“Winning Words” From 2015 AjPHA Youth World Champions
Photo courtesy of APHA.
PHJ press release by: Rachel Florman
What does it take to be a world champion? Hear it straight from those who know first-hand with Winning Words. Twenty-one Youth visited the APHA Media Office studio on the show grounds during the 2015 AjPHA Youth World Championship Show to spread their message and words of wisdom.
Check out the great stories and advice from a few of these champion competitors:
“I decided to come to the come to the World Show because I thought it would be a lot of fun. It’s a big thing I’ve been working for for a long time, so it was great thing to have as motivation [to work hard].”—Zanna Sullivan
“Making it here was a huge accomplishment for us–we’re from Alberta, Canada—but this has been a dream of ours for a long time and ‘Elliot’ was good enough to come, so we loaded up and down to Texas we drove!”—Caitlyn Malyk
“We were walking around the holding pen, and I just felt this connection with him; I felt his stride, I felt him move and I understood how to connect with him. And it was really incredible. So I just kind of patted him and said, ‘Alright buddy, let’s go win this class.’ ” —Montana Janssens
“[Spot Me Perfect] is so fun; he’s got the best personality of a horse that I have. For only being five he’s super good minded. Obviously Paints are super cool-looking, too.”—Courtney Youhey
“We rode almost every day—we rode without stirrups and practiced showmanship—for about three hours every day once school let out.”—Sabine Lazo
“ ‘Hunter’ and I won $750 in college scholarships. I want to go to college at [Colorado Mesa University] in Grand Junction, Colorado. Scholarships mean a ton to someone like me, who doesn’t have a ton of money to show my horse; [scholarships are] a huge push for me to come to the World Show.”—Jordin Rodeback
“I came in expecting nothing, but I think you have to do that—just come expecting to have fun.”—Abby Rasmussen
“Perfect practice makes perfect runs … I always try to practice with people who are better than me.”—Conner Matthews
Thanks to all the Youth riders who shared their stories. To watch all the Winning Words, head to YouTube.com/APHAvideo.
