AQHA Magazine January/February 2017 JAN_FEB 2017 AQHA_website (1) | Page 21

2016 AQHA AT EQUITANA E quitana was held from the 17-20th of November 2016 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. We felt very privileged to have Crushed Ice, aka ‘Squirty’, as the representative for the AQHA for the day. On arriving we found our way to the Breeders Village, where Squirty was to spend his day. Kasey Wyse and Crushed Ice The crowds were huge and once the gates opened at 9 am, people came flooding in, with many coming to see all the breeds at the Breeders Village. We where lucky enough to have a stable at the front, so the first horse you saw as you came into the stables was the Australian Quarter Horse. Throughout the day Squirty stood patiently at the stable door lapping up all the attention he was getting - a great example of the breed. Yulgilbar Offenbach M Q-45835 y name is Lisa Smith, and I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the Australian Quarter Horse Association for their kind sponsorship of the Best Performed Quarter Horse Award, at the recent HRCAV TTT Dressage. I was the rider lucky enough to win this award and no words can describe how excited and proud I was to win this award. I have never in my life won a rug and it was a dream of mine to one day win my very own rug award. I have not ridden dressage in approximately 20 years and had not been in the saddle at all for a couple of years due to having a broken ankle, which required multiple surgeries and a lot of time off. I practiced and practiced leading up the event and then sadly the week before the event I had a very big fall, which resulted in bruised collar bone, displacement of my neck and broken ribs. However after lots of bed rest, strapping and pain relief I insisted on riding and managed to get through both of my tests and placed in both with a very respectable 2nd and 4th placings, which saw me secure the AQHA Award. I couldn’t have done this without the love and support from Lisa and Shane Toy, who own the gorgeous Yulgilbar Offenbach, who I had the privilege of riding and of course the generous sponsorship of the award from the AQHA. Thank you to AQHA for getting behind these events and making dreams like mine for all of us riders out there to come true!!! Breeders Village CRUSHED ICE When it came to our breed demonstrations, we were escorted to and fro though the crowds by the very helpful Equitana volunteers. I must say a very big thank you to all the volunteers, both from Equitana and our own Association for all the assistance given. I would also like to thank the other Youth - Bonnie and Lana - for helping out with the demonstrations and as representatives of the AQHA Youth Division. Another thank you must go to the owners of the other horses that were also put on display at the Breeders Village. Not only were we representing the Australian Quarter Horse Association, but we were also representing the AQHA Youth division. LETHAL FANTASY WHIZZ FIZZ Kasey Wyse 2016 AQHA Youth President January January • • February February • • 2017 2017 • • The The Australian Australian Quarter Quarter Horse Horse Magazine Magazine • • Page Page 21 21