The Southland Showjumping Championships are on this weekend at the Gore Showgrounds.
President Anna Clearwater and her crew have worked hard for the event and are pleased with the large number of competitors lining up this year.
"The weather is looking good and we are ready for the action to get under way at 8.30am," she said.
The championships have been an annual fixture since the 1950s.
About 243 horses and 159 riders will be competing in Gore this weekend.
There are 80 classes across the competition with prize money, ribbons and trophies to be won.
The grand prix event features the highest jumps of over 1.5m. Only two riders will be attempting this class — 16-year-old Jessica Hore, of Beaumont Station, and Tyler McKee, of Wendonside.
The main prize to be presented is the Buckingham Trophy which is for the Southland horse and rider combination which earns the most points during both the Southland Festival Show (held in December last year) and this weekend’s championship.
There will be at least 30 entries in the Southland Stakes competition. The stakes is a prestigious class which has a new sponsor on board this year in Winton Freight and Country Jewel. The Bryan Horrell Memorial Trophy will go to the winner of this 1.15m jump category.
The Geoff Bower Trophy is for the jumpers in the 1.2m class, and the Bolgar Trophy for the winner of the mini grand prix for 1.3m-1.4m.
The Shah Trophy will go to the champion jumper in the 1.1m class and the Dollarman Trophy will go to the winner of the Pony Grand Prix.
Clearwater said Southland was again proud to be running the Tower Cup encouragement class.
"We have 12 young kids being introduced to the sport this year. We are lucky in Southland to have willing mentors who are more than happy to provide a comfortable introduction to the sport for these kids."
- By John Langford
