Working Ranch Magazine - Index

Working Ranch Magazine - magazine - Index

COW HORSE OR BRIDLE HORSE?
A cow country debate has been percolating
ever since cowboys started
riding better bred horses with sharp,
keen minds tuned in to cattle. The
question is, when working cattle is it
best to have a bridle horse, meaning a
broke horse that will respond primarily
to the subtle cues of leg, seat and
rein; or is it more productive to ride a
cow horse, one that is bred to look at
a cow but responds equally as well to
manual cues?
Some cowboys want a bridle horse
because he just sits there until you pick
him up and place him where you need
him to be. That’s not saying he won’t
look at a cow, because he will, but he
won’t go hunting one. But some cowboys
love to ride a cow horse, one that
only needs to be in the general vicinity
of a cow before the ears start to twitch.
Trouble with that, according to some
cowhands, is that a cow horse is difficult
to switch off, and sometimes they
pull the most amazing moves at the
least appropriate time.
Benadum offers this advice. “You
want a turnback horse to have a little
cow, enough to be able to react to the
72 |WORKING RANCH | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2008
work and the cutter’s efforts, but you
also need to be able to steer them to
where they need to be. You don’t want
them to be cuttin’ like a cutting horse,
you need to be able to pick them up
and take them where you want to go.”
HELPING HAND
The rider component of the turnback
help is equally important to ensuring
success in the arena. “There’s a lot
going on out there,’ Benadum comments.
“A good turnback helper needs
to study and learn the cutter’s style, and
recognize the cutting horse’s strengths
and weaknesses. That way, they can
compliment the cutter’s efforts, not
hinder them. That’s why they need to
have a turnback horse that can get to
any spot, or help the cutter out of any
jam that he gets into.”
Turnback help works for the cutting
horse competitor. They do what they
can to maximize the showing of the
cutter, and experience is a huge part of
whether or not they are successful.
“If they’ve done it a lot,” Benadum
adds, “then they know where to be, and
that makes all the difference.” Good
turnback help will often get a cut of the
PHOTO BY RHONDA BENADUM
California horse trainer
Phil Benadum, left, gets
some respect from Cody
Hedlund at the 2005
NCHA World Finals in
Amarillo, Texas. Turnback
help like Phil can make it
or break it for these top
contenders like Cody, and
they feel every bit of the
pressure when that cow
comes out of the herd.
prize money as a gesture of
thanks for doing a good job
for the cutter.
IT’S SHOWTIME
Performance horse competitors
put a heck of a lot
of road miles on themselves
and their horses. That’s
why today’s equine trailers,
with live-in pullouts bigger than a
Manhattan penthouse and twice as
opulent, have evolved from their humble
roots as glorified tin tie stalls on
wheels.
“If you’re not cutting, you’re helping,
so you’re on a turnback horse a lot,”
notes Benadum. Often saddled from
5:30 in the morning to well after suppertime,
these good geldings pay their dues.
“A comfortable saddle is a must, and
I‘ve been using Supracor® pads for
quite awhile now, they really help protect
a horse’s back.”
Mentally, a break from the arena is a
must for any horse. Benadum has three
turnback horses in his string; his best
one is used at the bigger shows where a
simple mistake like hanging up in the
bridle for that split second can cost a
cutter some serious money. His second
horse is used for the weekend shows,
and the third one is worked exclusively
back at the Benadum training facility
near Los Banos, California. That
way, everybody’s happy because they
all get a break.
So the next time you find yourself
watching a good cutting, give a tip o’
the hat to the turnback help. They’ve
certainly earned it.