When boxing the cow in working cow horse is speed important or more the cutting moves important?

Boxing the cow is fundamentally about control, not speed — and the sooner a rider internalizes that, the better their cow work gets. Speed is a tool you use when the cow demands it, not something you're applying constantly. The horse that's blowing around the boxing area burning energy and chasing cattle isn't impressing anyone. What scores in the boxing phase is a horse that's reading the cow, mirroring her movements, and demonstrating that she is completely controlled — that she cannot get past without the horse being right there to turn her back. What wins the boxing phase is the horse's ability to rate the cow. Rate means matching the cow's speed and direction precisely — moving when she moves, stopping when she stops, and turning when she turns. A horse that's always a half-step ahead or behind the cow looks reactive rather than dominant. A horse that mirrors the cow with precision looks like he owns her, and that's the picture you're trying to paint for the judge. That said, speed absolutely has its place. A cow that makes a hard, fast move to one side has to be answered with matching quickness, and a horse that's flat-footed or slow to respond will get beat. The difference is that the speed is reactive and purposeful — the right amount applied at exactly the right moment — rather than a horse running hot all the time hoping to stay in front. The cutting moves — the drop of the shoulder, the rollback, the sharp change of direction — are the athletic expression of the rate. Build your horse's cow sense and his rate first, and the athletic moves will follow. A horse that truly reads cattle doesn't need to be fast all the time because he's always already in the right place.