Montana Foxtrotting Horse Wins High Point in Team Penning
By Catherine Hanson, Corvallis, Montana
Who'da thought it possible? Competing in an arena full of quarter horses in a
sport made for quarter horses. Cutting out, moving and running down cattle.
A Missouri Foxtrotter, teamed up with his redheaded calgal pal, actually
won the BTPSA 2008 High Point Award in Team Penning!
Hitman's Smokey Gun and I had never tried Team Penning until September 2007. I thought (ahem!) I was too old
to try such an aggressive sport. We'd been
dabbling at Team Sorting for a year or more, liking that just fine. It was great sport and a terrific way to keep the
horses in shape during the off season.
We found that our foxtrotters had a lot of “cow” in them, readily summing up the constantly changing herd and
showing no fear. Smokey reads a cow with the best of them. Granted, there are quarter horses and paints that
are bred for this. They may be a little lighter on the front end, a little faster laterally and have some more drop in
them, but none of them have more “try”. I like to think that those trot horses get those cutting genes from
selective breeding but our foxtrotters have it in their hearts naturally.
Team sorting is great fun. A judge calls out a number for the first cow and a team of two riders have 60 seconds
to get that cow and 9 more – in numerical order - through a 12 foot gate from one corral into another. You’re
disqualified if a “dirty cow” goes out of sequence. Precision, maneuverability and the ability to “read a cow” are
essential in the sorting arena. Horses that are easily intimidated need not apply.
We and our foxtrotting horses worked in the sorting arena well enough against all comers, despite some pre-
conceived, breed-specific prejudice. But when my husband, Gary, and I took them to a Team Penning Clinic in
Helena, Montana the light blinked on and Smokey lit up. "You mean I can run down these cows as fast as I need
to? Yeeeeehaw!"
Competitive by nature, Smoke loves to boss a cow around. What I didn't
know was just how fast he could go when motivated! I guess I should admit
that the old-time, 16 year old crazy-barrel-racer-chic in me came out too. As the season went on, Smokey tried
more and more moves, even slipping in some really
intimidating cutting maneuvers, to let the cows know exactly who was boss and where he wanted each one to go.
I'm not proud; I'll admit there were a few occasions when my life flashed before my eyes on a run down to cut out
a "bad" cow, so we could pen the good ones. When I lost a pedal one day, I dropped the reins, grabbed some
mane and let him do his job -- after he came back under me to scoop up my butt so I wouldn't go over the
handlebars! We ran off the “dirties” and penned our cows.
What's team penning? It's 3 riders on horseback, working together, to cut out 3 cows with the same number from
a herd of 30 and run them, and only them, down the other end of a large arena and put them in a pen -- in less
than 60 seconds. For more info see www.USTPA.com . There are now 3 clubs in Western Montana. Interest is
so great that the Bitterroot Team Penning and Sorting Association had 97 members that rode in 2008, its first
year.
OK, I’ll come out and say it: The conformation of the Missouri Foxtrotter isn’t as suited to working cattle as the
cattiness of a modern day, quarter-type working cow horse. They’re usually fleet, fast off the line, have lots of
torque and are well muscled, but their genes also contribute a Porche-like front end and steering. Our foxtrotting
horses have got all the heart in the world, but they’ll need a little more help from you if you’re going to use them in
Team Sorting and Penning.
Smokey is a big, powerfully built horse (15.2 and 1300+ pounds) with a big butt and even bigger shoulder. I’ve
found that I need to almost lightly “lift him up” as I move him left and right for fast turns. When you’re the guy (or
gal) in a sorting gate with 10 cows coming at you from all sides and you can only let a certain one go through, you’
ve got to be able to move and steer your engine fast. Pardon the mixed metaphors of horses and cars and
football, but in Smokey’s case, it’s a little like asking a guard or tackle to perform as a linebacker or running back.
Does he always save the day? Nope. But he LOVES doing it, and people love watching him throw himself into
the TRY.
How do you start sorting and penning with your foxtrotting horses? Pick a horse that loves a challenge. Work
him in gait and at the canter and gallop because we use them all. Get them supple and limber. Make sure they’
re listening to you and all of your cues. Leg yields are a must. So are lots of lateral moves and side passes and
some cowboy dressage. Be sure to get them working on those hindquarters, to enable quicker turns and to
lighten up the forequarters. Practice your stops and make sure your horse works well in a snaffle bit. Then you
can graduate to galloping up a fence line, stopping him with your seat and practicing rollbacks against the rails.
Cows can corner like Ferraris sometimes, and you need to be there when they do. You’ll find that your horse will
bond with you like never before and you become a real team. (If you’re a real over-achiever like we are, you may
find yourself in the market for a mechanical cow.)
Then, find some cattle and a club, and give your horse the chance to impress you. It may not surprise you that
he’s got the ability and agility, but I bet it’ll blow away the competition.
Few of the western horsemen out here realized the versatility of the Missouri Foxtrotting Horse. We love what we
do and our horses love what we do. We also love challenging what others believe and proving that just because
you're different, it doesn't mean you're not a winner.