Cutting itself is an exhilarating event, filled with cheering fans, agile horses, and skilled riders. But once a person has reached such a high level of skill in the cutting world, he decides to take it a step further and make it a little more challenging to test himself and his horse, so he removes the bridle.
The All American Quarter Horse Congress had the pleasure of hosting an open bridleless cutting event and Cullen Shartier had the honor of coming out on top for his second year in a row with the score of a 227.
“I do this event for the thrill of the crowd,” said Cullen after being named Congress Champion. “Everyone loves to watch it so I go out there to have fun. Performing to give the crowd a good show matters most to me.”
The gorgeous black gelding he showed, named Once You Go Black, whose barn name is Zorro, is owned and shown by Alexis Stephas.
“Some of my biggest accomplishments this year was winning the bridleless cutting in San Antonio and in West Texas,” Shartier states. “I also won Limited Champion in Fort Worth twice. Those were all big wins for me and mean a lot.”
Shartier’s incredible talent has been developed for many years, having started riding when he was just six years old. He has grown up in the cutting world, which has been his primary discipline. This has been his second year showing in the bridleless cutting, and for being a multiple Congress champion, along with many other bridleless cutting achievements, I guess you could say he has an exceptional relationship with horses.
“Going into the pen, I just felt really confident. Zorro is a really nice horse and I have the pleasure of riding him. He is talented, hard-working, and extremely willing. He overall is just a nice and fun horse to work with.”
The open bridleless event was held along with the Mercuria NCHA World Series of Cutting which includes non-pro and open cutting, accompanied by the non-pro and open bridleless cutting. All the exhibitors had performed and qualified earlier that day.
Congratulations to Cullen and all riders who competed, it was a thrilling event to watch!
View a short video of Shartier’s winning run by GoHorseShow reporter Emily Ambrose
