What to know about these Horse Shows

Sonoma Horse Park

Recently, after much fight with my trainer, I was able to make the trip down to Northern California to compete at the amazing Sonoma Horse Park Show. As well as gaining an incredible learning experience, I also came back with many great things to say. Let us begin with the venu:

There are many shows that are just much too big or spread way too far apart. It’s a great way to get exercise, walking from place to place, but it is just so much better when everything is close. The shops form almost a tiny village, the way they are spaced - they line an aisle way, and vary in every way imaginable: Tack shops, furniture shops, and even a place that painted portraits of your horses. If a rider was to, let’s say, misplace anything or going plunging into the open water jump and was in dire need of new pants, they would have absolutely no issue. The other thing to note, is that in often times, shops at the shows mark up prices of items, but everything was well priced matching the original seller. Although you cannot purchase merchandise from this shop, you can purchase a killer massage or a nice adjustment from a chiropractor, which comes in handy especially for riders, whose bodies are put through the ringer.

Next, let us discuss the food - starting with the VIP. I was very pleasantly surprised when I was greeted by a breakfast buffet, with just about everything in it, an omelette bar, and incredible baked goods, then for lunch another buffet and a bar of some sort, burger for example, and the most amazing cookies. The oatmeal raisin were the best, but the white chocolate is also an honorable mention. And because the food can’t get any better, they also had dinner which went great with the featured events, including a grand prix and large hunter derby. Other than VIP, the show also had food shops will very good choices and plenty of junk food, as well as a horse treat shop that made creamsicles.

Although I believe food and shopping is the most important part of a show, others think that management and the accommodations is also something to note, so let’s chat about these topics. The stabling for the horses, was that of any other show, but was separated from the chaos and havoc of the show ring. That’s right - the show was just background noise in the stabling area, making for the perfect relaxing environment for the horses. The rings in jumper land were mostly run on time, maybe even started a little early one day, as for the equitation and hunter rings, they had their moments of long lulls in the order of go and delayed classes. Management of a horse show is not just about the schedule of the rings, but also the way in which everything is kept. Every day, the jumps were re - painted and the courses changed to keep competitors guessing and everything clean and pristine. The aisle ways were always clean and dust free due to the choice of wood chips instead of dirt put in the show. I mostly enjoyed this, although the threat of a woodchip getting stuck in a horse's foot was a bit alarming.

Finally, just some random little things that made Sonoma an incredible shows: The Ribbons. The ribbons are amazing. They are huge and wonderfully made and designed - the rosette is the size of my face and the actual ribbon goes from my head to my knee. It is so large and heavy I could not pin mine for the victory gallop. The courses were also as amazing as the ribbons, they challenged me and competitors in every way imaginable, from tight rollbacks to tough bending lines, it required the best piloting to go clear.

And, what makes or breaks a horse show: the area. Sonoma is a wonderful place with way too many food options and too much for the parents to do.

While we ride, our parents can wine taste, making them more likely to want to buy us horse related things! It’s a win, win. Seriously, can’t stress it enough, the food is amazing, go to the girl and the fig and order their cheesecake, you will not regret it. Lastly, for real this time, the jumps are so cool. I don't even have words. My dreams came true when I was able to jump the Hermes jump, and not chip, but I also noticed the open water which was made to look like the golden gate bridge, and the jump that had tree silhouettes as standards, and this was only in the grand prix field. The hunter ring, every single jump had flowers, some even had standard covered in flowers, it was quite a sight, it reminded me of candy land.

All it took was four days for me to fall head over heels for Sonoma Horse Park, all time favorite show.

