Did you know they cut horses in Sweden? In fact, cutters there overcome many hurdles to practice the sport, such as sub-zero temperatures, a lack of heated arenas, restrictions on cattle movements and herd sizes and more!
But William Nottberg, who flew from Sweden to attend a Wayne Robinson Clinic, says despite those challenges, cutting is a growing sport there.
Will spoke to CHTO’s Simone Cobb about where cutting is at in Sweden and what he learned at Wayne’s clinic to take back and share.
Top Loper Miranda Westfall
It’s a sight synonymous with cutting: dozens of horses next to the show arena being loped, and in some cases loped more and a few cases, loped more still lol! Yes, there are horses that need a lot of preparation while others just need to stretch and warm up. So do you know, exactly what your horse needs and can you tell when your horse has reached that ideal, show-ready state?
Below you’ll find some great tips for loping by one of the industry’s top lopers Miranda Westfall. But first let’s explain why we even lope horses before competition.
Cutting is an explosive sport, where horses gather up their power in the stop in order to pounce in the right direction, at the right time and in just the right amount to block the cow. But if they have too much energy stored in their bodies, they pounce too far and from there it all unravels.
Another reason for loping is to get the horse’s mind on the job, to help them focus and to make sure they are listening to foot cues, your seat etc. Loping is part of the showing ritual, that signals to the horse that it is time, not just to go to work, but to perform at their best.
So tips to help you prepare your horse to show:
Miranda, who works for Clint Allen, warms up one of the show horses.
To watch Miranda’s video series on loping click HERE (if you’re not logged in you’ll need to do that HERE or join up as a member HERE).
When people participate or watch sports many people make the statement, ‘mind over matter’ or ‘it’s all about your mental game,’ but how many athletes train their brain to prepare for a competition?
“When you get to those really elite levels [of sports], you have athletes telling you it’s 96-97-98 percent mental,” said mental skills coach Tonya Johnston. “[People need to] understand that your mental skills are absolutely apart of the package as far as seeing yourself as an athlete.”
Johnston has her Masters in sports psychology and specializes in working with equestrian athletes, traveling across the holding clinics and working with equestrian sports teams such as Stanford, Smith and USC. Johnston emphasizes in her clinics and book “Inside your Ride,” that taking time to work on your mental game is just as important as working on the physical aspect. country
“When you spend 10, 12, 15 hours a week on physical and zero hours on mental skills, that could be where nerves and stress come from,” Johnston said. “Because I believe it’s much more mental activity, my competing is much more mental but all of my practice is in the physical realm.”
Johnston states that when your physical game is to a certain level, when it comes to competition day it is abo
ut making good choices mentally while in the moment.
“[When] the physical is dialed in, they know how to get the most out of themselves, they know how to connect with their horse and communicate with their horse and they understand that on any given day it’s about being present,” Johnston said.
One of the best pieces of advice Johnston mentioned was focusing on the positive.
Many people focus on bad days [and ask] what did I do? What happened? Why didn’t I ride well?” Johnston said. “I look first and foremost at good days-what are you already doing naturally and help that become part of [your] routine.”
Some other ways Johnston recommended to become more consistent and improve your mental game in the arena is by:
Lastly Johnston notes that it’s just as important for you to have a routine as much as your “horse before competing, such as stretching, loosening up and having a plan for when you’re in a hotel.
“When you have an amazing run, think back to how did you prepare yourself, where was your focus, what were you saying to yourself, what were you doing before you got on your horse,” Johnston said.
To hear more tips from Tonya Johnston, listen to the full interview at: https://chtolive.com/podcasts/ (Gold and Platinum members get full access to podcasts, Silver members get access for seven days when new podcasts are uploaded.)
We at CHTO are super happy to have you in our member’s Facebook Group!
Make sure you read through this post for some awesome tips and resources.
This group is a great place to share your cutting horse experiences, your awesome results using CHTO, get to know other CHTO users, and to share/learn tips and tricks for showing, training, riding and hauling.
In order to foster greater positivity in this group and to ensure the right expectations, we have come up with the following group guidelines below:
In accordance with Facebook Terms of Service 3.2 –
Duncan helps you to cut through the sometimes overwhelming amount of video content on CHTO and highlights a great video you should be sure to watch. This month, Duncan puts the focus on master farrier Wayne (Link) Baumann’s videos about how to keep your horse sound by using x-rays to ensure you shoe each foot on your horse correctly!
Click on the video below to watch. If you’d like to watch Wayne’s videos, you will find the link directly below the video player.
Click HERE to watch Wayne Baumann’s videos on hoof soundness and using x-rays to help.
Duncan’s hot tip for April is to watch Morgan Cromer’s video for a great exercise on improving your cuts. Listen to why he thinks it’s great timing to check it out now by clicking on the video below.
Click HERE to go watch Morgan’s video now!
Lindy Ashlock notched up the top score of the Derby to claim the Non Pro Championship at the 2017 NCHA Super Stakes.
Lindy rode In Reyverse and marked a 222 in the second set to take home just under $40,000.
She told CHTO’s Simone Cobb that the cows made it a tough event overall but she was thrilled with the result.
It was a busy day for Lindy, who after winning the Non Pro, spent the the next two hours preparing her husband’s horse for the Open final.
Lindy has now won more than $1.3-million in lifetime earnings. In Reyverse, a Dual Rey out of Havanna Lights, is now at around $56,000.
Reserve champion went to Brandon Westfall on Laguna Girl by marking 220.5 and Mary Ann Rapp clinched third with Molokai, scoring 219.
Holly Francois was elated to win her first major title in the Will Rogers when she took out the limited Non Pro Final at the 2017 NCHA Super Stakes.
Holly, from Murchison, Tx, rode Smart Dual Kat and marked a 217.5, more than 2 points ahead of the field.
Holly, who is married to professional trainer Lee Francois, won more than $11,000, taking her lifetime earnings to $132,000.
She told CHTO’s Simone Cobb she only just purchased the horse before the event and also made the Non Pro finals on it.
Dual Smart Kat is a Dual Smart Rey out of Puddykat.
Becky Galyean on Smooth Little Linda won Reserve with a 215 and Charles Israel came third aboard Twisted Metal marking 213.5.
Rowdy Larson dominated the 2017 Super Stakes Limited Open Final.
Rowdy rode Johnny English to victory scoring a 222 and was Reserve champion aboard Metallic Ina with a solid 217.
Rowdy has now won in excess of $292,000 in lifetime earnings and he spoke to CHTOs Duncan Steele-Park about his first title in the Will Rogers Coliseum.
What a day for the Colgrove family! Grandad Joel, won the first final of the day and then his fifteen year old granddaughter Blakley Colgrove won the Classic Non Pro Finals at the 2017 Super Stakes!
Blakley rode her six year old gelding Paradox Cat to victory scoring an impressive 225 winning $17,412, adding to her current lifetime earnings of $539,323.
Blakley spoke to CHTOs Duncan Steele-Park about her win and where she plans to show Paradox Cat, now that he will be out of the aged events at the end of this year.
Traci Burgess won reserve on La Deja Vu with a 223 and Amando Costa Neto came third aboard Watch Me Whip just a half point behind.
No stranger to winning in the Will Rogers, Gary Rosenbach has taken out his third major title at the 2017 NCHA Super Stakes.
Gary and Herding Instincts marked a 220.5 to clinch the Unlimited Amateur four year old championship.
He told CHTO’s Simone Cobb, it was only the second time he ever competed on the horse, which he bought at a the Futurity last December.
