Hollins Spring Welcome Horse Show returns to Virginia Horse Center in March

hollins The Hollins Spring Welcome Horse Show will return to the Virginia Horse Center March 2-5 and will feature a variety of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The Spring Welcome is a “National/A” rated show and will have USEF 1* Jumper classes as well as USHJA Outreach classes.

Hollins University has had a competitive equestrian program since the 1930s. In the past 30 years, Hollins students have won 18 national individual championships and four have gone on to win the coveted Cacchione Cup. As a team, Hollins has won the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Team Honors twice.

The March show will include a $1,000 WIHS/NAL Children’s & Adult Hunter Classics, $1,000 Hollins Amateur Owner Hunter Classic, $1,000 USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Stake, a $1,000 Hollins Junior Hunter Classic, a $500 Hollins Pony Hunter Classic and a $225 Hollins Children’s Pony Hunter Classic. The show also includes several other special awards and perpetual trophies.

The show will use four arenas at the horse center, including the Coliseum. Judges are Chance Arakelian of Rancho Santa Fe, California, E. Sue Bopp of Remington, Virginia, Randy Henry of Castle Rock, Colorado and Judy Spitzer of Mount Sidney, Virginia.

Eventing in Virginia sets Jumper Derby Jan. 28 and Feb. 11 at Virginia Horse Center

Eventing In Virginia

At the Virginia Horse Center, Lexington, VA

January 28 & February 11, 2017

Points will count for Eventing In Virginia year end awards!

A Jumper Derby combines stadium jumps and cross country jumps that might typically be encountered at an event or horse trial. This is a good test of your horse’s willingness to jump a mix of fences or varied terrain. This competition is open to any eventer, hunter or jumper who wants to practice for the upcoming season or wants to add a little variety and fun to their jumping. Anyone who wants to have fun in a low key casual atmosphere is welcome!!!

All Divisions will consist of 3 rounds:

Round 1: Optimum time round. Set course, the rider with the least amount of penalties and closest to optimum time wins. (time will not be disclosed prior to the round until all riders have gone).

Round 2: Speed round with Jump off. Set course, if clear rider can stay for jump off round after bell or whistle. Least penalties and fastest time wins.

Round 3: Gambler’s Choice round. All obstacles will have a set value, each rider will be given a set amount of time to jump as many of these obstacles clear as possible, the rider with the most points at the end of the division wins.

Entry Fees:

$25/class or $65/division plus $20 Grounds fee applies to every horse not stabling PRE-ENTRIES ONLY! TIMES WILL BE ASSIGNED PROIR TO EVENT!
Entries close Wednesday, January 25.
Entries available online http://www.eventinginvirginia.com or mail them to Eventing In Virginia, PO Box 13, Greenville, VA 24440. PayPal available. Make checks payable to GC Equestrian/Brookhill

Divisions: if enough entries will divide into Senior/Junior

Tadpole – Rails on the ground up to 6 – 8 inches tall

Green – Fences up to 18” tall

Advanced Green –2’0 – 2’3 verticals

Beginner Novice – 2’4 -2’7 verticals & oxers

Novice – 2’8 – 2”11 verticals & oxers – may have fake Liverpool and skinny

Training – 3’0- 3’3 verticals, oxers – may have Liverpool, corner and skinny

Preliminary – 3’4 – 3’7- verticals, oxers may have Liverpool, corners & skinnies, bounces

Intermediate/Advanced – 3’7-4’3 verticals, oxers, Liverpool, corners & skinnies, bounces.

General Rules and Regulations:

Generally run according to USEA rules where applicable. The organizer further reserves the right to combine or split classes within the division if entries warrant. No classes will be run out of order.
MUST PRE-ENTRY! Entries close Wednesday January 25^th & Wednesday February 8th. TIMES WILL BE POSTED & EMAILED BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON/FRIDAY MORNING BEFORE SHOW & POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE.
Entries available online http://www.eventinginvirginia.com or mail them to Eventing In Virginia, PO Box 13, Greenville, VA 24440. PayPal available. Make checks payable to GC Equestrian/jumper derby
No unauthorized assistance will be allowed. Riders must perform their courses from memory
Horses may be competed in up to 2 consecutive divisions
Attire: Informal but neat and tidy. SEI/ASTM Helmets are required. Medical armbands strongly recommended.
Tack & equipment: only running martingales are permitted.
Courses will be open for walking the night before the event, the morning of prior to 8am and just prior to each division. Arena will be open for flat schooling only the day before and prior to 8am the morning of. Competition will begin no earlier than 8am.
Ribbons 1^st – 6^th for each class and Champion and reserve champion for each division. All points accumulated will go towards Eventing In Virginia 2016 year end awards.
Event will fill in a first come first serve basis
Please include current coggins with the registration form
$5 off total discount for Area 2 Adult Riders members and Pony Club member, must have proof!
Address: Maury River Road, Lexington, VA
Stabling: On grounds, $30/stall per day
For more information, please email Gammon Castellvi (gammonlee@gmail.com)

Stonewall Country Horse Show kicks off another show season at Virginia Horse Center

We may be deep into January in Virginia, but it didn’t really feel like it this weekend at the Virginia Horse Center. The Stonewall Country Horse Show brought USEF ‘A’-rated hunter/jumper competition to Lexington. With the weather about 50 degrees, the show felt more like a spring event then one deep in January.

Saturday afternoon was filled with the show’s largest division, the junior hunters, with 16 horses shown.

The show will repeat Feb. 2-5. Here’s hoping the weather is just as fabulous as it was this past weekend.

RVHR seeks volunteers for Save A Horse, Taste Some Bourbon event

The Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue will hold its Third Annual Save A Horse, Taste Some Bourbon event April 8 from 7:30 to 10:30 at the Kazim Shrine Ballroom on Campbell Avenue in Roanoke. The funds raised through this event are used to support RVHR operations.

RVHR is seeking volunteers to help with silent auction tables, guest check-in, and food. If would like to help, please contact Dawn Caldwell at dcaldwell@rvhr.com.

The cost to attend the event is $17 Advance or $22 at the door. The event will feature music from The YES Movement, heavy Hors d’oeuvre, a beer and wine cash bar and silent auction.

Stonewall Country Horse Show celebrates 25 years at Virginia Horse Center

HM009 — The Stonewall Country Horse Show is a USEF A-rated hunter jumper competition.

The Stonewall Country Horse Show will kick off its 25th year this weekend at the Virginia Horse Center. The event offers two hunter/jumper shows that benefit the Virginia Horse Center Foundation Jan. 19-22 and Feb. 3-5. This year, the Stonewall Country series will also feature USHJA Outreach classes for exhibitors interested in bringing along their young horses to school before the summer show season begins.

The Stonewall Country Horse Show series offers Virginia and Mid-Atlantic residents an opportunity to compete in a National rated horse show environment with two indoor rings and many indoor schooling options. A complete schedule and list of classes is available here.

The Stonewall Series will feature professional and amateur divisions for both hunters and jumpers. Competitors who are trying to earn valuable equitation qualifying points will also have the opportunity to do so in the WIHS, ARIAT, and THIS National Children’s Medal classes. Many of these same classes are also qualifiers for the Amy Ylvisaker Reistrup Equitation Challenge, which is held annually at the Lexington National Horse Show in August.

With the addition of USHJA Outreach classes this year, horses and riders who are not as experienced in the show ring will also be able to compete in classes that are offered at a discount in both class fees and stabling fees.

Healing Strides of Virginia offers Winter Open Arena Nights on Saturdays in February

healing-strides-flyer Healing Strides of Virginia in Boones Mill has announced Winter Open Arena Nights every Saturday afternoon this February.

The 120 x 70′ indoor arena will be open to the public from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. with up to eight spots available each day. The cost is $30 for 1 hour. Four riders will be given spots during each hour. Flatwork only will be available from 3-4 p.m., while jumping will be allowed from 4 to 5 p.m. Riders may arrive 30 minutes prior to their reservation and are asked to be off the property by 30 minutes after the close of their session. Helmets are required and longing must be done in the outdoor arena only. Reservations are required. Call 540-334-5825 with questions.

Up to date Coggins, Rhino/flu vaccines (will be confirmed with vet) and payment in full are required prior to admittance onto the property.

healing-strides-flyer-02

Virginia Horse Center offers winter board, schooling

d42b3-way-up-high — The Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia.

The Virginia Horse Center is offering boarding and schooling Jan. 3 through Feb. 28, 2017. Limited schooling/boarding may be available prior to January. Contact the Stable Office for details at 540-464-2966 or stableoffice@horsecenter.org.

