Cutting show this weekend | Taranaki Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Taranaki

THE New Zealand Cutting Horse Association is running a Futurity Show in Hawera this weekend.
The event is being held at the Indoor arena of the A&P showgrounds on Saturday, April 24, starting at 9.30am. Feature Events will be in the early afternoon.
Cutting is an event based on what a working horse would do on a ranch when used to draft cattle and keep them separated from the herd.
In the competition the horse and rider go into the herd of cattle and bring one out from herd; the rider must then put their hand down and no longer use the reins to steer the horse.
The horse must keep the cow from returning to the herd and work a little like an eye dog, with the horse mirroring the movements of the cow. Competitors have 2½ minutes in the run and can work 2-3 cattle within that time to show the judges how well their horse can work.
Points are gained for good eye-to-eye movement in sequence with the cow; points get deducted for losing a cow or getting out of time with the cow.
The Futurity Event is for 3-year-old horses that have previously not been shown in Cutting. There is also a derby for 4-year-old horses and open cutting for older horses. Reining and pleasure horses will also have a competition in the morning and the cutting finals will be in the afternoon.
Entry is free and food will be available.
Local Taranaki riders will be competing with other competitors coming from the South Island and as far North as from Auckland.
Stratford rider Catherine Ladd was last year’s Futurity winner, and her father Barry Ladd was the previous years Futurity winner. He also won the derby event last year.