As the horse is supposed to be making the judgements of which movements to use to keep the steer at the specified end of the arena, points are also lost if the rider obviously cues the horse or makes movements or noise toward the steer. More points are lost for separating more than one steer from the herd or pawing or biting at the cattle.
The horse is expected to make decisions about which movements to use to maintain the steer at a specific location in the arena, and any obvious cues or signals from the rider result in point deductions. Moreover, points are also lost if the horse separates multiple steers from the group or engages in undesirable behaviors such as pawing or biting.