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NJQH Youth Association

NJQHYA Contact: Linda Ceresani njqhya@att.net

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THE CROWNING OF CHAMPIONS

The first full day of competition for the 2010 American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup wrapped up with showmanship, western pleasure, horsemanship, western riding, trail, hunter under saddle and hunt seat equitation.

Only three countries have taken gold medals and the United States leads the pack with six, Germany follows with two and Belgium boasts one gold medal from cutting.

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A DAY FOR AMERICA

By AQHYA Secretary Leah Thomas

Team USA member Leah Thomas holds the American flag as teammates Alison Ceresani and Katy Krshka receive the gold and silver medals in hunt seat equitation.

Thursday was the first day of more than just one class – it was the beginning of showmanship, western pleasure, horsemanship, western riding, trail, hunter under saddle and hunt seat equitation. So to say the least, it was a little bit hectic.

But the day didn't begin at the normal time of 6 a.m., it began a few hours earlier when the toilet in our room started to over flow. It was a bit of a scramble to try to cover the entire floor with towels and wait for the handyman to come and fix it. It was an exciting way to start the morning.

We all got to the barns around 7:30 a.m., which gave everyone about an hour and a half to get their horses ready. While team leadership members scrambled around to help and get the horses longed and cleaned, riders checked bands and braids, got dressed, ran over the pattern a few times for showmanship, and checked the order of go.

Between hoof blacking and putting in tails, some how the stalls got cleaned, and all the horses got fresh water.

Ali was the first go in showmanship with an extra horse called “Jay-R”; Peyton with “Kevin” followed her. Katy and “Slick” apparently caught the judge's eye and she was named the showmanship champion. Receiving a gold medal, the entire crowd stood to the "Star Spangled Banner" while the American flag waved in the air. It was an exciting moment for everyone on Team USA.

As soon as showmanship was over, Kevin had to be saddled in a flurry of activity for Nick to get on and ride in pleasure. Slick and “Nugget” were also saddled up for western pleasure. While this was happening, Katy was being interviewed by someone from AQHA, who was filming for the live broadcasting and America's Horse.

Dressed in all black, Nick looked pretty good on Kevin. There were two splits for western pleasure and the duo was in the first split. Unfortunately, neither Katy and Nugget nor Ali and Slick made the call backs. But Kevin, under Nick's guidance did very well and they were called back for the finals. After the tough class, the placings were finally announced: Nick and Kevin had placed 10th.
Horsemanship came next with all three girls riding through the pattern class. They all had pretty good rides on Slick, Nugget, and Kevin, but only Katy was called back for rail work. There was a tense stretch as we waited for Team USA and Katy Krshka to be called over the microphone, but finally her name was called as the last rider standing. It was another very exciting win for her!
During all of this, trail was also happening in an adjacent ring. All three girls competed in trail, but Ali with Slick had a flawless pattern, with no audible ticks on any of the poles. She had a wonderful ride and won trail. It was a great placing, as Ali had not placed in any of her other classes, and things started looking up for her.
Somewhere between brushing off boots, and changing bits, Kaitlyne and I snuck over to the main arena to watch a few gos of Battle in the Saddle team roping. I had only seen it before at a rodeo and on TV, so it was pretty cool to watch, even if it was for just a few moments. We raced back afterward to help out, but I did get some neat photos before we left.
Western riding came next, following horsemanship. Peyton took Shadow into western riding and Katy took Kevin. Unfortunately, Peyton didn't place in western riding, but Katy took 10th place with a horse that had never done it before. The horses were quickly stripped of all their western tack and English saddles were tossed on. Well not tossed, but carefully and quickly placed on the horse's backs.
The three girls, Ali, Peyton and Katy changed clothes and started to warm up the horses for hunter under saddle. Ali was riding Kevin, who was shown in every class, Katy was on Shadow and Peyton took Nugget.
The hunter under saddle class was broken into three different splits, and each girl made it back into the finals. Peyton received fourth with Nugget, who was previously a ranch horse. And Ali won the class with champion Kevin. Lauren Crivelli, one of the leadership team members, got to hold the American flag for Ali as the national anthem was played again.
The final class, hunt seat equitation, was a rather large class. I missed all three of our riders’ patterns, but they all said that they were very good patterns so I wasn't really surprised when all three of them were called back in for the rail work.
Our girls were some of the strongest riders in the class, so we all had high hopes for them. They were all called into the line up and Peyton received fourth place. Katy’s name was called out for the silver medal. What made it even better was that Ali's name was called out for the gold medal. All three girls had made it into the top five. I was fortunate enough to hold the American flag during the ceremony.

It was a super exciting show day – from the very beginning ‘til the end of equitation. It’s so fun to see our flag out there with a blue ribbon and a gold medal.

After the show was over, a few of the team members stayed behind to watch cutting at Battle in the Saddle, while the rest went out to eat. When everyone came back from their activities, we all fell right asleep. Well except for me.

But I will be in bed very soon and hopefully there will be no strange toilet incidents in the morning, because I would like to be able to sleep in until at least 6 a.m.

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The NJQH Youth Association manned the NJQH Booth at the Dream Park Open House on June 5th. Youth members Taylor Ale, CeCe and Sarah Hodgson, Maria and Maura Hynes presented demonstrations of the AQHA Junior Master Horsemanship program. Approximately 80 children participated in the miniature horse project. A great time was had by all.

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