Hi, everyone! My name is Ann Elizabeth Tebow. I am an 18-year-old from Piedmont, Oklahoma. Currently, I serve as the AQHYA president and compete in reining and ranch riding among other classes, but more importantly than any of these things, I am lucky enough to be one of ten members of Team USA for this year’s American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup.
The Youth World Cup is held every two years and this year’s competition is being held in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia June 23rd through July 3rd. During these ten days, 13 countries will be competing for individual titles in reining, cutting, ranch riding, horsemanship, showmanship, trail, hunter under saddle, and hunt seat equitation, as well as the most coveted world cup title which is determined by the results of each individual class. This year’s competition will have teams from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, USA, Belgium, United Kingdom, and Denmark.
I’d like to take the time to thank all of the generous people who have sponsored both Team USA and the Youth World Cup as a whole. It is the generosity of these people who donate their funds, goods, and most importantly horses who make this event possible year after year. I know all the participants are beyond grateful for their support.
Day 12 – Sunday, July 3, 2016
This day has been so surreal. We attended the awards breakfast this morning, and it really put into perspective how amazing this whole experience has been and how lucky I feel to have been able to be a part of it all.
When I applied to be a member of Team USA I prayed that I could be lucky enough to get to be a member of this Team — never could I have imagined that I would be lucky enough to be a member of this team standing on a stage this morning receiving the prizes that represent winning of the 2016 Youth World Cup.
CLICK HERE to view The Rock Stallion candids kindly taken by Ann Tebow, Brent Maxwell, Hayley Riddle, Nikki Riddle, US World Cup Team and others. Be sure to click on the US World Cup Icon to be directed to the correct candids.
The overall point totals ended as follows:
United States 200
Australia 118
Germany 110
Canada 84
Norway 65
United Kingdom 63
New Zealand 61
Denmark 50
Italy 42
Belgium 38
Israel 23
France 19
Japan 6
Day 11- Saturday, July 2, 2016
We made it! The competition portion of the 2016 Youth World Cup has come and gone and I could not be more proud to be a member of Team USA!
Show B of the showmanship, hunter under saddle, hunt seat equitation, horsemanship, and ranch riding were held today and the results for Team USA are as follows:
Showmanship
5th Place – Ellexxah Maxwell & Sweet Style
Hunter Under Saddle
6th Place – Ellexxah Maxwell & Triandibo Superabundance
Hunt Seat Equitation
1st Place – Calley Huston & Sweet Style
2nd Place – Hayley Riddle & Kool Tomcat
3rd Place – Ellexxah Maxwell & Triandibo Superabundance
Horsemanship
1st – Ellexxah Maxwell & Kool Tomcat
3rd – Hayley Riddle & Trandibo Superabundance
Ranch Riding
4th – Calley Huston & Poco Blue Flame
Hunt seat equitation was a clean sweep to the United States and we could not have been more proud of our team. During the 2014 Youth World Cup in College Station, Team USA also had a clean sweep in the equitation during show B, so it was exciting to get to repeat that again this year.
After the first few classes, Germany was chomping away pretty consistently at the comfortable lead that we had built up, and we were getting a little nervous, but our riders could not have responded any better. Each and every one of them fought with both determination and grace that made me proud to be both a member of Team USA and just to be an American in general.
The first day we got here Nancy told us that everything we were going to do would be as a team, but I never could have understood what that fully meant until now. We truly did everything together. We worked together, we cheered together, we won together, and we lost lost together. It only made our bond exponentially stronger. It is what made it possible for us to get to where we are and have all the hard work pay off. We did it. Team USA has officially won the 2016 Youth World Cup!
Day 10 – Friday, July 1st, 2016
The competition continued today at the 2016 Youth World Cup, and so did Team USA’s determination to keep fighting for points. Today’s competition included show B of the trail and both show A & B of the reining, and we could not have asked for a better day.
The morning started off with the trail class. After a few little bobbles that kept them from being called back during show A, Team USA’s riders Ellexxah Maxwell and Hayley Riddle were ready to leave their mark. Ellexxah and Triandibo Superabundance had a great pattern and ended up claiming the fourth place medal. Hayley and Kool Tomcat had a gorgeous pattern, and we were beyond proud to watch them claim the silver medal for the day. Their determination showed that with a little hard work and persistence anything is achievable.
After the trail, it was on to the reining and our rider, Brock Murphy, could not have impressed us more. In the first round, Brock was very excited about the horse he had drawn and their potential as a pair. He had a great ride with a small bobble that earned him a score of 68.5 and the bronze medal. He trailed the Australian and Canadian riders who had scores of 69.5 and 69 respectively.
Following a short break, Brock came back in show B with his second horse. Throughout the week he had heard that this horse had the possibility of being a bit of a handful so we were a little nervous going into the second session, but his run could not have been better.
