“I have been sponsoring the class for 5 years. “Dr. Daryl K. Hoffman explained, “I am just happy that Betsy Glikbarg asked me to be involved with the horse show. I was delighted to be asked, and I am still honored by it as part of the Menlo Circus Club tradition. The Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a wonderful charity that helps so many people and thanks to the generosity of the club, club members, everyone on the Peninsula and the participants it has raised a lot of money for a very good cause.”
Course Designer Eric Mayberry shared his approach to the class. “We have a nice field of good jumping horses, which allows me to set a fairly straight forward and classic course, nothing gimmicky or tricky. I am expecting to build a good-sized course as we have extremely good hunters here at Menlo. The handy round it will be built on a forward stride to get them galloping….It gets a little extra handy in the middle, and finishes on a forward stride.” Eric explained. “It is my first year at Menlo Charity Horse Show, and I am enjoying it immensely. As a course designer we don’t often get to build on grass, so that makes it fun. I have excellent materials to work with and you can be a touch more creative with such a good-sized ring. It is really nice to be out here and part of MCHS. It is not just a horse show but a historic event.”
As the excitement builds on the MCHS showgrounds and the VIP tent begins to fill, the Grass Hunter Field is prepared for the late afternoon event. There are many differences between the MCHS Derby and other events on the circuit, as one of a handful of venues in California that run a Hunter Derby on grass. When 5.30pm arrived all eyes were on the horses competing in the first of the two rounds.
The classic round of the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby consisted of 12 beautiful natural fences and the four high options were easy to identify. The top scores as they moved into the Handy Round:
1st Skyhawk and John French 184
2nd Center Court and John French 180
3rd Barnus and Jaime Taylor 175.5
4th West Street and Gabrielle Cinquini 169
As the shadows began to fall in the field the 12 leading horses completed the course in reverse order, a beautiful scene with the exceptional fences and a course providing opportunity for all to show the handiness of there horses.
At the end of the competition the same four horses remained at the top of the field. The overall results:
1st Skyhawk and John French
2nd Center Court and John French
3rd Barnus and Jamie Taylor
4th West Street and Gabrielle Cinquini
5th Epic and Mckenna Norris
6th Ziggy Stardust and Jamie Sailor
7th Hendrix and Hugh Mutch
8th Esperance and Mickie Sage
9th Andover and Jillian Stewart
10th Rimpoche and Claire Archer
11th Lorenzo-T and Kylee Arbuckle
12th Bunistar and Naomi Rubin
