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2021 Charity Fair Horse Show

The Charity Fair Horse Show was in all its glory this year at the nostalgic Del Mar Fairgrounds. This regional show benefits the Pet Encounter Therapy and Therapeutic Riding programs at Helen Woodward Animal Center, and the Don Diego Scholarship Foundation.

Del Mar is Spanish for “by the sea” which reflects its gorgeous location on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The weather was perfect and everyone had a superb time at the 4-day event which was attended by over 35 barns, 266 entries in almost 600 classes from all over the west coast.

The Miller Show Team brought 43 horses and entered riders in 153 classes (25% of the classes) and had an amazing show bringing home ribbons, trophies, cups, medals, back packs as well as pride of a job well done! Some highlights are below:

11 - Grand Championships / Stake Championships

8 - Reserve Grand Championships

18 - Champion (1st Place Ribbons) including UPHA Challenge Cup,

AMHA Hunt Seat Medal and USEF Saddle Seat Medal

16 - Reserve Champion (2nd Place Ribbons)

3 - Academy 1st Place Ribbons

Ann Blankenship

Ann brought all five of her gorgeous Morgan and ASB horses to the show and had much success in Country Pleasure Driving as well as Fine Harness

Spirit of New York PSF

• Grand Champion ASB Country Pleasure Driving
• Champion ASB Country Pleasure Driving

Callaway’s Naughty and Nice (Betsy Krutek up)

• Grand Champion ASB Three-Gaited Open
• Champion ASB Three-Gaited Open

Evening Roses

• Reserve Grand Champion ASB Fine Harness
• Reserve Champion ASB Fine Harness

Private Eyes (Frank Miller whip)

• Champion Morgan Pleasure Driving Open

Tamara Moravec

Tamara brought all four of her horses to Charity Fair with much success in Park Saddle, Morgan English Pleasure and Classic Pleasure!

Old School Groove

• Grand Champion Open Morgan Park Saddle
• Champion Amateur/Jr Ex Morgan Park Saddle
• Champion Amateur/Jr Ex Morgan Park Harness

Muy Bien (Cierra Holtz up)

• Grand Champion Open Morgan English Pleasure
• Champion Open Morgan English Pleasure

Morengo SS

• Champion Morgan Classic Pleasure Saddle Ladies
• Reserve Champion Ladies Morgan Classic Pleasure Driving

Kaitlyn Jackson

Katie teamed up with Bears Boogiebear at Charity Fair with a Pro-Am win as well as success in the Pleasure Division. Katie also teamed up with her new drill team palomino, CFF Risky Byzness AKA Toby, and presented the US flag to “I’m Proud to be an American” before every evening session.

Thank you to all in our military for your service!

• Grand Champion Pro-Am Hunter/Western Pleasure (teamed with Brooke Yule-Gronau)
• Grand Champion Open Morgan Hunter Pleasure

• Reserve Grand Champion Morgan Hunter Pleasure Amateur/Jr. Ex
• Reserve Champion AMHA Hunt Seat Medal Class 21 & Under

Lindsay Heliker

Lindsay and her horses had an amazing show bringing home the Grand Championship tricolor in both Morgan English Pleasure and Morgan Hunt Seat Equitation

Rustic V’s Bottom Line

• Grand Champion $100 Morgan English Pleasure Am/Jr Ex Championship
• Champion Morgan English Pleasure Jr. Exhibitor
• Reserve Champion UPHA Challenge Cup

Indian Creek Master Chief (owned by Susie)

• Grand Champion Morgan Hunt Seat Equitation Jr. Exhibitor Championship
• Champion Morgan Hunt Seat Equitation Jr. Exhibitor

Keara Holland

Keara and Uncommon Jewel entered four classes and brought home quite a haul including the Barbara “Babs” Walker perpetual trophy, Charity Fair backpacks as well as the Reserve Grand Champion tricolor in Saddle Seat Equitation and the USEF Saddle Seat Medal

Uncommon Jewel

• Reserve Grand Champion Saddle Seat Equitation Jr. Exhibitor
• Champion USEF Saddle Seat Medal Riders 17& Under
• Champion Saddle Seat Equitation Riders 14-17
• Reserve Champion ASB Three-Gaited English Show Pleasure Jr. Exhibitor

Tatum Foster

Tatum Foster tried her hand at Western and was stellar in both Saddle Seat Equitation as well as Western Pleasure. And a shout out to Rachael Heliker for the most gorgeous red western apparel!