Multiple Australians said they had never seen that horse have such a good run. Brock’s impressive ride earned him a score of 72 and the silver medal. Germany claimed the gold medal with a score of 73, but we honestly couldn’t have been happier with the way things turned out.
Tomorrow brings Show B of showmanship, hunter under saddle, hunt seat equitation, horsemanship, and ranch riding to wrap up the competition of the 2016 Youth World Cup.
After today Team USA has a pretty comfortable lead in the over point total and Australia and Germany are in a close fight for second, but we never know what tomorrow could bring!
Day 9 – Thursday, June 30, 201
It was another great day for team USA! All the hard work of the last week has paid off as we added five more gold medals and multiple other top 10 places to our collection as Show A of the All-Around events took place today at the 2016 Youth World Cup.
Individual class placing breakdown:
Showmanship
Gold – Ellexxah Maxwell & Sweet Style
Hunter Under Saddle
Gold –Â Calley Huston & Sweet Style (pictured right)
6th Ellexxah Maxwell & Triandibo Superbundance
9th Hayley Riddle & QXH Ima Lil Tiger
Hunt Seat Equitation
Gold – Ellexxah Maxwell & Triandibo Superabundance
2nd Calley Huston & Sweet Style
4th Hayley Riddle & Kool Tomcat
Horsemanship
Gold – Ellexxah Maxwell & Kool Tomcat
2nd Hayley Riddle & Triandibo Superabundance
Ranch Riding
5th Brock Murphy & Kool Tomcat
6th Calley Huston & Poco Blue Flame
Today’s credit earning rides, along with the two first place finishes by Austria Arnold in the cutting earlier this week, put Team USA at 103 total points – approximately 50 points ahead of the next two teams which are Germany with 56 and Australia with 44.
We are so beyond proud of the hard work put forth by all our riders, horses, leaders, and coaches in and out of the arena. It’s awesome to hear how much each award means to the riders and how honored they are to get to represent their country in such a grand way. We’d like to congratulate all the other teams on their success during today’s competition.
Tomorrow bring show B of the trail and both Show A and B of the reining. I look forward to cheering on our horses and see how everything unfolds. I can’t wait to share the results with you all!
Day 8 – Wednesday, June 29, 2016
We got some more sunshine today! Today was definitely the calm before the storm of this year’s Youth World Cup, and we could not have been more excited to have some sunshine to give us an extra push of motivation right before show day.
All the riders spent the day on and off the horses practicing for all their different classes. When the horses went being ridden, we were all helping out with longing, banding, and bathing. It definitely takes an army to get five horses and four riders ready to show in six events on one day – I still haven’t wrapped my mind around how crazy tomorrow is going to be!
The leadership kids got to take a break from work before lunch to attend an informal lecture with one of Australia’s top veterinarians. It was very interesting to hear him talk, and I definitely feel like I learned some cool information about how different things such as bacteria and nutrition can affect our horses.
Team USA manager Michelle Tidwell (pictured left) put on a very informational ranch riding demo during the lunch hour. This is the first year that ranch riding has been a part of the Youth World Cup, and given that it is still taking off in the USA, a lot of the other countries are still quite unfamiliar with the class. I think it was a great visual and clarification for a lot of people that will help as the competition gets under way tomorrow. I have a personal love for ranch riding and am so excited that it has been added to the Youth World Cup.
We’d all like to wish a very Happy 18th Birthday to Team USA member Maddie Herlocker. (Maddie pictured here, far right) We can’t thank Maddie enough for all the excitement, spontaneity, and hard work she brings to the team. We were so glad we got to share her special day with her here in Australia.
Showmanship, Hunter Under Saddle, Hunt Seat Equitation, Trail, Horsemanship, and Ranch riding are the classes that show tomorrow. Riders Calley Huston, Brock Murphy, Ellexxah Maxwell, and Hayley Riddle as well as horses Kool Tomcat, Triandibo Superabundance, Sweet Style, Poco Blue Flame, and QXH Ima Lil Tiger have worked very hard and are ready to put up a strong fight for titles in tomorrow’s classes. Stay tuned for results of Show A of the all around classes at the 2016 Youth World Cup. Go team USA!
Day 7 – Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Bring out the breeches and English saddles – it’s finally English day at the Youth World Cup. We kicked off the morning with the hunt seat equitation clinic. Team USA once again had our all-around trio of Ellexxah Maxwell, Hayley Riddle, and Calley Huston in the pen hard at work. They spent the morning working aboard Triandibo Superbundance, Kool Tomcat, and Sweet Style. Team USA coach Nancy Cahill also joined in to share her expertise to all the riders as a clinician. All three pairs of horses and riders had very nice practices and are excited as show day is approaching.
