Remembering the 2014 AQHA Youth World Cup- WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIEND…!

By: Ali Fratessa

Friday, July 11th – Day 11

After our 5 am wake up call and breakfast at Traditions, we arrived at the Expo for the AQHA Youth World Cup reining competition! At the start of the competition today, Australia was in 1st place overall with 71 points, USA second with 70 points, and Germany close behind with 66 points. While our Team USA reiners, Kalee McCann and Jack Medows, drew for their horses, the rest of Team USA took care of the USA team horses as usual and hand walked and lunged them. Today we did not ride our horses due to the reining competition. Pete Kyle and Bud Lyons held a great reining clinic before the morning and afternoon round of competitions. Kalee competed on “Dundee” in the morning and with a smoking run, she won the Bronze medal! Jack competed in the afternoon, and had an terrific run on a reiner called “Buddy.” We were so proud of them both!

Saturday, July 12th – Day 12

Today was the last show day! Time has flown by and it sure has not felt like we have been here almost ten days. It’s hard to believe that our time at the AQHA Youth World Cup is nearly over. Team Manager Suzy Jeane has been the best manager and cheerleader we could have had, she always made us laugh, kept us on track, and made sure we had clean clothes! Our outstanding Coach Nancy Cahill, despite having TWO brand new grandchildren born earlier in the week, was with us the whole time and did an amazing job coaching us on the horses we drew, giving us pep talks in our team meetings, and always made sure that we knew this was not just about winning, but also importantly about being ambassadors for our country and the incredible opportunity to make friends with youth from all over the globe who love to do what we do – ride our American Quarter Horses! Michelle Tidwell was always there helping all the teams with their horses if there was a colic or a sore foot. I know everyone was very grateful for her care and attention to all the horses.

The day’s competition started out with Graysen Stroud turning in a spectacular performance in showmanship to win the Gold! Carli Pitts took the Bronze in the Hunter Under Saddle and I was a finalist. In Equitation, USA’s Kalee McCann won the Gold AGAIN in Equitation, while I placed 4th. Going into the last three events, the USA was leading with 121 points, Germany was second with 110 points, and Australia was third with 98 points. Let’s just say that I’m sure we each prayed to do our best when we rode, because the point spread was very close…  Jack Medows placed 10th for the USA in Western Pleasure, bringing the USA another point for the team standings and Carli Pitts was a finalist. Going into the horsemanship event, the USA was at 122 points, Germany was close behind with 116, and Australia 109 points. Every placing was worth from 10 points to 1 points, so the outcome of each event had the AQHA Youth World Cup title hanging in the balance.

Carli, Graysen, and I had another amazing clean sweep today like in Thursday’s Equitation with Kalee, but this time in the Horsemanship competition! Team USA’s Graysen Stroud won the Bronze, Alessandra Fratessa won the Silver, and Carli Pitts won the Gold AGAIN! As I stood there holding the USA flag with my teammates at the medal ceremony, the pride we felt was overwhelming. The cheers and applause from the USA section of the stands was deafening as our friends, family and neighbors chanted USA, USA, USA once more! No other country had swept one event, let alone two!

Next up was trail and western riding, with USA’s Graysen Stroud placing 4th in Western Riding and Carli Pitts 9th in Trail. The AQHYA Youth World Cup competition had concluded, but the Champion Team would not be announced until the awards brunch the next morning. We had been keeping track of the points and thought we were in a good position but nothing was official yet. We had to wait until tomorrow to find out which country took home the AQHA Youth World Cup Champion trophy and gold medals!

Sunday, July 13th, Final Day!

This morning was filled with mixed emotions and feelings. We were excited for the awards banquet and eager to hear which team had won the AQHA Youth World Cup title, but sad that it was our last day together. As we packed our bags, rode our last bus ride, and ate our last breakfast together, we smiled, laughed, and maybe teared up just a little. We enjoyed our breakfast buffet at the Hilton including a southern treat of fried chicken and waffles (which was very good) and listened to all the speakers including AQHA Director of International Affairs David Avery and AQHA Director of Shows Pete Kyle thanking the AQHA Youth World Cup sponsors and dozens of volunteers who worked so hard to make the AQHA Youth World Cup in Bryan – College Station a success. That included AQHA Youth World Cup Coordinator Dawn Forest, who did a tireless and fantastic job the past three years coordinating teams, accommodations, volunteers, schedules, buses and so much more, Sheri Anderson who did an amazing job searching out and bringing in a great group of horses so that each teams horses were evenly matched, and TQHA’s President, Dr. Dennis Sigler who coordinated the cutting event at the Champion Ranch and a fun team sorting exhibition one night.

We waited for the final results. Individually, Kalee McCann won the Gold in the Hunt Seat Equitation and Carli Pitts won Gold in Horsemanship! Then, the team results were finally announced. Third place was Team Australia, second place was Team Germany and as we looked at each other with pride in our hearts and smiles on our faces, the Champion Team of the 2014 AQHA Youth World Cup was our Team USA! We each received a Gold medal, a beautiful Champion buckle, and the coveted AQHA Youth World Cup Champion trophy. We were told that we each get to keep the Youth World Cup Champion trophy in our homes for two months to display, and then we are to send the trophy to the next teammate, which will be such an honor!

After many, many, many pictures, it was time to say goodbye. I did not know my teammates or any other teams when I arrived at the dorms on the first day, but I feel like I have a second family now. It is crazy to think of how close we have all become in the past ten days, and hugging every member of my team before we all went our separate ways and saying goodbye was really hard.

Most of us (hopefully all of us) will be at the AQHA Youth World Show in August, so we will be reunited soon and are planning a TEAM USA dinner! The memories we made are truly one of a kind (like being stuck on the elevator with team Canada), and the friendships we made with other youth from around the world will never be forgotten. My Facebook has blown up with friend requests from many countries, and I hope to see them again. I know we will all stay in touch! Being on TEAM USA for the AQHA Youth World Cup has been such a blessing for me. I am forever grateful for the opportunity and honor to represent my country and to the TEAM USA selection committee members who believed in each of us and gave us this once in a lifetime chance. I also want to thank the AQHA for holding such an incredible event for youth in Quarter Horse Associations all over the world and hope that more teams have the opportunity to experience what we did this past two weeks. Once Team USA, always Team USA!

#AQHAPROUD #lovethisteam #bestteamever

Alessandra (Ali) Fratessa

Team USA