| |
. The Youth World Cup started off early for the teams on Monday, July 7, with clinics in showmanship and horsemanship. The youth then got box lunches, loaded up on buses and headed to Niagra Falls for the afternoon. There they saw the massive falls from above, rode the Maid of the Mist to the bottom of the falls, shopped the tourist stores and walked through a cave to the base of the Horseshoe Falls. To learn more about Niagra Falls, click here.  |  | | Becki Dixon was a member of Team UK but was injured before the Youth World Cup and wasn't able to make it. So the team brought a doll to represent Becki. | Leonie Behrens of the German team practices with her horse during the showmanship clinic on the morning of Monday, July 7. Click here for more clinic pics. |  |  | Sabrina Hansen, 17, of Denmark is a first-time Youth World Cup participant. | Veronika Petlanova of Team Czech Republic works her horse through the showmanship clinic. |  |  | | Alexandre Bruls, 14, of Team Belgium works on horsemanship. It's his first Youth World Cup. | AQHA Judge Robin Frid of Denton, Texas, was a clinician for both showmanship and horsemanship. Click here for more clinic pics. |  |  | All the teams displayed national pride with their stall decorations. Here is Team Israel hard at work... | ...and a few aisles over Team New Zealand shows off "Kiwi" pride. |  |  | | The Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved into the barns. They'll give an exclusive Youth World Cup performance on Tuesday, July 8. | Melissa Benson, 17, of Queensland, Australia, gets ready to load the bus for the drive to Niagara Falls. |  |  | Aboard the buses for Niagara Falls - the Youth World Cup committee had games planned to pass the two-hour driving time. | Team Germany lines up for the "Journey Behind the Falls" at Niagara Falls. |  |  | Adva Klein and Or Dvir of Team Israel shops in the Falls' gift shop. | Team New Zealand pauses for a group shot in front of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. |  |  | Team Denmark just back from a trip on the Maid of the Mist. | Several teams rode the Maid of the Mist to the base of the falls. |
Niagra Falls Facts: - American Falls and Bridal Veil falls on the American side has a brink length of 1,060, height of 176 feet (due to the rocks at the base actual fall is 70 feet) and volume of water is 150,000 gallons per second.
- The Canadian Horseshoe Falls' brink length is 2,600 feet, the height is 167 feet and the volume of water is 600,000 gallons per second.
- The flow of water for the falls was stopped completely on March 29, 1848, due to an ice jam in the upper river for several hours. This is the only known time this has occured. The falls do not actually freeze over in the winter, but the flow was stopped to the point where people actually walked out and recoeved artifacts from the riverbed.
- The first person to survive going over the falls in a barrel was a 63-year-old school teacher, Annie Edson Taylor, in 1901.
- Roger Woodward, a 7-year-old American boy, was swept over the Horseshoe Falls protected only by a life vest on July 9, 1960, as two tourists pulled his 17-year-old sister Deanne from the river only 20 feet (6 m) from the lip of the Horseshoe Falls at Goat Island. Minutes later, Roger was plucked from the roiling plunge pool beneath the Horseshoe Falls after grabbing a life ring thrown to him by the crew of the Maid of the Mist boat. His survival, which no one thought possible, made news throughout the world.
Do you have a Youth World Cup story to share? Send an e-mail to Christine Hamilton or Tonya Ratliff-Garrison, the Journal's field editors in London for the show. |
Check out a recap of all the AQHA World Championship Shows!
2007 FORD AQHYA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW
2007 BAYER SELECT AQHA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW
2007 AQHA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SHOW
2008 FORT DODGE VERSATILITY RANCH HORSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS |
