From the Judge’s Chair

Judging reined cow horses is no easy task. Lots of things can happen in the blink of an eye that must be addressed fairly and consistently. The up-and-down runs present the biggest challenge to come up with a score that covers the whole work, the good parts and the not so good parts. It helps to be familiar with what is truly difficult that is made to look fairly easy. This knowledge helps separate runs that have some degree of difficulty but are made to look difficult or fairly easy, depending upon if the exhibitor is behind or ahead and in control of the run. This relates more to the herd work and cow work but also in a subtle way to the reined work.

For judges, consistency starts with the basics then builds as the works progress. In the herd work, it starts with a clean cut: Are they even on both sides of the cow? Do they quit clean? If these basics are met on each cow the next question should be: Is their form correct? And finally, do they have correctness with speed? It is difficult to meet all the criteria on three cows, but if they do that is where consistency comes into play. If the exhibitor can achieve these basics on all three animals somewhere near the middle of by not only stopping correctly but also making a good approach to the stop. Consistently doing all the parts of the maneuvers well can elevate the maneuver scores into the plus-1 to plus-11/2 range depending upon the degree of difficulty exhibited.

The cow work basics involve how well the cow is set up and controlled from the start of the run until the whistle blows to end the work. The draw is vital for high scoring runs, there has to be degree of difficulty. If the exhibitor can stay ahead of the run (i.e., reading a cow correctly, not reacting after the fact) on a fast running, difficult animal they have met the criteria for a positive, credit-earning score. Even on a slower animal credit can be achieved by consistently being in the proper position to control the cow without overworking it. The horses that end up at the top of the leaderboard usually have one thing in common: They were not only good, they were the most consistently good!

Until Next Time,

the pen, (which shows control), he or she has earned credit in the form of a good to really good score.

The reined work basics have to do with location in the arena and all the individual maneuver parts. The center of the arena and the rundown markers are the important locations to be aware of. The closer you are to the center when circling and changing leads, the better chance for credit you

have. Hitting the center consistently is a must for credit earning circles and changes, it is basic but hard to achieve. Running past the rundown markers before asking the horse to stop sounds easy, but the more seasoned the horse is the more they seem to anticipate the upcoming stop. Credit can be earned

PRIMO MORALES

Bill Enk NRCHA Director of Judges