Devon Gibson and Belafonte (Brent Stevens, owner) finished the year with a bang when they brought home the victory in the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Final at Los Angeles National Horse Show (Nov 7-11) with a stunning handy hunter round. “One of the judges actually stopped me the following day to tell me that I had truly nailed the course. That meant so much to me,” Devon shared enthusiastically.

Devon has shown in the derbies at LEG shows all year, but the second round has proven to be an obstacle for her and Belafonte. “I've made it back to the handy round many times this year, but something always went a little awry when I got there. At the Memorial Day Classic, we made it into the top twelve, but Belafonte was a little green for the handy hunter round. At the LA International, we were in the lead going into the second round, but I had a really bad chip. This time, we stayed consistent and had a good trip so winning this really meant so much.” The pair had two excellent trips, earning a first round score of 86.5 and a second round score of 94.

“I decided to make the first round a more traditional hunter classic course with the required four high/low option fences, but not too much in the way of track options," explained course designer Chris Collman. "We used a lot of natural derby-style jumps, such as the horseshoe-shaped hay bales, narrow coops, hedge oxers, and split-rail fencing so I didn't feel it was necessary to get too difficult with the actual track.”

Many of the riders showed well on the first course, with several scores in the 80s. Among those, amateur Erika Scherer aboard Serantino (Starview LLC, owner) scored 88 and professional Peter Lombardo aboard Gaston (Janie Andrew, owner) scored 89 and joined Devon in the top three leading into the second round.

The handy hunter round proved quite a challenge for returning riders. “The handy round offered a lot of track options, depending upon how handy you wanted to be," Chris elaborated. "There was a trot fence option that could be taken one of six different ways, and there were three different ways to approach the hay bales. For the final oxer, which was a high/low option, the oxers were located in two different parts of the ring. Riders could be really creative in what tracks they rode, depending on the ability of their horse.”

Devon enjoyed answering the questions Chris asked in the course. “The biggest challenge was getting up to the first fence because you had to be very bold from the beginning. Then during the option in which you had to jump through the hay bales, you had to decide whether to go on the inside turn or loop around. It was very fun, especially the second round when we were under the lights, which made the jumps brighter.”

Devon and Belafonte certainly stepped up to the plate in the second round and took all of the four higher options for an overall score of 94. As the first of the top three to go, Devon showed Erika and Peter they had a job ahead of them if they wanted to take the title. Erika rode next, but unfortunately broke to the walk just before the trot fence and scored a 72. Last to go in the class, Peter showed his consistency and scored another 89 in the second round, which was not enough to catch Devon. “I actually had no idea that I had won until someone told me,” Devon admitted. “I thought I had only moved up to second place because Peter had gotten such a high score in the second round. When I realized I had won, it was mind blowing.”

The win was an excellent end to Devon's season, and she has big ambitions for next year. “The Hunter Derby Final was definitely the highlight of the year. I love that LEG has hunter derbies throughout the year. Next year, I'd like to qualify for the HITS $500,000 Classic and maybe even the USHJA International Derby Finals."

Ashlee Bond celebrates Southern Girl's return to the show ring Photo: Flying Horse Photography

In the $7,500 1.35M Jumper Classic Final, it was Ashlee Bond and Southern Girl (Little Valley Farms, owner) who came away with the win and a piece of the additional $5,000 in bonus prize money for the top riders in the series over the course of the year. “I think the show management has done such a good job putting actual prize money into more than just the grand prix classes,” Ashlee commented. "It's really nice because I know a lot of riders like to be able to win some money in the smaller classes, especially if they are bringing up young horses. Richard (Jefferies) is a great, tough course designer and I love jumping his courses. I think it's good for young horses to jump courses like these because nothing scary happens, but it definitely teaches them things they need to learn like how to be rideable, to turn and go, and to add and leave out strides.”

Though Ashlee is bringing up young horses, veteran Southern Girl showed that she already knew all the tricks. “I retired Southern Girl about four years ago but I recently brought her back,” explained Ashlee. “She jumps really hard and she's tiny so she would get little injuries that would put her out for a couple of months. I just felt like maybe it would be good to retire her and breed her since she has great bloodlines and is a great mare. I've gotten some really good young horses from her.”

Before her retirement, Southern Girl had a fabulous career. She won several championships and competed in several grands prix with Ashlee. The mare returned to the show ring at the LA International Horse Show in September. “I decided to take her out of retirement because she just loves to jump," Ashlee explained. "She looked so sound and so happy that I figured instead of trying to make her a grand prix horse again, I would just make her a 1.40M horse, which is easy for her. So far, knock on wood, she feels super sound.”

The mare's enthusiasm was evident as she flew through the first round with ease. She and Ashlee had the fastest of all of the clear rounds with a time of 72.535 seconds. However, ten other riders jumped clear, including show jumping greats Rich Fellers, Kandi Stewart, Marilyn Little, and Jenni Martin-McAllister. Despite the level of competition, Ashlee didn't allow it to affect her. “I wasn't paying attention to the other riders because I try to go clear and as fast as I possibly can. Southern Girl is freaky fast though, so I knew that if I could go clear it would be very difficult for anyone else to beat her because she's so quick and careful.”

In the jump off, Rich put the pressure on the other riders when he jumped clear and fast on Dynamo (Chapman & Fellers, Inc., owner) in 42.545 seconds. After Lauren Hester had a rail on her first mount, Athena (Hester Equestrian Inc., owner), Ashlee and Southern Girl electrified the crowd with their blazing round. Southern Girl didn't place one wrong foot as she galloped through the tight turns and soared over the jumps for a clear round in just 40.615 seconds. “During the jump off, I was actually thinking I should go slower because she can get too fast and knock a rail," Ashlee recounted. "I tried to find the nice happy medium where I felt that she would still be careful but I had a good chance of winning.”

With a second chance at the jump off, Lauren Hester and Wender (Hester Equestrian Inc., owner) just barely missed beating Ashlee's time. They had a clear and fast round and their time of 40.813 seconds was enough to earn them second place, with Rich and Dynamo coming in third.

Arthur Hawkins celebrates a long career and the Zone 10 Chairman Award Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Besides celebrating their successes in the show ring, jumpers had a chance to enjoy their achievements for the year and enjoy some camaraderie with friends who share a love of the sport of show jumping, at the annual Celebrate Jumpers! party hosted by the Pacific Equestrians Foundation.  Amidst the celebrating, Zone 10 riders were honored with their year-end awards, departing Zone 10 Chairman Larry Langer honored renowned judge and steward, Arthur Hawkins, with the Zone 10 Chairman's Award, which is given to someone who has advanced the sport of show jumping. Arthur began judging in 1956 and has had a long and prestigious career. Arthur, who at one time in his career judged between 20 and 30 shows per year, has judged Madison Square Garden seven times and the AHSA and Maclay Medal Finals eight times. Though Arthur officially retired as a judge this year, he will continue to work as a steward on occasion.

Arthur received a standing ovation from the crowd when he accepted the Chairman's Award and was absolutely thrilled to receive it. “It was one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me in my judging career of 56 years,” Arthur said. “I was very impressed with the presentation and Marnye and Larry did such an incredibly beautiful job. It was also nice to see so many professionals show up. Without question, this night was one of the highlights of my career.”

Hap Hansen celebrates his induction in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Photo: Flying Horse Photography

In addition to the Chairman's Award, Marnye Langer, President of Pacific Equestrians, unveiled plans to  install a Show Jumping Wall of Fame at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, which will be a duplicate of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in Kentucky and will celebrate the history of show jumping. Show Jumping Hall of Fame inductees Larry Langer, Hap Hansen, and Marcia Williams were recognized on stage prior to the unveiling, which was a complete surprise. “I had no idea that the wall was going to be unveiled,” Hap commented. “Marnye told me to be there, so I knew something was going to happen, but I was definitely surprised. I think the Wall of Fame is a fabulous idea. It's' a wonderful thing to do for the West Coast because a lot of people don't get to Kentucky to see the Hall of Fame. The Los Angeles Equestrian Center is a great facility already and what a great addition this will be." Pacific Equestrians hopes to make the Wall of Fame a reality by 2013 and has started a capital campaign to raise $25,000 for the second phase of funding to install hall of fame plaques.

LEG wishes to thank everyone who made our 40th Anniversary year special. Please join us for the 2013 season, which is just a few weeks away! In the mean time, have a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous new year.