USA International Judges and team on the 2023 World Championship

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Katie Stearns

I am the owner and operator of the Flying Duchess Ranch located in Arlington, WA, USA. I am an International Judge for the WFEA. I train horses, teach riding lessons, archery lessons, and horse archery lessons. I have 6 lesson horses, and an Andalusian stallion that I compete with in multiple disciplines. I have a club called Broken Arrow Mounted Archers, and a horse archery academy called the Flying Duchess Academy for the more dedicated horse archers of our group. I host multiple WFEA World Cup competitions, and training camps and clinics, every year. I am also a full time mom and a mother of three children.

This year I think it will be just me from our team coming for the training, judges meeting, and competition /to the Kassai-valley/.

I attended my first World Championship in the valley in 2014 after, my first visit to the valley for an open weekend in 2013. I was impressed by the organization and simplicity of the competition style, as well as the difficulty. The system is clear and easy to understand, and easy to score. I appreciate how you are able to know your score as soon as you are finished. I feel these competitions and scores are the most comparable around the world, which is why this is the only system I compete in on a regular basis.

This year I look forward to coming back to the valley and meeting our new International Judges. Because of COVID many had to miss the last meeting, and we have had even more join us since then. I enjoy joining my fellow judges in training and in competition. Every year I hope to improve myself from the year before.

 

 

Tom Kelner

I am a WFEA International Judge. I live in Kalispell, Montana, United States and my official WFEA track is located at the Vogt Ranch in Hamilton, Montana. We keep a small but well trained number of archery horses, both at my home in Kalispell and at the Vogt Ranch. I have been in the Kassai system since 2004 and became a judge in 2018.

Our team here consists of myself, my wife Jonna, Janie Vogt (the ranch owner) and a handful of other local Montana folks who come join us periodically to train and compete. Since our distances between us here are quite long in this part of the world, we have to draw from a large geographical area.

I have competed in a couple of World Championships in the Kassai Valley and am very much looking forward to doing so again this summer. These International Judges meetings and World Cup competitions are valuable to knit together the WFEA community; seeing old friends and meeting new judges. It is an event that I always treasure and anticipate.

This year’s competition should be one of the largest as we have more International Judges than ever before, hopefully all will be able to attend. I look forward to seeing all of my horseback archery friends in The Valley.

 

 

Trinity Massie

I am an International Judge of the OKS, I am the youngest of the women and have been part of the Kassai system for two years now. Me and my family have had the honor of creating and running what we call Arrowhead Acres, this is our range where I hold my WFEA Competitions, training days, weekly practice and much more. It is located in Brush Prairie WA, USA. This property is an impactful safe learning place for Horseback Archers, I strive to have skilled people and horses here just like those in the Valley.

My sister Naudia will be accompanying me this year to attend the World Championship. I have no personal history regarding the World Championship in the Kassai Valley, this will be our first time attending the competition and visiting the Valley. I am extremely excited about going this year, I look forward to meeting all my fellow Judges and competing alongside them. Getting to do what we are all so passionate and dedicated for together will be a special time I hope. My goal is to learn even more about this incredible community and skill Kassai has created and take home things that can help me as a Judge make me and my team grow.