Garnett Hayes and JR Colored Summer Prom
Garnett Hayes has enjoyed the sport of cutting for 38 years. He first saw the sport on TV as a young boy and thought it looked fun. Hayes started out riding a paint and has owned many horses. Hayes enjoys his retirement with his horses on a 400 acre farm in Western Kentucky.
Photo By Brent Puhl
In 2007, Jed Lawrence attended a cow horse sale in Indiana. He had grown up on a cattle ranch and thought reined cow horses looked fun. He went to work for Shawn Flarida, focusing on the reining event. Lawrence now has his own training operation in Nancy, KY and he uses Cutting Horse Training Online to improve his herd work.
Geoffrey Sheehan
Total Earnings: $1,779,320
Geoffrey Sheehan grew up in Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia. At about 12 years old he started working for renowned trainer Graham Amos on school holidays. When Sheehan was 16, Graham Amos came to the States to compete in cutting. Sheehan decided that was his path too and continued working for him in America.
Amos was Sheehan’s main mentor, but he also credits other trainers for teaching him along the way such as John Mitchell, Roger Wagner, and Clint Allen to name a few.
“The first time I ever walked into Will Rogers I [thought] this is what I want to do,” Sheehan said.
Dr. Molly Bellefeuille of Northern Star Equine Speaking with CHTO’s Duncan Steele-Park
Ever had a horse that looked strangely unbalanced, had an abnormal gait or a lameness that you couldn’t put your finger on? It’s possible that horse is suffering from Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis better known as EPM.
It’s a disease that’s probably more common than you may think. Most horses have antibodies but no clinical signs, hence are immune, but many don’t and diagnosing EPM can be challenging because it presents differently in every horse.
Photo By Hudyma Photography
Total Earnings: $1,672,203
Dustin Gonnet bought a horse from a sale that a cutting horse trainer had put some time on and he ended up getting a job with that trainer, Doug Reinhardt, to start colts and later he worked for Scott Amos. He never turned back! Gonnet grew up cowboying and riding colts his whole life in Saskatchewan, Canada. Gonnet was a true student of the sport, spending many hours watching other trainers in the practice pen at shows and applying what he thought would work for him and building on that.
Friendly, fun, and affordable is the mission behind the fast growing World Cutting Horse Association based out of Oklahoma and Texas. Six years ago, Lainie Whitmire founded the WCHA to help cutters with smaller budgets have a place to show. They started with some very small shows but prayed it would work. With the help of friends and their wider network spreading the word, the shows were a success.
With approximately 2,000 members, the WCHA works, Whitmire said, because it is made up of friendly, helpful, salt of the earth people who do the hard work. The goal is to make the association fun, inclusive and easy to get involved with.
Lilly and Smart Like Pepto Rio
Lilly Loraas first started cutting about a year ago and at 14 years old she has big dreams. She is a regional director for the NYCHA and hopes to one day become president or vice president of the board. She also hopes to compete at the world finals and continue learning about the sport.
Tiffani Veltri assessing a horse
Like any athlete, a cutting horse must be kept comfortable in order to perform to the best of his ability. While this involves a team of people such as the vet, farrier, and equine dentist, another health modality that’s becoming increasingly popular is massage therapy. Nationally Certified Equine Massage Therapist Tiffanie Veltri said massage can have immediate benefits for helping a horse release tension and rehab sore muscles.
Wesley Galyean
Total Earnings: $4,051,497
An Open Futurity winner as a 21 year-old non-pro, Wesley Galyean had always known he wanted to be a cutting horse trainer. There was no plan B for him. Cutting has been in his family for three generations, both his father Jody and grandfather Kenneth Galyean were trainers. A lot of people tried to convince him to go to college and skip the horse training, but Galyean said it was in his blood. If it’s what you love, keep on fighting, work hard, pray hard and give it everything you have he said.
Kylie and Yugilbar Gday Kitty
Kylie Barnett has been around horses her whole life. Her background is in camp drafting (an Australian sport that shares some similarities with reined cow horse) which goes back to her grandfather, but she has always enjoyed watching cutting at the Australian NCHA Futurity. She was watching the Futurity sale and saw a mare she liked that wasn’t going for much so she decided to take a chance and buy her! Keep On Reading!
Roberta receiving her Reserve Champion $5000 AM buckle at The Bonanza
Roberta Rollins began her riding career with Western Pleasure Futurity horses. She and her trainer, Jaime Bissell, went to Tom Lyons’ ranch in 1994 where Rollins got a taste of cutting. After a 3 day crash course in the sport, she purchased Doc’s Lord Monty and attended her first cutting show.
“I was terrified at the thought of showing in cutting, when my background was a slow lope around the pen on a pleasure futurity horse,” Rollins remembered.
Guy Woods
Total Earnings: $2,729,007
Originally from Australia, Guy Woods grew up in the horse business. His dad was a cutting horse trainer and so he started showing as a youth. At age 18, Guy moved to the States to work for a reining trainer. His boss later suggested he work for cutting horse trainer, Bill Riddle, and the rest is history!
Guy has been working for EE Ranches for an impressive 32 years! He said the key is really good communication with the owners, the Ellards. Several years into working for EE Ranches, Mrs. Ellard started showing a lot. She was the head loper and she was in the trenches with Guy. She saw the good, the bad and the ugly, Guy said. She saw every aspect of the sport, which helped her understand cutting from a trainer’s perspective and the challenges they face. He said this has been the key to their partnership’s success and longevity.
Jay Winborn
NCHA Executive Director Jay Winborn has a background in an equine sport you don’t hear much of in performance horse circles. For 15 years, Winborn was an international, professional polo player!
He started off as a groom in a polo club. As a third generation polo player, it was a natural progression for the young rider. He not only competed in the sport, but trained polo horses and ran polo clubs in the Dallas district.
Playing professionally meant a lot of traveling. He would spend four to five months a year in Florida for the winter training and riding. In the summer, the team would travel to New York, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and other states to play in month-long tournaments.
Michael Cooper talking to clinic participants
As most cutting horse shows start back up in June, it is time to think about your strategy for the rest of the year and get your head in back in the game! Top trainer Michael Cooper offers some great insight into how to do just that!
Set Goals
Michael Cooper spends time with each of his clients on developing their goals. He said setting goals depends on three things: the horse, the rider, and the steps they need to take together to accomplish those goals. For example, what does the client want to do with their horse? Show more themselves or have Cooper show it to try to win the most money on it?
Together, they also decide if it’s an open or a non pro horse or if it can be both at some shows. From there, they work out a plan for the horse. If it’s a horse they just want to show in the non pro or amateur, Cooper will still show it every third show or so at the weekend level to keep it tuned up and increase its money earned.
Cullen Chartier Photo by Martin Lengals
Total Earnings: $1,004,761
With two generations of cutters behind him, you could say cutting is in Cullen Chartier’s blood. Before committing to be a trainer, Chartier’s main focus was other sports. At one point, he pursued a sports broadcasting career, but made the switch after watching his brother, RL Chartier make the Futurity finals.
Cullen showed in the youth and worked for his dad, Randy Chartier for two years. He then went to work for RL at Wrigley Ranches. After two years, RL told him it was time to go work for someone else, so Chartier headed off to Paul Hansma. He spent four years with Hansma, before starting his own business training out of Paul’s place.
