SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Young riding talent made its mark at the Mission Viejo Riding Park June 6-10, as Blenheim EquiSports launched its three-week June Classic Series with a remarkable group of up-and-comers at the June Classic I.

The leading headliner was 20-year-old Tina Di Landri, who outrode an international field by more than a second in a nail-biting jump-off to win the $30,000 Blenheim June Classic Grand Prix, presented by St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa.

SACRAMENTO — With a magnificent reining go in the finals that took top-score honors at 147.5, Corey Cushing and Smart Boons unseated two-time defending champion Ron Emmons and Olena Oak in a classic stock horse duel to claim the 2012 Magnificent Seven competition at Cal Expo June 8-9.

Held in conjunction with the Western States Horse Expo, the event featured four events — herd, reining, steer-stopping and fence work — with a preliminary round field of 17 entries battling it out to return as one of seven finalists. Bob Avila and Bobby Ingersoll judged the event.

GLADSTONE, N.J. — Four years ago, Steffen Peters and Ravel, then an inexperienced 10-year-old, won the 2008 Grand Prix National Dressage Championship at the Festival of Champions in California. That performance earned the pair a trip to the Olympic Games where they were fourth. Four years, an FEI World Cup title, a CHIO Aachen victory and two Bronze medals at the FEI World Equestrian Games later – Ravel was granted permission by the USEF selectors to not attend the 2012 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions which was also serving as the USEF Selection Trial for the 2012 Olympic Games.

NORCO — Eighteen-year-old phenomenon Obbie Schlom of Silverado took the Norco Extreme Mustang Makeover by storm. Schlom showed two Mustang mares at the event and walked away with champion and reserve champion honors. Schlom and her Mustang mare, Rosamay, received 354 points in the finals to win, while Schlom and her Mustang mare, Crazy Mary, received 352 points.

GLADSTONE, N.J. — The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) approved the Show Jumping FEI Nominated Entries for the 2012 Olympic Games. From the Nominated Entries, the team of four and a traveling reserve will be entered on the Definite Entry on July 6.

Atop the list is Rich Fellers of Wilsonville, Ore., and the 16-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion, Flexible, owned by Harry and Millie Chapman. In the fourth and final USEF Observation Event for the U.S. Show Jumping Team, the June 14 $200,000 CN Performance Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Fellers and Flexible were fastest of 37 starters and then the fastest of seven in the jump-off.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Culminating a selection process that began in March, California’s up-and-coming stars of show jumping earned their spots on the Zone 10 North American Junior and Young Rider Championship Team at Final Selection Trials held during the Blenheim June Classic I event June 6-10 at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park.

HEY RAY: My recently purchased, beautiful, 7-year-old Palomino Fox Trotter brings a lot to the table — except for a few shortcomings. The biggest surprise was finding out that when I’m on the trail, he comes unglued when bicycles race past him, causing him to become explosive and unpredictable. If I can’t make this behavior go away, he may have to go away. What should I do?
—Jon Cannon, Orange Park Acres

HEY JON: There is no perfect horse, and it’s always going to be something! The question to ask here is. “Will I be safe with this horse while trying to figure out how to make it better?” If the answer is no, get professional help and have the horse evaluated. On the other hand, if safety is not an issue, I have an exercise that should help and be fun, too.

Most of us have been on a jumpy or spooky horse, one that is ready to jump at anything! In my opinion, it is no fun to ride a horse that is afraid and reactive. Some horses are genuinely more afraid of things than others. They may be more sensitive than others and may notice sights and sounds more acutely than other horses as well, but many horses have learned to be spooky. I feel that often it has become a habit, or a learned behavior. I am going to give you some techniques that will help you to change your horse from a spook into a confident, less reactive horse!

The horse-human relationship started as a prey-predator dynamic, and in the past 6,000 years since first domesticating horses, we have created more than 200 breeds — from the powerful Clydesdale to the graceful Arabian. As we have shaped horses to suit our needs on battlefields, farms and elsewhere, these animals have shaped human history. Come investigate the extraordinary qualities that have made horses so important and useful to humans at the San Diego Natural History Museum starting this month – June 1. View astonishing artifacts that highlight the horse’s role in cultures worldwide, including a bronze figurine depicting China’s legendary celestial horse from the Han dynasty, which is dated as early as 2nd-century BCE to 2nd-century AD. This West Coast premiere of The Horse, offers fascinating stories as well as science behind these legendary, exceptional, and captivating animals. The comprehensive exhibit will remain on view through Jan. 20, 2013, exploring early horse-human interactions and showing how horses have, over time, influenced civilization — including major changes in warfare, trade, transportation, agriculture, sports, and many other facets of human life. The exhibition, which has never before been seen on the West Coast, is included with general Museum admission. Visitors entering the exhibition are immediately captivated by a high-definition video projection of a beautiful thoroughbred horse moving across a giant screen. A large-scale video and computer interactive allows visitors to peek inside a life-size, moving horse to learn about its anatomy and biology. The Horse offers numerous activities that invite visitors to measure their strength in horsepower, manipulate a mechanical horse’s leg to make the knee lock and unlock, discover characteristics of many different breeds of horses, and look inside a horse with computer kiosks and a life-size, interactive video screen. Also opening June 1, in conjunction with The Horse, is Vavra’s Vision: The Equine Images of photographer Robert Vavra. To learn more about these great exhibits, visit: www.sdnhm.org, and see the ad on page 15.

23rd in a series
After helping readers with communication and rewarding, Les gives us some steering drills to reinforce our progress.

If you’re not happy with your horse’s steering at this point, here are some patterns you can incorporate into your ride to give you both more practice. If I were standing there watching you, I could tell you what you needed to work on, but since your’re out on your own, these exercises will help to uncover problems so you can fix them.