In the reined cow horse / working cowhorse event, what is the judge looking for?  Does a breed show judge evaluate a run differently than an NRCHA judge?  Should your dry work look like an NRHA pattern, your herd work like an NCHA go?

Whether you’re completely new to the sport or have been glancing over the reining or cutting fence for years, reined cow horse competition can be mystifying.  To a reiner, it may be confusing as to why the prettiest and smoothest fence work didn’t win.  The cutter might be scratching his head to see a horse receive a great score in the herd even though the rider picked up on the reins.  To someone who’s never shown in an untimed western performance event at all, the whole thing may appear to be completely unpredictable and impossible to judge fairly or consistently.  (Though few would probably describe it as boring!)

Most associations offering cow horse competition use the NRCHA score cards and judging system to evaluate the various requirements of cow horse runs.  Those requirements are covered on the Elements page.  On this page, NRCHA Judge Bill Enk discusses how the entire run is scored, what the judges are looking for, and what they don’t want to see, for the benefit of newcomers and competitors who would better like to understand their scores.

Bill has been a National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) judge for 25 years and currently serves as the NRCHA Director of Judges.  He also holds judges cards with numerous associations, including the AQHA, APHA, NCHA, NRHA and USA Equestrian organizations.  He believes in creating a universal system of scoring and has been instrumental in establishing consistency among associations in judging the cow horse event.  Bill also works closely with the AQHA through the Official Alliance between AQHA and NRCHA.  He presents judging seminars across the United States for those who would like to become NRCHA judges, though many attend for their own knowledge and not necessarily to test for a card.  A schedule of upcoming judging seminars and contact information can be found here, and Bill encourages any who are interested to attend for a better understanding of the sport.  He believes that experience is still the best teacher, but recommends doing the best you can to educate yourself: “Experience may be the best, but she’s also a hard teacher; she gives the test first and the lesson later!”

On general judging trends:

“At the NRCHA, we’re very excited about the way the judging system is evolving and the response from members who attend the judging seminars.  People are gobbling up information to improve their runs and breed show judges are improving by leaps and bounds – there was better working cowhorse judging at the 2004 AQHA World Show than any I’ve seen in the past.  We are also working to improve our scorecards by renaming and/or combining different sections to clarify what is being scored, and are developing a new, separate scorecard for the Limited Non Pro classes.”

On variations in judging between associations:

“Really the only differences I see stem from how complicated the event is: cow horses have a lot to do, and consequently there’s a lot to be judged.  I really give the breed association judges credit; as an NRCHA judge you learn to judge one event, but if you’re going to be a breed show judge, you have to try to be an expert at 20-odd events.  Many of those judges don’t have experience in showing cow horses or even in judging them a lot since it’s not an event offered at every breed show.  But these days when you give a seminar to breed association judges, they are on the edge of their seats watching the videos and asking questions.  There’s a lot of enthusiasm right now, they want to learn it the way we’re teaching it, and so the gaps are beginning to close.  It’s an evolving process, but it’s closer than you’d think, perhaps another year or so.  The little differences even in equipment rules and pattern variations are starting to be moved away from.”

On general methods of judging:

“The scorecard is designed to tell a story, so that the exhibitor can go back and look at it and know what the judge was seeing.  The parts of a reined cow horse run are watched and marked a little differently from each other, but the layout of each card is straightforward and, in effect, should tell the tale of what happened.

“The dry portion is scored more like a reining: we’re looking for certain things in each maneuver, and there’s time to score each one as it comes along.  But we teach our judges to watch the herd work and the cow work a little more intuitively, because of the speed and unpredictability of what’s going on.  They still use standards and penalties and credit situations, that’s the same as the dry work, but for the cow portions they develop what I call a ‘thermometer’ for what’s going on.  Meaning, as the run is unfolding, the judge is keeping an internal thermometer… as the horse is sifting through the herd and moving forward to make his cut, the judge is using what he sees and the impression made to keep a running tally of the score.  For example, the horse may be looking like a ‘71’ halfway through his first cut, but then start to make some mistakes and lose some try… then my thermometer is going to go down a little bit.  Or a horse will be boxing a cow and look like he’s not really hooking on, and I’m thinking ‘69’, but as he drives his cow into the corner and rates it really well down the wall, he starts to seem like a ‘70’, or maybe better.  When we review videotapes in the judging seminars, I will actually stop the tape several times mid-run and ask the attendants where their thermometer is, what the run’s looking like to them. 

