Clements Cutting Club, Inc.

announcement!!!

Do you have any really GREAT cutting photos of you and/or your horse? Submit your photos for the "front page" of Clements Cutting Club's website! (It's FREE!)

be a star!

many thanks to Paul Gorton Photography who has provided so many great pix for our site!

email your photos to

"The best little cutting horse club in the West."

September, 2003

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:

Hello –

Hello – If you haven’t heard yet, the merge between clubs is not going to happen. The survey forms came back nineteen ‘yes’ and nineteen ‘no’. The Board decided it would have to be ‘yes’ by an overwhelming count for the merge to go through.

We need your help; in order for our club to continue next year, we need board members, some of which will be President, Vice President and we need a Show Secretary. Please let a Board member know if you can help fill any of these openings, or if you know someone who is willing to assume any of these offices.

Our August show was moved for two reasons: first, we realized all of our help would be in Oregon the week we were scheduled for a show, and second, we wanted to offer futurity practice for people heading for Oregon. Our plan didn’t work, we reluctantly had to cancel our August show due to low entries.

See you in the arena,

Bernie Talbot

next ccc cutting:

show date time location judge entry due date

September 21, 2003
8:00 am
MacKay Ranch
3215 Dierssen Rd
Elk Grove, CA TBA Wednesday
September 17, 2003
9 P.M.

Get Directions to MacKay Ranch: Enter starting street address:
City, State or Zipcode:

(by Yahoo! Maps)

to enter:

Call: Jeanne Lucas 916-687-7803 or
Enter by E-mail: CCC@ClementsCutting.com or Enter On-Line!

(You will receive an email response for your entry)

NOTE: The Wednesday before the show BEFORE 9 P.M. deadline is still in effect if you enter by email.

CLASS SCHEDULE AND FEES:

Open	$75 + $75 Jackpot *
Non Pro	$75 + $75 Jackpot *
Futurity Practice	$75*
10,000 Novice	$75 + $25 Jackpot *
10,000 Novice Non Pro	$75 + $25 Jackpot *
3,000 Novice	$75 + $25 Jackpot *
50,000 Amateur	$75 + $25 Jackpot *
3,000 Novice Non Pro	$75 + $25 Jackpot *
2,000 Limited	$75 + $25 Jackpot *
Youth	$25***
500 Non Pro	$30 + $20 Jackpot ***

*2 Head of Fresh Cattle / ***3 Head of Re-run Cattle

Directions to MacKay Ranch, 3215 Dierssen Rd, Elk Grove, CA

From Highway 99: Take Twin Cities road exit (E12) - Go West 7 miles; turn right on Franklin at the stop sign. Go ½ mile; turn left on Dierssen; go 1.4 miles, over Interstate 5 bridge, to MacKay Ranch.

From Interstate 5: Take Twin Cities Road exit (E12) - Go East 1.9 miles; turn left on Franklin at the stop sign. Go ½ mile; turn left on Dierssen; go 1.4 miles, over Interstate 5 bridge, to MacKay Ranch.

Cuttin' Corner -- Unassociated Press
Galt, CA (UP) -- Herd in the arena

Lessons from the Practice Pen

Sunday, July 20th. It was the third class of the day at the MacKay Ranch and we had about a dozen futurity works. After the last scheduled work the cattle were well used. I heard a rider say "Now that's one tough lot of cattle for this young horse." He was an add-on work. Then jokingly he said "Maybe I should just back into this herd." He was on a three year old bay.

Into the herd he entered quietly and eased out the first cow. A clean cut and quiet, but productive work. That is; a couple of turns and stops and clean quit. Back into the heard for his second cow. Same activity as the first cow except this time the workin' horse was cowing at a higher intensity level. She would mirror the cow and then fade so as to relieve the working pressure on the "used" cow. On the third and last cow the horse was showing even more cow by using its nose to, not touch, but to motion to the cow "let's play." And they did.

Wednesday, August 20th. Having witnessed this fine art of horsemanship I decided to see more. Yes, a visit to this cowboys' working arena was in order. I arrived at the ranch at 8:20 AM and he had already been mounted for a couple of hours. I watched him work four young horses; two - three year olds and two - two year olds. Three of the horses were in the snaffle while one was exercised in the hackamore. All the work was in a large (about 200 ft.) round pen with a bale of hay in the center. Each horse was warmed-up (walk, trot, lope) and then onto selecting one of eight cows in the center. There were two cattle changes.

