Cutting horse show embraces milestone

"The 30th year just shocks us," operations manager Sherry Fulmer said. "We can't believe it's been 30 years."

Cowboys and cowgirls return to the Garden City with horses in tow for the largest cutting east of the Mississippi River. The Augusta Futurity, held at James Brown Arena, features nine official events and a handful of companion events.

One of the companion events is the wildly-popular USC Aiken Benefit Bull Riding Championship, a Professional Bull Riders event, which will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday. The bull riding is now a PBR Challenger Tour event, an upgrade from last year's PBR Enterprise Tour show. The Challenger Tour is one rung below the nationally-televised Built Ford Tough Series.

"That's big for Augusta," said event organizer and USC Aiken baseball coach Kenny Thomas. "That's the closest step to the world championship that you can get."

Tickets for the event range between $16 to $22 and can be purchased at James Brown Arena.

Another popular event is the Wrangler Family Fun Fest, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Seventh Street side of the arena Saturday. The free event will feature a petting zoo and cloggers in addition to Tara Scheyer and the Mud Puppy Band.

As for futurity competition, the show is adding the Champions Challenge this year. The Jan. 30 event will feature 24 open and 24 non-pro past champions vying for another title.

"It's going to be high-level, intense cutting," Fulmer said. "These people are used to winning. They expect to win."

The Futurity Open finals will be held Jan. 31. The opening ceremonies will begin that evening at 6:30 and will be followed by the Non-Pro finals.

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.

From the Sunday, January 18, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle