On September 5 my husband and I took a break from work and the farm to go to the Spruce Meadows
“Masters”, a horse show of international acclaim. Held
the week after the September Labor Day long weekend, there is plenty
to see and do, and horse shows all day long. This is really a great family event, with things for kids too, assuming they like horses.
One of my favorite events is the Telus Battle of the
Breeds. This is where different breeds compete against each other in
different events, earning points by proving their versatility. We arrived too late in the day to see the compulsory skills class but did see the Jeopardy Jumping class in the afternoon.
In Jeopardy Jumping the riders
direct their horse around a course of jumps, but unlike regular
jumping events there are 2 jump choices, a lower one and a higher
one. Each one is assigned points according to difficulty. If the
jump is cleared the horse earns those points, if not no penalty is
given.
12 breeds competed, with 2 horses of each breed.
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| Saddlebred Valenfire's Attractive Image |
Immediately after completing the jumping course
the rider was given the option of attempting the Telus bonus jump,
worth 100 points if successfully jumped, and penalized -100 if not.
Most riders did not attempt this jump and of those who did only a few
went clear. The jump was a vertical but had phone booths on either
side and I think the reflection might have distracted the horses.
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| Shetland Pony McLeod Creek Baby J |
It was great fun to watch and to see
the different breeds compete. The small Shetland ponies proved how
brave and hardy they were. While some of the larger breeds, such as
the Friesian and Gypsy Vanner struggled.
Team Appaloosa won the Jeopardy Jumping class and team Arabian was
second.
