Horse cutting takes over Majestic Valley Arena

A sport born out of one of the oldest cowboy traditions arrives at the Majestic Valley Arena beginning this morning when the Big Sky Futurity and Aged cutting horse competition gets underway.

The event is free to attend and runs through Friday. The first riders will hit the arena this morning at 7 a.m. with competition continuing through the evening each day.

Cutting horses are trained to separate cattle from their herd and the competition allows riders two minutes and 30 seconds to ride into the herd, pick out a cow and keep that cow isolated. Horses and riders are judged on how effectively and efficiently they complete that task.

Todd Wirthlin, a former president of the Montana Cutting Horse Association and a competitor himself, claims the sport’s origins date back to competitive Texas cowboys measuring their skills against one another during a cattle drive.

“One said ‘I’ll bet you 10 bucks I can keep that cow out of there’ and they said ‘no you can’t,’” Wirthlin said.

Competitors include amateurs and professionals in 15 different classes, and all are aiming to get their horses to do something unnatural.

“Horses are prey animals,” Wirthlin said. “The horse is not designed as a bear or a lion or a wolf, but in this situation the horse is taking that cow and keeping that cow away from the herd. That’s a predatory instinct.”

The Big Sky event is in its 10th year and fourth in Kalispell. It is expected to draw more than 300 horses and riders from across the western United States and Canada. More than $1 million in prizes have been awarded since the event was founded.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit www.montanacha.com.