Dragonsmeade Wild Note

• Grand Champion Equitation Walk/Trot Any Seat 11 & Under
• Champion Morgan Equitation Walk/Trot Any Seat 11 & Under
• Reserve Champion Walk/Trot Equitation Any Seat 

Dragon Rage

• Reserve Grand Champion Morgan Walk/Trot Pleasure Any Seat 11&Under
• Reserve Champion Morgan Walk/Trot Pleasure Any Seat 11&Under

Alyssia Moore

Alyssia and FMM Incognito lit it up with a gorgeous grand championship ride in Saddle Seat Equitation as well as an amazing pattern in the UPHA. Congratulations Alyssia and Cooper!

FMM Incognito

• Grand Champion Saddle Seat Equitation Jr. Exhibitor
• Champion UPHA Challenge Cup Riders 17 & Under
• Reserve Champion Morgan Saddle Seat Equitation
• Reserve Champion Saddle Seat Equitation

Brooke Yule-Gronau

Brooke had an amazing show with a Pro-Am Grand Championship as well as Reserve Championship in Western Pleasure and an amazing Hunter Pleasure ride

Bears Boogiebear (owned by Kaitlyn Jackson)

• Grand Champion Pro-Am Hunter/Western Pleasure (teamed with Kaitlyn Jackson)

SLR Sam Spade (owned by Linda Yule)

• Reserve Grand Champion Morgan Western Pleasure Ladies

Namaste (owned by Clara Wosser)

• Champion Open Morgan Hunter Pleasure

Audrey Thornton

Audrey was seen in both Equitation and Pleasure divisions, riding both Hunt Seat and Saddle Seat and wowed the crowd with amazing patterns at Charity Fair

Harlington’s Independence (owned by Michelle Moranville-Stevens)

• Reserve Grand Champion Morgan Hunt Seat Equitation Jr. Exhibitor
• Champion AMHA Hunt Seat Medal Riders 21& Under

Iconic

• Reserve Champion ASB Three-Gaited English Show Pleasure Limit Horse

Betsy Krutek

In addition to getting horses and riders ready to show, Betsy was seen in multiple classes on various horses. In addition to her stellar rides on Callaway's Naughty and Nice (see Ann Blankenship above), Betsy teamed up with Lucia Struck and rode Fortunately Chanel to win the Reserve Grand Championship in the Pro-Am as well as...

Fortunately Chanel

• Reserve Grand Champion Pro-Am (teamed with Lucia Struck)
• Reserve Champion English Pleasure Hunt Seat Any Breed

Dragon Rage

• Reserve Grand Champion Morgan Western Pleasure Junior/Limit Horse
• Reserve Champion Morgan Western Pleasure Junior/Limit Horse

Sarah Nack

Sarah and Supernatural had a great show in the Pleasure division with a Grand Championship in Morgan Walk/Trot Pleasure Any Seat as well as a blue in the qualifier.

Supernatural

• Grand Champion Morgan Walk/Trot Pleasure Any Seat 11& Under
• Champion Morgan Walk/Trot Pleasure Any Seat 11& Under

Jordan Canby

Ultra's Love Potion with Jordan Canby up were on fire at Charity Fair and were a force to be reckoned with in the very large English Pleasure Saddle Seat division

• Champion English Pleasure Saddle Seat Jr. Exhibitor

Leah

Robert Mondavi with Leah had great rides in both the Pleasure and Equitation divisions

• Reserve Champion Morgan Walk/Trot Equitation Any Seat 11&Under
• Reserve Champion Opportunity Walk/Trot Pleasure Any Seat 12&Under

Toni Nickell

Toni was seen both in the saddle as well as on whip and had a great time at Charity Fair

• Reserve Champion Opportunity Western Pleasure Open

Academy Show Team Highlights

The Academy Show Team had some great rides and brought home three blue ribbons

• 1st Place Addie Sovacal, Academy Leadline Walk/Trot on a line Riders 9&Under on Festival Bossanova
• 1st Place Coraline Graff, Academy Equitation Walk/Trot 10&Under on Festival Sundance
• 1st Place Whitney Treibach, Academy Showmanship Walk/Trot Riders 10&Under

More Horse Show Fun...

