The ideal ranch horse must also be a cow horse and this class demonstrates and measures the horse’s ability to do cow work. In addition the ideal ranch cow horse should have a natural ranch horse appearance from head to tail in each maneuver. Holding the saddle horn is permitted. There is a time limit per horse/rider team to perform depending on the division and the time begins when the cow is turned into the arena. If the time has been met, the judge should blow the whistle once for the exhibitor to cease work. The judge may blow a whistle once at any time for the exhibitor to cease for safety reasons. Judges will give credit for what they have seen.  Only the judge may award a new cow, by blowing the whistle two times, for a contestant to replace a cow that will not honor a horse. If the judge awards a new cow, the exhibitor has the option to refuse the new cow by continuing to work. If the exhibitor accepts the new cow, the time for working the cow will start over. If the exhibitor intends to accept the new cow, the exhibitor must pull up immediately.  In the circling portion of the judging, one whistle will terminate the work and two whistles will award a new cow. When multiple judges are scoring, any one judge may terminate the work or signal for a new cow.

Open, Limited Open and Amateur Divisions:Exhibitors in the Open, Limited Open and Amateur divisions are allotted three minutes to complete the work. When there is one minute left, the announcer will call, one minute remaining. At three minutes, the announcer will call for time. There are three parts to the class: boxing, fence work and roping or circling:

·      Part One – Boxing the Cow:the rider shall ride into the arena, face the cattle entry gate and signal for their cow to be turned into the arena. The cow shall be controlled on the entry end of the arena, for a sufficient amount of time to demonstrate the horse’s ability to hold the cow. If the cow does not immediately challenge the horse, the rider shall aggressively move in on the cow to demonstrate his/her horse’s ability to drive and block the cow on the entry fence.

·      Part Two – Fence Work: After the cow has been controlled on the entry end of the arena, the rider shall set the cow up and drive it down either side of the arena. The cow should be turned on the fence at least once in each direction. The first run out for a turn should be past the half way mark of the arena. All turns down the side shall be completed before reaching the end fence.

·      Part Three-Roping or Circling:Open and Limited Open exhibitors must rope the cow.  The Amateur exhibitor has the option of circling the cow or roping the cow, but cannot combine the two to get credit for this portion of the run.

o   To rope the cow, the exhibitor must be carrying a rope when the run starts. The exhibitor may pull up after the fence work, take down the rope and proceed to rope the cow. The exhibitor must then rope the cow and bring it to a stop. In the roping portion of the class, two throws are permitted and the horse will be judged on two maneuvers: tracking /rating and stopping the cow. It is not necessary that the exhibitor catch to receive a score in the roping portion. The catch is legal as long as the cow looks through the loop and the rope pulls tight on any part of the animal’s body except the tail. The rope may only be dallied. If the exhibitor does not catch, the horse will be given credit for tracking and rating and will be assessed the appropriate penalty.

o   To circle the cow, the amateur exhibitor will maneuver the cow smoothly at least 360 degrees in each direction without interference from the fence. The circle’s size, symmetry, speed and relative balance from the right and left show control. Tightening the circles down with fast head-to-head speed will be a credit situation. The circles should be complete before the cow is exhausted. Once an exhibitor has committed to circling the cow, if the cow falls no new cow will be awarded. The exhibitor will complete run by riding around the fallen cow to fulfill circling requirements. In the circling portion of the judging, one whistle will terminate the work and two whistles will award a new cow.

Limited Amateur Division:Limited Amateur exhibitors are allottedone minute and thirty seconds to complete the work. When there is 30 secondsleft, the announcer will announce 30 secondsremaining. At one minute and thirty seconds, the announcer will call for time. Exhibitors are not required to use all of the allotted time, but must ride until the judge whistles the end of the run or time expires, whichever occurs first. There are fourparts to the work: boxing the cow; settling up the cow and driving it down the fence to the opposite end of the arena; boxing it at the opposite end of the arena, and then driving the cow past the middle marker again.  There is no expectation that the exhibitor will make a ‘fence turn’, rather the drive down the fence demonstrates correct position and control around the corner.

·      Part One – Boxing the Cow: The rider shall ride into the arena, face the cattle entry gate and signal for their cow to be turned into the arena. The cow shall be controlled on the entry end of the arena for a sufficient amount of time to demonstrate the horse’s ability to “hold” the cow. If the cow does not immediately challenge the horse, the rider shall aggressively move in on the cow to demonstrate his /her horse’s ability to drive and block the cow.

·      Part Two – Set up Cow and Drive down Fence to Opposite End of Arena:After the cow has been controlled on the entry end of the arena, the rider shall set the cow up for driving down the side of the arena. When coming out of the corner, the horse shall be close enough to cow to demonstrate control with cow against the fence. This distance and control should be maintained for approximately ½ to ¾ the length of the arena. Rider will then stop and release the cow and move horse toward center of arena to set cow up for boxing.

·      Part Three – Boxing the Cow at Opposite End of Arena:The exhibitor will regain control or “hold” the cow at end of the arena to demonstrate the horse’s ability to “hold” the cow.

·      Part Four – Drive the cow back down the fence past the middle marker and continue until the judge blows the whistle to show completion.

Novice Amateur, Green as Grass and Youth Divisions:Novice Amateur, Green as Grass and Senior/Junior Youth ranch cow work exhibitors will have an allotted time of 50 seconds to box the cow. The rider shall ride into the arena, face the cattle entry gate and signal for their cow to be turned into the arena. The cow shall be controlled on the entry end of the arena for a sufficient amount of time (50 Seconds) to demonstrate the horse’s ability to “hold” the cow. If the cow does not immediately challenge the horse, the rider shall aggressively move in on the cow to demonstrate his/her horse’s ability to drive and block the cow.

For more information see Rule Book