9-Year-Old “Scooter” Augsburger is Youngest Competitor Returning to AQHYA World Show Trail Finals

By: Brittany Bevis

There’s a particular pint-sized competitor at the Youth World Show who’s causing quite a big splash. Cheyenne Augsburger (fondly known to most as “Scooter”) just turned nine years old two weeks ago, on July 6th. At her first Youth World Show she is competing in Showmanship, Western Riding, Horsemanship, and Trail with her two horses, Scamper and Jay.

Yesterday, Scooter was one of 22 competitors who returned for the Trail Shootout. Because she scored an impressive 223, Scooter and Huntin For Candy will advance to the Trail Finals on Wednesday along with 21 other competitors, most of whom are nearly twice her age. Even more incredible, we took a sneak peek at the Trail Shootout score sheets. Under one of the judges, little Miss Scooter received a plus 1/2 or plus 1 on all ten maneuvers and a minus 1/2 on only one.

To help put this impressive feat into perspective, here are a few fun facts.

• Scooter will be able to compete at 10 more Youth World shows.
• She first showed a horse at the age of 18 months.
• She was born in 2005. The top songs on the charts that year were “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey, “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson, and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day.
• She was born four years after the attacks on 9/11.
• She was only four years old when President Barack Obama was sworn into office.
• She will enter fourth grade in the fall where she will learn how to add and subtract fractions, read maps, and write book reports.

According to Scooter, she has just three words to describe the Trail Preliminaries pattern. “It was hard!” she says. “Loping into the box was the hardest. [The most fun were] the pinwheel lope-overs.”

Before she entered the pen, Scooter’s parents, Lori and Andrew, were on hand with some helpful advice in addition to horse trainer Dave Archer.

“They told me where to hit my spots and to have fun. Scamper is a really good boy. He’s good at picking up his feet, when he wants to.”

Although she hasn’t had the chance to practice the Finals pattern just yet, Scooter has looked over the tough Tim Kimura Trail course and is busy making a plan of attack.

“There’s no sidepassing,” she says. “You have to extend the trot up to the gate, though.” She’s also fairly certain there will be one or two raised poles…

Undoubtedly, Trail is one of the most technically challenging events at the Youth World Show. However, Scooter has no fear. She only gets a “little bit” nervous from time to time during those moments when her heart beats a “little bit” fast.

Scooter’s mother Lori says the best part of this whole experience is her daughter’s innocence. Scooter still doesn’t fully grasp how impressive her accomplishment is. Out of 162 competitors, Scooter was one of only 22 that made it back to Wednesday’s Finals. When she was told she’d qualified for the Trail Shootout, Scooter was simply excited because that meant she got to show her horse again.

When she isn’t in the show pen, you can find Scooter back at home in Florida riding her horses. Also, she’s excited to start fourth grade in the fall. When she gets older, Scooter would like to try her hand at hunter under saddle and hunt seat equitation. One day, she hopes to win a Youth World globe in one of her favorite events, Trail.

“It’s fun,” she says. “I like it a lot because Scamper is really good at it.”

We asked Scooter to give us one piece of advice that we could pass along to younger competitors, who might be too scared to compete against the big kids. She says it’s best not to be nervous, just focus on their own horse and their own ride, and to have fun with no pressure. According to Scooter, “That question was hard!”

If you’re watching at home on the live feed, be sure to look for #306 during Wednesday’s Trail Finals. The pair will be the 16th team in the pen.

Good luck Scooter and Scamper!