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Roberts Creek rider heading again to Youth World Cup

Ellie Gerbrandt of Roberts Creek has been chosen once again to represent Canada at the 2020 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Youth World Cup in the Netherlands.
equestrian
Ellie Gerbrandt of Roberts Creek will represent Canada in July 2020 at the AQHA Youth World Cup in Kronenberg, Netherlands.

Ellie Gerbrandt of Roberts Creek has been chosen once again to represent Canada at the 2020 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Youth World Cup in the Netherlands.

In 2018, Ellie and another youth from Roberts Creek, MacKenzie Inksater, were two of the five riders chosen to represent Canada in College Station/Bryan, Texas.

Ellie, a Grade 11 student at Elphinstone Secondary, was top 10 at the 2016 and 2018 All American Quarter Horse Congress in Hunt Seat Equitation, as well as top 10 in showmanship in 2018. In 2017 she earned Hi-Point Youth at the AQHA Novice Youth Championships west in Las Vegas. In 2017 and 2018 she earned Hi-Point and Reserve Hi-Point in Oregon, Arizona and Washington.

Recently, Ellie was recruited by the Texas A&M NCAA Division 1 Equestrian team and has given her verbal commitment to ride for the team starting in 2021. 

In July 2020, youth from up to 18 countries will gather for the 22nd AQHA Youth World Cup in Kronenberg, Netherlands. It was 42 years ago, in 1978, when the Youth World Cup was first held in Amarillo, Texas. Since that time, the event has travelled to Canada, Australia, Germany, Arizona, Texas and Italy.

The Youth World Cup is an educational, leadership-based event where youth from every country have the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned during the week by competing in a variety of classes. Youth members from across the world compete in each of eight classes over a four-day period.

The culmination of the event is a showcasing of skills learned in an atmosphere of friendly competition. It is a unique opportunity for youth to learn in a hands-on setting with other international youth.

The competition will be composed of the following classes: showmanship at halter, ranch pleasure, western horsemanship, hunter under saddle, hunt seat equitation, trail, cutting and reining. There will be two complete shows and the combined scores from these days will determine the teams’ final standings. Youth will be competing on horses donated by the host country.

YWC Team Canada 2020 will be comprised of five competitive riders, two alternate riders, a team coach and a team manager.

– Submitted