Crowds and competitors alike were impressed by the third annual Energy City Cutting Horse Show last weekend at the Estevan Exhibition Grounds.
Horses, riders and the crowds showed up both Saturday and Sunday looking for some of the best riding skills and got them as scores were high throughout the weekend.
“We had a judge up from Texas and even he commented that he couldn’t believe how much fun everybody was having,” said Rod Thiessen of the Saskatchewan Cutting Horse Association.
The show was a double points show for Canada – each province can have one of their competitions be for two times the points – and as such got a lot of the best of the best from Western Canada.
“We had horses from Abbotsford to Winnipeg, so all four western provinces were represented,” Thiessen said. “Horses leading Canada in several of the classes were here. The top end was definitely here.”
A lot of the crowd that came out to watch weren’t at their first cutting horse show and knew the kinds of things the horses and riders had to do to score big.
“They understood when something good was happening in the show ring and there’d be some cheering going on,” Thiessen said. “It was really fun to be a part of it all where the crowd is into what’s going on and they’re actually getting to see exceptional horse power and exceptional runs getting made.”
In a cutting horse show, competitors have only a couple of minutes to separate as many cows or calves from the herd as possible. The horse is in control and must prevent the cow getting back to the herd.
With all the top talent from across western Canada, there were also many local horses and riders in the competition.
“We had a youth that showed for the first time ever and she had family and friends out to watch,” he said. “We have a really good core group of people here that helps with organizing the show. It’s really crucial to have them all in the area.
“And they’re competitive. We have local talent here that’s competitive in the big picture.”
There will be year-end awards given out for the Canadian championship, which drew in some of the top tier performers.
“Plus we had enough money that it was worth the competitors to come and compete,” Thiessen said.
He said that in quite a few classes, first place would have paid out $1,000 per day to win, which is one of the top weekend shows the province has had.
