Greetings!
Hope everyone is having a relaxing and cool summer. MPH spent most of June in Lexington, Kentucky where we competed at the Kentucky Horse Park. Competition was fierce and I was very proud of how our riders were able to hold their own. Here are some of the highlights.
Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic 1:
MJ Maestas and Perry were Reserve Champion in the 12-14 Equitation with a first and second place over fences and third on the flat.
MPH had three horses place in the USHJA National Hunter Derby
8th Liston Johnson and Grand Romance aka Champ
9th MJ Maestas and Oswald Van De Leeuwerk aka Ozzy
10th MJ Maestas and Copy That aka Kenzo
Our riders had many Blue-Ribbon rides in the 0.90-meter and 1.0-meter Jumpers.
Delaney Hustad and SWS Charleston aka Charley
Liston Johnson and Gigolo VD Berghoeve Z aka Geo
MJ Maestas and Cha-Ching ES aka Chips
Caroline Molther and Cha-Ching ES aka Chips
Notable
MJ Maestas and Perry were 15th out of 74 riders in the 3’ Equitation Challenge
Amelie Schaeffer and Flower Power aka Faith had their first show together and brought home quite a few ribbons!
Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic 2:
Once again we had many Blue-Ribbon Rides in the 0.90-meter and 1.0-meter Jumpers
Delaney Hustad and SWS Charleston aka Charley
Delaney Hustad and Silk Sonic aka Slick
Liston Johnson and Gigolo VD Berghoeve Z aka Geo
MJ Maestas and Cha-Ching ES aka Chips
Notable
MJ Maestas and Copy That aka Kenzo finished in the top 25 of the USHJA National Hunter Derby Regional Championship. There were 85 entries in the class.
Junior Hunter Finals:
MJ Maestas and Oswald Van De Leeuwerk aka Ozzy placed eleventh out 70 entries in the Classic round of the Younger Large Junior Hunter 3’-3”.
Liston Johnson and Grand Romance aka Champ placed fifteenth out 44 entries in the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 3’-6” under Saddle.
Marisol Hess and Everything Is Awesome aka Lego finished overall in the top half of the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 3’-3”. There were 94 entries in her division.
Summer Horse Shows
We will be showing in Michigan for the month of July. If you would like to show with us please let us know asap. We will do our best to get you a stall. Please also let us know if you will be showing in the Summer Kentucky Horse Show or Blue Grass Horse Show. These stalls sell out fast so if you intend to show let us know!
Lending Library
I am often asked how I got started riding. No, I did not come from a riding family. I was just an ordinary six-year-old that asked for riding lessons. Lucky for me my parents were on board and had a friend whose children rode. Even more lucky for me they rode hunters. I could easily have been riding Dressage! As many of you know I am and always have been an avid reader. As a child I loved horse stories, and I loved books by Marguerite Henry. One of her most famous books is Misty of Chincoteague. It was one of my favorites along with Sea Star Orphan of Chincoteague. For those of you not familiar with Chincoteague, it is an island off the coast of Virginia. Across the sound is another island, Assateague, where a herd of wild ponies reside. Once a year in July the ponies swim across the sound from Assateague to Chincoteague to be branded and some sold at auction. As a child I was fortunate to be able to go to Chincoteague to see the ponies make their swim. I remember it to this day! This year will be the 100th year for this event. In honor of the 100th year and a great a childhood memory I have put both Misty of Chincoteague and Sea Star Orphan of Chincoteague in the lending library. If your child is looking for a good read this summer, I highly recommend these books.
Horse Show Corner
This past month we had three riders ( Marisol Hess, Liston Johnson and MJ Maestas) qualify and compete in the Junior Hunter Finals. This year the Junior Hunter Finals were held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. In August we have three riders who have qualified to compete in the Pony Hunter Finals (Margot Evans, Annabel Grefe and Sam Marshall). This event is also held at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Horses and ponies come from all over the country to compete. At Junior Hunter Finals, the horses do a hunter round (Classic), a handy round and an under saddle. The classic round and handy round each count 40%, the under saddle counts 20%. Each phase gets scored and pinned. There is also an overall placing. At Pony Finals, the ponies compete in the Model, under saddle and one over fences round. The Model and under saddle count 25% each, the over fences count 50%. Ribbons are given in the model, under saddle and over fences with additional ribbons given to overall ponies. At both Finals, Grand Champions are pinned in the respective size categories. In order to qualify, horses or ponies must win a champion or reserve champion at an A rated show or have been champion at the finals the prior year. In the Green Pony Division, you must win one champion or two reserve champions to qualify.
Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Marcos!
Have a happy 4th! We will be closed on the 4th so our staff can have a happy day too!