"LET'S GO TO THE HORSE SHOW" 

EQUESTRIAN EXHIBIT

at the San Diego County Fair

Last week several of our horses and riders showcased the Morgan breed in a equestrian exhibit at the San Diego County Fair. The "Let's Go to the Horse Show" exhibit was promoted by Lance Bennett and SCHC to demonstrate what show horses are all about to a mass audience. And as you can see from the photos below, the exhibit was a huge hit!

Several of our amazing riders and trainers (Paige Torok, Tatum Foster, Audrey Thorton, Tamara Moravec, Betsy Krutek and Cierra Holtz) took turns riding and showing off these gorgeous show horses which included Dragonsmeade First Knight, Morengo SS, Iconic, Clayhill Affirmative GCH, Tonality, Dragonsmeade Wild Note and Fortunately Chanel.

These type of exhibits promote the values of sharing, leading, volunteering and good sportsmanship inside and outside of the arena.  The Miller Team did a great job and the fair crowd was lined up to ask questions and to pet the horses. Nice work Miller team!

UPCOMING EVENTS & SHOWS

Whether you are thinking about having your child show in his/her first Academy horse show, or you are a seasoned show professional, below are some horse show etiquette reminders. Parents...please be sure you read this with your child as we all need to understand the Miller Equestrian expectations for horse show etiquette!

• Preparing for a Show – In the weeks before the horse show, be sure that you try on all your show clothes. Do they still fit? Do you need to bring them in for alterations or to be dry cleaned? If so, be sure to take care of that in plenty of time so you’re not scrambling right before the show.
• Show Arrival Time – Please arrive at the show ready to go at least 1 hour before your class. That means, hair done, make-up on and completely dressed and ready to jump on your horse. If you need help from the team with hair or make-up, you need to give yourself some extra time to get that assistance. Once the sessions starts, all the trainers will be busy getting the horses into the ring and there will not be anyone to help you get ready, so please plan ahead. 
• Changing Room Etiquette - There are two changing rooms, one for the kids and one for the adults (18 and older). That means there are a ton of kids using one dressing room and therefore it needs to be kept clean and tidy. Remember to pick up after yourself. Neatly hang up your clothes, pick up your things and put them away in your box. Don't leave your stuff laying around as it will certainly be lost. Also, clean up after yourself as a courtesy to the next group that will be using the room to change. If you are done changing, and have put everything away, move outside and leave room for others to use the room. Lastly, the changing room is for changing, hair and makeup should be done outside in the open air.
• Changing Room NO NO's - Absolutely, positively NO food or drinks allowed in the changing room. Thousands of dollars are spent on show clothes, and they need to be treated as such. We don’t want them needlessly ruined by a Starbucks drink inadvertently getting spilled on them right before you are supposed to jump on your horse and enter the show ring. Please leave your drink outside...your dad can hold it for you, since he isn’t allowed in the changing room either!
• Food for Lunch – We depend on everyone to chip in and bring food, drinks, paper products, etc. to be able to feed our fabulous trainers, helpers, etc. Keep in mind that they are working from the crack of dawn to well past sunset at these shows and don't have time to run out and get something to eat or drink. If you are attending the show, please bring something to share! If you choose to have special food brought in just for yourself or your family for lunch, that’s fine, but please also bring something to share with the team. In addition, please allow all of the trainers and helpers to get their food before the riders or families eat. Lastly, if you have additional friends or family that are coming to watch the show and are going to eat or drink, please bring extra food and/or drinks to share to cover your additional invitees.
• Tips – Our trainers and helpers do a ridiculous amount of work for us. They help with feeding, they get your horse ready, they get you prepared, and they deal with everyone's problems and concerns. Rain or shine, they will show up and get the job done. Just like you tip your hairdresser when he/she does a great job, it is customary to tip your trainer, grooms, etc. when they help you and your horse out at a horse show. PLEASE NOTE: All tips should be given to Betsy Krutek, and she will distribute them to the team.

Have a very fun and safe 4th of July!