Joe Meyer, shown here with Fernhill Freestyle at Majestic Oaks H.T. in January 2019, has seven horses entered in this weekend’s horse trials including his five-star partner Clip Clop. Photo by Jenni Autry.
This weekend’s Majestic Oaks Horse Trials marks the very first horse trial of the 2020 U.S. eventing calendar year. The event in Reddick, Florida, is ringing in the new year with a bang, with some 180 horse/rider combinations contesting Starter through Prelim levels.
To sweeten the pot, a total of $4,125 is up for grabs between the Jan. 11-12 and March 20-22 events. Points are awarded to the 1st through 6th place finishers in each division, with points to accumulate from the January and March events. Prize money will be awarded to the the winning rider/horse combinations after the conclusion of the March Horse Trials. Click here for more info.
It’s always fun to look at these early season event starter lists, to see who’s knocking off the dust and getting a jump start on the year. This weekend’s entries include a lot of babies and green beans as well as some five-star veterans: Lauren Kieffer has her now 18-year-old 2016 Rio Olympic Games mare, Veronica, entered in Open Prelim. This will be their first outing since mid-2018, the year they posted a top 10 finish at Badminton. Another five-star horse we haven’t seen out in a long while (since Majestic Oaks last January, actually, where they won the Intermediate-Prelim division) is Clip Clop, now 17 — he’s also entered in Open Prelim with Joe Meyer. Kevin Keane‘s former five-star mount, Fernhill Flutter, is also still going strong at 18 years old, and is entered in Open Training-A with Natasha Erschen.
The busiest rider of the weekend will be Caroline Martin, who has nine horses entered. Joe Meyer has seven, and both Alex Green Kerby and Alex O’Neal have four.
Best of luck to all, and have fun out there! P.S. The event could still use a few volunteers — you can sign up via Eventing Volunteers here.
Majestic Oaks is located at 17500 N US Hwy 441 / Reddick, FL 32686. For more information, visit the website here.
Go Eventing at Majestic Oaks!
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