February Zone 10 Update
The show season is off to a busy start and continues with exciting opportunities for riders of all levels! Applications are now open for several of USHJA’s special programs and classes including the Horsemanship Quiz Challenge, the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund/USHJA Emerging Athletes Program, the Zone and Platinum Jumper Championships, and more.  

We are looking forward to welcoming the best riders in the world to Zone 10 in April when the World Cup Finals will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Be sure to check out the current World Cup standings in this issue to see who’s in the hunt to represent USA at the finals. Also, congratulations to our Zone 10 riders on the U.S. Junior and Young Rider teams! Maggie Kehring and Violet Lindemann-Barnett earned silver medals as part of the U.S. Junior Rider “Stars and Stripes” team. For the U.S. Young Rider teams, Natalie Dean helped lead the “Stars and Stripes” team to a gold medal with a double clear and Emma Reichow and Alessandra Volpi received silver medals as integral parts of the “Star Spangled” team. Great job to these young riders and special thanks to Chefs d’Equipe DiAnn Langer and Anne Kursinski. Best of luck to all of our riders in the show ring!


Kathy Hobstetter and Ned Glynn.
Co-Chairs of the Zone 10 Committee
Applications Open for Emerging Athletes Program Regional Training Sessions
Interested in participating in the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund/USHJA Emerging Athletes Program this year? It's time to apply!

The session in Zone 10 is:
  • July 8-12, Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Burbank, Calif., led by Joe Fargis and stable manager Colleen Reed

Zone 10 also provides EAP Grants to assist with attending a Regional Training Session. Apply by April 1.
Karl Cook Leads World Cup Standings for West Coast
With all the west coast World Cup qualifiers completed and just one qualifying event outside of the area left, Karl Cook leads the standings for the North American Western Sub-League with 59 points. He is 20 points ahead of Alex Granato and Ashlee Bond, who are tied with 39 points each. Right behind are Will Simpson and Cassio Rivetti in fourth and fifth place, respectively. 

We look forward to seeing which riders will represent the United States at the World Cup Finals (April 15-19) in Las Vegas!
The Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is Open
Registration to the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is open!

Exciting changes being implemented for 2020:

  • Updated free online HQC study guide with new sections added covering saddle fitting, teeth and more.
  • The program will open to adult amateurs ages 21 and above later in 2020. More information to be announced.
Congratulations to Horse of the Year and Stirrup Cup Year-End Award Winners
Congratulations to our members who received 2019 Horse of the Year and Stirrup Cup year-end honors!

Check 2019 Zone 10 standings to see who received awards here:

Check 2020 Zone 10 standings here:
Mark Your Calendar for Zone 10 Championships
Dates and locations for Zone HOTY Championships and other special classes have been announced.

Horse of the Year Hunter Championship, Aug. 4-9
Menlo Charity Horse Show, Atherton, Calif.

Stirrup Cup Championship, Aug. 28-30
Gold Coast Labor Day, Burbank, Calif. 

Zone 10 Medal Challenge-South, Oct. 15-18
Gold Coast Series October Horse Show, Burbank, Calif.

Horse of the Year Jumper and Equitation Championship
Nov. 19-22, Autumn Jubilee, Burbank, Calif. 
Zone 10 Riders Have Strong Performances at $100,000 WCHR Peter Wetherhill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular 
Zone 10 riders had strong performances at the $100,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular with several riders in the ribbons.

Victoria Colvin secured her sixth victory, and her second consecutive win in the class aboard Private Practice. Second place with a two-round total of 178.82 went to California’s Katie Taylor and Kindred, owned by Gabrielle Sokolow. Scott Stewart, who rode Betsee Parker’s Private Life took third.  Read more and see complete results.
Early Application Deadline for USHJA Platinum and Zone Jumper Team Championships is April 10
Applications are open for the USHJA Zone Jumper Team Championships, open to juniors and amateurs at the 1.10/1.15m, 1.20/1.25m and 1.30/1.35m levels, and the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships, open to juniors, amateurs and professionals at the 1.40/1.45m level. You must apply to have your points count toward qualifying.

The Championships for USHJA Zones 9 & 10 at National Sunshine Series II in Thermal, Calif., November 4-8, 2020 (Qualifying Period: December 10, 2019 - September 20, 2020).

*Early application deadline for the $75 rate is April 10. Starting April 11 until applications close, the price increases to $150.
Zone 10 Member Spotlight: Julie O'Connor
As any rider knows, part of what makes a great horse show is having amazing show staff. They help deliver the very best hunter/jumper competitions and work tirelessly to ensure the show runs smoothly and efficiently. In December, Julie O’Connor of Corona, California, was awarded the USHJA Vital Horse Show Staff Award for the West Coast.

“I was really pleased to receive this award. There are many people working in the show offices around the country and to be singled out is an honor” Julie shared. “We all work long, hard hours with much responsibility on our shoulders. I have the additional responsibility right now of taking care of my sick husband. He is suffering a staph infection in his knee and has been on antibiotics since Thanksgiving, so an award during all that was a wonderful surprise.”

