WATERLOO - High atop his horse, Greg Beutenmiller gently waded into a bovine sea looking for the one cow he had his eye on.

As the herd parted, horse and rider slowly followed the one cow until it was apart from its friends.

Then the game was on.

The cow angled to return to the herd, but the horse, Mercedes Jazz, met it face-to-face.

The cow tried to take another route back, and for the next several seconds sand flew as Mercedes darted back and forth to stare down the cow at every turn.

"She's staying head-to-head, she's dominating," Deb Herold, president of the Iowa Cutting Horse Association, said from the sidelines.

So went the Iowa Cutting Horse Show Saturday as it rounded off a week of competition at the National Cattle Congress McElroy Auditorium.

Cutting competitions, which are one of the fastest growing equine sports in the country, involve separating a herd. Points are awarded for the horse and rider's ability to control a cow.

This is the first time the cutting horse group has come to McElroy Auditorium, said Herold, who helped organize the event.

The show is usually held at the Iowa State Fair, but this year it was bumped for draft horses, she said.

About 150 people competed each day, and the event, which doles out purses totaling in the tens of thousands of dollars, drew competitors from almost every state including some big names in the sport.

A fine art

The trick to cutting is picking the right cow, Herold said.

In their saddles, riders scratch out notes on paper while the herd gets used to the surroundings. Competitors are trying to find the cows that match their horses' personalities, Herold said.

"It's a fine art being able to pick a cow," Herold said.

Docile ones who carry their heads low are usually good, she said. Skittish one aren't.

Once the cows have settled, each rider gets two and a half minutes to wade in and show their stuff.

The riders can't use the reins to control the horse when facing down the chosen cow, and the good form involves keeping the bovine in a tight spot toward the middle of the ring.

"It's like a hunting dog. These horses have to stay with them," Herold said.

Some 25 loads of sand were brought in to line the arena for the event. And organizers trucked in 1,500 to 2,000 head of cattle from Wisconsin.

Each set of 15 riders needed a fresh herd of 30 or more cows that had never seen a horse before, Herold said.

NCC is proving to be a good venue for the event, and they may be back next year, Herold said.

The event continues today at McElroy Auditorium.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.