RATES:

	Under 10 Horses	10 or More Horses
Daily	$25	$15
Weekly	$100	$75
Monthly	$300	$250

Board is self-care only. No full care or turnout is available. Stabling and schooling will be arranged based on our contracted shows needs during this time.

A wavier and current coggins/medical certificate will be required prior to horses coming off the trailer. With prior notice, equipment such as jumps, dressage arena, and access to trails is available. Ring maintenance will be provided twice daily when needed.

Schooling in Anderson Coliseum and cross-country schooling may be available with enough interest but may incur an additional fee or minimum number of participants.

Contact the administration office or stable office to make arrangements at 540-464-2966

Gone with the wind: New London Horse Show series closes its 2016 season

london008 — An over-achieving mini leaps one of the hurdles in the field set up for trail and mini jumping.

The New London Horse Show held its final show of its 2016 series on Oct. 22 at Coyote Crossing Cattle Company in Bedford County.

The October show was on a beautiful, sunny fall day, except for the unrelenting winds that blew hair bows, arena dust, and anything else not weighed down. Cattle Crossing Cattle Company has a nice, spacious arena with deep footing. The arena is nice and wide and more square than at most shows. There is also a small warm-up arena as well.

The grounds around the arena is rolling hills and the parking is in surrounding pastures and down the hill from the arena in a field. The parking seemed a little bit tight, often inside fenced areas. Larger rigs that are hoping for a pull-through parking spot won’t want to arrive late on a busy show day and may find the parking a little awkward. There was a little shade, but the area was mostly open fields and likely gets very hot in the summer. There are some covered stalls but reserve early if you want to get one as they are limited.

The show, judged by Wendy Snyder, has a wide variety of classes for English, Western, Minis and more. The classes and competition seemed to be appropriate for various levels including beginners. English classes are scheduled at the beginning of the day before switching to Western in the late afternoon. The show is Blue Ridge Horse Force sanctioned and in 2016 partnered with Sprouse’s Corner Ranch Horse Show series for a circuit championship award in five divisions. The circuit championship prizes were an embroidered jacket and an embroidered cooler for the winning rider/horse combination. Proceeds from the show benefit local organizations. October’s show benefited St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Green Hill Park Equestrian Center’s Halloween Fun Show more treats than tricks

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Green Hill Park Equestrian Center hosted its annual Halloween Fun Show on Sunday, Oct. 30, and mother nature decided a treat was in order for the competitors, offering up a gorgeous fall day that was warm and sunny.

The turnout to the show was fantastic with many of the classes having to be split. Many competitors dressed up in Halloween costumes for both them and their horses and the costume classes were packed. Classes all day had at least 5 and usually many more entries.

Phillip Dutton wins Virginia Horse Trials CIC2* on Fernhill Revelation at Virginia Horse Center

Rio Olympics individual bronze medalist Phillip Dutton piloted both the Revelation Group’s Fernhill Revelation and David Garrett’s Corazon to double-clear rounds on cross country to finish in first and second place in the Virginia Horse Trials CIC2* out of 38 starters last weekend at the Virginia Horse Center.

More than 500 horses across 30 divisions competed at the Virginia CCI/CIC and Horse Trials last weekend at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington and the first winners of the week emerged.

“This is Fernhill Revelation’s first FEI competition in the U.S. since importing him from Ireland, so we are thrilled for his owners to take home the win this weekend,” Dutton said. “He already has a lot of experience at the three-star level with his previous rider Fraser Duffy, and we’re looking forward to bringing him out at that level in the spring. He has an incredible amount of talent and is definitely a horse for the future.”

Hannah Sue Burnett and Cooley Dream jumped clear in show jumping but added four time penalties on cross country to drop from second to a third-place finish overall. Boyd Martin and Kyra finished on their dressage score of 43.5 to move up from 11th place to fourth overall. Mara DePuy and Congo Brazzaville C, leaders after dressage, added one rail in show jumping and four time penalties on cross country for a fifth-place finish.

Sydney Solomon and Early Review C, owned and bred by Laurie Cameron, led the Area II Intermediate Championship from start to finish, adding only 9.6 cross country time penalties for a final score of 50.9. Sydney, 19, is a working student for Dutton and says she finds herself constantly improving under his watchful eye.

“[Early Review C] is a fiery little thing. She can definitely get hot and excited easily but she really wants to do it. She’s willing and honest,” Solomon said. “Show jumping was amazing; she did not touch a rail. Sometimes we have trouble making the stride when she gets spooky [on cross country] but today she was forward and good the whole time.”

Early Review C, also known as “Coco” is a graduate of the USEA Young Event Horse Program. She competed at the East Coast Championships as a 4- and 5-year-old with Lillian Heard and won the Safe Harbor Award two years in a row, which is given to the most amateur friendly and rideable horse in at the championships. Sydney has been riding Coco for the last year and is hoping to compete her at the Bromont CCI2* next year.

Tracey Bienemann and Geoni finished second in the Intermediate Championship, adding 23 penalties in show jumping but completing cross country fault free.

Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg were the ultimate winners of the Open Intermediate division. In second place after show jumping on 30.8, they produced one of only three double-clear cross country rounds to move into the top spot. Martin also finished third on Santos after finishing only 1 second over optimum time on cross country for a final score of 45.1.

Jennie Brannigan and As Cool As Ice moved up from third after dressage and show jumping to finish second in Open Intermediate on a 38.4, adding 3.2 penalties on cross country.

CCI2* division

Lindsay Kelley and Cooley Cruise Control, a 7-year-old Irish Sport Horse jumped the only double clear round in the inaugural CCI2* division to hold their overnight position and win on their dressage score of 51.8.

Boyd Martin and his homebred Ray Price, an 8-year-old Thoroughbred/Warmblood owned by Windurra USA and Amy Lindgren, dropped a single rail to finish second.

Woods Baughman and his and James Baughman’s 9-year-old Thoroughbred Montesquieu made a steady climb up the leader board, placing 13th after dressage, moving up to sixth after a double clear cross country round and finishing third overall with just one rail down in the final phase.

vht02 — Kim Severson and Ringfort Fighting Chance won the CCI*-A division. Photo by Brant Gamma Photo.

Kim Severson and Ellie Brown’s Ringfort Fighting Chance led CCI*-A from start to finish, adding nothing to their dressage score of 40.6 to top the 39-horse division in the 11-year-old Irish Thoroughbred’s first FEI appearance.

Martin was second again in the one-star competition, this time with Barry, a 7-year-old Thoroughbred owned by Martin and Windurra USA, finishing on their dressage score of 43.0. Plain Dealing Farm’s 6-year-old Irish Sport Horse, MTF Cooley Classic, was piloted to third place by Lucia Strini, adding only two time penalties for a final score of 43.8.

Cornelia Dorr and the elegant chestnut, Louis M, likewise led the CCI*-B division from the start. Dorr, 18, and her 11-year-old Rheinlander gelding scored 40.2 in dressage and added only four penalties in show jumping to finish with the only final score in the 40s out of 20 talented juniors and young riders in the class.

Charlotte Collier and Parker Collier’s 10-year-old Holsteiner, Clifford M, moved up from sixth after dressage to finish second on 50.5. Will Zuschlag and his 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, RF Southern Command, added only time penalties in show jumping to finish third overall on 51.0.

Area II Championships and Adult Team Challenge

Virginia Horse Trials was pleased to once again host the Area II Championships. New this year was the addition of Junior Championship classes. Congratulations to the 2016 Area II Champions:

Intermediate: Sydney Solomon and Early Review C
Junior Preliminary: Katherine Christopher and Frodo of the Shire
Open Preliminary: Allison Springer and Fairvoya S
Junior Training: Olivia Hayes and Beaujeste
Training: Colleen Rutledge and Paul Just Paul
Junior Novice: Charlotte Stillfried and Pepper
Open Novice: Leslie Chelstrom Lamb and Quinn Lane
Junior Beginner Novice: Annabelle Kress and Batteries Not Included
Open Beginner Novice: Lauren Chumley and Nikolas

The Area II Adult Rider Team Challenge has long been a popular activity at the fall Virginia Horse Trials. This year, 17 teams made up of adult riders from Areas I, II and III competed in a friendly team competition at the Beginner Novice through Preliminary levels.

“My team and I are very pleased with the success of the competition this week and grateful to all the riders, owners and volunteers for their participation. For me it’s about providing a high-quality but personable event that makes everyone who attends feel special,” said VHT organizer Andy Bowles.

“This event is the final competition of the year for many riders and we hope it will continue to be a destination event for eventers around the country. Thank you to everyone who makes Virginia Horse Trials an important part of their year. We will see you at the next one in May!”