Cutting and Team penning?

Question

Im 13 and I own a 12 year old quarter horse gelding. I want to learn how to do one of these for fun but how? Tell me more about one of these and how I can learn to do it? Do i find a trainer and take a few lessons or a lot of lessons? Can my horse do one of theses even though he's 12 i was just wondering because I know some people say that some sports only younger horses can do unless thats a myth.

Thanks guys!

Answer 1

hey, i dont know much about cutting and team penning, although i want to get into it! but as for the old horse, new tricks thing:

i suppose its easier with a younger horse to train them from scratch coz with an older horse he is already set in his habbits and riding disipline, but... i have a 17yo warmblood who i rode english on for a few years and then trained him western(roping and barrels) and hes been doing it for about 2 years now, so its never too late to teach your horse new things but it might be harder to retrain than start from scratch.

Answer 2

don't know where you live but check out this web site

middlecreekfarm.net

Answer 3

I would say get a trainer, because they will teach you & your horse what to do correctly :) If your horse is athletic & in good shape, he should be fine...if not, i would suggest finding a re-conditioning plan for him before you start working him rigorously..

Its not so much the age of the horse, its the condition of the horse...if your horse is a big fat lazy guy then no, he wouldnt make a good cutting or team-penning horse because at his age it will be hard for him to change his ways...im not saying it cant be done...it will just be a bit harder to do....

Also because of the stress his legs will have on them in either event, I would suggest booting all 4 of his pretty little legs (I use Professional's Choice SMB III (3) for my horses...but Classic Equine also makes some great boots!!) to protect them from injury :) Talk to your vet if you get into this stuff seriously, he/she may recommend a joint supplement for your middle-aged horse....

Good Luck!!  

Answer 4

me and my mom used to do team penning together all the time with no training, we just watched the guys do it and so we found us a 3rd partner and went out there and had fun.  She rode a Tennessee Walking Horse, and me and the other person rode QH.  Its not too hard, one person goes in to the herd of cows and cuts one or a few out, the 2nd person blocks them from going between the pen and the arena fence and then 3rd person helps to 1st to get the cows in the pen

its really fun

i've never done cutting before though, but im sure, with the right training, it wouldnt be too bad  

Answer 5

Id say go with the team penning, but ya may want to see if your horse is much of a "cow horse" before you invest money in getting training... but team penning is alot of fun if you get with a good team. cutting is alot harder bc your horse really need alot of training and has to have the skills to be a good cutter..otherwise it would be just a waste of money..... anyway, deff try the team penning, quarter horses are a great breed and Im sure he will have no problem learning...and will actually probably would really enjoy trying something new!!

Good Luck and have fun!! :)

Answer 6

You could definitely teach him to do penning. Cutting's a bit harder because the horse really has to be seriously trained. But penning, just about any horse can do.

What I did with my horses was take them to the local arena where they had practice pennings or sortings a few times a week. While I was there, I ran my horses a few times. And I would try to go with the more experienced riders so they could show me what to do.

Answer 7

Unless you have lots of money for a trainer I would forget Cutting.

Team Penning is another thing.  There are practice team pennings you can go to and see how your horse works with the cows.  They are usually  inexpensive and an opportunity to learn from others.  You can join other teams as the novice member (total points of riders cannot exceed a certain number for a given class) and you and your horse can learn the game.  There are also youth classes  you can join. This is how I learned about Team Penning and found that my horse was just not cowy enough to play the game.