Cutting Horse Lessons?

[Bopper]

I show at stock horse shows but I don’t do cow events. I have been to one each cutting horse and cow working clinic. I would love to ride with a cutting horse trainer over the winter - even if all I do is turn back stuff while someone else cuts just so that I can get used to seeing how cows behave in response to the horse.

Each discipline seems to have its own ‘culture’ relating to lessons. Do cutting horse trainers generally do individual lessons or generally do horses have to be in training? I know I need to call the trainers to get details but I don’t want to approach it until I know if there is an industry standard (if that even exists).

Thanks for any opinions or experiences.

[Bluey]

The top trainers have different standards for their students than the next pier.

The NCHA has a list of trainers by region and state.
You could check there first, see if any are close by.

Go to some cuttings and see which ones have students and talk to those.

There are some cutting horse trainers here, some working cowhorse that also teach and compete in cutting, each one manages their barn and horses and students their own way.
Practically all here would help someone like you until you know what you want to do, how much or little you can/will get involved.
They have some older horses novices can get an idea of what cutting is all about and give basic lessons up front.

Good luck.

[cutter99]

Not sure where you are located, but feel free to PM me. I know a really wonderful trainer here in the south and she sometimes has lesson horses. She is an awesome instructor of humans, as well as being a kind and humane trainer. She is one in a million!

[Peanut_Palomino]

I grew up in a cutting barn and used to help the trainers all the time. I never did actual cutting lessons, but I would do turn-back for the trainers every week.
I learned a lot just doing turn-back.

How the lessons go is going to depend on the trainer. At my old barn, the trainer would put the student on one of his own finished horses. Usually one of the brood mares. But if the rider was experienced, they were put on one of the studs (both stallions were extremely well mannered and well trained).
They usually paid for the lesson as a whole and then another small fee for each additional cow they wanted to work. I think lessons included 3 cows, and it was like $5 if you wanted to cut another one.

Good luck and have fun!

[BayRoan]

Many cutting horse trainers have an old campaigner used for lessons. It’s how they get people hooked, since a cutter is expensive to buy. Your first taste is just the cost of lessons.

Do be aware that cutting lessons are more expensive than dry work lessons, due to the cost of purchasing and maintaining cattle. Check out the NCHA trainers in your area, or ask around at your stock horse shows.

If you really want to learn about cattle, find someone that will let you move them around on foot. Any cow work you do on horseback is greatly improved by being able to read the cattle yourself. Doing it on foot lets you learn where the balance points are for drive and turn, how different cattle have different sized “bubbles”, etc. It’s also a big advantage to be able to read cattle to prepare for what your good horse is going to do next, ie, you recognize the cow is about to turn, so you sit deep and don’t get left behind.