Lexington, Ky. – Excitement is building as the U.S. Saddle Seat Young Riders Stars Team prepares for the 2019 U.S. Saddle Seat Invitational Test Event. Competition will be held on October 31 and November 1 at the South Point Arena and Equestrian Center in Las Vegas, Nev., as some of the best up-and-coming three-gaited saddle seat equitation riders in the U.S. face off against a competitive team from Canada. Judges Bret Day (Versailles, Ky.), Allison Deardorff (Molalla, Ore.), and Kent Swalla (Columbia, Mo.) will officiate.

The U.S. Saddle Seat Invitational Test Event features amateur athletes who compete for individual scores, ultimately accumulating a total team score. The athletes compete on horses they are not familiar with as a true test of their equitation and horsemanship skills. This competition serves as an opportunity to develop and observe potential riders for future team competitions, including the Saddle Seat World Cup.

Christy Parker (Hortense, Ga.) will coach the U.S. team, and Mary Mag Wilson (Cave Creek, Ariz.) will serve as the assistant coach. The Canadian Team is coached by Raylene McWade, Lynne Redmond, and Sandra Sanche.

The following athletes comprise the U.S. Saddle Seat Young Riders Stars Team (in alphabetical order):

Dawson Archibald (Andover, Kan.)
Chelsea Dragan (Burlington, Ky.)
Lillian Johnson (O’Fallon, Mo.)
Gabriella Snyder (St. Louis, Mo.)
Reagan Webb (Dayton, Ohio)

Competition Information

Both teams drew for horses on Tuesday, October 29, and team practices are set to begin on Wednesday, October 30. Competition takes place from Thursday, October 31, through Friday, November 1, and consists of group rail work and individual workouts.

Tune in to the live stream of the competition on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET and on Friday at 5 p.m. ET.

The 2019 U.S. Saddle Seat Young Riders Teams’ efforts are supported by the USA Equestrian Trust. US Equestrian is pleased to partner with Becker Brothers LLC, who supplied practice jodhpurs for the 2019 U.S. Saddle Seat Young Riders Stripes and Stars Teams. Additional support has been generously provided by Golden Creek Farms Inc., Dawson Archibald, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Schindler, and multiple patron, fan, and stall donors.

For more information about the U.S. Saddle Seat Young Riders Teams and 2019 U.S. Saddle Seat Invitational Test Event, go to www.usasaddleseatworldcup.org.

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Learn more about saddle seat equitation and all of US Equestrian’s 29 recognized breeds and disciplines in this Learning Center video.