Working cow horse
| Highest governing body | National Reined Cow Horse Association |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Horses may force cattle to move, but generally are not supposed to deliberately collide with the cow |
| Team members | No |
| Mixed gender | Yes |
| Type | Outdoor sport, cattle-herding competition |
| Equipment | Horse, Western-style horse tack and rider clothing, including cowboy boots and cowboy hat |
| Venue | Dirt Arena, indoor or outdoor |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | North America |
| Olympic | No |
| Paralympic | No |
Working cow horse is a type of competition, known also as reined cow horse, where horses are asked to work a single live cow in an arena, performing specific maneuvers that include circling the cow, turning it in a specified manner, and performing a reining pattern. Horses that can perform these tasks are called "reined cow horses," "cow horses," "stock horses," or "working cow horses." Competition consists of three parts where a horse and rider are judged on their performance in a reining pattern, herd work, and "fence work". Horses are judged on accuracy, timing, and responsiveness, as well as how they handle a single cow and their ability to ride into a herd of cattle and quietly "cut" a cow from the herd.
The modern horse was reintroduced to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. By the time the Spanish missionaries were making their way into California in the 18th century, the Spanish vaqueros (cowboys) were well established in other parts of America and came with them.
The King of Spain granted large tracts of land to loyal subjects, which were the basis for the "Californio" ranches and lifestyle common until the mid-19th century (and whose eventual owners were the source of the names of many California communities, including Irvine and Pacheco). These vast ranches raised range-bred beef for Mexican and other markets. The cattle were half-wild and dangerous, requiring a fast, well-trained horse that could intimidate an individual cow, turn it back from the herd, separate it for branding and other handling, and do it all effortlessly.
Over time, the "Californio" cowboy or vaquero developed a system of training working cow horses that became famous for its elegance, precision, and difficulty of training the horse. The roots of these methods are in European dressage, a system to train horses for war. Adopted by the pre-Moors and Moors in Spain, and transferred to the Spanish conquistadors, the Californio methods created horses so sensitive to their riders' signals they were known as "Hair-trigger" or "whisper" reined horses.
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Wikipedia