A 13-year old from the Humboldt area, McKenna Britz, has accomplished a lot in her five years competing in the equine sport of horse cutting. McKenna has been riding horses since the young age of four, and since her start in the horse cutting world at the age of 8, her dedication to the sport has resulted in her recent win during the 2017 Canadian Cutting Horse Junior Youth Championship, with her mare, Pam.

The discipline of horse cutting has been around for many years and has been a long-standing tradition in the equestrian world. Its historic roots go back to when "cowboys needed to split a cow from the herd and doctor that cow", explains McKenna's mother, Lisa Britz. "It's evolved into a high level of competition that is quite popular throughout the United States and Western Canada." During the competition, there are several rules that each competitor has to abide by. Britz says, "the competition is a herd of cattle and is judged by a CCHA (Canadian Cutting Horse Association) judge. The judge, who has to be an accomplished cutter as well, will judge how well McKenna and her horse can keep that cow out in the middle of the pen". The competitor has 2 and a half minutes to cut out three cows. Horse cutting competitors rely on the keen "cow instinct" inherent to their horse, and cannot reign their horse during their 2 and a half minutes in the pen.

Britz says the horse cutting season runs throughout the spring, summer, and fall, and concluded at the end of September. McKenna has shown primarily in Alberta and Saskatchewan and has been showing for four years, and has come in 3rd place in Canada the previous two years. Britz says her daughter McKenna's "goal was to step it up this year." Alongside her new horse, Pam, McKenna definitely accomplished this goal, with her recent win during the CCHA Junior Youth Championship. 

Beyond horse cutting, Britz says McKenna's other interests and passions include hockey, track and field, volleyball and soccer. McKenna will be getting her horse ready for the new season in February of next year, as the first competition takes place in March.