Bob Bell, President of the horse show management firm The Classic Company, is delighted to announce that the 2007 Atlanta Fall Classic, held annually at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, will expand from two exciting weeks to three (October 31-November 18). In addition, the super-sized show will offer four supplementary Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) point-eligible classes.
According to Bell, the option to boost the Atlanta show and offer the additional WIHS qualifying classes came when the USEF announced a schedule rotation for the year-end championship shows (or indoors) in Washington, DC; Upper Marlboro, MD; Harrisburg, PA; and Syracuse, NY, which had changes due to facility bookings. “With those shows now ‘out of order,’ said Bell, “the Classic Company was able to add a week and respond to the popular demand for more Washington Hunter and Jumper Classics.”
The extra WIHS-qualifying classes featured in Atlanta will be the Children’s Hunter Classic, the Children’s Jumper Classic, the Adult Hunter Classic, and the Adult Jumper Classic. Competitors in these events will earn points toward the finals to be held at the Washington International Horse Show in Washington, DC, October 9-14.
Atlanta exhibitors who have gone on to win finals in Washington include Jack Hardin Towell, Jr., who won the 2006 WIHS Equitation Final aboard the Missy Clark/North Run-owned Little Foot, and Alise Oken, who won the 2006 WIHS Pony Equitation Einals aboard her pony Lands End Mad Hatter. Others have had top 10 finishes, including Finally Farm client Sarah Ward who rode Bling Bling to fifth place in the WIHS Children’s Hunter Championship and Meadow Stable’s Elizabeth Porath, who rode Le Beau Cheval to 10th place in the WIHS Children’s Jumper Championship.
The Atlanta Fall Classic is a USEF AA-rated hunter/jumper event that will award over $320,00 in prize money. Highlights include:
· The National Hunter Jumper League (NHJL) and the National Classic Equitation Finals;
· The $25,000 Barry Lane Memorial Level 4 Grand Prix designed for children and adult jumper riders;
· The John Deere/USEF Memberperks Adult Finals, which will reward the high-point exhibitor (points tallied from Atlanta spring, summer, and fall as well as Biltmore summer) with a John Deere Gator.
· Each week will also offer a $25,000 welcome class and a $25,000 grand prix.
For a complete schedule of events see the Classic Company website at www.classiccompany.com or call (843) 768-5503.