Julie works hard all year and currently works for West Palms Events, Nilforushan Equisport Events, Northern Winter Classics, and Greater San Diego Hunter Jumper Association. If that wasn’t enough, she also is on the Board of Directors for the Orange County Horse Show Association. But for Julie, working in the show office is incredibly rewarding and well worth it. 

“I like working in the show office. It makes me happy,” Julie commented. “It’s like one big family. We see each other every day so we laugh a lot and sometimes we cry too. We know who is going to come in late and we know who will be there at the door when we open at 6:30 in the morning.”

As a former rider herself, Julie knows how important it is to put on a well-run horse show. “Several years ago, I was in training with Mike Nielsen and Tracy Burroughs at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center and we had a fun group of amateur riders who competed at all the southern California horse shows,” Julie explained. “Claudia Berglund was part of our group and her husband, with Claudia’s direction, put the horse show software together called Horseshowtime.com. Long story short, she taught me how to use the program and I helped out in the horse show office. We put on a fun show back in the day – the GTE Summer Classic. I found I really enjoyed working in the show office so my daughter ended up with my hunter and I ended up in the office.”

When asked if she had a funny horse show office story, Julie was happy to oblige. “Some people bring their dogs into the show office and we always have treats for them. One of our Grand Prix riders brought his wife’s dog in while he was doing his adds for the next day. She was sniffing around and the next thing we know, she had relieved herself. We were all laughing and taking pictures of our poor Grand Prix rider cleaning up this huge mess,” Julie recounted with a laugh. “Like I said, we are like a big family!”

Photo: Julie and her dog Skylar, provided by Julie O’Connor.
Mark Your Calendar for the Sallie B Wheeler/USEF/USHJA Hunter Breeding National Championships
Mark your calendar for the 2020 Sallie B Wheeler/USEF/USHJA Hunter Breeding National Championships, presented by Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Oare, which will be held August 22 at Virginia Young Horse Festival for the East Coast, and August 26 at Showpark All Season Summer Tournament for the West Coast! 

Special congratulations to these Sallie B Wheeler/USEF/USHJA Hunter Breeding National Championship participants on their HOTY Awards: 
  • 2 Year Old Hunter Breeding Champion and 2019 West Coast Sallie B Wheeler Best Young Horse Cambria owner/breeder Amy Concha, handled by Carleton Brooks
  • 2 Year Old Hunter Breeding Reserve Champion Luminous owned by Kristina Novak, bred by Olde Oaks Farm, and handled by Kira Plymire.
  • Sweeping the 3 Year Old Hunter Breeding HOTY was the team of owner/breeder Joanne Niffenegger and handler Kim Tasker, garnering several titles from West Coast Sallie B Wheeler with HOTY Champion Glorious and HOTY Reserve Champion Embellished. 

Check out the graduates page here
USHJA Affiliate Member Organization News
American National Riding Commission

The ANRC National Equitation Championships are coming up April 9-11 at Swan Lake Stables in Littlestown, Pennsylvania.

The championships will now include adult amateur and ANRC alumni divisions, in addition to the traditional junior and college divisions.

Entries for the Championships are due March 1!

The Championships will be livestreamed on USEF Network
Sport History: Fun Facts from the USHJA Wheeler Museum
The Caprilli Revolution

American hunter/jumper equitation developed from new ideas introduced by Italian Cavalry officer Federico Caprilli in the early 1900s. His “forward seat” changed forever ideas about the safety and comfort of the horse and rider over fences.

When foxhunters and military riders began jumping fences cross-country in the 1800s, they rode in a “chair” seat with legs pushed forward because sitting vertical in the classical (dressage) seat was tiring, and they leaned back over fences in case the horse stumbled. Horses instead were struggling to keep their own balance, let alone that of the rider. Caprill’s method of sitting forward with shorter stirrups to rise out of saddle created angles in the rider’s hips, knees, and ankles that act as springs and allow the rider’s arms to follow the motion of a horse’s head and neck over jumps.

A hundred years later, Caprilli’s principles to help riders perform “with safety and dispatch” and horses to “respond to what is required of them quietly and smoothly with the minimum possible wear and tear” still hold.

Pictured above: Left: Caprilli's Forward Seat. Right: Hunting Chair Seat
Know Your Zone 10 Committee Members
  • Kathy Hobstetter, Co-Chair
  • Ned Glynn, Co-Chair
  • Denise Finch
  • Kay Altheuser
  • Michael Curtis
  • Sally Hudson
  • Melissa Kalember
  • Robert Leckie
  • Stephanie Lightner
  • Gry McFarlane
  • Kelly McKnight
  • Lynn Mullins
  • James Waldman
Special thanks to these members who serve our zone! For more information about the committee and contact information, click here.
Recent News
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
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April

May
Check the Calendar for Upcoming Outreach Competitions
Numerous USHJA Outreach Competitions are coming up in Zone 10! Be sure to see what's coming up by clicking the calendar below!
USHJA Official Sponsors
USHJA Sponsors & Partners
Photos by: Tricia Booker, Kaitlyn Karssen, Jump Media, Rachel Sowinski
United States Hunter Jumper Association | (859) 225-6700 | ushja.org