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Weatherford gets 'horse jump' on title Abilene
deserves
By Bill Whitaker
For those who like chewing on irony-filled footnotes about
Texas, here's one to gnaw on.
Cutting-horse officials tell me Abilene has more cutting-horse
events than any other city in the land, maybe the world. That's
why Weatherford, which boasts nothing even approaching that, has
now dubbed itself "Cutting Horse Capital of the World."
Huh?
Even if you don't know which end of the horse to milk, that
fact must amaze. It certainly amazed me while chatting with folks
at the Abilene Western Series cutting-horse competition now under
way at the Taylor County Expo Center.
Johnny Purselley, 34, one of the many cutting-horse trainers
to relocate recently to Parker County, told me Weatherford city
officials are eagerly trumpeting the town's new status.
"Of course, the funny thing is they don't have an arena
there for major cutting events," he said. "But it is
centrally located. One reason so many trainers are moving there
is because it's so close to Fort Worth and yet you can also be
in Abilene in a very short time.
"Plus the soil there is this sandy loam, very good for
training."
Event organizer Ben Emison, 60, echoes this praise.
"Because of its location, it really is becoming a popular
place for training operations," Ben said. "There's around
90 cutting-horse operations in Parker County. Of course, Taylor
County is important, too.
"It's not but an hour and a half, so people in Weatherford
are really right in the heart of cutting-horse country."
As for Abilene, you might just say we're a frequent and favorite
place to hoof it to - and that's not so bad.
HORSE SENSE Of course, most Abilenians probably don't care
an iota, at least not right now. Football is the focus of the
day.
Let's face it. Even cutting-horse enthusiasts are first to
admit that watching cutting-horse competitions is not exactly
like watching rodeos, where somebody is being bucked off an irate
horse or tossed about by an angry steer.
Rather, this sport pivots on a rider and a particularly sharp
horse being able to effectively "cut" a cow out from
the rest of the herd. (And, no, there's no roping or hand-to-hoof
grappling going on.) If the horse and rider manage this task in
good time and with some skill, then you could label them competitive.
Success at this high-dollar sport depends on chemistry between
horse and rider as well as the horse's quick ability to size up
a young cow. In fact, many cutting enthusiasts say (and half-seriously)
that horses in this sport are often brighter than the riders atop
them.
Smart, certainly, is the rider who trusts the instincts of
an agile, well-trained, cow-savvy horse.
Which reminds Ben of the time a lady competitor was undone
- and right in the thick of competition - when her hat slid down
over her face, blocking her view. With one hand on the saddle
horn, the other on the reins, she slipped sloppily to and fro
in the saddle as her horse darted to and fro trying to match wits
with a very determined cow.
"It was pretty funny, let me tell you," Ben said.
"To ride one of these cutting horses blindfolded is something
else, because you have to keep your eyes on the cow. It's all
about keeping your eye on the cow."
To hear Ben, both horse and cow came off looking good in the
aforementioned instance. However, I imagine the lady rider left
the limelight that day wishing everyone else had been blind.
COW BASKETBALL
Likely, most folks in Abilene will be forever baffled by the
cutting-horse world, even though 68-year-old sculptor and former
National Cutting Horse Association president Jim Reno suggests
it's probably less complicated and more satisfying than polo.
"Of course," he said, "most people don't really
know a whole lot about polo, either."
For my part, I think cutting-horse competitor Joey Milner has
come up with the most novel, yet effective way of explaining the
sport to first-time spectators.
"To explain it, you have to compare it to something people
know," he said at a cookout some riders were having in the
dusty Expo Center parking lot late Sunday night. "I explain
it by saying it's like one-on-one basketball, except you're trying
to keep the cow from his team."
Big difference from basketball: In this sport, one does not
have to be tall to ride tall in the saddle.
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Copyright ©1996 or
1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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