Despite the increased number of horse and rider combinations in town to compete, Saturday’s non-competitive demonstrations were the hot topic at the Summer Horse Show over the weekend.
“I usually jump three foot, three, so it was significantly higher,” said Whitehorse’s Jennifer Curtis. “I knew my horse could do it, even though she had never jumped that high.
“That’s the highest I ever jumped.”
Curtis and Spencer Sumanik, also from Whitehorse, were the topic of choice for many spectators Sunday after giving a show jumping demonstration the previous night. The two junior riders managed to tie the Yukon record, clearing four feet, six inches.
“We had three fences, three strides apart,” said Inge Sumanik, an organizer of the show and secretary for the Yukon Horse and Rider Association. “The first fence was four feet, the middle was four, three and the last one was four, six.
“That was the ending and the highlight of the evening.
“It’s our Yukon record—if we’re going to go higher, we’re going to need bigger standards.”
About 126 horse and rider combinations participated in the show, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary. The increased participation did cause some problems with calculating results and providing adequate space, prompting organizers to look towards the future.
“Because of the big number, we’ve had some glitches with our computers, which was a little challenging, but we’ve managed,” said Sumanik.
“Normally we’re right around 95, 96 horse and rider combinations, so we’re crowded—we’re really ready for a bigger space. We’re looking forward to working with the city to plan out our new location, and planning it out so it works for horses, riders and spectators.”
Last year was supposed to be the final show held at the Yukon Horse and Rider Showgrounds, its home for 30 years, but a delay in city plans allowed the association to hold one last event at the site.
“You could say we postponed the moving because this is our 30th anniversary—but that’s not really what it was,” said Sumanik. “City planning allowed us one more year here. We have tremendous support from the Porter Creek residents so we’re really excited about planning for this next year.”
The show consisted of four days of competition, with halter and in-hand classes Thursday, dressage, show jumping and gymkhana Friday, and hunter events Saturday. The show closed Sunday with western day.
“We’re lucky to get a lot of the same people from Alaska—they brought a few more horses this year,” said Sumanik. “We also have a lot of Yukoners coming in and riding. So it’s a growing activity here. For example, in one of our classes that normally has five horses, we had 22.”
Class results
Halter
Champion: St. Pats Triple Tuf, owned and shown by Bonnie Fitzjarrald (Juneau)
Reserve: Sshaq, owned and shown by Debbie Canneday (Juneau)
Dressage
Senior: St Pats Triple Tuf owned and ridden by Bonnie Fitzjarrald (Juneau)
Junior: Wars Yukon Storm ridden by Jennifer Curtis, owned by Bill Curtis (Whitehorse)
Reining
Senior: Hickory Cracker Jac (Lil Dude), owned and shown by Maureen Nielsen (Whitehorse)
Reserve: Dun Made Money, owned and shown by Jauna Doland (Skagway)
Junior: Bo, ridden by Lindsey Dixon, owned by Brianne Young (Whitehorse)
Reserve: Joey Cash, owned and shown by Cait Lewis (Juneau)
Gymkhana
Senior champion: Sunnys Best Yet, ridden by Angelique Sevigny, owned by Guy Sevigny (Whitehorse)
Senior reserve champion: Dempseys Aurora Ske, ridden, owned by Angelique Sevigny (Whitehorse)
Junior champion: Nefi, ridden by Anna Raminger, owned by Lucille Stuart (Whitehorse)
Junior reserve champion: Zanzibar, ridden by Kyra Chambers, owned by Francis Oles (Whitehorse)
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com