American Quarter Horse youth riders will head to Kreuth, Germany, July 21-28, with the hopes of taking gold medals back to their home countries.

The 2012 American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup will be hosted at the Gut Mastheshof, one of the biggest riding centers in Europe.

While in Germany, riders will battle it out in cutting, reining, horsemanship, western pleasure, trail, western riding, hunt seat equitation, hunter under saddle and showmanship. To level the playing field, competing Youth World Cup team members do not show their own horses.

The Youth World Cup is an international event that is held every two years and is hosted by a different country each time; however, every fourth year, the event is hosted in the United States.

The 2010 Youth World Cup was held in Oklahoma City, and boasted a competition between 16 countries. The 2014 competition is slated for College Station, Texas.

This international event offers more than just competition – it provides a chance for international American Quarter Horse enthusiasts to learn from the industry’s leading riders and trainers.

While at the Youth World Cup, five youth, plus one coach and manager from each country, will take part in educational seminars, discipline clinics, leadership training and competition. Five additional youth from each country are invited to attend the education and leadership portion of the week’s events and to cheer on their teammates.

At the 2010 event, clinics were taught by NRHA trainer Shawn Flarida, AQHA cutting and working cow horse trainer Boyd Rice, cutting and western pleasure trainer Gil Galyean, AQHA Professional Horsemen Charlie Cole, Casey Hinton, Robin Frid, Carla Wennberg, Andy Moorman, David Dellin and Teddy Johnson and AQHA judge Holly Hover.

The Youth World Cup allows team members and supporters to gain knowledge and experience in a unique way in the industry.

“It’s amazing to see where Youth World Cup leads competitors. These are the riders who go on to be industry leaders in their countries,” said David Avery, AQHA director of international affairs. “Just at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games alone, we had four international riders who had come up through the Youth World Cup ranks.”