Lexington, Ky. - Thirty-two top saddle seat equitation riders in the U.S. will converge at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo., for the U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team Selection Trials on Saturday, December 7. The athletes will be evaluated by the four-judge panel of Dwayne Knowles (Kutztown, Pa.), Fay Lowry (Ashland, Mo.), Sandy Sessink (Elyria, Ohio), and Richard Wright (Fox Lake, Ill.).
After the Selection Trials are complete, six riders will be selected for each section for a team of 12 to represent the United States in Parys, South Africa, during the 2020 Saddle Seat World Cup competition in July.
Applications to compete in the Selection Trials were received from riders across the country seeking to earn a spot on the 2020 U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. The following athletes will compete in the U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team Selection Trials on Saturday (listed in alphabetical order):
Three-Gaited Section
Savannah Adams (San Diego, Calif.)
Alayna Applegate (Ewing, Ky.)
Dawson Archibald (Andover, Kan.)
Karlyn Connolly (Mount Vernon, Iowa)
Mackenzie Cook (Westfield, Ind.)
Chelsea Dragan (Burlington, Ky.)
Ella Hampton (Sheridan, Ind.)
Graceanne Hoback (Land O Lakes, Fla.)
Lillian Johnson (O’Fallon, Mo.)
Audra Lee (Binghamton, N.Y.)
Bostyn Leffler (Zionsville, Ind.)
Alayna Locascio (Dayton, Ohio)
Jessica Manzo (Bloomfield Township, Mich.)
Sophie Ouellette (Springvale, Maine)
Laney Simpson (Tampa, Fla.)
Abigail Tate (Newbury, Mass.)
Channing Turner (Springfield, Mo.)
Victoria Walz (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.)
Reagan Webb (Dayton, Ohio)
Sophie Yih (Alamo, Calif.)
Five-Gaited Section
Haley Berget (Oconomowoc, Wis.)
Molly Crim (Belews Creek, N.C.)
Helen Hodge (Keene, Ky.)
Makayla James (Smithfield, Ky.)
Nicole Leone (Kingston, N.H.)
Mae Luce (Spring Grove, Ill.)
Haily Miller (Nicholasville, Ky.)
Mia Provenzano (Elmhurst, Ill.)
Téa Snider (Carmel, Ind.)
Lauren Treiber (Hartland, Wis.)
Emma Tuleu (New Orleans, La.)
Ryan Visser (Lexington, Ky.)
Competition Information
The Selection Trials are held in two phases, each consisting of one rail ride and one pattern. Participants will ride horses that may be any breed or crossbreed suited for and trained in the saddle seat discipline. Finalists will compete in the Selection Trials riding two unfamiliar horses, a format similar to what they will experience in the Saddle Seat World Cup.
The Saddle Seat World Cup is a bi-annual international competition that originated in the early 1980s as an informal exchange of saddle seat riders between the United States and South Africa. Teams from as many as seven nations now compete for the coveted World Cup titles.
Spectators are welcome to attend the competition. The three-gaited section is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. CT and will conclude at 1:00 p.m. CT. The five-gaited section is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. CT and will conclude at 6:00 p.m. CT.
The U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team is supported by a grant from the USA Equestrian Trust. Additional contribution opportunities can be found here. Select “U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup” in the dropdown menu.
For additional information or questions regarding the Saddle Seat World Cup, please contact Natalie Norwood, Championship Program Manager, by phone at (859) 225-6951 or via email at [email protected].
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Photo by: Taylor Pence/US Equestrian