$500,000 in prize money on the line as Cascades Futurity and Aged Event returns to Deschutes County Fairgrounds

(Update: Adding video, comments from competitors)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) --  For the next 11 days, hundreds of professional riders are in Redmond for a top-flight cutting horse competition, the sixth annual Cascades Futurity and Aged Event at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds.

Monty Buntin is a competitor visiting from Sacramento, California.

"This is my turn back horse Bob, he's been with me since he was a 2-year-old," Buntin said Wednesday. "We trained him and showed him in competition, and now he's one of the horses that we use to assist the horses that are showing, to help hold the herd in the right spot and keep the cow moving at where the competitor is working."

Some big prize money is on the line.

 Show Producer Julie Clarke said, "We've sold out 550 stalls. We'll pay out over $500,000 in cash prizes. We've got a branding (event). We have the 'Way Out With Series' cutting series that pays out about $40,000. And we've got a 'never won a buckle' class. But most of all, we've got all these premier equine athletes from all over."

The competitors come from as far away as Texas and from throughout California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

 Horses are bred and trained for the cutting competition, which requires the horse and rider to separate a cow from a cattle herd and prevent it from returning.

 Frank Martin, from Las Vegas, says he  learned about cutting the hard way. 

"I was introduced in cutting by a guy by the name of Bill F.," he said. "I bought a horse, and he said he's also a trained cutting horse. I said, 'What's that?' He says, 'Come to my back yard.' And so Bill, he took me to his backyard, had me get on my horse -- his name is Star. Three times in a row, I fell off -- and it had convinced me."

 Riders are scored on appearance, how they control the cow, and their approach to getting the cow out of the herd. Redmond is the fifth leg of six on the circuit; the finale will be in Arizona next month.

 Morgan Cromer is another competitor visiting from Templeton, California

"I came because I'm a professional, and this is what I do for a living," Cromer said. "So we are lucky enough to have one of the larger events out here on the West Coast in Oregon."

You can see the competition daily through the 17th.