Three young riders representing the Australian Cutting Horse Youth Group will travel to Texas next month and hope to bring back lessons learned from the home of the sport.
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Taylah Watt, Ebor, Michaela Kenniff, Tamworth and Emma Swan, Armidale will be the first to represent their organisation in the Lone Star State but president Mark Watt hopes they won’t be the last.
Their journey begins March 5, heading to Rio Vista outside Fort Worth to learn secrets of the sport from former Australian Terry Clifford, the 1996 world champion riding Electric Playboy, before competing with the American Cutting Horse Association at Belton on March 11.
“This is a chance to ride with another organisation in the home of cutting,” said Mr Watt who has lived and breathed the sport since he was a child.
One expected highlight of their trip will be featuring on the national cable television show Cutting Up and they also will visit the Old Stock Yard museum and let their hair down with a bit of line dancing.
“They might even do the Z Step,” mused Mr Watt, who runs commercial Black Limousin breeders on his property at Ebor. “It will be a total immersion into Texas culture. It will be a great education and a chance to meet new people.”
In exchange three young Texas riders will come to Australia next October, and will be based around Dorrigo. Funding for the whole project is being raised through the youth group’s Facebook page.
Mr Watt founded the group along with childhood friend and cutting tragic Lyndall Malmborg of Coominya, Queensland, 18 months ago and held their first event at Kempsey – the Australian home of cutting. Mr Watt said the aim of Australian Cutting Horse Youth Group was to reduce financial barriers to the sport – which can cost upwards of $50,000 to train a horse to an elite level.
The group charges just $35 for young riders to enter an event, like the round at Dorrigo in late January that included both cutting and snafflebit. Adult riders are charged half price of what a typical cutting event costs and there are no membership fees. “This is all about promoting the sport,” said Mr Watt.
The next youth group event will be held in Gatton on Saturday, April 22. The February event at Armidale was cancelled because of heat and lack of shade in northern NSW and will be rescheduled later in the year. The March event was never scheduled because that’s the month that riders will head to Texas. For more information phone Mr Watt on 0448 585 515 or Mrs Malmborg on 0428 264 205.
