Giavanna Rinaldi and JULIETTE receive their awards from Siri Dupont-Hurley of EquiFit and Annette Longenecker of the NAL (AlCookPhoto.com)
Only six of the twenty-four starters made it through to the jump-off. Rinaldi was last to go, and she steered JULIETTE expertly around the course, jumping clear in 36.054 seconds. Wimberly Debono and TUSKER also put in a fault-free round, but had a slower time of 39.724.
"Winning this title means so much because we worked so hard to get here", said Rinaldi. "I just really wanted to win".
As the winner, Rinaldi received a new pair of D-Teq Custom Boots by EquiFit.
As the second to last rider to go in the first round, Rinaldi was able to watch the other competitors on course before her round. "I got a little nervous just because I didn't know know how she was going to handle the pressure. A lot of people seemed to have trouble with it [the course] - I even had trouble with it - but she saved me a couple times", commented Rinaldi about her warmblood mare that she has had for two years. "In the first round I wasn't as fast as I needed to go, but thankfully she knows her job. The rest of it went pretty well. In the second round, she was a lot more forward off my leg, and she's just so good at the turns".
The North American League (NAL) offers year-long Series in six divisions - Adult Jumper Presented by SmartPak, Children's Jumper Presented by EquiFit, Adult Hunter Presented by Practical Horseman, Children's Hunter, Pony Jumper, and Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper. The Series includes classes held at hundreds of horse shows across the United States and Canada. The NAL gives riders in these divisions a chance to ride in year-end finals at two major indoor shows - The NAL National Finals at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show at Harrisburg, October 10-19, and the NAL West Coast Finals at the Las Vegas National Horse Show, November 12-17. Further information on the NAL is available at www.ryegate.com or by contacting Ryegate Show Services at 717-867-5643 or [email protected]