“Most of the kids speak some English, so that is the primary language. The schedule offers time in the evenings for social activities and parties. We want them to mingle and network with young breeders from other countries and of course have fun so that they’ll come back and form long-term relationships,” she adds. Also, participants don’t have to own a horse. The AHS has worked diligently for the last six years to put its team together
for this year’s competition. Breeder Gina Leslie reports that she, along with trainer Dorie Vlatten-Schmitz and breeder Christine Kropf, was determined to develop a team and promote the Young Breeders program in the United States. “It has been a labor of love and commitment to take on the difficult task of fund-
ing a team when our participants live all over the United States,” Gina says. “We managed to hold a camp three years ago at Hawk Hollow Farm in Erieville, New York. Christine Kropf, owner and AHS judge, hosted twelve young breeders with sleeping bags throughout her home! The young breeders were able to practice handling and judging with her homebred horses. The AHS Young Breeders Team also met twice in Florida and had amazing mentors and supporters.” Just before the competition in July, the AHS gathered their team together for
some training time at Anne Sparks’ farm, Horses Unlimited, in New Mexico. Anne has been a huge supporter of young breeders and she donated her facility, home and horses for this session. From there, the team flew to Calgary for the championship competition. “Fundraising has been very important on our journey to the World Champi-
onships,” Gina adds. “We were able to raise just enough money to fly the team to Calgary from New Mexico and pay entry fees, housing and meals. All other flights were individually covered.”
This Year’s Results The Baden-Württemberg team was the overall winning studbook, followed by the Swedish Warmblood team and the Hanoverians (Germany). The AHS team over- all placed tenth out of the 13 teams participating (three more registries had young breeders there, but not enough to fulfill a team). The CWHBA came in twelfth while the KWPN-NA were short participants to form a team, but had four young breeders in the competition. In the Senior division, the highest placed North American was Laura Killian of the AHS, who was nineteenth out of 61. In the Junior division, Emma Randels of the AHS placed thirteenth out of 50. Special recognition goes to the AHS Junior team member Sophia Wild for winning the Individual Free Jumping with a remarkable score of 92%. “It was very intimidating at first to see the experience of the other teams,”
remarks AHS supporter Gina Leslie. “We felt like the underdogs at first. In the end, we were thrilled with our success.”
Looking Ahead “Our dream [at the AHS] is to have every registry in the U.S promote a team,” Gina says. “We then can have regional competitions that would prepare us for the World Championships. We feel that the education and knowledge that young breeders can
16 November/December 2017
Random photos taken during the championship by Nicole Millard
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