ShowBiz Feature Cayla Richards
Growing Into Her Own in the Show Ring... What A Difference A Year Makes
K by Kathy Hobstetter
ing, and certainly rewarding. Cayla Richards stepped into the show world several years
eeping up with the changes and development in the riding career of a Junior can be interest-
ago and watching her career progress has been the equiva- lent of keeping track of a rocket across the southern Cali- fornia skies. Starting with her introduction to riding, then to Medal classes, and currently headed across the ocean to the European Youngster Cup competition, she has mas- tered the concept of “focus on the goal”. The European Youngster Cup is a highly competitive In-
CPHA Foundation 14 and under Finals, LAHJA Junior Medal Finals, CPHA Junior Medal Finals, ASPCA Maclay West Coast Regional Finals as well as winning seventeen USET Medal classes on her way to the Gold Medal num- ber of twenty. The wrap up to naming the Team, and one represen-
ternational program for riders born after January 1, 1985. The riders can be professional, juniors or amateurs and ride as many horses in the qualifiers as they wish. Howev- er, just as in the World Cup qualifiers, they must designate their EU-Cup “Youngster Cup” horse, ride it first and can only earn points on that horse for that class. The new addition to the EU-Cup program this year is
an EY-CUP Super Finals to be held in conjunction with the World Cup Finals in Leipzig, Germany this April. Four riders from across the United States have been selected to represent this country on a USA Team. Cayla Richards is one of those riders! With tremendous success in the Medal Classes and the
Finals over the years, Cayla has gained that invaluable ex- perience and mileage that sets these top riders apart from the crowd. Equitation competition has laid a foundation in this rider that is astonishing and hard to match. She has won, according to her age at the time, the Rosewood Med- al Finals, Onodarka Finals, PCHA Horsemanship Finals,
tative from the West Coast, came to fruition during the last Junior/AO Jumper Classic at HITS Thermal. HITS was selected to host the three qualifying events during their Desert Circuit, with the final competition during the $25,000 California Horsetrader Jr/AO Classic the last Sunday of Week VI. “We are honored that USEF selected HITS as a host for
this important series,” said Tom Struzzieri, HITS Presi- dent and CEO. “This is a tremendous opportunity for the West Coast.” Coming into the class sitting in third position, fourteen
points behind, Cayla would need to pull a rabbit out of the hat to win the coveted fourth USA Team spot. Compet- ing for the one available spot against hot shot junior riders Jocelyn Neff and Audra Coulter, the stage was set for a head to head type of finale. Anyone of the three ladies, on any given day, is capable of pulling off the win, but with so many points separating them, Cayla had her work cut out for her, it would take a double clear effort to be the winning qualifier from the West Coast for this exceptional new Team endeavor for the USA. With the advantage of the draw putting her in the
last to go of the three spot, the pressure can get as- tonishingly high and this is where Cayla’s knack for
Tony Hitchcock of HITS joins family and friends in congratulating Cayla Richards for qualifying for this year’s European Youngster Cup at the HITS Desert Circuit.
Photo © Flying Horse Photography 65
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