Cutting used to be work, now it’s a sport. What began as an everyday chore on the ranch now takes centre ring as cowboys show their skills in cutting, or separating, a cow from a herd.

Ranch hands needed to do this when a cow was going to be branded or sold or needed doctoring. Now the cow, after it’s been cut, gets to join the herd again.

It takes two to cut a cow, a good horse and an experienced rider.

Jon Sagmoen, a 24-year-old resident of Silver Creek, has just finished his first year on the no-pro cutting circuit. For a first year cutter, starting off “near the bottom” at competitions, Sagmoen came in first in the 15,000 NH/NP at the Thorlakson September Sizzler, held at Airdrie, Alberta.  There was one judge and he scored a 74. The 15 thousand refers to the fact that the horse has not won more than 15 thousand during a lifetime of competitions.

Sagmoen got into the sport after helping and travelling around with Dr. Denton Moffat, a professional cutter from Armstrong.

In the past year Sagmoen has competed in nine shows travelling from the coast and central B.C. to Alberta. Although he was a beginner, his horse, Scat Cat Kitty, a six-year-old quarter horse, was already trained.

“She’s very ‘cowey,’ her ears are forward and she’s trying to read the cow,” says Sagmoen. He explains ‘cowey’ means ‘cow smart.’

The first few shows were difficult for Sagmoen who is just used to casual riding and not being in front of crowds and judges. But he caught the bug.

“It’s addicting. It’s a rush to cut your cow,” he says in his quiet low voice.

As Sagmoen is talking, he is overlooking a horse arena on his parents’ property.  It’s not as big as the regulation arenas, but it’s a good size, covered and will be good for him to practise in during the winter.

There are buffalo in pens attached to the arena. Most cutters practise with buffalo because “they’re faster than cows and work longer.”

Even with that, they don’t have to work more than a few minutes.  In cutting shows, competitors have two minutes 30 seconds to cut the cow. If they cut the cow without scattering the herd and the cows remain calm, that’s the sign of a good cut.

Sagmoen works during the day and he spends his evening practising and riding. As Scat Cat Kitty is six and almost at retirement age, he’s training a new two-year-old horse, L.R. Fanny’s Feather.

Sagmoen demonstrates a practice with Kitty. A one-year-old buffalo is let in the ring and runs up and down the length of the arena. With sharp swift movements Kitty keeps up with and seems almost to anticipate the buffalo’s moves.

After a few minutes the practice is done and the buffalo goes back to the pen.

“They’re both pretty good, this horse is experienced,” says Sagmoen referring to Kitty. L.R. Fanny’s Feather is a good cutting horse but needs more training.

“It’s a lot more work for me and a lot more time,” he says.

If this had a been a hundred years earlier, Sagmoen might have been training Fanny for everyday ordinary work. Now they train in a covered arena with lights that come on at sunset. Fanny might not care that crowds of people will be watching, or that there’s prize money at stake, she’ll just do what comes naturally, making sure the cowboy gets his cow.