By Jennifer Klitzke

It was the last night of my cow sorting league, and I finally got to take the my naturally gaited TWH, Makana. She’s who I had in mind when I had signed up, but she was recovering from a tick-borne illness. Of the three horses I took, Makana got into this the most. I think she enjoys the idea of having something to push around being the lowest on the pecking order!

Dressage training has really helped us maneuver our way around the sneaky cows when they quickly change directions.  At the sorting league we got to ride one time with each person, and I was one of two first-timers among very seasoned riders—and the only one riding a gaited horse.

The goal is for a team of two to move ten cows in the correct sequence from one round pen to the other within 60 seconds. The center between the two pens is called the “hole.” Each cow wears a number from 1 to 0 with two blank cows in the herd. When the timer starts, the announcer picks a number for the team to begin with. As a team, we alternate guarding the hole and moving a cow from one ring to the other. If the wrong number cow sneaks through the hole before it is their turn, the team receives “no score.”

Our best run of the league was with Makana, and we moved six cows in a minute. One team moved all 10 cows in 39 seconds which was fast-paced and exhilarating to watch.

I had my hopes to break six cows when my last ride was with one of the best sorters in the league. I don’t know what was funnier, that me the rookie said to the advanced rider, “Let’s shoot to get all ten,” or that we ended up getting the fastest “no score” of the league! The “5” and “8” cows were running at me from different directions while we were manning the hole.

We’ll get you next time number 5!

Video: Gaited Dressage Sorting Cows