Last week I had the privilege and honor to attend the AQHYA World Championship Show in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Our industry's best youth competitors come from all over the country and world to compete for the coveted Golden Globe trophy. I spent the week watching these impressive riders and their horses, presenting them their awards, beating the heat, and seeing lots of friends at the show! I also had royalty help from the Ohio Queen, Ashton Snow, and even the Indiana Princess, Katelyn Scheiben! Ashton was able to kick off the show the first few days until I arrived, and then we worked together to present awards. I love being able to spend time with the queens throughout the summer to get to know them and mentor them as they prepare for the queen competition in October. Ashton and I also made sure to get our daily ice cream fix while we queened in the heat! We also were able to catch up with one of our generous Queen sponsors, Keith, from That’s Invintage! His store is one of my favorites with all the unique items he has and I always add to my clothing collection when he is at a show I am at! Here are some of the highlights from the week!
Those of you at the World Show will know who I am talking about when I say “Jack Sparrow” was the talk of the town! There was a bird who relentlessly flew around the Jim Norick arena every single day! I am sure he can be spotted in many pictures from the World Show!
My first day at the show I got to see an impressive group of riders in the Equitation finals. The entire pattern was without stirrups. Isabella D’Onofrio and Whata Moonlite Ride from Ohio took home the gold globe for that class, congratulations! The biggest class at the world show was the Level 2 14-18 Horsemanship with over 100 entries and the ranch classes were right up there as well. It is so exciting to see the ranch classes evolve as AQHA continues to add ranch classes! The first ever Working Western Rail Class at the Youth World Show was won by Madison Rafacz and WHIZENBOONSMAL. The Level 3 13 and Under Reining Champion was Josaphine Torpey riding Get Back JoeJoe and it was her First world show! What an accomplishment for her first world show! The Parade of Teams was on Wednesday evening and the team spirit and excitement was infectious. The new AQHYA Leadership Board, scholarship recipients, and Team USA were all recognized during the Parade of Teams. VS Fire and Ice was the High Point Champion Horse from the Youth World Cup in July and they also recognized his owner and his accomplishments during the YWC riding with Team Germany. Moving onto some more exciting wins… Grant Mastin and his gelding, Hand Made Machine, took home the globe in the 14-18 Trail. Grant had one of the most moving reactions to his championship, lots of happy tears! Grant displays incredible sportsmanship to his competitors too. He is a class act competitor. Way to go Grant! In the 13 and Under Level 2 AND Level 3 Trail classes, the same riders placed top 3 in BOTH levels! Eleanor Ott won both the Level 2 & 3, and later on in the show won the Reserve 13 & Under All Around. Awesome Show! Friday, my last day at the show, was quite exciting! I was able to watch some cattle classes, like Tie Down Roping, Heading/Heeling, and Breakaway Roping. We do not have those classes at the shows I compete at in Pennsylvania, so being able to watch those classes was so much fun! Those riders and horses are incredibly talented. Friday evening was the Level 3 Reining, and to make that class even more exciting there was a run off between first and second place because of a tied score! To make it even more exciting, the run off was between the SAME rider, Riley Cachat, and her two horses Spooks Show Biz and A Smalltown Trick, who she won the class with. Talk about an awesome day for Riley!
The Youth World Show is one of my favorite shows to attend! It is so much fun to watch the talented teams competing at the show and an honor to give out those world show globes that they work so hard to earn. Congratulations to all!
