Cutting: A Guide for the Non-Pro Competitor (The Howell Equestrian Library)

While researching the sport of cutting for my book 'Loving Larry' I read everything I could to capture the essence of the sport. Sally Harrison's guide for the non-pro competitor was my favorite reference. I love the personal stories and photos of the old-time Quarter Horses that were the foundation producers of modern day cutting horses. I appreciate Sally's understanding and careful explanation of the history, terminology and basic rules of cutting. After reading cover-to-cover with awe and fascination and referring back repeatedly for basics, I found this book to be a perfect guide for the novice that I was.

Sally Harrison's book is an excellent overview of the horses, people, and events that make cutting such an intriguing sport. She includes fascinating insights into the lives and histories of some of the immortal horses of the sport, from Poco Bueno to "Little Peppy" (Peppy San Badger), with commentary on what made them so great. The section on Doc Bar and the "two fools," as well as the description of the day Poco Bueno inspired Pine Johnson to adopt the not-quite-classic habit all cutting riders now favour, are in themselves worth the price of the book. Harrison includes plenty of people in her story as well, from classic trainers like Buster Welch, Pine Johnson and Leon Harrel, to avid non-pros. All of these people give anecdotal explanations of why the sport and the horses have such a hold on them. Letting people like this tell their stories makes for entertaining and often rather moving reading. There's one odd, and rather amusing, aspect of this book -- when I tried to look up Leon Harrel in the index I couldn't find him. Then I realized that none of the humans quoted or described in the book are listed in the index. You can look up every passing reference to Smart Date or Doc O Lena, but Harrison appears to have left the people out of the index entirely. That alone tells you all you need to know about Harrison's love for horses and cutting. My only complaint is that I wanted more and yet more details. This book could have been twice as long and I would still have read it in a sitting.