Go Team USA! – 10 Equestrians Prepare for the Youth World Cup

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168 – May/June, 2018

By Megan Ulrich

Ten of the industry’s finest youth are diligently preparing for the experience of a lifetime – competing at the 2018 American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup (YWC) as part of Team USA. The U.S. team will be a force to be reckoned with, boasting multiple riders with numerous AQHA World and Congress Championships under their belts.

The AQHA YWC, with teams hailing from 19 different countries, is held every other year. The 2018 YWC will be held in College Station, Texas, from June 28-July 8, 2018. The 11-day competition also includes educational seminars, discipline specific clinics, and leadership training. Each country sends five riders to vie for gold medals in Cutting, Reining, Horsemanship, Ranch Riding, Trail, Western Riding, Hunt Seat Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle, and Showmanship. Five additional youth from each country are invited to attend the education and leadership portion of the week’s events.

Nancy Cahill, who has coached the team since 1988, says 55 young men and women applied to be on the team this year. “It was the hardest job in the world for our committee to choose from such fantastic individuals. The Youth World Cup is the closest event that is Olympic-like for these young horse enthusiasts,” Cahill says. The five riders selected were Natalia DeVencenty, Mattie Dukes, Mallory Vroegh, Teri Dawn Haws, and Caleb Sturgeon. The five leaders attending are Jessica McAllister, Kamiah McGrath, Luke Guynn, Alan Hinds, and Lily Atkinson, with McAllister and McGrath serving as reserve riders.

Cahill, along with team manager, Michelle Tidwell, prepare team members as much as possible remotely, via conference calls and social media connections, providing advice before they arrive at the Cup. They chat about topics spanning from tack and clothing to how each rider’s actions will be viewed by the rest of the world. “Representing their country is a totally new concept,” Cahill says. “I tell them it might be the first time they will cry when they hear the national anthem. I love watching that happen.”

“Watching them become a family in less than 24 hours is just amazing. They’ve never really had a chance to be a team that lives and works together,” Cahill says. Until the YWC begins, the riders will continue to prepare independently. Since the host country provides each team’s horses for clinics and competition, as a way of leveling the playing field for riders, each U.S. rider told The Equine Chronicle that they’ve been honing their skills aboard as many different horses as they can.

Click here to read the complete article
168 – May/June, 2018