Mackenzie Inksater of Roberts Creek has been chosen, along with five youth and four alternate competitors from across Canada, to compete at the 2016 American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup.
This biannual event will be held in Tamworth, New South Wales in 2016. Over the course of two weeks, riders from all over the world will ride borrowed horses in order to compete in cutting, reining, western horsemanship, trail, ranch riding, hunt seat equitation, hunter under saddle and showmanship.
This once in a lifetime trip is not just a competition – Mackenzie and the rest of her team, as well as a team manager and team coach, will take part in seminars, clinics and more, all offered by the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA)’s top professionals.
Fifteen-year-old Mac-kenzie’s love of horses began as a toddler while spending time with her grandparents Jack and June Goose, who bred miniature horses. Mackenzie competed in her first horse show as a four year old, with her miniature horse Platinum. In fact, Platinum still lives in Roberts Creek, teaching another young rider the ropes of horse care. Early on, Mackenzie learned to ride with her mother and then later trained with Jeanine Ellingham, spending several years competing in horse trials.
Mackenzie began her under-saddle riding career with the Sunshine Coast Equestrian Club, competing in jumping, English hack, western performance and gymkhana events, with the legendary Mr. Pickle and later her own quarter horse, Sunny. It was when she found her first horse, Virtual Reality (aka Sunny), that her fondness for the American quarter horse breed became evident. Sunny had attitude and spunk, and riding him proved not to be the easiest path to horse show success. He would do anything Mackenzie asked of him, but at his own lightning speed.
After a few years of AQHA shows with Sunny, Mackenzie was outgrowing the 14.2hh rocket, both physically and in terms of ability. Sunny now enjoys the occasional trail ride on the trails of Roberts Creek.
When Mackenzie was 10 years old her parents began the search for her next mount, one that had the potential to go places. That search ended in 2011 when they found three-year-old BowTieNDreams in the barn of Tami Hutton of Langley, who would become her trainer. Bo was already a champion halter horse and was beginning his under-saddle training. Since bringing home the handsome Bo, Mackenzie, with the help and guidance of Hutton, has trained Bo to the top of their sport.
Mackenzie has spent the last four years travelling all over B.C., Alberta, Washington, Oregon and Las Vegas to compete in AQHA shows. This experience has helped her qualify for next year’s Youth World Cup. Mackenzie was able to show several of Hutton’s clients horses over the last two years, which also helped in her qualification, as she was able to demonstrate the ability to successfully show a borrowed competition horse.
Mackenzie has already started fundraising for the trip that will likely cost the team $100,000. On Nov. 14 and 15, Mackenzie’s coach held a clinic in Langley, with 50 per cent of the profits going towards the Youth World Cup Team. Mackenzie will continue to fundraise over the next six months. Sponsorship information can be found at Sharkey’s Fish Locker or www.bcqha.com
