Since horse back riding consists predominantly of team work between a horse and its rider in the show pen, many do not experience teamwork with other equestrians. In order to bring young riders together as a team to compete, the National Youth Activity Team Tournament takes place at the Quarter Horse Congress each year.
This year, the Ohio Quarter Horse team took home the championship title, with fellow Southern Ohio coming in reserve. Team members include Caleb Sturgeon and Dylan Jordan for reining, Ashton Krutulis and Olivia Tordoff in hunter under saddle, Anneleise Ritzi and Ellexxah Maxwell in showmanship, Alexis Taylor and Lauren Carnahan in equitation, Tana Drew and Maggie Cain in barrels, Karley Goff and Gavin Patterson in western pleasure, and Emma Brown and Marley Mainwaring in horsemanship.
“Being a part of a NYATT team has been an experience unlike any other,” said member Olivia Tordoff. “We get the opportunity to work together and see our accomplishments contribute to a team while doing what we love most.”
Every member certainly gave more than required to their team for them to be so successful. “Being a part of this team takes a lot of dedication and hard work. You cannot accomplish anything in this industry without giving 110%,” said Alexis Taylor.
Highlights include a win in the showmanship for Ellexxah Maxwell, a win in barrels for Maggie Cain, a win in hunter
under saddle for Olivia Tordoff, along with a reserve champion in hunter under saddle for Ashton Krutulis. However, each member does not only contribute points through their placings, but they also offer endless amounts of support to one another.
“A difficult obstacle to overcome was of becoming too self involved. I loved having the team status posted because it reminded us of who we needed to go watch and support in their class,” said team member Anneleise Ritzi.
It was evident that Ohio easily overcame this obstacle and stood by one another’s sides all the way through, leading them to being the ones on top.
“Letting your team down was a difficult idea to overcome, so you simply had to remind yourself to work hard and make them proud,” said Olivia.
Their support and connection to one another was visible to all and was a strong contributor to their accomplishments.
In regards to what is required of members to become the team tournament champions, Olivia stated, “Overall, becoming the NYATT champions takes tremendous amounts of teamwork, dedication, and the common love for the American Quarter Horse.”
Every team that participated worked tirelessly with one another. Watching all the members compete against one another for one another was an impressive task that takes true dedication. Congratulations to all the youth who participated this year!