“This is not to say that the score is merely their impression of the run.  They still mark each aspect on the scorecard and pay attention to the positioning, control, courage, degree of difficulty, etc. so that they can accurately give each box a check mark (for average) or a plus or minus.  But they develop that thermometer and use it while judging the cow portions of a competition.

On judging the cow horse:

“As I said, the cow horse has a lot to do.  There has been a lot of good that’s come from the influence of changing reining and cutting styles, but the cow horse is not judged exactly the same.  He has a different job.

“In the reined work, the cow horse needs to be a bit more thrifty than the straight reiner.  He has way more maneuvers to complete and his dry work relates more to working a cow.  His stops can be shorter and he can even keep his feet on the ground, meaning more of a calf-horse type of stop, and still earn credit.  A person with a reining background attending a seminar might stumble on that at first, but as he goes along he learns that it all relates to what the horse has to do on a cow.  It is called ‘reined cow horse’: a cow horse that shows he can be reined.

“That is not to say that a horse that slides long and far will be penalized – it’s pretty and a credit situation… but he dang sure better not slide on by that cow when it comes time to stop one down the fence.  Part of the reason we limited the scoring to a scale of 60 to 80 is so that one part of the event cannot negate the importance of the others.  A horse who had an exceptional dry work yet was below average on a cow should not outscore the horse who was slightly above average in both the dry and fence work (or herd work as well)… or even vice versa.  Again, the horse should demonstrate it’s ability to rein well, but it needs to be a cow horse.

“As far as the herd work, and comparing a cow horse in the herd to a cutter, it’s a similar thing.  If that rider can drop his hand and his horse gets down and really works a cow, it’s definitely a point-earning situation.  But in the cow horse event, having slight contact with the reins is not going to hurt your run, provided you are not hauling the horse around and making it look like that horse needs to be rode back and forth.  Obviously showing in a hackamore or snaffle means that you can have something in both hands.”

As an example of what a cow horse judge is looking for throughout the class, DownTheFence.com asked Bill to go through each maneuver of a typical 3-part aged event or Bridle Spectacular (see Class Divisions for details) run.

An NRCHA dry work consists of one of 8 approved reining patterns. A pattern contains a set of maneuvers (see Elements for definitions) and each set is marked in half point increments on a scale on -1 1/2 to +1 1/2, with a -1 1/2 being extremely poor and a +1 1/2 being excellent. Penalties for mistakes i the pattern can range from a 1/2 point to 5 points or a score of 0. See patterns, penalties and a sample scorecard for more information.

Using Pattern 1 as his example of a dry work, Bill had the following comments:

Stop, back up, ¼ turn to the left:

“Every horse is different, but mainly what we are looking for here is a long, smooth, rhythmically building rundown – straight down the middle of the pen, going past the marker at least 10, 15 feet.  The horse should ideally be giving to the bridle, dropping his nose and looking like he wants to be there.  The speed should be controlled!

“When it comes time after the back up for the rider to turn that ¼ turn and get set up for his circles, I like to see a little snap to that part of the maneuver.  You often see riders sort of just casually turning, which is fine.  But if a rider is sitting on the edge between a 0 and a plus ½ for the whole maneuver and he backs right up and has a smooth, crisp quarter turn tied right into the maneuver, he just tipped the scales in his favor.”

Circle right, large fast/small slow, change, circle left, large fast/small slow, change:

“The cow horse circles do not have to be as loose-reined as they like the reiners to be; a little contact is okay.  The main thing is that the transitions and lead changes be smooth.”

Stop:

“The cow horse has to deal with ground that is not slick and smooth most of the time, because you don’t want a dangerous surface for the cow work, so a cow horse stop has more room to be scored as correct.  Keeping his feet on the ground, his front feet, is okay and we teach judging seminars that way.  You don’t want a horse to slide right past the cow, so a short, deep stop is not a bad thing.  Of course, if they can stop long and pretty, that’s a credit situation too, but it always relates to his job on the cow.”

3 ½ right spins (then Stop, 3 ½ left spins):

“The biggest thing in spins is to see that thriftiness of the cow horse, for him to neck-rein.  The judging system is always evolving as we try to create a better system, and there is a thought to move away from the short amount of spins, the one spin either direction that is in some patterns.  The old timers were not fond of the new scoring system, but with so many new judges to teach and people wanting to learn, we need to keep improving.”

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“Judging fence work is more like judging a cutting.  There is some subjectivity, but the scorecards were developed to justify the score to the exhibitor.  The judges are to make a story with the checkboxes.  I really encourage contestants to read their scorecards to improve their runs.”

