AQHYA YOUTH WORLD CUP RETURNS HOME TO AMARILLO

Amarillo, Texas -The American Quarter Horse Association is proud to welcome the Youth World Cup back to Amarillo. The Youth World Cup is sponsored by WeatherBeeta and will be held at the Amarillo National Center June 23 through July 2. This event brings together AQHYA members from around the world.

The Youth World Cup began when Skip Parker of Carrollton, Texas, met with a man from Australia at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to discuss kids and American Quarter Horses. After their conversation that day, Parker decided to create a United States team to take to Australia and participate in the first Youth World Cup in 1978. The team traveled to Australia for a week of competition and education.

This first trip created an event that Parker was able to continue. Two years later, Parker decided to host the next Youth World Cup.

Since then, the Youth World Cup has been in Australia; Canada; Germany; Flagstaff, Arizona; Italy; and Amarillo, Texas.

The Youth World Cup, presented by AQHA Corporate Partner WeatherBeeta, involves education, leadership and competition. The event gives youth a chance to use the equine skills they have learned to compete against other countries. A team consists of five youth members and a coach.

Teams from 16 countries will participate in this year’s Youth World Cup including: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.

Any AQHYA member in good standing is eligible to compete provided they meet their country’s qualification guidelines. Each country can govern its system for team qualification; the only requirement is that the competitors must be 18 or under as of January 1, 2006.

Youth World Cup team members will compete in showmanship at halter, trail, western pleasure, western horsemanship, western riding, hunter under saddle, hunt seat equitation, reining and cutting.

American Quarter Horse owners from surrounding states generously donate their horses and tack for the Youth World Cup. Many thanks go out to the people who were able and willing to donate their wonderful horses. Without their help, this event would not be possible.

For more information about this year’s Youth World Cup, please visit aqha.com or call (806) 376-4888.

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