OklahomaHorses Magazine July 2022

July / August 2022 • OklahomaHorses 25 www.xyloshavings.com | 405.469.4516 Pine Shavings | Burning & Bedding Pellets | Animal Feed Bagged Shavings • Bagged Burning or Bedding Pellets Call us for Bulk Shavings Ask us about our new storage service on your site! CONTACT US TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION! IN BUSINESS OVER 40 YEARS! What Is a Ranch Horse Event ? B orn quite literally on the range, a ranch horse event combines all things cowboy and ranching. Four individual events make up the class: reining, trail, ranch riding, and working cow horse. Those four classes are all part of the American Quarter Horse Association Versatility Ranch Horse Competition also. According to the AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations, each class is scored on a scale of 1 to 100. A rider begins with a score of 70, and points are added or deducted from there. The AQHA rule book defines each section of the ranch horse event as the following: • Reining: This event measures the abil- ity of the stock horse to perform basic handling maneuvers. “To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely.” • Ranch trail: Obstacles found in a ranch trail pattern are approximate to those found during everyday work. Judges are looking for a well-trained, responsive, and well-mannered horse that can navigate and negotiate the course in a correct and efficient manner. • Ranch riding: Judges are looking for relaxed, responsive horses with soft and cadenced gaits. The horse should make timely transitions in a smooth and correct manner, and the horse should be soft in the bridle and yield to contact. Horse and rider complete a set pattern to demonstrate various gates and maneuvers. • Working cow horse: This event has four parts, and all must be completed within the allotted time to receive a score. Riders box the cow, set up the cow, and drive it down the fence to the opposite end of the arena, then box it at the end of the arena and drive it back down the fence past the middle marker. The event was designed to showcase the versatility required of a working ranch horse. Although many competi- tors will find a show horse trained specif- ically for this event, you will still find some coming right off the ranch and into the show pen. That’s the simplistic beauty of this event, which combines utility with finesse. For more information about ranch horse teams, visit the National Intercollegiate Ranch and Stock Horse Association on Facebook or at https://ranchhorse.net.