Heading into this evening’s event, Abbi had a plan, and that was to go all out, because she had nothing to lose.

“You have to think about yourself as well as your horse, and everything has to blend together perfectly. I feel like it takes a really good connection with your horse to do that.”

“When we bought him, he didn’t know how to jump or do a lead change, so it’s been a journey from where we’ve started to where we’ve finished.”

14-year-old Natalie Vargo was the returning World Champion in Hunter Hack coming into the Youth World, but this year she had a brand new partner for the class. Last year, Natalie won with Art of The Deal. This year, she came out on top again with her new partner, a five-year-old gelding named Dancin In The Dirt, aka “Carter.”

Each year Paige and Executee have competed at the Youth World, they’ve won a trophy. They were Reserve in Yearling Mares, Third in Two-Year-Old Mares, and Reserve today in 3-Year-Old Mares. “She’s my trophy collector!” Paige jokes.

Returning World Champion Deanna Green rode her trusty Palomino mare, Blazinmytroublesaway, to score a 231.5 securing another World Champion title in Western Riding. But, it wasn’t smooth sailing the whole way. After a slight misstep in the preliminaries yesterday, Deanna and “Buttercup” received a second chance at redemption in the shootout round.

“Every time a judge came by, her ears went forward, her head went up, and she showed like a champ.”

This pair competes under the guidance of Ted Turner, which was evident from the bright orange tie that peeked out from Cooper’s show jacket. “You have to represent!” Cooper says. “You’ve got to wear some orange, somewhere.”