Marilyn Little made a huge splash in her West Coast debut, winning the $50,000 Anniversary Grand Prix in a thrilling jump off on Zilox T (Raylyn Farms, Inc. and Betsey Smith, owners). “This is a great start to my first time showing in California. I’m just thrilled that everything came together tonight,” Marilyn commented. She is based in Maryland and just recently decided to re-focus her talents on show jumping. “I’ve been doing show jumping lightly for the past two years because I’ve been eventing very heavily. I actually haven’t jumped in a grand prix class in over a year.”

Marilyn’s lack of recent experience didn’t show on Saturday night at the National Preview Horse Show (Oct 31 – Nov 4) when she piloted both Zilox T and Sandrik (Raylyn Farms, Inc., owner), to clear rounds over Leopoldo Palacios’ technical course. The competition was fierce as eleven riders qualified for the jump off. After Jenni Martin-Mcallister was first to go double clear on Columbus (LEGISequine.com, owner), the race was on for the fastest time. Rounds went faster and faster, and then Michelle Parker really stepped things up with a round that seemed unbeatable aboard Xel Ha (Tula Pinnella, owner).

“Zilox T is a fast horse so I was just hoping for a smooth clear ride,” Marilyn recalled. Though Marilyn has only been riding Zilox T for three weeks, she made the round look effortless. The pair easily sliced the jumps, made tight turns, and galloped through the timers, stopping them at 33.341 seconds, over a second faster than Michelle, for a clear win. As soon as Marilyn left the ring, she immediately called Zilox T’s owner, Betsey Smith, with the results. “Even with the three hour time difference, she insisted on waking up to hear the results,” Marilyn said. “I’m incredibly grateful for Betsey’s support. She has stuck it out for a number of years with a number of different horses in show jumping and eventing. She has been a great supporter, so she definitely deserved the biggest congratulations of all.”

Marilyn was ecstatic with the mare’s performance. “She’s a young horse, and the $30,000 Preview Grand Prix on Thursday was her first grand prix ever. She just shipped all the way across the country on Monday, so it’s been a big week for an eight-year-old. It’s really a testament to how special this horse is that she was able to adapt to a new rider and a new place so quickly.”

Leopoldo’s course was designed for young horses like Zilox T. “This course was to help bring up young horses and train them to be ready for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers," he explained. "For that reason, I did a longer course and gave it technical lines so that the riders could educate their horses.” For Marilyn's part, she thought the course was just right. “Leopoldo is a brilliant course designer. There wasn’t anything that would scare the horses, but it also showed you what you needed to work on.”

Marilyn came to the West Coast for just this reason. “I’m here with ten horses for the next three weeks, and so far it’s been a great experience. I’m looking forward to being at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center for two weeks and then going to Las Vegas for one week.” Marilyn was effusive about the warm welcome she has received at the National Preview Horse Show. “The facility is amazing. The footing is superb and they have absolutely fantastic management. People have bent over backwards since two days before I arrived. They were on call at all times and Marnye and Larry Langer and their staff made it just so easy. It’s really a class act.”

Zilox T was not the only one of Marilyn’s rides to perform brilliantly. Marilyn also rode Quintana 26 (Raylyn Farms, Inc., owner) to a double clear in the $7,500 1.35M Jumper Classic, part of LEG’s 40th Anniversary Series. Marilyn went first in the jump off and laid down a blazing time of 32.423 seconds that no one was able to catch. “This really is a great group of horses,” Marilyn commented. “I’m still just getting to know all of them because I don’t know any of them past the last three weeks.” Though Marilyn claimed she was rusty in her return to show jumping, her impressive debut at National Preview proved she was more than ready to return to the show ring.

And Marilyn has now notched up a win in the $50,000 LEGIS West Coast Indoor Circuit Jumper Bonus. Lane Clarke won at Del Mar, the first event of the four show series, and then Marilyn posted a win at the National Preview, the second show of the series.  The $50,000 LEGIS West Coast Indoor Circuit Jumper Bonus is awarded to the horse and rider pair who can win at least two of the four Saturday night grand prix classes.  If either Lane or Meredith with a second class on the same horse there is a $10,000 bonus waiting, and if anyone can win three then there is a $25,000 bonus. The $50,000 bonus won’t be paid in 2012 since no one can win all four classes, but perhaps in 2013.

The Reveres triumph in the West Coast Child-Adult/Amateur Jumper Championship Team Competition Photo: Flying Horse Photography

The West Coast Child-Adult/Amateur Jumper Championship brought juniors and amateurs together in a unique class that featured individual and team competitions. As soon as she heard about the class, Krista Borgers (Rebecca Bruce, trainer) immediately jumped at the opportunity to form a team with her barn mates, Tessa De Jong and Gigi Hadid. To round out the team of four, Krista contacted their old barn mate, Halie Robinson (Rusty Stewart, trainer). Halie said, “When Krista asked me if I wanted to be on their team, I said yes, of course! I’m really glad I could ride with them because they’re all such good riders and friends.”

