Horse trainers also need lots of fresh calves for practice. The National Cutting Horse Association needs 8,500 calves for its National NCHA World Championship Futurity. The association uses 16,000 calves for its three major shows. Heifers make the best cutting calves. Steers give up too easily, and little bulls sometimes try to fight back.
Heifers have more moves.
We prefer straightbred English-type cattle, No. 1 Okies when we can get enough of them. An ideal group of cutting calves is one that has been together for a while. It helps if people have been riding horses through them but not using them for roping, penning or other equine practice. The big shows want producers who can provide a thousand or more calves. But smaller shows are willing to deal with producers who own fewer animals.