Stock Work

    For working with stock, the horse the cowhands rank first is the Quarter Horse.  It has "cow savvy"--an instinct for outguessing and outmaneuvering a steer on the run.  Like any other animal, the Quarter Horse has to be trained for its work, but it is willing to learn and can develop an uncanny ability.  Its talent may well be inherited from its hot-blooded ancestors, horses that were used by Mediterranean peoples and by the American Indians not only for herding but for bull-baiting and buffalo-running as well.
    The
Quarter Horse is masterful in every phase of stock work--roping, bulldogging, and cutting.  But it is in cutting--separating an animal from the herd--that a Quarter Horse really demonstrates wizardry; this is often a main attraction in rodeos and Western shows.  Once the cow to be cut from the herd has been indicated, the horse works on his own without direction from his rider.  He has learned to keep the position of advantage over a cow.  As it breaks away, he heads it off with a burst of speed; as it reverses or feints, he digs in to a dead stop, pivots, and lunges forward to turn the cow onto another tack.  If the cow makes a run, he calculates the perfect drift for intercepting it.  It is an extraordinary display of equine agility.  A good Quarter Horse also knows his part in calf roping and performs with nimbleness and know-how.
    The training of such a horse is usually completed by the time he is four or five years old.  It may begin when he is as young as three weeks.  One very successful trainer begins with a horse four years of age and completes its training in one year.  So there is no rigid procedure in the making of a
Quarter Horse cow pony.  It all adds up to developing the animal's inborn knack.  Trivia:  Vaqueros is the name given to the Spanish cowboy; they were among the first cowboys in America.  The western cowboy is responsible for taking care of the vast herds of cattle and horses belonging to the rancher for whom he works.

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