Day 8 at AQHA Youth World Cup- 4 More Gold Medals, 2 Silver For Team USA!

EC Blog by: Team USA member Charles Lee

Well, Team USA wins GOLD! It started out with a bright sunrise with 40°F weather, which I’m starting to think is normal around here. The horses were working great in the morning. We started out at 8:00 a.m. with Showmanship. All of our girls had really nice patterns. There was some stiff competition, but the U.S. prevailed! Ellexxah won Showmanship with very large margin over Australia!

We then moved on to Hunter Under Saddle. Calley, Hayley, and Ellexxah all entered and came back in for finals. It was a great feeling to have all three of our riders go back in. Hayley placed ninth on “Harvey,” Ellexxah placed sixth on “Bundy,” and Calley placed first on Chance! After another huge win, we went back into Hunt Seat Equitation with Ellexxah winning gold, Calley winning silver, and Hayley placing fourth. We were so proud of our girls in English.

The girls competed in Trail and had some very stiff competition. They came back with vengeance when Ellexxah won gold in Western Horsemanship and Hayley won silver.

We finally competed in Ranch Riding. Brock rode Tuffy to a fifth place win and Calley placed sixth on Buffy. We were so proud of our riders doing extremely well in their classes. The unveiling of the flags for the top three was no doubt one of the most emotional times of the YWC. Hearing the national anthem playing over the loudspeakers with our flags at post in celebration of the win is a very emotional moment for both riders and leaders. I’m proud to be a part of this amazing event and represent Old Glory along with my teammates.

EC Blog by: Team USA member Ellexxah Maxwell

The day started off like a normal horse show: longing, cleaning up, and getting ready to show. However, once we hit the show pen, it was an entirely different thing. There is no way to explain to someone how it feels to have a whole team of people behind you. Stepping into the show pen and up to the cone with a horse that isn’t yours is a little intimidating. But that didn’t stop Team USA from starting off with a win in Showmanship with our horse Sweet Style, aka “Chance.”

The pace didn’t stop moving and we went right into Hunter Under Saddle with all three of us making it back to the finals!

Champion- Calley Huston and Sweet Style

6th- Ellexxah Maxwell and Triandibo Superabundance

9th- Hayley Riddle and QXH Ima Lil Tiger

Equitation was next and all three members laid out great patterns!

Champion- Ellexxah Maxwell and Triandibo Superabundance

Reserve Champion- Calley Huston and Sweet Style

4th- Hayley Riddle and Kool Tomcat

The fun didn’t stop there and we went to Horsemanship. The patterns were really good from all countries but Team USA pulled through again to take the Champion and Reserve Champion spots in Horsemanship.

Champion- Ellexxah Maxwell and Kool Tomcat

Reserve- Hayley Riddle and Triandibo Superabundance

Finally, we got to the last class, Ranch Riding, where Team USA Riders Calley and Brock showed off their skills.

5th- Brock Murphy and Kool Tomcat

6th- Calley Huston and Poco Blue Flame

There is no way to describe standing in the middle of the arena while hearing your countries national anthem played. There is no mascara waterproof enough to handle the tears running down your face in that moment. But most of all, there are no words to say how amazing it is to stand with a fellow team member listening to your anthem and sharing a moment few will ever share.

Tune in tomorrow to cheer us on again for Reining and Trail!