TEMECULA – It was deja vu all over again at the Seventh Annual Sherri Gilkerson Memorial Bridle weekend, as Lyn Anderson and Lance Johnston emerged with respective Open Spectacular bridle and hackamore victories at the May 17-19 event that mirrored their success from two years ago.

BAKERSFIELD — With a total purse of more than $47,000, the California Horse Trials cow horse event put on by the Valley Cow Horse Association May 3-5 at the Sundance Arena brought out the region’s best.

Derby classes were particularly well received — and well-rewarded. In the $10,000-added Open Derby, Lance Johnston took Mary Stroud’s Silky Smooth Hickory to a win that paid $6,210. With their second- and first-place finishes, respectivey, in the Open and Intermediate Open Derbies, John Ward and Got To Go Get It earned a combined $6,060.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — On a couple of cool, breezy afternoons, Blenheim EquiSports presented two stellar high performance events, the $50,000 Blenheim Spring Classic III Grand Prix, presented by Equine Insurance, and this season’s first $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, both on the International Grand Prix Field during the April 10-14 meet.

Exciting twists and turns captivated competitors and spectators alike. With grand prix prize money increased by over 20 percent for Week III of the Blenheim Spring Series, internationally renowned course designer Leopoldo Palacios intentionally built a tough track.

LAS Vegas, Nev. — Marjie Robinson scored the victory of her life when she entered the show pen at the National Reined Cow Horse Association Stakes last month at South Point Equestrian Center.

Then, she won the Level 1 Limited Open Championship.

Stagecoach Trails Horse Camping
Julian, California
(760) 765-3765
www.stagecoachtrails.com
The great outdoors awaits you at Stagecoach Trails, a delightful and relaxing discovery east of historic Julian in San Diego County adjacent to the beautiful Anza Borrego State Park. Rich in history, wildlife, desert flowers and unspoiled landscapes, the State Park provides Stagecoach campers with a variety of ways to relax and or be active: horseback riding, jeep touring, hiking, or discovering native encampments with pictographs, morteros and other interesting artifacts. Nearby Ghost Mountain was home for Marshall South and his family in their Native American experiment in the late 1930s. Stagecoach Trails offers its guests information and maps on these and other attractions nearby.

TEMECULA – When the three-day Galway Winter Horse Trials wrapped up Feb. 3, it really marked a beginning — of the Area VI winter-spring season, that is.

Successive Southern California competitions at Twin Rivers, Copper Meadows, then back to Galway for this weekend’s International Horse Trials, then on to Twin Rivers for its mid-April event illustrate how the region has become a hotbed for the this exciting discipline that combines cross-country, dressage and stadium jumping.

RANCHO MURIETA — A new season of West Coast Reining Horse Association competition was launched Feb. 8-10 at the Murieta Equine Complex, and with it was a familiar pattern: the nation’s largest affiliate continues to grow.

“We always judge our year on the first couple of turnouts,” said incoming WCRHA President Ollie Galligan. “We had our schooling show at the end of January, and it was a huge turnout, and then the Affiliate 1 show was good. We’re growing and growing some more.”

SAN ANGELO, Texas — In a thrilling, down-to-the-wire fence work finish Feb. 2 at Spur Arena Ron Emmons claimed his second consecutive World’s Greatest Horseman Championship aboard Olena Oak (Smart Chic Olena x Fritzs Oak E Doakie), a 2002 stallion owned in partnership between Nichole Scott and Emmons’ wife, LaDona Emmons.

POMONA — Rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the region’s Arabian exhibitors who filled the Fairplex Jan. 25-27 for the 38th Annual Sierra Empire Arabian Horse Association show. The venue attracted top talent looking to start a new show season and prepare for the upcoming Scottsdale Arabian Show this month.

Once held in April, the SEAHA event moved to January three years ago when the venerable Whittier Lions Horse Show ended its 48-year run.

Temecula-based trainer Katherine Rich-Elzig, the granddaughter of Whittier Lions Show founder and leader, Dr. Harold West, looks forward to the January competition.

What if you had a show and everybody came?

For Show Director Doug Huls of the Arizona Quarter Horse Association, that’s not far from his experience each winter at the show he manages alongside the AZQHA, the Sun Circuit.

Last year, Huls says this nine-day event was the largest AQHA circuit competition worldwide. This year’s event, which will feature eight AQHA shows spanning Jan. 26-Feb. 3, will require 100 additional stalls.