How many cattle does it take to make a Battle in the Saddle?

By Larri Jo Starkey

Steve Orth grabs the heels of a steer on Apache Blue Boy, owned by John Row of Tishomingo, Oklahoma.

Reining, cutting, working cow horse, roping and ranch remuda – only one event of the five that make up Battle in the Saddle doesn’t require cattle. How many cattle does it take to run the other events?

That’s a question for Gary Griffith, who retired from AQHA as executive director of registration. These days, he spends his retirement working as arena manager for events such as Battle in the Saddle.

Gary tells the Journal that it takes 140 head of roping cattle plus 851 cutting cattle to make Battle in the Saddle happen this week. The cutting cattle will be recycled for the working cow horse and ranch remuda events.

July 7 was the first day that ropers started working. Enjoy a few shots from the event in the slide show below. Click on the photo to read the caption.

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