Despite a slight drop in numbers from their 2022 finale, the first show in the Moose Jaw Exhibition's Hunter\Jumper Show Series for 2023 is a success in the books.
Held this past Saturday and Sunday, February 18th and 19th, the first of four shows in 2023 drew 17 riders on 22 horses a slight drop from last year's series season finale.
Despite the slight drop in numbers for February's show, Marci Perrin Hunter\Jumper series secretary says it’s a strong start to the 2023 series.
And something organizers are happy about.
“We had a really great group of people. We were able to do a little bit of schooling and be a little bit more lenient as we would at most shows.”
For example, one rider's horse had leggings slip and the horse wanted to buck up after the third jump.
The judges stopped the jumping, allowed the leggings to be properly adjusted, and then restarted the program from the beginning with no penalty.
The horse and rider then jumped cleanly for the entire nine-jump circuit.
Of the 17 competitors at the show, there were two new competitors that the series has never seen before.
A strong sign that news of the series is spreading in the equine community.
“I think the word is starting to get out that it’s a pretty low key, fun show and that is what we are trying to make it. We want to encourage that and try to draw bigger numbers,” Perrin said.
It's something the series organizers are banking on to attract new riders to the series now in its infancy.
As a new series, she said she thought it was hard to get started “because you don’t have that reputation yet. So it’s all based upon word of mouth.”
“Somebody comes and enjoys themselves and then they go back and tell their friends.”
The slight drop in numbers is nothing to be alarmed about.
“It’s down a little bit but we're thinking with the long weekend and school breaks that could be a reason why we are down slightly,” Perrin said.
Things like weather or other activities could have an impact with attendance, given that many riders don’t make up their minds about attending events until the last minute.
“I just feel people wait until the last minute to kind of check schedules and the weather before making a commitment to come to this.”
The first show of the year was held over the Family Day Weekend to space out the events, as well as to not interfere with other shows.
Next weekend there is a larger show in Brandon where many of the competitors attend, so holding it next weekend would likely mean a much lower turnout.
“This is kind of a pre warm-up to them heading east (to Brandon).”
The show circuit holds four events throughout the year with riders having to compete in two of the four competitions throughout the year.
This series consists of four show dates in 2023 (February 18 & 19, April 14-16, June 23-25 and October 20-22) where horse/rider combinations earn points to qualify for the Overall High Point & Reserve High Point prizes.
The prizes are awarded at the series last show in October.
The past weekend's show drew competitors from around the province with the majority of horse/rider combinations not from Moose Jaw.
The majority of the competitors came from the Regina area with others coming from Weyburn, Prince Albert and two local Moose Jaw competitors.
At the present time, the series is out looking for sponsors to help pay for the Series costs.
