The Augusta Futurity is a cutting-horse show, where a rider and horse "cut" a cow out of a herd of cattle and then attempt to prevent its return to that herd.

Riders have 2 minutes in each ride to show the ability of the horse to control a cow once the cow is cut. At least two cows must be cut at different times during the ride. Some riders cut three.

The rider guides the horse to prevent the cow from returning to the herd. Cows that return to the herd bring the highest penalty from the judges (five-point deduction from each judge). It is said a horse "lost a cow" when it fails to hold it, and rarely advances to the next stage if it happens in a go-round.

Five judges rank a ride on a scale between 60 and 80 points, with half-points being allowed. The final score is reached by dropping the high and low scores and taking the total of the remaining three scores.

The highest possible score is 240.

The highest score in the 25-year history of the Augusta Futurity is 230.5, set by Chiquita Pistol and Tag Rice in the 2003 Futurity Open finals.

Last year, Michelle Hall and Play Stocks posted the show's best score at 224 to win the Futurity Open finals. Two years ago, Rice and Chiquita Pistol marked the show's second-best score in its history, 230, in the Western Horseman Cup open finals, an unofficial event.