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Special Kit-Kat, ridden by Richard Irby, scored a 73 in the 4-year-old non-pro open class at the Jan. 17-19 USCHA Region 4 kickoff. Staff photo by Todd Kleiboer
Free membership, events increases interest
Cutting Loose
Region 4 of the United States Cutting Horse Association kicked off last weekend as multiple people took home awards from the competition at the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center.
USCHA is relatively new to the cutting horse scene, forming in February 2016 when USCHA administrator Chris Fairbanks’ family felt there were “voids” in the existing organizations’ participation.
“When we started this organization, it was more of a grassroots, working man’s movement,” she said. “It was a decision to go after a sector who we considered people that are more typically working class people.”
Fairbanks and her family have been raising and showing cutting horses since she was young, and they had participated in multiple organizations. The biggest national organization is National Cutting Horse Association, and Fairbanks said her association is accessible to more people.
“To give you an idea, there are some very high-end events of all levels across our nation, but we really needed a product that was more user-friendly at the grassroots level, more affordable,” Fairbanks said.
Based in Sulphur Springs, USCHA hosts two types of competitions: orthodox cutting horse and ranch cutting horse. In orthodox cutting, the horse is largely unguided once the rider has picked out the target heifer, and in ranch cutting, the rider may guide the horse once the show manager has selected their target. Horses trained in orthodox cutting may run into the thousands of dollars in price and training, according to Horse & Rider.
“I’m going to use the analogy of a birddog,” Fairbanks said. “An orthodox cutting horse, when we go to the herd, we basically have to put the horse after we pick a cow on automatic pilot. The first time a person sees it, they’re really not sure what’s going on.”
According to Fairbanks, total members number about 2,500 nationwide, and she said about $645,000 in prize money was awarded last year. Membership to the association is free.
“We work in a sector to provide a different variety of classes with encompassing the ranch cutting horses as opposed to orthodox cutting horses,” Fairbanks said.
Eight regions make up the association, and Region 4, which consists of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, is the model region for the association. Region 1 of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska and Region 6 in northeastern U.S. also have events.
“In 2019, we really added shows to Region 6, and from there, where we will go is to Region 1,” Fairbanks said. “As we add regions that have more competitions, we will have regional finals in each one of those regions, and we’ll have national finals for those that qualify.”
In all, Fairbanks said the association is “community-based” with free events that are open to everyone, and the association would try to facilitate classes for kids if wanted.
The next USCHA event will start 9 a.m. Feb. 1-2 at the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center. US-CHA can be reached at 903-440-4122 or office@unitedstatescutting.com.