Boxing:

“The belly crawl some horses do in the boxing looks good, but really there are two reasons for boxing: one is to hook the horse up to the cow before going down the fence, and the other is to teach the cow to respect the horse, to look at him and be turned by him.”

Position:

“Position is how the horse relates to the cow, whether it stays in a good position to control it.  This is usually when there is a new cow awarded, when the judge sees the horse has been in the correct position and the cow still will not honor it.  If the horse is not in position, no new cow.”

Control:

“This relates to going down the fence and is probably the #1 thing on the scorecard.  The horse and rider should control the cow, and the horse should be in control during the rundown, not blowing down the fence pushing against the bridle.”

Rating/Cow Sense:

“The term “Cow Sense” is being changed on the scorecard to “Rating”, which is a better description of cow sense.  The horse should be able to speed up or slow down by reading the cow.  We want to reward the horse who does this well.”

Degree of Difficulty:

“Degree of difficulty can really help or hinder your score and is where the definition of a ‘good cow’ can vary depending on your confidence in your horse!  If you work a workable cow, your score is average, okay.  If you work an unworkable, tough cow and do it well, the judge’s thermometer and your score goes up.  A high degree of difficulty is needed for those really good scores.  However, the most important thing is for the judge to be consistent and take into account the way the cattle are working.”

Eye appeal:

“In eye appeal, we are looking for a horse who seems to enjoy his job and who retains his form in high speed or under pressure.”

Circling:

“This is the icing on the cake.  A common misconception is that the judge wants to see two big turns on the fence, then the rider to go straight to circling his cow.  But really the credit situation is when a rider can circle his cow in the center of the arena, away from the walls.  Often three turns on the fence, with the last turn around the middle marker, will put you in a better position to earn credit on your circles.”

What are some examples of ‘loss of working advantage’?

“Loss of working advantage can happen any time during the run, and is when the horse loses contact with the cow to the point where the cow decides where to go… ideally, the horse should be in control of that cow’s movements throughout the entire run.”

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Herd work is typically only found in Aged Events (Futurities and Derbies where only horses of a particular age can compete) and the new Bridle Spectaculars, open to horses 6 years or older and shown in a bridle. For clarification, visit Class Divisions. View penalties and a sample herd work scorecard for detailed scoring information.

In his commentary, NRCHA Director of Judges Bill Enk points out that if competitors don’t have any NCHA experience, lots of time is spent covering herd work in the NRCHA Judging Seminars.  See the end of the article for a listing of upcoming seminars for those wishing to be carded or just wanting to improve their understanding.

Herd Work:

“This is the act of the horse entering the herd, driving it, separating the cow he wants to work.  It should take place in the center of the arena and the horse should be calm and focused.”

Controlling the Cow (previously Setting Up a Cow, Working Center of Arena):

“The NRCHA’s previous sections of Setting Up a Cow and Working Center of Arena are being combined under a new section, Controlling the Cow.  This is how the horse heads the cow and stops him until the cow turns away.  It’s the horse taking hold of the cow with his hocks under him and the cow in front of him at all times.”

Degree of Difficulty:

“The harder and faster a cow tries a horse, the higher the degree of difficulty and potential points.”

Eye Appeal:

“If it can look like a good NCHA run, with the horse performing bright-eyed and stylish on a relatively loose rein, it’s a credit situation.”

Amount of Working Time:

“The average amount of working time, or time actually spent out in front of the herd and not in it, is 45 seconds.  It should be this at least this much time if not more, and less is a minus in this section.”

Amount of Courage:

“Credit is given to a horse that looks enthusiastic, who stays on a tough cow and does not quit a cow on the ends but breaks it down until it turns away in the center.”

Loose Reins:

“The reins on a cow horse in the herd work do not need to be ‘drapey’, but the rider should avoid using the reins to direct the horse.”

Excessive Herd Help:

“This is only potential for a minus situation and not a credit, as the herd help should simply keep the herd centered and help make the cut.  This doesn't pertain to the turnback riders in any way, just the herd holders.”

For complete information on the requirements to compete in reined cow horse events, read the NRCHA Rule Book, sent to all current members. Visit www.NRCHA.com for information on membership.

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To learn more about judging the reined cow horse event, attend a 2009 NRCHA Judging Seminar. Costs are typically under $125, but get exact rates from contact person. Dates and locations are available on www.NRCHA.com.


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