I had the distinct pleasure of attending the 2013 finals for the Canadian Cowboy Challenge held at Prairie Winds Stables.
Cochrane was well represented in both the competitors and officials and a great time was had by all. One of our locals, Judy MacKenzie, won the “Older than Dirt” division – congratulations.
To quote its website, “The Canadian Cowboy Challenge has been founded on the horsemanship used in ranch-based activities or trail riding. Riders will demonstrate the skills needed for such activities as they undertake a series of obstacles.”
It was great fun to watch how the riders and horses dealt with each obstacle, where the emphasis was on the skillful negotiation of the obstacle and not how fast you could go through it. There were some very tricky obstacles including a multipart bridge with different portions at different heights and with different surfaces. The horse really had to respect the leadership of the rider as well as utilize the horse’s own athletic ability to navigate these challenging, unknown obstacles.
There are basically four components to the challenge — free ride, performance, trail and horsemanship. In the free ride, the rider must “demonstrate the horse’s ability to show off smooth and effortless transitions. Performing speed transitions within required gaits at a walk, trot and lope, and execute proper balance while maintaining shape and frame in the corners,” as identified on the website. It goes on to describe the ideal horse “should project an attractive, refined, stylish picture to the judge, in the way he moves and in the way he is turned out.”
In the performance component, the rider must demonstrate the horse’s ability to perform stops, turnarounds, backing up, circle, lead changes and roll backs. The emphasis is on correctness first then style. If the challenge lends itself to speed, speed can raise the score but not if other elements are sacrificed.
The trail component showcases the horse’s ability to perform tasks including bridge crossings, gates, jumps, water obstacles, backing through poles, putting slicker on and taking it off, opening and closing mailbox, side pass and turn around in a square box. The horse must demonstrate attentiveness and interest in the obstacles.
The horsemanship component is defined on the website as “the art of working with a horse to ensure that one never hinders the movements of the horse. It’s a soft and supple communication between horse and rider.” Challenges in this category may include “bareback ride, ground tying, proper handling and ethics of working with your horse, proper tack management, rope handling, western attire and most importantly being a safety ambassador while demonstrating in the public eye.”
There are a variety of different divisions, so there is something for everyone – categories include: shooting sprouts (ages 7-10), youth (ages 11-17), novice (first year in competition), buckin’ crazies (horse never competed in an equine event), older than dirt (age 55+), non-pro (does not make a living in the horse industry), open/pro (makes a living in the horse industry).
One of the interesting challenges was the ground tying task – you had to dismount on a large box, get off the box, leave your horse and go gather up your rope (that had been used in a previous task), return to your horse and remount. You could “see the wheels turning” in some of the horse brains – they wanted to stay with their rider and not remain alone at the box. Some would boldly walk towards their human, some would quietly sneak forward one slow step at a time, some would turn and wander off in another direction and some would stay rock solid where they had been placed.
