Bison sold to cutting horse trainers
Instead of cattle, some cutting horse trainers are using bison. Apparently bison have much more stamina than cattle and rarely stand still, which makes them a good challenge for both horse and rider!
This from a recent Billings Gazette article―
Raising bison these days isn't just about giving consumers a different meat.
Now, instead of cattle, some who train cutting horses for competition are using the majestic animals that once thundered across the plains of the American West. Cutting horses are horses bred and trained for removing, or "cutting," cows or calves from a herd.
Some of the small, quick cutting horses are learning how to lead a cow out of a herd using a bison calf, but bovines are still the rule in competitions, said Tim Frasier. He trains cutting horses about 60 miles northwest of Dallas in Gainesville, where he also operates Texas Buffalo Exchange.
About 20 percent of cutting horse trainers use bison, according to one estimate.
"The bison are more sensitive to horses blocking them visually than cattle are," Frasier said. "I'm in them, and I'm going to stay with them."
One of the reasons bison are good animals for cutting horse training is that cattle become gentle too quickly and "don't want to play the game no more," said C.W. Tate, a trainer in Bowie. Bison have stamina, handle heat better than cattle and rarely stand still.
"They don't ever quit," said Tate, who has trained cutting horses for 25 years. "You can have one, and it'll stay fresh and last for three or four years, or maybe longer. Three (bison) will last you forever."
Those who compete in cutting horse events have good reason to care about how well their animals are trained. Each year the Fort Worth-based National Cutting Horse Association pays about $35 million in prize money, said Rebecca Brian, a spokeswoman for the association, which has 16,000 members in the U.S. and 22 other countries.
"It's a very big business," she said.
Are any of you bison owners? Done any cutting with these massive fellows? What’s it like keeping these big boys? I’d love to hear your comments!
Source: Billings Gazette
Flickr Photo Sources: jamesbarnes;shadowplay
