CHAPS will fly when hundreds of cutters compete at the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity from May 25 to June 7.
The event, held at Tamworth's Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, will attract about 350 riders for 1500 runs.
With a prize pool of more than $700,000, the futurity will feature the best in the sport, says NCHA general manager Greg Sinclair.
"We have $75,000 for the open futurity champion, which is pretty damn good," Mr Sinclair said.
"This is the biggest cutting event in the country each year.
"It's not only a showcase of the cutting industry, but also the talent of the riders and horses."
Organisers have reported strong entries in all competitions.
"In the open futurity we have 160 competitors, a big jump from the 130 riders we had last year," Mr Sinclair said.
"Cutting is growing every year, because once somebody tries cutting, they get hooked."
This year's program has changed to run the second go-round of the open futurity on a Saturday.
"In previous years we ran them during the week and working people couldn't get a chance to see the three-year-olds competing - they were only seeing the finals," Mr Sinclair said.
The program also features the non-pro futurity for riders who aren't professional trainers, along with the open and non-pro derby, open and non-pro classic, open and non-pro gold cup, youth cutting events, and an international challenge between Australia and American cutters.
"We'll have a team of eight non-pro riders from the United States competing against a selected Australian team," Mr Sinclair said.
"While they're here we'll take them around the region and do all the tourist things, like visit Australia's only cutting academy at the New England Girls' School, show them Goonoo Goonoo Station and take them to a stud in the Hunter Valley."
A highlight for families will be the rodeo on Friday, June 5, which will feature stock from Upper Horton's Gill brothers.
Entry into the main arena is free on May 31 and June 1, as well as Thursday, June 4, for the NCHA Select Cutting Horse Sale.
"Those days give non-cutting folk a chance to come and have a look at our sport, see if they like it, and maybe even buy a horse," Mr Sinclair said.
Organisers have been able to source 6000 cattle from a 200-kilometre radius, including livestock from the Liverpool Plains, Barraba, Bendemeer, Nundle, Tamworth, Gunnedah and Kingstown.
"Unfortunately, some of our regular suppliers have had to destock with the dry weather," Mr Sinclair said.
"Cattle producers around here are doing it tough but they've done their best to help us out.
"Our cattle suppliers are fantastic supporters of the futurity."
As always, the event will be streamed live, but this year it will not just be footage.
"We've got commentators coming in for the open, non-pro, gold cup and the team challenge," Mr Sinclair said.
"The webcast has had good support from other states in the past, and lets the people who can't make it to the futurity see all the action."
Mr Sinclair said the sport continued to grow each year, with more families getting involved.
"I think the major weekend shows are definitely growing," he said.
"It's an expensive sport and people are competing where there's decent prize money, so the big shows are doing really well.
"Our youth numbers have increased in the past few years and there's a lot of interest from younger kids wanting to start.
"We've been running youth clinics in NSW, Queensland and Victoria and they're always well supported."
