WordPlay

By Patty Wilber

Well, since we cannot go to actual horse shows, various associations are running virtual shows.  This made me think of that column that was in…Western Horseman…? Called “You be the Judge”?…I don’t really know if that was the right magazine or the right title, but it was a column on conformation.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to have a “You be the Judge” event right here for Ranch Riding.  Unfortunately, since we are social distancing and I just thought of this, I am the only entrant.  But I do have four Appaloosas that can compete–or at least three.  On Monday, I worked with one of them, and it did not result in anything I would want anyone to actually see. I won’t reveal the identity of said horse to avoid biasing you all, the judges.  

So, here is the scoop.  

1. I made the pattern. (short–about 1.5 minutes per run so you can whiz through.)
2. The older horses (Penny and LT) were ridden one handed and the junior horses (H and Lucy) were ridden two handed, as per normal show standards.  
3. The dogs are just there for decoration.
4. If you don’t know rules for ranch riding, that’s ok, you can still play.  Just rank the horses from first place to last place as you see fit.
5. There is no actual judge here, so the “winner” will be the crowd favorite.  You should be able to see the cumulative current results after you enter your scores.
6. Your responses are anonymous.
7. This my first try at Survey Monkey, and it did not feel very intuitive to me, so this whole survey thing might just be a fail and all you will get to do is see four videos.

Here is the pattern. It turns out that I didn’t like the walk in followed by the half circle part–it was hard to make that feel smooth. 

Here are the goes in the order they were taken.  They were filmed by Jim. He used his knowledge of cinematography gleaned from the Making of Game of Thrones to get these very uniform runs!

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By Patty Wilber

I was listening to the Podcast, “Along for the ride: Phil Rapp & Andrea Fappani” and they were talking about what made great cutting and great reining horses.  They got to talking about grit and trainability. But before we get to that:

Andrea Fappani is a reining horse trainer; “National Reining Horse Association “NRHA” 5.7 Million Dollar Rider was born and raised in Italy and followed his dream of moving to the USA and becoming one of the all-time leading trainers in the Performance Horse industry. His focus, drive and passion for excellence not only made him the youngest NRHA million Dollar Rider, along the way he has been recognized for his ability to teach and advocate exceptional horsemanship.” (from the podcast blurb)

Phil Rapp is a cutting horse trainer:  “Phil Rapp of Weatherford, TX is a cutting horse trainer, inductee in both the NCHA Rider Hall of Fame^[1] and NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame,^[2] and the leading NCHA money earner with lifetime earnings totaling $9,733,216.88 as of Sept 2019.^[3] He was elected vice-president of the National Cutting Horse Association in 2016,^[4] and became president in June 2018. Phil & Mary Anne are Breeders of over $8,079,413.34. Mary Anne LTE $4,819,752.77 as a Non Pro, Ryan Rapp LTE $288,031.78 as a Non Pro.” (from the podcast blurb).

Back in the summer of 1980 and ’81 when I was 18 and 19, I worked at a horse ranch camp called K-Arrow near Jamestown, California.  We had a camper named Phil Rapp who was about 10.  I had always wondered if it was the same Phil Rapp.  Pretty sure it was because in the podcast he says he is 50 (I am am 58, so the age is right), he lived in northern California and spent summers at a horse camp.  I don’t actually remember all that many campers, but this kid came from a well-to-do-family (Phil Rapp’s dad was very successful in the hotel business) and he brought his own horse.  It was a super nice sorrel (as I recall, anyway) pony and that is why I remember him.  We also had Captain and Tenille’s kids or band member’s kids, but they didn’t bring  a horse, so I don’t remember their names.  I do remember a lot of the horses…of course….

Returning to the topic.

Phil and Andrea were talking about what makes a great cutter or a great reiner and they were talking about whether horse learned easily and well and whether it would perform under stress, when tired, or when a little sore.  Trainability and grit.  So, I started thinking about some of my horses, which are obviously not in the million dollar winning category, but this was still fun to think about.

LT.  Tons of grit, but kinda low on the trainability scale.  I did not ride her on Back Country projects until she was five and I didn’t campaign her seriously until she was five, either, because it took me that long to get it all together with her.  At five she still could not stand still and while I had hoped she would be an all around ranch versatility type horse, it turned out reined cow horse was her thing.  At five, she was National Appaloosa Jr Cow Horse Champ and Reserve in Jr Reining.  At the Appaloosa World Show that year, she was reserve in Jr. cow horse by a mere half a point.  She pulled up sore after her go, but in the pen, she gave it her all.   I still get a little choked up thinking about that run, as it was a lifetime highlight for me, with a horse that never said quit.  Grit. 

I love the look in her eye!

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By Patty Wilber

Working Cow Horse, American Quarter Horse Association description of the class.

“…The competition consists of two parts: prescribed reined work and actual cow work. Judging is based on good manners, smoothness, cow sense and ease of reining. During the cow working phase of the exhibitor’s run, one cow is turned into the arena. The horse is required to hold the cow on the end of the arena, make at least one turn each direction along the fence (= down the fence–my add in), and circle the cow both directions.”

It has been a couple of years since I have had a horse that could go “down the fence”, so it was a huge thrill to do that this past weekend, at the Green Chile Classic, with not one, but two horses: My Lucy (Qwhizenart) and Atti (She has Attitude), owned by Judith Huchton. The show was run by the NM Paint Horse Club.

I am not here to tell you we were astonishingly great, but I AM here to tell you that it was a LOT of fun!

Atti held her cow for the boxing portion, then stayed in decent position down the fence and circled up really well!  Plus, she had a lot of intent which is something that is newly blossoming in her with her cow work. 

Photos thanks to the 100 dollar gift certificate I won in a random draw at the Spring Salsa Show put on by the NM Paint horse Club. Ava Charrlin, Raise the Standards Photography.

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