September 18th, 2013- The 2013 Aiken Fall Festival horse show series came to a close this past Sunday. The two week hunter/jumper show ran from September 5-8 and 12- 15 at Highfields Event Center in Aiken, SC and was managed by Equus Events and show organizer JP Godard.
Gold sponsors of this year’s event included:
The Willcox, The Barn Book, Sidelines Magazine, The Stables Restaurant at Rose Hill,
Fenwick Equestrian, Dietrich and Company Equine Insurance
The Mark Lexton Collection, DFG Stables, Gamboa Veterinary Services, EquiFit, Inc., One K Helmets, Holley Tractor, Integrity Fine Equestrian Linens
Silver Sponsors-
Aiken Yoga, CrossFit Aiken, Equine Divine, Finally Farm, Oak Manor Saddlery,
Sandra Thomas, The Aiken Horse
Hospitality Sponsors-
Allison Mills, Beaver River Farm, Booth Parker, Brick Church Farm, Bridlewood Farm, Christison Stables, DFG Stables, Gagne International, Hot To Trot Boutique, Liz Tarumianz, The Willcox, The Stables Restaurant at Rose Hill
A special thanks to title sponsors; Holley Tractor for sponsoring the National Hunter Derby Friday, September 6th, The Willcox for sponsoring the $15,000 Jumper Classic on Saturday, September 14th, and The Tack Room for sponsoring Zone 4 Horse of the Year Finals.
Friday evening featured the 2nd annual Bridles and Birdies Relay Challenge which took place out on the grass field. The event combines two of Aiken’s greatest passions, horses and golf. 11 teams composed of professional and amateur riders along with 5 local celebrities all competed in a unique relay that combined a jumping course and a golf related course consisting of several golf challenges. “I’m super excited by the turnout this year, it’s awesome,” said Megan Godard, Equus Events. “I want to thank everyone for their participation and believing in this event. I think it’s turned into something special and I think it will continue to grow. I want to thank our Equus Events staff, First Tee members, committee members, and volunteers that have worked tirelessly all year to put this thing together as well as riders that donated their time to do this. We really appreciate it.” A free cocktail hour took place prior to the event sponsored by Robyn Reilly and Cissy Sullivan’s Aiken Fine Properties as well as a new addition the ”Pony Up” for First Tee headed up by Charlie Herrick which gave attendees a chance to place their bids on the winning team for their own chance to win prizes.
The Galloping Golfers, a team composed of rider Susie Clarke, Carole Pincavage, Mary Shultz, Chris Wingeier, Karen Vijuk, and Kenny Evenson, claimed the trophy, completing the course in 140.6, a more than 26 second margin advantage over runner-up, the Aiken Department of Public Safety team, anchored by professional rider Casey Mason. The First Tee of Aiken team placed third. “I’m speechless at the outpouring of support from our community,” said Elizabeth Smith, First Tee of Aiken executive director. “It’s amazing to watch these two groups of people come together to rally and have fun to benefit 12,000 young people.” Following the relay dinner and dancing took place under the VIP tent. For more information on The First Tee of Aiken please go to www.firstteeaiken.org or call 803-226-0053.
The culmination of the Aiken Fall series came Saturday night with the $15,000 Aiken Fall Festival Jumper Classic sponsored by The Willcox of Aiken, SC. An exhibitor’s party also took place under the VIP tent catered by The Willcox and sponsored by DFG Stables, Liz Tarumianz, Allison Mills, and Booth Parker. In the jump off it came down to the final horse in order S-Acorda Donaldson and rider Angel Karolyi to challenge the time to beat put in by Mario Garcia and Pacha de Nantuel. In an exciting finish Karoyli crossed the timers in just .146 seconds faster than Garcia to claim the victory. “It was a very good round for us,” remarked Karolyi of his winning ride. “The jump-off was tough since the lines were set so you couldn’t really do anything but the correct number of strides. We had to find other places to cut time. I knew I was really going to have to push to get the victory, and she really rose to the occasion.”
Complete results are as follows:
$15,000 OPEN JUMPER CLASSIC SPONSORED BY THE WILLCOX
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Sunday, the final day of the series, featured the many of the shows circuit grand champions being awarded. Points were totaled throughout the two week series in many of the hunter and jumper divisions to crown the grand champions. Earlier in the week the At A Glance Grand Hunter Grand Championship went to Blue Moon owned by Susan Ross and ridden by Elizabeth Boyd. Courtash Kalidascope and owner rider Whitney McKinley were awarded the Good Golly Miss Molly Perpetual Trophy for Grand Pony presented by the Cram Family. The Junior Hunter Grand Champion and Joyce Lineburger Memorial Perpetual Trophy donated by Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Tarumianz was presented to Cool Music and Megan Rosenthal.
Other Grand Champions include:
The Daddy’s Girl Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Grand Amateur Owner Hunter- Divine and Tiffany Brie
Grand Adult Hunter- Springsteen and Alexis Reece
Grand Children’s Hunter- Regalo and Emma Wilson
Grand Children’s/Adult Jumper- Tie- Partizan and Juan Gamboa and Pico Bello and Rebecca Warth
Equus Events continues its fall series with the Harvest Classic in Fairburn, GA October 11-13 and the November Classic in Aiken, SC November 22-24. For complete horse show results and complete Zone 4 Finals results please log on to www.equusevents.com or call 803-643-5698
