Cutting’s roots may be firmly planted in America, yet this western sport has carved a special place in the Australian equine landscape. Exhilarating to watch and prestigious to win, the annual NCHA Cutting Futurity in Tamworth is the richest indoor performance horse event in the southern hemisphere.

This year, the National Cutting Horse Association of Australia (NCHA) celebrated 50 years of cutting in Australia with a bang. After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19 cancellations, cutting returned to the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) in June for the sport’s flagship event.

Aptly named the 2022 NCHA 4CYTE Futurity Legends show, it drew cutting’s greats, both past and present, back to the pen with a vengeance.

From humble beginnings, the sport of cutting has steadily grown in Australia to now include over 50 clubs affiliated with the NCHA, with cutting shows held regularly all across the country. Reaching the milestone of 50 years was the perfect opportunity to honour and remember the legendary riders and horses who have contributed to the sport’s development and wowed crowds with incredible performances over the years – and there was no better place to celebrate and showcase their brilliance than at the 2022 NCHA 4CYTE Futurity Legends show. The concept of a Legends Cutting class was born and promptly added to the jam-packed show program.

An animated crowd cheered with delight as they welcomed 11 of the sport’s legends back to the AELEC arena on Friday, 10 June. Starring current legends still competing at the top of the game including John Mitchell, Todd Graham, Lori Mackay and Rob Hodgman – and legends who have retired from competitive cutting including Graham Amos, Roger Wagner and Ian Francis – this was much more than a cutting competition. It was a masterclass, a performance, a tribute to the sport’s greats, and an experience that will never be forgotten by those who watched on in wonder, adoration and respect.

Mounted on some of the best cutting horses in Australia, the legends worked their craft as the crowd accompanied their performances with a deafening soundtrack of thunderous applause, enthusiastic whoops and exuberant hollers. All the legends were remarkable, yet it was Todd Graham – team 4CYTE ambassador and winner of over $2.5 million in the cutting pen – who took top honours. Riding Shelley Ruff’s beautiful mare Metallictoy, Todd scored 228 points from a maximum of 240, to stave off a valiant effort from his brother Scott Graham, who finished second with 225 points on board Peter Shumack’s outstanding mare, Fair Lady Flash.

‘LEGEND OF LEGENDS’

“I’ve watched this mare for a few years with Lindsey Wheatley and Shelley Ruff, her regular riders, and she’s a great little mare, she can handle anything and she’s bloody hard to beat, so I thought, ‘I’d better get on this one!’” Todd explained with a grin after his run. He had good reason to smile; in addition to winning seven Open Futurity titles in his career and possessing the highest career prizemoney earnings of any Australian based cutting rider, he can also add the unofficial title of ‘Legend of Legends’ to his resume!

To the uninitiated, the 4CYTE Futurity Legends show program may appear gruelling; the competition started at 8am each day, and for the first few days of the two-week long show, continued until almost midnight. Yet at the venue, it was impossible to spot a glum expression or hear a negative word. Competitors, lopers, owners, sponsors, staff, volunteers and the crowd were thrilled to be back at the most important event on their calendar.

The feature event and major drawcard for competitors and spectators alike at this annual event has long been the Open Futurity class. Contested by rising four-year old horses who are competing for the very first time, this year’s Open Futurity – sponsored by 4CYTE – boasted a winner’s cheque of $100,000! Over 120 horses, purpose-bred with this specific event in mind, were entered in this year’s 4CYTE Open Futurity, with the top 21 combinations after two qualifying “go rounds” progressing to the clean slate final. The go rounds were conducted over the first three days of the event, with those progressing to the final enduring a nervous 11-day wait until the last Sunday of the show to contest the final.

Those horses, riders and owners that missed out on a finals berth were far from the first in the sport to suffer disappointment; cutting is a sport with many variables and it’s not uncommon for some of the most exciting combinations to have a tough show. During each cutting run, horse and rider have two and a half minutes to cut and then hold two or three beasts from the herd. Riding into the pen on a starting score of 70 points per judge, they score extra points to a maximum finishing score of 80 per judge for the quality and eye appeal of their work and lose points for errors and imperfections to a minimum finishing score of 60 per judge for completed runs. When it goes to plan, a cutting run is a jaw-dropping display of athleticism, finely-tuned animal instinct, and almost invisible communication between horse and rider.

