Temperatures did not stay chilly for long after our frigid Sunday of Week 5. Wednesday brought the beginning of World Champion Hunter Rider Week and the building excitement for the Hunter Spectacular to come on Saturday night. Jumpers showed out of smaller rings this week and hunters reigned supreme in the International Arena, which is usually the venue for Grand Prix jumper classes. Competition was fierce for ribbons and a chance for a spot in the prestigious Saturday night class.
Peter Pletcher started the week off with a Championship in the first year green hunter division on Westbrooke, a 10-year-old Warmblood gelding by Andiamo. This feat was remarkable in that the horse was just imported from Germany six weeks ago and, despite having jumper experience in Europe, showed in the hunter ring last week for the first time.
Wednesday evening featured an “I Love PRE” Fiesta dinner and performance at the new Global Dressage Festival showgrounds. Guests enjoyed a complimentary dinner with sangria while watching several striking Andalusians or PRE’s as they are now more commonly called (for Pura Raza Espanola) perform in the main Dressage show arena. The new VIP building was attractively set up with fresh flowers, heart decorations and sweets in keeping with the Valentine theme. Several noted coaches – one, Olympian Lendon Gray – took turns commenting on various horse/rider combinations. A leading Young Rider Dressage expert, Lendon critiqued four Young Riders and horses from different parts of the country. Originally skeptical about the breed for kids, she has found them to be incredibly sensible, very generous in their work, with a natural suppleness and easy flexion.
The big jumpers moved to the Derby course at the Stadium, next to the new Global Dressage Festival showgrounds on Thursday, with young Reed Kessler dominating the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 6 class with a win on her horse, Cylana, and a third and fourth on her other two mounts. The Dressage was going on at the same time – it was amazing to be able to watch both a few steps apart!
On Saturday night 14-year-old Victoria Colvin bested a field of 32 sensational hunters and many seasoned professionals (including her trainer!), winning Saturday night’s hunter spectacular with Way Cool and placing third with Inclusive. So nice to see the best hunters showing off at a good gallop in the International ring – and truly impressive to see the quality of rides put in by the juniors and amateurs in this big class under the lights. They had a beautiful evening, and a course of very natural looking jumps. It was great to hear the announcer giving the breed and sire information for some of the horses, as well a bit of their show background. It’s a shame the breeding of these first-class athletes isn’t brought to our attention more often.
To finish off the week, we joined the enthusiastic crowd on tailgate row for an exciting 20-goal match at the Palm Beach International Polo Club. The spectators’ exuberance peaked at half-time, when trucks filled with champagne and ice cream drew the masses out onto the field. What a brilliant way to get all the divots stomped down! It was a veritable stampede – albeit a very well-dressed, civilized one. Any worries about the polo ponies getting a hoof-ful of melted ice cream and chocolate were unfounded, as seagulls swooped in for the leftovers.
What a difference a week makes – from 5 degrees C last Sunday to 28 degrees C this Sunday! But I’ll take it all, as long as sun and palm trees are in the picture.
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