Cutting Buffalo...A First for Me

I'm finally getting on track with some herd work for Colt. It's truly been a long winter and an even longer anticipation of spring weather...the wind has been brutal. But, my first cutting show is April 11, and we hadn't actually cut cattle since last September at the futurity!! We've done some electric string cow practice at Todd's and dry work at home. That's good, but not like the real deal.

There aren't too many choices for real herd practice out here (unless you own your own cattle). But Bob Kerby is a cutting horse trainer who lives 50 miles to the west, and is a great teacher. So, I've got weekly lessons lined up with him.

I knew he had buffalo and would get to practice on them eventually. Yesterday was the first time...and it was a blast!

Colt had never seen a buffalo before, and when the first one was let into the 120 ft round pen, he was thinkin' that he wanted out of that pen!! Boy, did he get all puffed up and tight...I sat as deep as I could in that saddle. These buffalo are just yearlings, so they aren't really very big, but this first one was fast and a runner.

After Colt took a huge startled leap to the left as he saw the buffalo come charging into the pen toward him, he just kept facing the monster...good boy. My friends Deb and Dawn were there to practice too. So, Deb took this one and the rest of us kept by the gate.

I'm watching Deb and talking to Dawn...Dawn said that this is one of the slowest ones...I'm thinking to myself that this is going to be a total disaster for Colt...how is Colt going to keep his head with that much speed?

Here's what I learned about working buffalo...

• They aren't very smart
• They work similar to cattle
  
• They will keep moving until they get tired
• They don't realize that if they stopped, they'd be done
• Some are fast, some are slow
• You can work them the very next day, and they don't remember a thing from the day before
• They're hard on fences and gates...as one took down a heavy metal gate and ran across their holding pen with it...no, he didn't get hurt
  

That's my unofficial opinion/observation of buffalo as of today.

Then Bob got out another one...for me...a slow one. And it was...it mostly walked and trotted a lil', did some slow turns. This allowed Colt to get used to being close up to it, and he locked onto it immediately...Colt is cowy that's for dang sure...he loves cows.

After about 10 minutes of that, we decided we were ready for something with a lil' more pizazz. Ha, Bob was getting tired of having to get the buffalo to turn...he was on foot!

But, Dawn took her turn. She's an incredible lil' gal. She's married and has raised 3-4 kids, and has MS...if I ever feel out of sorts, I think of her...she gives us all great inspiration. Dawn has a new horse this year; a seasoned cutting horse of 16 years...and very well taken care of in his past...he's perfect for her...solid as a rock. She'll be riding him in the open...that horse can make some beautiful deep turns.

Ok, Colt and me are up again, and Bob says the one with the purple tag is "just right" for us...and it was! Not too fast...not too slow...just right! We worked on the sequence...stop, load, turn. Meaning that Colt needs to stop, load his weight onto his rear end, get his feet in the right position to make a correct turn, and then turn.

I was totally pleased with the work. He was listening, responsive, locked onto the buffalo, and trying his heart out for me...that's what I like so much about Colt. Bob helped me a lot with getting my body in better position for more effective cues. The last three turns felt awesome, and we quit on an excellent note! OH...and I had him in the hackamore the whole time!!! We've only ridden in it 5-6 times. I brought my snaffle with me just in case, but we didn't need it!

Do I have any pics...nope...not a one!!! I kicked myself in the arse all the way home for not getting the camera out and taking some shots...ok, next week!

But, I do have one pic of a dirty horse who had just rolled after taking his saddle off...eating dinner like he hadn't been fed for days...I do believe he worked up an appitite~~

Thanks for the ride Colt~~