After lunch all three girls went back into the arena for the hunter under saddle clinic. This time they worked with Triandibo Superbundance, QXH Ima Lil Tiger, and Sweet Style. Following the hunter under saddle, was the day’s free ride time and Brock Murphy, Calley Huston, Kool Tomcat, and Poco Blue Flame took advantage of the time to practice some ranch riding. It’s great to see how hard all the riders are working to get prepared, they are definitely fully dedicated.
For the rest of the team, World Cup day 6 was a work day. We spent the day catching up on our blogs, working on our mound of thank you notes – we are so lucky to have so many amazing sponsors to thank – and cleaning up around the stalls. When we weren’t catching up on work, we were getting to know more of the other kids or trying to stay warm. It was still pretty frigid today, but we got a few hours of sunshine and it was much improved from yesterday so we were happy with it.
Tomorrow is a full free ride and show prep day and then we go full force into competition. It’s getting exciting!
Day 6 – Monday, June 27, 2016
We can officially say we have survived the coldest day in Tamworth in over 21 years! Several reports said it didn’t make it above freezing today, which made it quite an intense day since we’ve come from the middle of summer at home. I got a text from my dad saying it hit 100 degrees at home; it feels like they must be on a different planet.
It was back to clinics and show prep for today. Ellexxah Maxwell, Hayley Riddle, and Calley Huston spent the morning working with Kool Tomcat, Triandibo Superabundance, and Sweet Style in the horsemanship clinics. All three girls are working very hard and are looking forward to representing Team USA in the all-around classes on Thursday and Saturday.
The ranch riding clinic took up the first part of the afternoon. We are very excited about our ranch riding duos of Brock Murphy and Kool Tomcat as well as Calley Huston and Poco Blue Flame. Both pairs showed great potential during the clinic today and we are excited to see how things progress with a few more days of practice. The horses are affectionately known as Tuffy and Buffy during their day to day lives which will make for some fun cheers during the competition.
Tomorrow brings the hunt seat equitation and hunter under saddle clinics as we edge closer and closer to the rest of the competition which takes place Thursday through Saturday.
We’d l like to wish a very happy 18th birthday to Team USA member Calley Huston. As always, Go Team USA!!
Day 5 – Sunday, June 26th, 2016
What a day for Team USA! Today we started off the competition with both show A & B for the cutting. Each rider rode one horse in the first show and then the same horses and riders were shuffled for the second show. The day could not have gone better for Team USA. Our cutting rider Austria Arnold (pictured here, middle left) was a superstar. In the first round she drew a horse by the name of Playin Moore. Sixth to go in the draw, she scored an impressive 76 and went on to win the round with ease. Following in second was Norway with a 75 and third went to New Zealand with a score of 73.5.
We could not have been more excited with these results, but little could we have known that the excitement was not over after a quick lunch break, Austria and Spinnies Spit N Image came through in the second round with a 75 to sweep the cutting titled and get Team USA off to a phenomenal start. Following in second and third place were Canada with a 73 and Israel with a 72.
Everyone was overly impressed with the quality of the horses that entered the pen; we cannot thank the cutting industry of Australia enough for donating such an amazing group. It’s so heart warming to see the dedication among all the riders competing and the sportsmanship on all the countries – it makes me excited to see how the rest of the competition will unfold.
During the cutting, I had a realization about how truly special both this event and the horses we ride are. We may not always be able to talk to each other due to language barrier, we may have different taste in food and music, and we may come from drastically different cultures, but none of this stops us from being able to come together time after time to compete with one another and share the same burning passion for our amazing Quarter Horse breed. It is a bond that will never cease to amaze me, and something we should all treasure.
We finished off our great day with dinner and karaoke with all the countries. Team USA had been working on a “routine” through conference calls over the last few months and we definitely put on quite the show. We decided to do “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus but with our own little spin – calling it “Party with Team USA.” We adjusted a few lyrics such as, “Hopped off the plane in New South Wales with a dream and my hat can,” and “jumped on the horse. Here I am for the first time. Looked to my right and I see the Tamworth sign.” Of course, it wouldn’t have been complete without some crazy costumes and dance moves accompanied by crazy Miley Cyrus inspired pigtail buns.
Day 4 – Saturday, June 25th, 2016
THE SUN FINALLY CAME OUT! After a pretty frigid morning at the equestrian center (yes, it’s winter here), the sun finally came out after lunch and we could not have been happier. We started off the day with another 6 am breakfast. Hair has started making its way into ponytails, make up has slowly started to diminish, and one team member has even submitted to sleeping in the next day’s outfit — jeans and all — just to catch a few more minutes of shut-eye, so I can only imagine how funny and creative things are going to get as the week goes on and we lose more and more energy and crave more and more sleep.
