The second Gold Coast show of the season ran April 9-11 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, giving the chance for everyone from beginners to seasoned competitors a chance to compete and have some great fun and keen competition. Carolyn Biava of First Field Farm and her crew had a great show, garnering numerous ribbons and several championships to boot.

However, perhaps her biggest success story for this show had nothing to do with ribbons. Biava’s student, Dale Winters, suffered a brain injury five years ago and has been working hard to overcome it ever since, using her horse Alf as part of her therapy program. Gold Coast 2 was just her second show since that time, her first being a year ago.

“Just the fact that she did it was a success,” Biava explained. “To overcome what she has is amazing.” Winters managed all four of her classes nicely, and took home some ribbons to remember the experience.

Kasha Muzila, another First Field Farm rider, piloted her Sonadora to a championship in equitation and a reserve championship in hunters, and she placed in the top three in almost all of her classes.

“She has worked really hard to get this right,” Biava said, “and now she’s starting to win. She’s really come together as a rider with this horse and is doing well.”

Up Cheers carried three riders to numerous ribbons. His owner, Nancy Mynott, was Champion in the Rusty Stirrup section after winning her equitation on the flat and placing second in Hunters and Hunters Under Saddle. Mynott’s daughter, Lindsay, won the CPHA Children’s-Adult Medal and was second in Hunters, and Biava rode Up Cheers to a reserve championship in the Modified Hunters.

Lori Quiett had resigned herself to staying in the 3’3” classes. However, with the confidence gained from riding her new horse, Abigail, she decided at the last minute to move up to 3’6” and enter the CPHA Medal class with the encouragement of Biava.

“Just getting around respectably was my hope,” Quiett recalled. “I was so nervous!” However, she handled the challenge well and won the class. “Needless to say, I was thrilled. Now I get to ride in that final, too,” Her goal is to qualify for every 3’3” medal final. “This year I want to be really competitive in each final and at the very least make top ten. That is a big goal.”

Quiett had leased Abigail for medal finals last year, but got along so well with her she decided to buy her.

“She really wants to go to the jumps and she has a huge stride, the perfect combination for a timid person in the saddle,” she explained.

Quiett added that her barn attends every Gold Coast show because there are classes for every level of rider. However, that’s only part of it.

“What I love the most is how friendly everyone is at the shows. I have gotten to know almost every back gate person, and there is a group of women I compete against who I now consider friends. It is so great to see them at each Gold Coast show. We cheer each other on and are always so happy to see one another. That is very special for me. Great people, great horses, great venue.”

Josie Arnold, who trains with Andrea Young at Westside Training Academy, has been riding for six years—since she was three—but this was only her second show ever. However, her lack of experience in the show ring didn’t slow her down, and she ended up Champion in the Opportunity section and Reserve Champion in the Academy section after winning three of her classes and placing well in all the others she entered. She was partnered with Westside’s Flower Goddess (Andrea Young, owner).

“She’s a fabulous pony!” gushed Josie’s mother, Hadley. “Josie had a lot of fun,” Hadley went on to say. “It was a very positive experience. It tells you something when a nine-year-old can feel that relaxed and at home at a show. It wasn’t stressful at all.”

Jeni Brown, of Shadowbrook Stables in Thousand Oaks, also had a great show with her riders. Lorilynn was Reserve Champion in the Amateur Adult Jumpers aboard her King of Hearts (“Romeo”). She earned blues in two of her jumper classes and placed well in others.

“I like to place well, but, more importantly, I like to ride well,” she explained. “In the two classes I won at this horse show, I felt like I rode very well and deserved to win. It is nice to be rewarded when you feel you have done a good job.”

She added about her 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood, “He is extremely personable and enjoys his job. He is smart and savvy and can easily make the quick, tight turns required in the jumper ring.”

Last year, the pair were Gold Coast Series Champions in the Low Child/AA Jumpers and Reserve Series Champion in the Adult Amateur Jumpers. This year, she hopes to ride more consistently at the 3’6” to 3’9” heights, putting in smooth, fast and clean rides. She finds that the courses at Gold Coast are good for this.

“The courses in the jumper classes provide a good challenge without over-facing me,” she explained. She also enjoys working toward the year-end awards.

Shannon Davidson, also Brown’s student, made a great showing in the Equitation and Jumper classes with her Holsteiner, Tobias. She won both the WCE Junior-Amateur and the USEF Adult Medals, as well as coming in the top three in her other classes. “I love the WCE, as it is quite technical and a jumper style medal, so it is more challenging,” Davidson said. “Winning that always leaves me with a satisfied feeling about my horse and my riding.” She hopes to do well in the medal finals this year, setting her sights on the CPHA Amateur and the Foxfield.

Formerly a successful model, Davidson now works in the production side of the business, producing live fashion and entertainment events. As she explained, “It is a high-stress environment, and my job is to keep everything on schedule, on budget and beautiful. Riding really helps slow things down for me. It is a wonderful contrast to my work, in many ways. Riding demands that I ‘stay in the moment’ with my horse. It is a meditation of sorts and it is a welcome relief from the stress of my job.”

For information, schedules and complete results, visit the LEG website http://www.leghorseshows.com/laec/show_details.php?show_id=148. The next show in the Gold Coast series will be May 21st to 23rd at the LAEC. Other LEG shows this spring include Woodside Spring Preview April 29-May 2, High Prairie Spring Preview in Colorado May 13-16 and Verdugo Hills/Lake Views 4 at Hansen Dam May 15-16.

ENDS