Inaugural Young Sport Horse Show Successful Launch at Palm Beach

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Judges Hilda Gurney and Joe Sevriens with Ilse Schwarz on Arrick Harper (right) and Heather Farmer on Hassana Bay at the Young Sporthorse Show. © 2011 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

WELLINGTON, Florida, Jan. 25–The inaugural Spy Coast Farm Young Sporthorse Show was launched Tuesday with 47 entries from jumping and dressage being judged at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

The unrated competition–one of three scheduled for the Winter Equestrian Festival–offers a total of more than $30,000 in cash and prizes and leads to a final next December. The series is sponsored by Spy Coast Farm, one of America’s premier sport horse breeding and competition stables.

Suitability in hand, Suitability for Sport, Jump Chute, Under Saddle and Schooling Dressage classes for horses aged from yearlings to five years were judged by Dressage Sport Horse Judge Jos Sevriens of Atlanta and International Breed Judge and two-time dressage Olympian Hilda Gurney of Moorpark, California.

The shows are organized by Equestrian Sport Productions in cooperation with the North American Studbook. Lisa Lourie, who with her husband, Robert, owns Spy Coast Farm, watched the day-long competition, clearly happy with the number of entries, enthusiasm of competitors and the interest shown by other equestrians and spectators.

Lisa Lourie giving the thumbs up for the successful inaugural Spy Coast Farm Young Sport Horse Show. © 2011 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

The next two shows in the series are scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 22 and Tuesday, Mar. 22 and will include low entry fees and on site stabling as well as $10,000 in cash and prizes per show.

“We want this to be fun,” Lisa said. “We want to help breeders as well as give owners a chance to show off their young horses.”

The start list gave the prices of horses for sale while the program listed breeding stallions of farms participating in the series.

Lisa, a board member of the North American Studbook which originally proposed the idea for the series, said: “We are basically trying to create a template for Young Horse Shows where the standards are quite clearly set so that we are not over facing these horses.

“The emphasis is on style and technique more than it is the competition to win. It is the intention of this Young Horse Show to provide young horses a suitable environment to begin their first steps toward a competitive career without the pressures of the show circuit.”

To further educate other equestrians about management of breeding and young horses, Spy Coast Farm will host a seminar on the Economics of Breeding on Thursday, Feb. 10, 12:30-2:00 pm as part of the FTI WEF’s Lunch and Learn series. They will also host a clinic on Tuesday, Feb. 16 on How to Back a Young Horse.

All prize list information and entry forms for the Spy Coast Farm Young Sporthorse Show Series can be found at www.equestriansport.com.

Dressage results:

4 Year Old Dressage Test Level 1

1. Duesenberg/Jane Cleveland 69.80%

2. Arrick Harper/Ilse Schwarz 67.05%

3. Hassanna Bay/Heather Farmer 52.65%

5 Year Old Dressage Test Level 4

1. Don Joseph/Ilse Schwarz 76.35%

2. Dune MF/Ashley Parsons 70.15%

3. Rethospect/Susan Jaccoma 66.90%

4 Year old Under Saddle

1. Arrick Harper/Ilse Schwarz 8.2375

2. Duesenberg/Jane Cleveland 7.7

3. Folly’s Fina/Billie Graham 6.9

4. Hassanna Bay/Heather Farmer 5.8375

5 Year Old Under Saddle

1. Dune MF/Ashley Parsons 7.475

2. Carolina Cher MF/Katherine Michel 6.7125