Horse and rider cut another cow from the herd, sweating under the July sun and the scrutiny of the trainer, whose calm, commanding tone carries perfectly across the 150-foot roundpen. “This time, try to be lighter with the rein. Let the horse sort out for himself how he’s going to get stopped on the cow,” says the trainer. The rider makes adjustments and the horse earns a pat for the improved performance. Four other riders observe from their turn-back positions around the pen, awaiting their turn to enter the herd.
It looks and sounds like an ordinary cutting lesson but this one has a twist. All six riders are professional trainers, more accustomed to giving instruction than receiving it. But on this 100 degree day, they share tips, tricks and constructive criticism as they prepare three year old horses for the herd work phase of the most prestigious competition in their sport: the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity (SBF) in Reno, Nevada, which begins September 17,2006. “Just like we help our non-pro riders, we need a set of eyes to watch what we’re doing, too,” says trainer Kim Witty of Ellensburg, Washington, who will make his eighth consecutive Futurity trip this year. “We’re all friends. We like to work together, and you can always learn something from everybody’s program.”
The gathering of trainers was organized by Dave Duquette, who hosted the two-day schooling session July 3-4 at his facility in Hermiston, Oregon, where fresh cattle are abundant. “It’s a big deal to get ready for Reno, and the neat part about the cow horse trainers is the friendship and camaraderie that goes along with the competition,” says Duquette. “I wanted to make a situation where the guys can work some fresh cattle, give each other some help, and have a little fun at the same time.”
Besides Spence, Witty and Duquette, the group includes Josh Auman of Chehalis, Washington; Dean McCann of Graham, Washington; and Mike Helsen of Auburn, Washington. “It’s hard in western Washington to have enough cows,” says Helsen, who fights the issue of cattle who sour quickly under the demands of his training and lesson program. Helsen recently added a mechanical cow to his regimen of live bovines and buffalo as he schools his three year old cow horses for the big show–a show for which, all the trainers agree, is impossible to fully prepare. “At this time of year, nobody feels like they’re really ready,” says Helsen.
Jim Spence, who will show at the SBF for the third time this year, declares: “You can’t go to Reno and feel prepared. You’re doing three events that separately take at least two years to train for.”
As if the task of preparation is not daunting enough, these Northwest trainers must also be ready to put their three year olds up against the best horses from all over the country. Dean McCann made his first trip to the SBF last year with the horse that he rode to the Limited Open championship at the 2005 Caton Ranch Futurity in Ellensburg, Washington two months before. But at the Snaffle Bit Futurity, a show where contestants routinely mark well above the “average” score of 210, McCann posted a disappointing 198 in the herd work, and says he’s well aware of the high quality of horses he will face again this year. “There’s two hundred horses that might be better prepared than mine,” says the
easygoing, good-humored McCann, who jokes, “I don’t want to be a 198 again!”
The banter flows easily among the six trainers. There are many years’ worth of shared experiences in the group, but the Snaffle Bit Futurity stories are always told with a little more animation. “I remember when I walked into the pen in Reno the first time, not even to show, just to lope my horse around,” recalls Dave Duquette, “and my whole body was just tingling with excitement. I was thinking, ‘yeah, baby!’” Dean McCann, bursting into fake sobs, exclaims, “It’s an emotional roller coaster!”
One of the group, Josh Auman, steps aboard that roller coaster for the first time, making his inaugural trip to Reno this year to show a snaffle bit horse that he owns. He is the self proclaimed new guy in the bunch, but he fits in as if he had known the other trainers for years, and says he is learning a great deal from their expertise.
“I told myself I was going to be open minded and soak things up like a sponge, and it has been very beneficial,” Auman says. “They all work well together, but the hard part is getting them to slow down and talk one at a time!” Auman, who recently opened his own training barn after leaving the payroll of a large Washington ranch earlier this year, sees the show as a chance to build his resume as a reining and cow horse trainer. “If I do well in Reno, it will attract more clients and make them confident about bringing horses to me,” he says.
Each trainer becomes cagey when asked how his snaffle bit horses are doing after this first day of practice out of the herd. “Ask me tomorrow,” says Kim Witty, who, like his peers, hates to predict or speculate about his chances in Reno. These trainers all know the hidden surprises and pitfalls that lurk at this show of all shows, with its combination of high pressure, young horses, and the biggest variable of all: the cows.
Still, everyone seems to have a horse they feel “pretty good” about. With a little more than two months left to get their colts ready, the trainers know that crunch time is around the corner. But the stress hasn’t built up so far that they can’t laugh, joke, swear, have serious conversations, complain about the hot weather, and generally enjoy this rare opportunity to collaborate.
“There is not one person here who could do this alone, without the rest of them being here to help,” says Mike Helsen. Like his peers, Helsen values the friendship, but as the Futurity approaches, the competition bubbles closer to the surface. “They’re all my good buddies,” says Spence. Then his trademark sly grin slowly emerges. “Until September.”
Copyright © 2008 The NW Horse Source, LLC
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