OklahomaHorses Magazine January 2023

January / February • OklahomaHorses 23 S ometimes the best adventures are new beginnings. Such was the case for this rider at the first semiofficial ranch horse show for my filly and me, on Novem- ber 19, 2022. Loosely based on the Amer- ican Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) rules, the ranch horse shows offered by the Northwest Arkansas Horse Show Association (NWAHSA) and other groups around the country have opened up a whole new world for horsemen. Several articles have been written about ranch horse teams, who runs them, and how they operate. This story will tell you how to get involved and what to expect in classes. Getting a young horse entered and eli- gible for a working cow-horse futurity can be an imposing task, albeit exciting. I know this firsthand. Having been a showman, team roper, and mounted shooter for 50- plus years, I was used to trying new things, training many horses, and learning the ropes from whoever would lend me an ear. I looked at the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) website. I knew I would need help along the way, not only to succeed but also to do justice to my well- bred filly, Justa Peppy Cat, nominated for the Clovis Horse Sales Cow Horse Futurity in 2023. Training Rider and Horse I started on this journey about five years ago when I encountered a world, national, and regional champion reined cow-horse trainer, Gerald Cosby. I am not ashamed to name the many great horsemen I have stud- ied with in my life, and neither is Cosby. He was 74 when I attended my first clinic with him. Within a few minutes, I knew he was the best all-around horseman I had ever encountered. He not only had been a respected champion and trainer; he could also teach. I travel to meet with Cosby as often as I can. With his help, I bought my current prospect. My next step was to get Justa Peppy Cat exposed as much as possible before the 2023 futurity. I live in northwestern Ar- kansas. NWAHSA, based near Fayetteville, was putting on shows specifically designed for well-trained ranch horses. The program included five events: reining, ranch sign class, roping, cattle work, and an obstacle course. Being quite ignorant as to how the classes would be conducted (with the ex- ception of the reining pattern and obstacle courses, which were posted ahead of the show), I quickly learned that my assump- tions were way off base. My first incorrect assumption was how many people would be in attendance. There turned out to be 95 entries, with competitors from northwest- ern Arkansas, southwestern Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma. Reining was fairly straightforward. A pat- tern was posted which could be practiced at home for days prior to the show. (In my case, we ended up with some errors that needed work.) The ranch sign class meant that once you entered the arena, directive signs with large lettering were posted in spots around the arena, such as extended walk, trot, lope, extended trot, extended lope, regular walk, stop, reverse, stop and back. One would think these would be fairly simple to perform. Try riding a two- year-old on the first time out! The roping surprised me. Having seen this done in an NRCHA show, I did not enter because I assumed the cattle would be roped out of the chute. Thanks to horse trainer and judge Carrie Cook of Missouri, I learned that the rider could walk or jog (loping would be cause for disqualification) and quietly rope one head of cattle with a mandatory breakaway at one end of the arena where other riders formed a wall to