Thursday, June 30, 2011

Going to The National Horse Show

Chicago Equestrian will be attending The National Horse as an official media partner!!

Mark your calendars and get ready for the excitement. The National Horse show will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park this November. Just a hop, skip and a jump from Chicago!




- Steph... From my iPad .,ll.

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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

USHJA 3' National Hunter Derby

Congratulations to Madeline Thatcher on Bella Blue to riding to victory in the USHJA National Hunter Derby with combined score of 181.

It was a large class of 53 with the top 12 coming back for the handy round. The weather was perfect for horse showing, the sun was out with a slight breeze and a nice temperature in the mid 70's.

The cutoff for the return to the handy round was 79.50. The competition coming into the Handy Round was fierce. Maddie Thatcher outshone them all with her smooth tight turns and a beautiful hand gallop to the last fence.

The final Combined scores of the top 12 ranged from 125 up to Maddie's 181 with the next closet being a 177.

Now onto the USHJA International Hunter Derby. the jumps are going higher!







- Steph... From my iPad

Location:Lamplight Equestrian Center, Wayne, IL

Lamplight Clinic Day

Yesterday was a perfect day for USHJA clinics at Lamplight.

Diane Carney and Thomas Cerra gave an excellent Open Water Jumping Clinic. I did a full write up of the clinic for the website www.chicagoeqestrian.com

Diane also did 2 Hunter clinics and there was a Pony model class with an ask the judges section.

The Hunter clinic consisted of 2 groups of riders. The emphasis of the clinic was on thinking on your horse. The concept of proper position coupled with being mentally and physically strong was reviewed in the deceptively difficult exercises. Every rider completing the clinics left with great feedback and information, and an increased confidence in their riding abilities.









- Steph... From my iPad

Location:Lamplight Equestrian Center, Wayne, IL

Saturday, June 11, 2011

$1000 ChicagoEquestrian.com Hunter Derby at Cross Winds Farm

The afternoon was splendid! The weather was a bit on the cool side for June but pretty perfect for horse showing. The sky was overcast and while we would have liked the sun to have made an appearance, we were all pretty happy that it never rained.

Kelly and Cross Winds Farm did a fabulous job hosting this afternoons Hunter Derby. The course was beautiful, everything ran very smoothly, Kelly sponsored an exhibitors picnic to go along with the derby as well as added to the prize money to make it a $1000 class.

37 riders competed with the top 15 called back.
The first round consisted of 15 jumps with 3 options. Each option of a higher jump taken was worth one additional point. 2 judges scored each rider/horse combination and those with a first round score of 153 and over were called back for the Handy Round.

The Handy Round consisted of 7 jumps one of which was a trot jump and 2 of the others were options for an additional point. By the time we reached the Handy Round the wind decided to pick up and the cooler weather had some of the horses a bit frisky. The riders all did a great job approaching the first jump at a trot right from the entrance gate, a couple were a little anxious as could be expected and the competition was getting close.

One thing every rider agreed on was that the course, designed by Diane Carney, was challenging and fun, as well as the jumps set by Kelly and her crew at Cross Winds Farm!


Congratulations to Virginia Bartholomay and Pepe on 1st Place
















- Steph... From my iPad
Location:Marengo, Il

Getting ready for the $1000 Hunter Derby

Greetings from Cross Winds Farm in Marengo, IL!

The crew from Chicago Equestrian is here on this cool, overcast June day. The ChicagoEquestrian.com banner is hung, our giveaway and information table is set up. The crew is working hard at setting up this beautiful Hunter Derby course.

Everyone is eagerly awaiting the class this afternoon! Prize money has been increased to $1000. I don't think I have ever seen a $1000 class at a NIHJA show before. Everyone should come out and join the fun. We still have 3 more classes in the series...








- Steph... From my iPad

Location:Cross Winds Farm, Marengo, IL