Adam Carlisle is competing in and has helped organise the virtual American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED
EQUESTRIAN
The cancellation of the American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup hasn’t prevented Kuranui College student Adam Carlisle from representing New Zealand in a virtual international event.
The Youth World Cup was originally scheduled for July in Germany and the Netherlands, but the event was cancelled because of the covid-19 pandemic.
Carlisle was selected for the New Zealand team after attending American Quarter Horse Association NZ youth camps for many years.
He has also competed at several significant events, including last year’s Trans-Tasman Challenge, where he won gold for New Zealand
After the announcement of the cancellation, Team USA came up with the idea of holding a virtual Youth World Cup, which started on Sunday.
That gave Carlisle the chance to not only still compete, but also help organise this unprecedented event.
“I got the opportunity, as the American team came up with the virtual idea, they wanted to create an organising committee,” he said.
“They got in touch with all the teams that were going and asked them to put forward a person from their team to go on the committee.”
Carlisle said that speaking on behalf of New Zealand in Zoom meetings with representatives from countries in different time zones came with its obvious challenges. There were no big obstacles in organising the event, as mostly everyone was on the same page.
Teams from around the world submit videos of their entries, which are then judged by International American Quarter Horse Association judges.
Carlisle, who has been showing horses since he can remember, will be competing in a variety of disciplines including showmanship, trail, ranch riding, and reining.
Over the past month, the Year 13 student has been travelling around the North Island and filming video runs with the New Zealand team.
“I’m pretty happy with how the videos have been going so far, and I think the rest of the team are too,” he said.
The competition is Carlisle’s second time representing New Zealand on the world stage. Two years ago, he went to the same event in Texas as the reserve rider.
Carlisle would love to train horses professionally at some stage in the future and has already been invited to stay with top trainers in both America and Australia, which is an opportunity he will consider after finishing university in New Zealand.
The final results of the virtual event will be announced on November 23.
