The New Zealand Cutting Horse Association was established in 1979 and is the national body for the sport of “Cutting” in New Zealand, and is affiliated to the National Cutting Horse Association in both America and Australia.
The cutting horse has earned distinction and respect as the work horse of the range for its ability to deploy its training and its instinct to outwit the cow’s desire to return to the safety of its herd. From this the human competitive spirit took over and cowboys challenged each other to show off their horses’ skill and ability. The Cutting Competition pits the skilled equine athletes against agile cattle, with little intervention or direction from their rider. Cutting is high adrenaline sport with an event for the whole family, age and gender have no bearing in the Cutting Pen, in this Cutting is very unique being an individual team sport. That is you competed as in individual but you require a team of 4 other riders and a herd of cattle to compete, any one of those components can affect the competition outcome.
Several years of training go into a Cutting horse before it is ready to compete at its first competition and it is a peek into this process that the dedicated team of Cutters from the NZCHA will present at Equitana 2019.
