The North and North West Showjumping Club were blown away metaphorically and literally when they hosted their first show since July.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The club put on a pop-up show at AELEC on the weekend.
"Basically we've had two years that have been interrupted by COVID with only the opportunity to have one show in a large amount of time," NNWSJC committee member Jane Kibble explained.
"And we really wanted to give riders in the North West the opportunity to ease back into competition."
As things begin to ramp up again, the idea was to put on a "low-key, stress-free, friendly entry back into competitive sport".
Things didn't quite pan out that way - the low-key part anyway, with entries flooding in as soon as they opened them up.
"We had nearly 100 riders and we put through 600 rounds over the course of the weekend," Kibble said.
She said they were pleasantly surprised by the response, with riders traveling from Moree, down to Dubbo and the Central Coast.
They also drew a wide range of riders, from little kids jumping over 60cm to Olympians clearing rails at 1.30/1.40m.
Kibble said the show also gave them an opportunity to mentor up-and-coming officials.
They had a trainee judge and a trainee course designer.
The windy weather over the weekend did pose some added challenges for competitors, but there was still some great jumping and tight competition.
There were a lot of jump-offs throughout the classes.
"You had to ride well to pick up any placings," Kibble said.
Several local riders managed to pick up ribbons.
Tamworth's Sharmayne Spencer was among the first day winners.
Riding HH Flamboyant she took out the 80cm Art 238.2.2 AM5 after an 11-way jump-off, beating daughter Rhani Spencer-Ruddy (Rogue Haven by Moonlight) by just over a second.
Spencer then backed on Sunday to win the 90cm Art 238.2.1 A2.
Rising Quirindi star Robin Henry and Duges also proved an unbeatable combination winning the final event of the first day - the 90cm Art 238.2.2 AM5, while Wallabadah's Olivia Gostellow took out the 1.00m Art 238.2.2 AM5 with Dusty Farm Questelle.
Alena Duncan and Matthew Irvine both also had a good weekend. Duncan and Pinch River teamed up to win the 80cm Art 238.2.1 A2 and 70cm Super 2 Phase Art 274.2, while Irvine won the 1.30m Art 238.2.1 A2 and 1.30 Art 238.2.2 AM5 aboard Yirrkala Darcy.
Seoul Olympian David Cooper meanwhile won the 1.20m Art 238.2.2 AM5 on Victory Day.
The other class winners for the weekend were Bree Bate (Captain Thunderbolt) in the 1.10m Art 238.2.2 AM5, Sarah McMillan (Colourbond) in the 1.20m Art 238.2.1 A2, Zali Duncan (Fairway Prince) in the 60cm Art 238.2.2 AM5, Jack Buckman (Grease) in the 60cm Art 238.2.2 AM5, Nora Eronpalo (Sadu) in the 60cm Super 2 Phase Art 274.2, Dale Frew (APH Solace) in the 1.00m Super 2 Phase 274.2 and Victoria Hoy (LV Jimmy Choo) in the 1.10 Super 2 Phase 274.2.
