Reasons to Ride
August 2, 2009
The challenges youth go through to make it to the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show are more than long hours on the road and in the saddle.
Kristin Spencer of Tioga, Texas, in the cutting finals of the 2009 Ford Youth World. (Journal photo)
Nineteen-year-old Kristin Spencer of Tioga, Texas, qualified again in the cutting with her mare Ima Cuttin Monkey. They won the reserve world championship in 2007, and Kristin was eager for another shot at the gold trophy – it would be a great way to finish out her youth competition career.
But on Sunday, July 26, before the show started on Friday, July 31, she was given another reason to want to do well. Her mother’s cousin, Deputy Sheriff Marvin Williams, was killed in the line of duty in Seminole, Oklahoma, attempting to serve an arrest warrant.
“My mom was real close to him,” Kristin said. “It was hard just watching how my mom reacted.”
Kristin and Ima Cuttin Monkey qualified for the August 1 finals with a 216, the third top score. Her parents wouldn’t be there to watch her ride in finals – they would be at Marvin’s funeral. On her qualifier bio form Kristin wrote: “It has been a tough week, but I ride for glory of God and in memory of Marvin Williams.”
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She rode sixth in the herd, and was having a great go until she lost her third cow. She couldn’t help the tears as she unwrapped the mare’s boots.
“I felt very confident in my mare,” Kristin said. “But it fell apart. I was hoping to go out of youth with a bang. I wanted to be able to honor him, too, for my family. That still happened, but I wanted it to be a little bigger, I guess.”
She added: “I wanted to do it for my parents, actually.” (Brett and Tara Spencer, Tioga, Texas.)
As she walked out with her finalist ribbon, the announcer stated the dedication of her ride that night, and the crowd gave her an extra round of applause. She picked her shoulders up and smiled.
“We’ll see you again,” she said. “In the amateur.”
Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal
Check out photos from the second 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.
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