Harrodsburg, Ky. – The 2022 Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup will take place this week in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, at the Mercer County Fairgrounds, with 11 athletes representing the U.S. across the three-gaited and five-gaited divisions. The competition will take place on Thursday and Friday, July 28 and 29.

The Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup has been held bi-annually since the 1980s. However, because the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19, this will be the first World Cup since 2018, when the U.S. won gold in both the three-gaited and five-gaited divisions. This year’s World Cup will include teams from the U.S. and South Africa, plus an international team composed of athletes from Namibia and Canada.

The U.S. teams include athletes from the Arabian, Morgan, and American Saddlebred circuits and will be coached by Katie Case and Pam Roush with assistant coaches Jimmy and Georgia Morrison.

The following athletes will represent the U.S. Saddle Seat Team and are listed in alphabetical order:

Three-Gaited:

• Ella Hampton (Sheridan, Ind.)
• Bostyn Leffler (Zionsville, Ind.)
• Alayna Locascio (Dayton, Ohio)
• Jessica Manzo (Lexington, Ky.)
• Sophie Ouellette (Springvale, Maine)
• Sophie Yih (Alamo, Calif.)

Five-Gaited

• Haley Berget (Oconomowoc, Wis.)
• Nicole Leone (Kingston, N.H.)
• Mae Luce (Spring Grove, Ill.)
• Mia Provenzano (Elmhurst, Ill.)
• Lauren Treiber (Hartland, Wis.)

The Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup challenges riders to compete in rail and pattern work on an unfamiliar horse. Horses for the competition are provided thanks to the generosity of owners and trainers. Each competitor will be paired up with their World Cup horse in a horse drawing during a welcome dinner held at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, on Monday, July 25. The teams will get two practice sessions of just 20 minutes each with their drawn horses under the direction of the team coaches on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The World Cup officially kicks off with the opening ceremony on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. Competition takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, with the medals awarded at the closing ceremonies on Friday evening at 8 p.m., followed by a celebration for the teams and their supporters.

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