Aug. 9, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas- Incoming freshman equestrian rider Kylie Knight won the world championship in the Working Cow Horse event at the American Quarter Horse Association's World Youth Show at the Will Rogers Equestrian Center in Fort Worth.
The Working Cow Horse event is a combination event, judged on scores of a reining pattern followed by cow work.
The reining portion is the same used by all Varsity Equestrian, the division of collegiate equestrian TCU competes in. The cow work, which is unfamiliar to Varsity Equestrian, is comprised of the rider's ability to use their horse to hold a cow in place otherwise known as boxing. Riders are then told to demonstrate their ability to make the cow turn on the direction of the fence, while being close enough with the horse to be the cause of the turn. The final step in cow work requires the rider to force the cow to make a 360-degree circle without using the help of the fence.
Knight held the highest score in the preliminaries as well as the final round. Her score in the preliminaries was a 441.0, with the next highest score being a 429.5. The final round was much closer as Knight held on by half a point, edging her second place opponent 436.5-436.0.
The victory marked the second time she has won the event, as she won in 2005 on the same horse.
With her victory, Knight becomes the sixth world champion on the TCU roster, joining Jessica Bailey, Chloe Baker, Nicole Barnes, Kindel Huffman and Carrie von Uhlit.
The rest of the incoming freshmen will be announced when the roster is finalized some time in early September as the team begins workouts. The program's second season gets under way September 21st as they begin a three-day SEC road trip, starting at Auburn.