The four friends decided their team needed a name and the theme was a natural fit. “We were talking about Paul Revere and coming up with our team colors, so we decided on red, white, and blue because he was a patriot,” Krista explained. “And then Tessa reminded us that ‘to revere’ means to admire or respect.” Gigi added, “And also, Paul Revere rode a horse.” With that, “The Reveres” were born. The girls embraced the team aspect of the challenge and had matching saddle pads, brow bands, and bonnets from Allon in red, white, and blue.

In addition to their tremendous team spirit, the girls felt they had another advantage. “We studied the LAHJA Medal Finals the previous night, and it was the exact course for the first round of the team competition," said Krista. "We noticed that this course designer was setting a lot more forward, open strided, galloping lines, so we actually changed up our warm up so that we could start with more horse than we’re used to.”

Gigi was in the lead position on Calypo’s Trendy Lady (El Sueno De Amistad, owner). “I’m usually always the one who goes first, mostly because I don’t really get nervous about sticking to my plan,” Gigi explained. “But if I were to go last, I would feel a lot more pressure and really over think things.” Gigi kept her cool as the lead rider and rode two clear rounds for The Reveres.

Fifteen-year-old Tessa De Jong was up next on San Tropez (Rebecca Bruce, owner). “I was so nervous because everyone else on the team is older and has so much more experience than I do. I’ve only been doing jumpers consistently for a month,” Tessa commented. In addition, Tessa normally lives in Las Vegas and doesn’t get to ride as regularly as the other girls. Despite her inexperience, Tessa only had four faults in the first round and rode clear in the second.

Krista Borgers won both the team competition and the adult section of the West Coast Child-Adult/Amateur Jumper Championship Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Halie Robinson was the third rider on The Reveres and also kept all of the rails up on Cinco 505 (Grey Fox Farm, owner). Cinco 505 was bred and trained by Rusty and Kandi Stewart, and Halie was proud of the seven-year-old’s performance. “He was just amazing, and I couldn’t have asked him to do any better. At the beginning of the week, he was a little bit peeky at the jumps, but he really stepped up to the plate today.”

Krista Borgers and her High Voltage rounded out the team. “I’m most comfortable with the anchor position," she explained. "I’ve always been a closer and that’s just sort of how it’s always been. All you have to do is ride consistently and cleanly.” Krista proved she could handle the pressure and easily turned in two clear rounds.

With one drop score for each round, The Reveres ended up with zero faults for the win. The girls were ecstatic about their win and the camaraderie between them was evident as they embraced each other. They were all smiles as they posed with their blue ribbons and gold medals. “We were all really excited about this class and pretty nervous too," Halie admitted. "We rode our best and everyone wanted it just as badly, so it worked out really well.”

Rebecca and the rest of the Reveres had even more to celebrate the next day when Krista won the adult section of the individual competition with three clear rounds. “This is probably one of my biggest accomplishments," Krista happily explained. "I won each round for three days, and I felt like every day the rounds got better. I’m just really proud of my horse because we didn’t have any faults this whole week so that’s huge for us. I wouldn’t choose another horse to do this on.”

Katherine Carroll tops the children's individual section of the West Coast Child-Adult/Amateur Jumper Championship Photo: Flying Horse Photography

On the Children’s card of the West Coast Child-Adult/Amateur Jumper Championship, it was Katherine Carroll (Scott Lico, trainer) who took home the win on Leonidis (Mark Cassar, owner). “I’m so excited! I’m so happy with Leonidis; he went clear all weekend,” Katherine said. She combined speed and short tracks for a clear round, stopping the timers at 58.559 seconds, which was nearly four seconds faster than any other competitor. “My horse is a forward mover so I enjoy doing speed rounds with him. He can do the counts and still be very fast across the ground,” Katherine noted. Not only were Katherine and Leonidis fast, they also took more direct tracks in the bending lines to shave off time. “It was a well made course. It was tricky, but there were some places to leave out strides and do tighter turns.”

Four riders received zero faults in the second round over two courses, and the time from the first course served as the tiebreaker. “After my first clear course, I knew we just needed a calm, safe round with no faults," Katherine recounted. "I just tried to stay calm and had to keep telling myself that I could do it.” Though she was intimidated by the tough competition, Katherine managed to keep her nerves in check. “I felt a lot of pressure because everyone was doing so well and jumping clean. The field included some of the West Coast’s top riders. I was so nervous! So I just tried not to think about what was at stake and ride in the moment.”

Katherine succeeded in keeping calm, and her sharp turns and fast pace were certainly assets to her team when she competed in the team competition. “I was really excited for the team aspect,” Katherine said. “Even though I didn’t know anyone on my team, it was still a lot of fun.” Katherine’s team received silver medals in the team competition that included Susan Azad (Heidi Misrahy, trainer) on her Zaluto, Judy Esau (Carolyn Biava, trainer) on her Gaviota, and Annie Grove (Kost Karazissis, trainer) on Walden (Aleta Camacho, owner).

Riders all enjoyed the unique jumper championship and the competition and camaraderie that it fostered. As Krista said, “It was just a really fun experience and I hope that more people do this next year because it was a blast!”

There’s still much more action to come at the Los Angeles National Horse Show (Nov 7-11). Look for our coverage of the other special classes and events from the National Preview, and then all the excitement of the Los Angeles National, including the Onondarka and WCE Junior-Amateur Medal Finals, the $50,000 LEGIS Grand Prix of Los Angeles, and more.