Shelly Wilson and Pharaoh Champion, 1.20M Jumpers

Animal lover and small animal veterinarian Shelly Wilson (Beth Cadwallader, trainer) made a clean sweep in the 1.20M Jumpers aboard her own Pharaoh, thus earning the championship as well. Shelly rode when she was younger, but after taking time off to attend college and veterinary school, she jumped into the show ring for the first time at the age of 33 and has been there ever since. “I work really hard most of the week—12 and 14 hour days—to be able to have weekends off to ride,” Shelly explained. “I didn't start competitively riding until I was in my thirties. This was my first time ever winning every single class that I rode in, which was very exciting me for me.”

As for her horse, Shelly added, “Pharaoh is 14 now, but my fiancé bought him when the horse was six months old and my trainer Beth was actually the one who started training him from the very beginning.”

Richard Zappala, Winner, 1.00M Jumpers

Richard Zappala (Mark Farndale, trainer) piloted his new horse, Contessa, in the 1.00m Jumpers. “We found her in Europe and imported her last July,” Richard explained. “This is only her third show ever and my first time showing her at the 1.00M level. She’s six years old and has the best head on her shoulders.”

Richard, who is a retired equine veterinarian and now director of the UCLA Pre-medical Sciences Program, went into the ring with a solid plan that proved successful. “In the first round, I wanted to get her over all the jumps and only take a couple tight turns,” he explained “If she felt good, like she was in front of my leg, I planned to be really bold and take all the tight turns in the jump off. I stuck to the plan exactly how Mark suggested and my horse went around beautifully. She can really turn on a dime, so we used that to our advantage.”

Source: LEGIS