Showmanship exhibitors Hayley Riddle, Ellexxah Maxwell, and Calley Huston kicked off the series of clinics this morning as they worked Triandibo Superabundance, Sweet Style, and Kool Tomcat respectively in the showmanship clinic. They all seemed to be clicking very well with their horses, so we are excited to see what show day will bring for that event. Hayley and Ellexxah headed back into the arena following lunch to work Kool Tomcat and Triandibo Superabundance in the trail clinic; they seemed very positive about the potential to do well in this class as well. With the confidence gained through today’s clinics, we are excited to keep rolling through the week and keep improving as the show days approach.
Tomorrow marks the start of the competition with the cutting clinic followed by both the A and B show for the event. Unlike the other events, the cutting and reining horses only come in for one show day in which the riders spend the morning in clinics getting to know the horses followed by an afternoon of competition. This year is a little different than recent other Youth World Cups, because instead of each team selecting two riders to ride one horse in the cutting and reining, each team has selected one rider to show two horses in each event.
We are very confident in our cutting rider, Austria Arnold, and cannot wait to support her as she competes tomorrow. Our hope for tomorrow and the cutting competition is to gain some momentum to help carry us into the rest of the week. My personal hope for tomorrow is to cheer so loud that I loose my voice. Wish us luck! Go Team USA!
Report #3 – Friday, June 24th, 2016
Today was the day — today was the day we got our first official taste of what the 2016 Youth World Cup was really going to be like. Of course, this included starting off the morning bright and early with our first of many 6 am breakfasts.
Following breakfast, we spent the first part of the morning decorating the stalls and getting to know a little more about our horses by talking to some of the owners and hanging out around the stalls. It seems like we have drawn a pretty good group of horses, so we are very excited to see how things go in the coming days!
We spent the early half of the afternoon at the opening ceremony. It was such a surreal feeling to walk in behind our star spangled banner, surrounded by my fellow teammates, with the national anthem sounding throughout the arena. It was one of those moments that can make a person feel truly blessed for the opportunities they are given, or at least that is how it was for me. After all the countries paraded into their national anthems and were introduced we heard kind remarks from several influential people such as the American Quarter Horse Association President Mrs. Sandy Arledge.
Once we were dismissed from the arena we all gathered in the stands and watched a spectacular showcase of traditional aboriginal dancing followed by a drill team demonstration incorporating the flags of all the countries. If the opening ceremony was any insight into what the rest of this year’s Youth World Cup, I know it will all feel nothing short of a surreal dream.
We wrapped up the evening with some downtime and dinner followed by our first free ride with the horses. The coaches and riders were all very happy with the potential that our group of horses seemed to have during the first ride. It was amazing to see how quickly the riders and horses are already meshing.
I am ready to see what tomorrow brings, with how freezing its been, hopefully, it will include some sunshine!
Report #2 Thursday, June 23, 2016
Thursday was our first day together as a team. We woke up, ate breakfast, and spent some time getting to know each other as the last few members of the team made their way into Tamworth. Once we had the whole team together, we decided to spend the afternoon doing some team bonding, and what better way to do that when in Australia than to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s ever famous wildlife.
We started our adventure of the day at the Tamworth Marsupial Park. We got to see kangaroos, wallabies, emus, several types of exotic birds, and even had the chance to hold a baby kangaroo and wallaby. While we all really enjoyed the marsupial park we felt like our wildlife adventure wasn’t quite complete.
We decided to finish up the afternoon at another animal park an hour outside of Tamworth where we got to pet koalas and see some other fun animals such as dingos and a friendly wombat. After we got our fill of Australian wildlife and had gotten to know each other a little better, we headed back to our hotel for a quick change of clothes prior to the welcome dinner.
At the welcome dinner, we drew for our lot of five horses to be used in the horsemanship, showmanship, trail, hunter under saddle, equitation, and ranch riding. Our reining rider, Brock Murphy, and cutting rider, Austria Arnold, also drew for the two horses they will be riding in their respective events. Our lot of five horses to be used in all the events except cutting and reining included: Kool Tomcat, Poco Blue Flame, QXH Ima Lil Tiger, Sweet Style, and Triandibo Superabundace. We are excited to get down to business tomorrow as we have our initial rides with the horses, attend the opening ceremony, and get to know more of the other competitors.
I look forward to updating you on tomorrow’s adventures!
Report #1 Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Maddie Herlocker (pictured here, left), another Team USA member, and I have had the chance to spend the last few days traveling around Australia. A few highlights of our journey include trying kangaroo and emu pizza, learning how to surf, and a spur of the moment road trip to visit a waterfall outside of Tamworth. While these were amazing memories, I am excited that my real Australian adventure, The Youth World Cup which has still yet to even begin.
Please stay tuned for daily updates on GoHorseShow as I get to know the other Team USA members, meet other youth from around the world, and dive into all the events that make up the Youth World Cup! I know it is going to be an adventure of a lifetime, and I cannot wait to share everything with you all at home.
Thank you for your support. Go Team USA!
