High-performance eventing is impressive, sure. But if you want to see real heart and grit, head on over to the Beginner Novice ring — or better yet, the Intro division. From green horses braving their first horse show to green riders just getting their feet wet in the sport, or some combination of the two, nobody works harder to get around a course, and nobody wears a bigger grin when they get the job done!
Twenty-nine horse rider combinations recently contested two Intro divisions at Shepherd Ranch SYVPC Horse Trials I on June 21-23 in Santa Ynez, California. Thanks to our friends at Ride On Video, we have footage from several of the winning Intro and Beginner Novice rides from the weekend.
Joan Hankin and On Cloud Nine led the Intro A division from start to finish, winning on their dressage score of 33.3. Ryann Bodman and Mohican won the Intro B division on a score of 30.6, moving from second after dressage into the top spot thanks to double clear jumping rounds.
Sarah Bonfield won BOTH divisions of Jr. Beginner Novice Rider with her two rides. Indigo won the A division on 33.0; Apollo won the B division on 29.0. Anita Parra and Sterling bested the Sr. Beginner Novice Rider division on a 30.5, another wire-to-wire win.
Ludger Thole and Rudy were victorious in the Open Beginner Novice division with an incredibly low winning score of 15.8. Let’s see that dressage test!
Congrats to all. View complete results from the event here.
Go Eventing (at all levels!)
