esting, with the service delivered
from horseback, which was great. An
afternoon of bouncing pony bouncy
balls, and a Ranch Sorting, with a
small competition in which Chris
Holmes was the Aussie participant,
helped to make all the contestants
become integrated.
One fabulous evening was the Chuck
Wagon dinner held at the Hildebrand
Centre, the Texas A & M Univer-
sity Equestrian Team facility. The
evening culminated in a lip sync
battle, which was amazing! The
South African team was the eventual
winner, with a stunning performance
of Beyoncé’s Single Ladies, while the
Aussies did a fantastic rendition of
Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, which
was very loudly received. The clinics
were fabulous held by great trainers
who donated their time...they cannot
be thanked enough for their dedica-
tion.
Monday 2nd saw the two Cutting
contestants from each country head
off with their trainers on the bus to
Brenham, to the cutting arena to
get to know their mounts. After the
draw, the riders were mounted and
worked their horses on a bag. When
the rest of the teams and supporters
arrived, the first Cutting was held,
followed by lunch. Straight after
lunch the second draw was held, and
the second Cutting was held. The
winner under both judges was Mattie
Dukes from team USA. Australia’s
entries Holly and Matt did a fine job,
with Matt placing 9th under one
judge.
Wednesday July 4 was the Reining
comp held at the Expo Centre. The
draw for the horses was held at the
coaches meeting, first thing in the
morning, and due to the restricted
number of Reining horses available,
there was only one representative
from each country to ride in both
competitions, making a total of 19
contestants in each Reining compe-
tition. Matt Frieberg was Australia’s
Reiner, and he was 5th in the first
Reining riding Wild Card Jackson.
That afternoon was the first Trail
competition and there were loud
cheers as Matt, riding Zip n Flow,
Amber Denton
placed 2nd to Sweden in a class of
36. Taj rode Gunne Get Er Dun, who
had never done Trail, to 11th place,
and did a great job.
Thursday July 5 was the first show
day. First up was Showmanship...
all three Aussies (Matt with Haterz
Gonna Hate, Adam with Zip n Flow,
and Holly with That’s the Facts Jak)
showed really well, but Adam was the
only one paid with 9th place, with
USA 1st and 2nd.
Horsemanship was next and the Aus-
sies had three in the final 20. Matt
and Gunne Get er Dun placed 5th,
Amber and Zip n Flow was 6th, and
Taj riding That the Facts Jak placing
11th, just out of the medals. This was
followed by Hunter Under Saddle,
with Amber taking 6th spot on That’s
The Facts Jak, in a class of 36. Hunt
Seat Equitation saw our riders do a
great job (Adam, Amber, and Holly)
with Amber placing 7th and Holly
just out of the medals at 11th. Last
class of the day was the Ranch Rid-
ing, and Amber and Matt were our
two contestants, with Matt placing
4th on Spark with Desire, owned by
renowned vet, Dickson Varner.
Friday July 6 was again Reining,
with Matt this time mounted on
Spookin Jay. It was huge cheering
when Matt stood in the 1st place,
under the Australian flag, with our
National Anthem declaring Austral-
ia the winner. It was a fabulous day
for Matt, who in the afternoon again
rode Zip n Flow to 1st place in the
Trail, ahead of Olivia Pearson from
NZ. One of our horses was vetted
out and so we had to get a Reserve
horse 45 minutes prior to the Trail
commencement...a Reiner type that
again had never seen a Trail. Taj did
an amazing job to get around the
Trail pattern with a very controlled
run. It was not easy!
Saturday July 7 was the last day of
competitions...the Aussies decided
to go hard and for the first class it
was looking great! Adam and Zip n
Flow did a scorching run to take a
3rd placing out of 55! Next class -
Horsemanship, saw Amber our only
placegetter in the top 10 with 5th,
Matt Freiburg
Holly Gutterson
20 • The Australian Quarter Horse Magazine • September • October • 2018
again from 55 entries. In the Hunter
Under Saddle we had two top tens
- Amber Denton 6th on That’s The
Facts Jak, and Holly and Zip n Flow
9th. Holly backed this up in the Hunt
Seat Equitation as Australia’s only
top 10, placing 8th. Ranch Riding
finished off the show and the compe-
tition and our two entries, Taj riding
Zip n Flow and Matt riding Spark
with Desire, saw Matt placing 5th - a
great show for all our participants.
Sunday Morning was the Awards
Brunch, where the placings were
made official. Australia’s team fin-
ished in 4th position, with Matt Frie-
berg taking out the High Point Buckle
for Reining and Trail. The Most Val-
ued Player for the Australian Team
was named as Holly Gutterson, who
quietly and competently went about
her job as a team player.
At the conclusion of the awards
everyone said their goodbyes to their
new friends, and goodbye to their
team mates, as they headed off with
parents and relatives on their own
new adventures, which left Craig,
Pauline, Kim, Michaela, and Amber
to get in the car, with ALL THAT
BAGGAGE, and head to Ft Worth to
get on the plane the next morning to
head home. Craig left the group in Ft
Worth and had his own adventure in
Dallas.
The 2018 Youth World Cup was a
lot of fun, filled with excitement, as
well as at times lots of feelings. It is
always a most outstanding achieve-
ment to see a group of young people
from across this huge continent,
suddenly realise that this is a Team
adventure, and although it takes
time, that revelation makes them so
much better as young adults to deal
with life. Things don’t always go the
way we plan, but learning how to
adjust on the run to change is a great
tool. So now it’s full speed ahead in
preparation for Youth World Cup
2020, wherever it may be held
Pauline Stuart-Fox
Australian Quarter Horse Associa-
tion Professional Clinician
American Quarter Horse Association
Professional Horseman
Taj Carson
Adam Salt