Judging National Cutting Horse Association events at Will Rogers Equestrian Center in Fort Worth requires a lot of stamina. The cutting starts at 8:30 a.m. and often lasts until 8:00 p.m. or later. Since rules require that judges be sequestered from contestants, they are stabled at a local hotel and eat together as a group for five consecutive days or more.

Like a lot of us, one of the highlights of a judge’s day is mealtime. Since Nancy Clayton (pictured) has been catering their midday meals, the judges can always count on a daily “down home” meal, served between the third and fourth sets of cattle.

Clayton, a non-pro competitor whose Paint mare JR Colord Prom won the 2000 NCHA Open Super Stakes with Chubby Turner, gets up at 3:00 a.m., seven days a week, for the three week duration of each show, to cook a family-style feast for 18. By 11:00 a.m, this indefatigable, culinary cutter, who also works as a custom decorator, is ready to pack hot containers of comfort food into insulated carriers for the 40-minute trip from her Weatherford home to Will Rogers Coliseum.

Although her menus vary, the first day’s fare is always the same and helps everyone forget about the long haul ahead of them. Fortified with chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, creamed corn, fresh green salad, biscuits, and banana pudding, all cooked from scratch, who cares how long it takes to settle the cattle?

 It’s hard to pick a favorite among Clayton’s recipes, but her Secret Secret Buttermilk Pie seldom lasts longer than the time it takes to begin the fourth bunch of cattle. Here’s the recipe:

Nancy’s Secret Secret Buttermilk Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons flour
1 single piecrust

Mix ingredients together and pour into crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.