The second week of hunter/jumper competition at the 2010 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival continued on Thursday with the Five-/Six-Year-Old and Seven-/Eight-Year-Old Young Jumpers competing in the Grand Prix Ring at the Flintfields Horse Park. Coming out on top in the day's qualifiers were six-year-old Imprimis, owned by Windswept Farm and ridden by Laura Pfeiffer, and seven-year-old Kirikou AC Z, owned and ridden by Kate Bomgaars. Both divisions were generously sponsored by Captivate Farms, LLC, of Schoolcraft, MI, and the first-place prizes were sponsored by Paddock Cakes.

Guilherme Jorge of Brazil designed the jumper courses for the competition and challenged the young jumpers to perform at their optimal potential. In the Seven-/Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper Qualifier, Kate Bomgaars and her mount Kirikou AC Z were the only pair to jump double clear to win the class. Richard Moloney and Wiloma III completed the jump-off with four faults in 40.813 seconds to finish second. Lisa Jacquin and Chapel Z finished with four faults in 42.595 seconds to finish in third.

Bomgaars is from Oconomowoc, WI, and runs her own business called Newstone Farm out of a 25-acre horse farm there. Bomgaars trained with U.S. Olympian Laura Kraut for eight years and has worked with Frank Gombolay for the past six years. This is Bomgaars third year competing at Horse Shows by the Bay, and she loves the show. Kirikou AC Z is a seven-year-old that she recently imported from Europe and has only had for about a month. The pair is just getting to know each other, and Bomgaar plans to eventually sell him.

"He has a huge stride, so down the last line the four was a little forward and I almost did three strides," Bomgaar stated. "He totally takes over that way. He has a lot of scope, a big jump, and I am just really now trying to figure out how to control all of that."

"My plan is to sell him eventually," she continued. "I imported him as a project and hopefully someone will buy him. I would love to keep him because I think that he has a lot of talent, but his job is to be sold."

Bomgaars has a grand prix horse that is just coming back from an injury and is unsure whether she will be able to compete in the grand prix in Traverse City next week, but she is enjoying her time at the show and also has six clients that she is training in the hunters and jumpers to keep busy.

Earlier in the afternoon the Five- and Six-Year-Old Young Jumpers were combined for their qualifier and the top call went to Laura Pfeiffer and Imprimis with the fastest clear jump-off round in 39.833 seconds. Frankie Chesler-Ortiz and Masquerade finished in second, jumping clear in 40.772 seconds. Third-place honors went to David Beisel and Ameretto with four faults in the jump-off in 40.367 seconds.

Imprimis is a six-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding by Rodrigo and out of a mare named Gwen. He is a horse that Laura Pfeiffer's family bred themselves at their own Fox Meadow Farm in Temperance, MI, and raised as a foal. Imprimis showed last year in the Level 1, 2, and 3 Jumpers with Pfeiffer's aunt, Meg Howard-Fuleky, and Pfeiffer took over the ride on him this year. The pair showed in the Six-Year-Old Young Jumpers in Florida this winter and in the spring and summer she has moved him up to show in the Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumpers and the Six-Year-Old qualifying classes.

"He is feisty and he wants to win, so he is a pretty gamey horse," Pfeiffer stated after their win. "He likes to go fast and he is a lot of fun to ride; he is pretty cool. It was not our best showing today, it was a little ragged, but that is six-year-old jumping, so he was good."

For more information on the 2010 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival, please visit www.horseshowsbythebay.com.