FROM THE JUDGE’S CHAIR

The goal of the traditional Vaquero training method was to end up with a finished bridle horse. It wasn’t long ago that the World’s Greatest Horseman event had 20 to 30 entries. Now with the added money, and the popularity of the Derbys, we are up to 70-plus horses. This year’s Finals was deep and strong. That says a lot about the training methods that allowed these horses to get to the “finished bridle” stage of training. Congratulations to all involved!

A couple of things stood out in this event. The consistency and the competitiveness of Call Me Mitch and Phillip Ralls over the last few years is to be admired and appreciated. He showed up in every phase of the four events and didn’t show any signs of wear and tear from competing at the highest level of his entire career. Congratulations go to Phillip and Call Me Mitch—you earned it!

The second thing that stood out was using the electronic eye barrier in the steer stopping. The string barrier used to be more traditional, but it takes more work to get a horse used to it and at times can be a touch dangerous. The electronic eye let the judges reward the horses that exhibited the most form and competitiveness in the steer stopping event without the threat of the string barrier complicating things. The contest is about the horse that can do all four events well without over-weighing one part. These World’s Greatest Horseman mounts are cow horses that you can steer stop on, not steer stopping horses that you can cow horse on. The electronic barrier was a real plus.

The judges had to make a couple of hard calls relating to legal hand positions on romal reins. On page 30 of the National Reined Cow Horse Association

Rule Book it shows acceptable and unacceptable hand positions when exhibiting with romal reins. Playing on a level field is the bottom line to these romal reins rules. Judges are not hunting for violations like these, but anything that gives an advantage to one rider over another should be looked at and called if warranted. A slight, brief, opening of the hand around the reins that doesn’t reflect an advantage isn’t the issue here, it’s the consistent spreading of the reins and maybe a finger between them that we’re talking about. Be careful and do your best to play by the rules is the answer.

Habits die hard. One habit that rears its head on occasion after a new cow (two toots), horn or whistle, is the two hands on the reins when stopping your horse to accept the new cow. Usually, it’s a habit from home that comes when schooling your horse. The NRCHA Rule Book states you are judged from the time you enter the ring until the whistle or horn blows to end the work. If you double grab any time before the end of the work, it is considered two hands on the reins and a score of 0 will be assessed. Judges are required to call what they see without prejudice, whether the exhibitor meant to commit a penalty or not.

Really, the goal when judging is to be as fair and consistent as possible. Hopefully, the horse that performs the best that day wins, and they don’t have to make any of the uncomfortable calls that the last two paragraphs talked about. Making good decisions is what judging is all about.

Until Next Time, Bill

Enk NRCHA Director of Judges