Howdy guys, I’m back with – what seems to be another heart thing for me. 

Have you heard about Yellowstone yet? The show with Kevin Costner made by Tailor Sheridan?? Well, if you didn’t, give it a go. I promise, you are gonna love it.

Most of you know – that I am a huge Yellowstone fan. In my opinion – it’s the most amazing show in a while. And why is that? Because Taylor Sheridan the Yellowstone co-creator comes from an actual rancher family and knows the craic. He owns and breeds Quarter Horses himself. Whenever i watch the show – i get the real feeling of being in the middle. In my dreams I am as pretty and badass as Beth and as hardy as Teeter. 

Ok sorry, back to the topic.

Why do I have such a fable for Cowboys and Western. I did some western riding myself when I was 13/14. I was riding my trainer’s horse, and I loved it. You can imagine that this horse knew all the tricks. Whatever you see on TV, like sliding stops and all that amazing stuff – yes Pollux (a horse bred in Latvia) knew it all and taught me so much. I like a lot about western riding. The way of training horses, true horsemanship and the feeling of freedom gets me every time. 

Ok ok, You ask yourself now, where do i want to go with this. 

Well, there are actually real cowgirls existing here in Ireland. 

These Cowgirls got the biggest and most amazing opportunities of their young lives. 

I decided for myself that I want to be involved in the support of this huge opportunity. Isn’t this real grassroots?? If this isn’t – what is it then? 

A group of seven athletes between 12 and 19 years old, from all over this country, qualified to represent Ireland under the flag of the Irish Quarter Horse Association at the world cup in Bryan, Texas. 

The IQHA is a not-for-profit organisation, originally established in 2000 and reconstituted in 2009. It is an affiliate of Horse Sport Ireland and the American Quarter Horse Association.

Classes are – 

Cutting (Cutting is a western-style equestrian competition in which a horse and rider work together before a judge or panel of judges to demonstrate the horse’s athleticism and ability to handle cattle. [wiki])

Reining (Reining is a type of equestrian competition where rider and horse execute a precise pattern of maneuvers meant to mimic the behaviors and skills a horse would need on a cattle ranch in the American West. [liberty.edu])

Trail (Originally, the Western Trail discipline or class was designed to confront a horse with obstacles and tasks likely to be encountered when trail riding, such as opening a gate, riding through it and closing it, riding over a bridge, riding through water, negotiating over poles, etc. The trail horse must be finely-tuned to the rider’s cues, and move away from the rider’s legs to side pass, etc. However, in this class judges want to see a horse that

displays brains and skill, the capability to negotiate on his own the obstacles of the western trail class.[artbycrane.com])

Showmanship at Halter (The “Showmanship at Halter” event is also known as “Fitting and Showing.” In this class, exhibitors are judged by how they present the horse while performing a specific pattern. As the first class of a day of events, it sets the tone for the day. [horses.extensions.org])

Western Horsemanship (The western horsemanship class is designed to evaluate the rider’s ability to execute, in concert with their horse, a set of maneuvers prescribed by the judge with precision and smoothness while exhibiting poise and confidence, and maintaining a balanced, functional and fundamentally correct body position. [uaex.uada.edu])

Hunter under Saddle (Hunter under saddle is the preliminary class for English riding disciplines, and judges evaluate the way of going of a hunter-type horse on the flat, at a walk, trot and canter. Horses circle the perimeter of the arena, performing each gait called at the judge’s discretion. [sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu])

Hunt Seat Equitation (Hunt Seat Equitation classes are designed to teach riders proper form and style, with riders being judged on position and style on the flat. [usef.org])

Ranch Riding (Whereas a Western pleasure horse is rewarded for calm, collected gaits performed on a loose rein, a ranch pleasure horse is presented in a natural, forward-moving style that looks as if he has somewhere to go. [horseandrider.com])

The combined scores from the show days will determine the final Youth World Cup team standing. 

The girls are going to have a busy 10 days and it’ll start with their arrival in Texas. 

They are going to arrive on the 29th of June in Texas and will celebrate with an opening Ceremony and the Horse Draw on the 30th. 

What is the horse draw you ask?! One of the team members will pick a number and this will represent a stable block that contains 5 horses. Five horses of different abilities BUT same caliber like the ones of the other participating teams. 

The horses are only allowed to be ridden by the competitors. Means – trainers aren’t allowed to help out. The girls have to find out how to deal with certain problems etc. themselves.

In the following picture you get a glimpse of the girls busy schedule for the days they are in Texas. 

You can see, the girls will experience so much in these couple of days. They’ll feel all the feels. They’ll be under pressure, excited, amazed, scared, nervous, sad, happy. All of it. 

But at the end, the most important thing – they will feel proud of themself because they made it that far!!! 

These five girls are going to have the most amazing time of their lives and they’ll (for sure) tell their grandchildren about this adventure. 

At the moment the association and girls themselves, as well as their parents, friends and supporters are working hard to make their dream come true. 

If youd like to support this major grassroots movement please follow their “idonate” page https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/IrishYouthWorldCupTeam

We all have these dreams and those girls have the opportunity to actually live their dream. It is incredibly brave to travel to a country so far away and present your home country.

I’d love to be that brave. You go girls, well done!!