Yet the cattle – the unpredictable third living element in any cutting run – can make or break it. The best beasts allow the rider to showcase their horse’s brilliance and training, however, hopes of a high scoring run and finals berth can be dashed in an instant if a beast makes a particularly erratic or belligerent move in its attempt to return to the herd. Luck – or a lack thereof – is a factor that cutters learn to live with, and the saying, “That’s cutting!” is often uttered with empathy by fellow cutters and the crowd as a cowboy or cowgirl rides out of the pen after losing control of a beast.

SOUTHERN RAIDERS

The 21 finalists in the 2022 4CYTE Open Futurity had all cut good cattle and produced top-notch runs on their young horses – emerging legends of the sport – to make it through to the final. Being a clean slate final, all had an equal chance to take home the winner’s cheque, and the atmosphere was electric. The full-capacity crowd was buzzing; who would win? Would Todd Graham, with two horses in the final, claim his eighth title? Would fellow 4CYTE Ambassador Jamie Seccombe, the only rider to progress three horses to the final, take the honours? Or perhaps one of the Victorian contingent would rise to the top. With the power couple of Lindsey and Aaron Wheatley, brothers Dean and Corey Holden and young gun Jack Johnston all in top form, many were theorising that his could be a year for the Futurity Trophy to head south.

From the moment that the first combination crossed the timeline, it was clear that this year’s final would be outstanding. Drawn first, Todd Graham produced a 218-point run with Rey Von Stevie, a score that’s often been enough to win the Open Futurity title. This year, it was good enough for tenth place; the top six placegetters scored 220 or above for the first time in the history of the event in Australia!

It was indeed the year of the Victorians; when Lindsey Wheatley posted a 222-point run with 4CYTE Ambassador Mark Ruff’s Lady Phairy Tale, the crowd and the competitors knew it would take a phenomenal run to outscore the only female competitor in the final. When 27-year-old Jack Johnston – who is based with Lindsey and Aaron Wheatley – rode into the pen, the crowd were on the edge of their seats. This combination had already won a title during the show – the Limited Open Futurity – and they were in scintillating form.

Flaming Cat showed no signs of fatigue as she entered the cutting pen. This remarkable filly was nearing the end of an outstanding fortnight – in addition to winning the Limited Open final earlier in the show, she had also accompanied Sinead Elliot to take Reserve Champion in the Non Pro Futurity class – could she back up these results with another stellar performance? With Jack Johnstone calmly showing her to perfection, Flaming Cat produced a brilliant run that scored 226 points and placed the pair at the top of the leaderboard. Exciting runs soon followed from fellow Victorians Dean Holden and Aaron Wheatley riding Cuttabar Designed N Metal and This Wrae respectively; both were good enough for 223 points and equal second position, yet 2022 was unquestionably the year of Jack Johnston and Tri Star Quarter Horses’ Flaming Cat!

As the major sponsors of the two-week long show and Open Futurity class, 4CYTE were delighted to play a pivotal role in supporting the show’s triumphant return to the AELEC arena.

“We were thrilled to be involved with such an incredible show and to witness our 4CYTE ambassadors Todd Graham, Jamie Seccombe, Hugh Miles, Corey Holden, Ashleigh Meagher, Mat Oakley, Mark Ruff, Dan Steers, Lynda MacCallum and Lacey McInnes perform so well, all either winning titles or making it through to finals in the Futurity, Derby, Classic, Open and Snafflebit classes,” 4CYTE Business Development Manager Josh Gibson enthused.

“To be involved in a sport that celebrates its legends – past, present and emerging – with a show of this calibre is an honour,” Josh continued. “At 4CYTE, our focus is on supporting the journeys our equine legends and their amazing riders embark on by protecting, maintaining, and promoting healthy joints right from the start. This is never more important than in a sport such as cutting, which requires an incredible amount of agility and athleticism in young horses, and we’re so excited to see so many 4CYTE horses achieve the results they were destined for at the biggest indoor show in the southern hemisphere. They are all legends in our eyes!” EQ

A special thank you to the NCHA for supplying images.

You can find out more about 4CYTE^TM for horses here.

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