Onto the fence. Here, the training recipe called for a large dose of patience. He was letting the young horse "read the cow." A little ear movement, a bit of a nod and a slight but noticeable sway. And off they went along the fence to a stop. A stop that would then be repositioned onto the cow relative to the horse-cow distance. The attention of the horse was always on that cow. Again, here comes another big dose of patience. "Let's just have this colt look at this cow for a moment or two." The horse would 'reconnect' to the cow and off they'd go. This general training pattern was repeated on all four horses.

Another rather interesting observation here was the absence of the constant jerk and spur, and also the absence of sweat/lather on the horses in spite of a eighty-plus degree temperature. I don't know about the rider but the horses seemed to be enjoying their training session. Approaching noon it was about time to get back onto the road to home.

However, many lessons were learned and, we won't forget to square that round pen.

Thank you Mr. McGregor!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

David McGregor
NCHA Riders Hall of Fame
NCHA Members Hall of Fame
Member Clements Cutting Club

CCC BOARD NOMINATION FORM

Please obtain prior approval of the nominee prior to presenting him/her for board office.

______________________________________

Turn in all nomination forms to the Show Secretary or any Board member at the September show. Or, mail the nomination(s) to: CCC, P.O. Box 57, Clements, CA 95227.

PCA SHOW DATE

November 8-9, 2003
Rancho Murieta, 8:00 a.m. both days

The entry form and new rules are included in this month’s newsletter. We encourage you to enter and plan to participate in the last club show of the year. This is always a lot of fun and we hope to see many of our club members in attendance.

2003 CCC YEAR-END AWARDS BANQUET

Hold November 8, 2003, to attend the CCC Year-End Awards Banquet. The event will be held at Vince’s Italian Restaurant in Elk Grove.

No-host cocktails begin at 6:00 p.m. and dinner at 7:00 p.m. Your dinner choices and prices are as follows:

Sirloin Steak or Chicken Marsala, $19.95

Fried Prawns, $20.95.

There will also be a vegetarian choice available.

(No prices are available yet for child’s plates)

Please sign-up at the September 21st show or send in your dinner selection, number attending and check to:

Jeanne Lucas
9312 Tavernor Road
Wilton, CA 95693

2003 sponsorship program

The Clements Cutting Club offers a unique opportunity to our supporters for the 2003 season. For $250.00, we will provide the following advertising opportunities:

We will make a 3' x 5' vinyl banner which will be displayed at each cutting on the inside arena walls.
We will run your business card ad in each of our monthly newsletters.
We will put your ad permanently on our web site.

In the past, our sponsors donated year-end awards. We changed our format beginning in 2001. Instead of year-end awards in all classes, we have been jack-potting all classes. The members have responded enthusiastically to this change. Our new advertising program reflects another change for the club. The Board of Directors believes it offers a much higher level of visibility for our advertisers.

Thank you for your support.

The Clements Cutting Club

Your Name ______________________________________

Address ________________________________________

City, State, Zip ___________________________________

Phone #: ________________________________________

Contact Name ____________________________________

With your help, we will be able to provide awards through fifth place in all classes. Please support your club and the sponsors that so graciously donate to our program.

2003 ccc class rules

OPEN	Anyone can ride; a person can ride as many horses as desired.
NON PRO	No trainers. Rider must own horse.
10,000 NOVICE	Anyone can ride; a person can ride as many horses as desired. Horse must not have won over $10,000.
10,000 NOVICE NON PRO	Non Pro rider must own horse; horse must not have won over $10,000.
3,000 NOVICE	Anyone can ride; a person can ride as many horses as desired. Horse must not have won over $3,000.
50,000 AMATEUR	Open to any amateurs who have not won over $50,000 as of Jan. 1 of that year. Class conforming to NCHA rules.
3,000 NOVICE NON PRO	Non Pro rider must own horse; horse must not have won over $3,000.
2,000 LIMITED	All riders having lifetime earnings of less than $2,000 at the beginning of the point year. Any horse may be ridden.
YOUTH	Must be 18 years of age or younger. May show any horse.
500 NON PRO	Non Pro rider must own horse. Rider must not have earned over $500.
$$$ Note $$$	All Jackpot money will be paid in accordance with NCHA rules.

PRACTICE PEN: Practices in the show pen will be held at the end of each set. However, it will be limited to the first 3 to sign up. YOU CAN ONLY SIGN UP AT THE SHOW. There will be no phone reservations allowed. The practices are $30.00 and 2 1/2 minutes long.