A Ford Youth World Show judge explains why the best keep getting better – and keep setting new records.

Kathryn Gorsuch broke records with her 244.5 score in the trail finals at the 2009 Ford Youth World Show. (Journal photo)

The crowd went wild when the 2009 Ford AQHYA World Championship Show announcer revealed Kathryn R. Gorsuch’s trail score: 244.5. And back in the warmup area, Kathryn’s trainer, Bruce Vickery, told her the news – it was the highest score ever recorded in trail competition.

“I was so happy, I was about to cry,” Kathryn said. “I did cry in there, I have to say.”

Up in the announcer’s booth, we caught up with one of the trail judges to ask why scores just keep getting higher.

“The quality of horses has just gone out the roof,” judge John Tuckey of Liberty, Kentucky, said. “Every four years, we watch the Olympics, and we think that world record will never be broken, but every time, they’re breaking world records. Athletes are getting better. Same with our horses. The trainers are getting better, and our athletic horses are getting better. They’re better trained.”

Referring to Kathryn’s run, he said, “That was as good a trail as I’ve ever seen in my life, right there. She deserved every point she got, as far as I’m concerned.”

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In 2007, AQHA moved to a different scoring system, in which points are added or subtracted for each trail obstacle. But that new system isn’t responsible for the higher scores being seen in competitions.

“All the scoring system does is get the judging more consistent,” Tuckey said. “We’re still limited on what we can pay a horse per obstacle, which is a point and a half. But when they go through every single obstacle with that quality like (Kathryn) just did, you’re one and a half or one on everything. …. They get what they get. We can just call what we see, and we saw some really good stuff.

“It was just that good.”

Holly Clanahan
Editor
America’s Horse magazine

Check out photos from the sixth and seventh day of the 2009 Ford AQHYA World Championship Show. Click on the photos to see the captions. Some of the photos are available for purchase at the AQHA Photo Store.