Blenheim oaks

The first show on my list screams summer because of its endless amounts of grass and lemonade, it’s Blenheim Equisport ranch horse show, also known as the Oaks. The Oaks has a show that starts the beginning of June and goes till the beginning of July, almost a month long! The show is located in San Juan Capistrano, about two hours away from Los Angeles; the location of the show is beautiful, with three sand hunter rings, a large grass hunter field, and three large grass rings that can double for both hunters and jumpers. They have great food stands and lemonade stands, offering great snacks for the hot days, even though normally the show remains a decent temperature, take that from someone who can't handle the heat. And because most riders are not so secretly shopaholics, the vendors are amazing, with great bargains, such as the trailer that sells used tack in great condition, and bonnets. There's also plenty of places to purchase the items of clothing that are the most in right now, and trailers to buy horses treats, equipment, and toys! The rings are for the most part on time, except for the occasional long pauses of the hunter rounds. The best part is the special classes they offer on Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon; the grand prix, and sometimes a six bar competition, this year the winner was Jill Humphrey of JH sport horses. Outside of the show, there are great places to diner, and if you're the legal age, dine; my favorite places included Tai Sushi ( Excellent, quiet and quick ), Rancho Capistrano Winery, (Which was much more crowded, but had great food, just make sure to really enthuse those food allergies… if you understand what i’m saying) and Stacks Pancake house, (Best pancakes of all time; fun flavors and dishes, and very quick service, perfect for before a horse show). The stalls for the horses is very nice, and clean, with minimum dust, and well kept; also, the rings are so central it's easy to stay up to date on what's happening from anywhere at anytime. Final things, as a nervous rider, who searches for the perfect show to move up or try something new, like equitation, I was pleased with how fair they set the jump heights in the Ortega field. The Derby field jumps and Grand prix jumps were set heavier and looked much larger, but I found my confidence to move up at this show!

Oregon High Desert Classic Horse Show

The Next show we will explore is the Oregon High Desert Horse Show, also known as Bend, because of it's location in amazing Bend, Oregon. The Bend show is a show I can confidently say is one of the most well kept shows, as well as the rings running in timely manners. While reviewing shows I tend to look at a few things; location, appearance, food and vendors, management, prizes, and classes that make the showing and watching experience special and memorable.

First, every single ring is on grass… yes, every single ring, all eight rings, as well as many warm up rings with pretty decent quality footing. All The rings, vendors, and watching areas are fairly close to each other and minimize long walks after a long day of riding, and there is practically a 360 view of the Grand Prix field, which features classes from 1.10M - 1.45M and up! The jumps are wonderfully decorated, especially during Hunter Derby classes, which are almost every week and junior rider friendly. All of the rings ran on time, as I said, and the back gate people kept quite the composer while trainers fought for spots in the order.

Next, the location of the show, and not just inside the show. Outside the show, there are many hotels, one is even in the middle of a town which seems like a mix of Aspen and Washington… two great places. There are so many food options for people who are vegetarian and vegan or just looking for healthy options. The town I stayed in also had great Pokemon stops, which at the time was important, but now not so much.

Food and Vendor, as i've said before, make or break a show and how enjoyable it is going to be to spend days on end there. Now, I won't lie to you, i’m giving out honest opinions so you can make honest choices; the vendors were not the most breathtaking I have seen, but boy did they have bargains on good products. There was a C4 belt stand that sold hundreds of those suckers, as well as an Equine Bookstore where I purchased the Eighty Dollar Champion, tack and horse products, and more. The area they slacked at was the clothing department, it was alright, but nothing special. The food varied with the best taco truck ever, with amazing ceviche which I had almost every day, almost as good as the ceviche at thermal. They had noodles, hot dogs, and a lot of choices, which was very nice.

Not only does the show offer a ton of prize money even to heights like 1.05 Meter, it has entertaining classes such as the Drink and Ride - a class where rider well, drink, and then another rider rides. They also had charity classes, international hunter derbies, equitation challenges, and Grand Prixs that posed many obstacles for riders. In the end I went home with money and a cup which I still have from winning a random class, and they had more items, like a grooming bag, treats, shirts, etc.

Overall, Bend is the perfect show to have fun while showing in any discipline or height imaginable, and at the end of the day taking your horse for a long walk around the Showgrounds, letting your horse have an occasional graze, just remember to clean your bit after! And, WOW, if you made it all this way, first, thanks, you are a real trooper, and second, there is one last reason you should come to Bend, All Things Equine is passing out Horse Treatery treat samples to every setup, and maybe to classic winners! Make sure to check your set up for some cute treats for the most perfect show ponies.