january-february 2013***************************************************************************The Ranch Sorter - 25 Spring Creek B R I M F I E L D , I L L I N O I S


Here in Illinois we had a fantastic December show! For me the most fun part of our show was our ‘Youth on foot’ class. We had a lot of youth that came with their parents, however, many did not have both horse and skills to compete in the saddle. So we started talking about offering an ‘on foot’ class. By Sunday we had a group of competitors that were excited about having a chance to compete! The young competitors got their ‘rides’ together and put in their entries. They could have an adult at the gate or two kids could ‘ride’ and both could work the cattle. We put just 5 calves in the pen to make things a little less crazy.


We took up a collection for ‘prize money’ and the kids were ready to go once the calves were settled. We ran it like a regular Beginner Youth class with handicapping, timer and buzzer. The crowd really got into the fun and shouted out to the child doing the sorting. My daughter, who is six, got into the fun and while she weighs about 10% of what each calf does, she managed to get the calves to do what she wanted. This was at least as much fun to watch as the time we had a bridle-less calf roping class at our farm! (Most of the horses did better in the roping without a bridle!)


Sorting on foot teaches those starting out how to read a cow and how to approach the calf to make him go in the right direction. It slows things down a little and helps the beginner understand his horse’s job. Most of us, especially those of us who have cattle need to be able to work cattle on foot as well as in the saddle. Learning what makes a cow go one way or another is a skill that is best learned on your own two feet. When you add in the horse, these little competitors will have a better understanding of exactly where to position their equine partner and get the right calf to do the right thing at the right time.


By running it like a regular class, our youngest competitors got to learn about all the steps of competing. Some of these kids would not have had a chance to participate in our show otherwise. And we all had fun! I think the crowd had as much fun rooting the kids on as the kids did getting in there and sorting the calves. I hope we do it again soon!


Kristi Link, Spring Creek


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