OK, I give up. What's a Cowtrax?
Cowtrax is a company. One of several that compete in a small market of "cow machines".
They started way back when with a stationary bike with only one wheel and a seat. A cord went around the wheel (no tire) and across one end of the arena to a pulley and back again. Attached to the cord was a piece of cloth, (a flag), imitating a cow going back and forth. Some models had stuffed cows. But it took someone to pedal the bike.
Then an automatic motor came along.
Now the machines are quite electronically sophisticated. Fast speeds and slow speeds.The rider has a wrist band with a remote, and buttons that strap to your finger, so the rider can make the flag go back and forth. There are some models that are programmable, with a memory button, and fast start and slow start options, and slow braking and hard brake action.
The one in the video is designed to go around the corners. The flag is nylon and attached to the cord so it zips through the extended pulleys.
A lot of cow horse and cutting horse outfits use them to start young horses tracking and watching, or to keep older horses turned. You can work on repetitive movements, where with a live cow, you only get so many chances, and you use up your cattle. Cattle expenses are a huge part of training cow horses. The best horses still seems to come off working ranches that have hundreds of cattle under real working conditions. But short of that, we do the best we can.
Small world. I have known Donny Wright for a long time. Not close, but he has been in Oakdale California forever it seems. He makes a real honest cutter thats easy to ride and knows his job.