Saturday in Austadium, Rockhampton. According to Andrew “We had a great relaxed fun day with a dozen or so participants, some of which travelled from below Gladstone. Katharine Lyons started the day with a demonstration on her imported Cow Horse mare “Fliks Sweet Tart”. Katharine is from the USA and moved to Australia with her husband Regan Lyons a few years back. Those that attended the day enjoyed the combination of Rein work and cow work and the versatility required of their horses to complete a Cow Horse run.
It was great to see some cows go down the fence in Australia, it’s been a long time sine the Cow Horse has been on the scene in this country and with all the interest in it now the future looks good”.
For those interested, this week end will see ARCHA’s first international clinics run in Rockhampton and Capella with USA based Cow Horse and Reining Trainer Chris Dawson. Chris has finialed in both the NRCHA and NRHA Futurities and Derbies and won the first round of the NRHA Futurity last year. “Speaking to Chris, he is excited to be coming Down Under and when asked what he would like to see out here, Chris said “I’d love to see a Campdraft”.
More information about Chris and his clinics can be found at www.archa.com.au or by calling the office on 07 4933 1866. Slots are filling fast, so be quick if you want to attend. A beginners clinic will be held Friday 29th – Saturday 30th, and advanced clinic Sunday 31st – Monday 1st and the following weekend Friday 5th and Saturday 6th of September at Capella.
Other than September and December the ARCHA will be conducting Cow Horse events at Austadium on the last weekend of every month and as soon as the new Dalby Arena is complete (mid September) Cow Horse events are intended to be run there on a monthly bases as well.
According the ARCHA website, even though the original ARCHA established itself during this time as the elite western performance horse sport and paid out the biggest prize money for that era, it seems (in hindsight) that it introduced the Reined Cow Horse sport to Australia well before its time. Despite its short life, the original ARCHA also had a positive influence on Australian horse sports. In fact, many of today's competitive Cutters and Reiners gained their first experiences in the sport through ARCHA-organised events. But with the rise and popularity of the Stockman's Challenge contests and the success of Australian Cutters and Reiners on the international scene over the last 20 years, the ARCHA believes that Australia is now ready for real, full-blooded Reined Cow Horse action - at last!!!
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