The Sunshine Coast is home to two of the five riders from Canada chosen to compete in the 21st American Quarter Horse (AQHA) Youth World Cup. Youth from 17 countries will gather for the event, held this year in Bryan/College Station, Texas from June 28 to July 8.
Joining Team Canada’s roster are 17-year-old MacKenzie Inksater and 14-year-old Ellie Gerbrandt, both of Roberts Creek.
MacKenzie, a Grade 12 student at Elphinstone Secondary, has had successes including 2016 Hi Point Youth at the Canadian National Championships, top 10 finishes at the AQHA Novice Championships West in Las Vegas, and was part of Team Canada in 2016 for the AQHA Youth World Cup in Australia.
Ellie, a Grade 9 student at Elphinstone Secondary, was top 10 at the 2016 All American Quarter Horse Congress in Hunt Seat Equitation. In 2017 she earned Hi Point Youth at the AQHA Novice Youth Championships west in Las Vegas as well as Hi Points and Reserve Hi Points in Oregon, Arizona and Washington.
The AQHA 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 comprised 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.
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