It was a busy weekend at the highly-anticipated Twin Rivers Fall Horse Trials, held September 19 – 22 in San Miguel, California. The competition had a total of 377 starters in 29 divisions. Not only was the event running horse trials with divisions ranging from Introductory to Advanced, they also hosted the Area VI Championships, and held three Young Event Horse divisions on the Thursday.
Not many people know what it is like to take over a venue that hosted quality events for many years, and try to rejuvenate it to be a prominent spot on the west coast eventing calendar. John Marshall is doing just that with Fresno County Horse Park (FCHP).
There is a restored energy among the competitors at Fresno County Horse Park (FCHP) as event organizer John Marshall has impressed competitors with his first International competition. For an adult amateur, who events for fun, he has developed a fantastic team to bring back FCHP to what it used to be during Rap Tap’s glory days.
The past two days have been sort of a whirlwind tour as we got to Mexico, got settled, checked into the village, and started getting to work. The plane ride into Guadalajara was very smooth, we got through customs in record time, and made out way to the Athlete’s Village. Up until this point the idea of riding for my country had not quite set in but on the way to the village I saw the flame over the top of the main stadium and all the flags for each country hanging on the balconies of the dorms.
As most of the people close to me know, I am a football fan and this evening I was listening to NFL radio where John Madden was doing his spot on the show “the Blitz”. The show was mainly a tribute to the life of now deceased owner of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis. All opinions aside, the man did a lot for football and inspired a lot of people in the game.
Wheels up at 4:30…First of all I want to thank everyone who came and contributed to the party last weekend to help send me off. My mom and Ryan worked very hard to get things ready and I really appreciate it! It was a fun evening with a great silent auction and people were very supportive.
Shannon Lilley, our newest blogger, is sharing her and Ballingowan Pizzaz’s (‘Mango’) journey to the Pan Am Games as a member of the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team.
We’re thrilled to introduce our newest blogger to Eventing USA – recently named member of the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team for the Pan American Games, Shannon Lilley. Shannon, along with her lovely horse Ballingowan Pizazz (‘Mango’), will be sharing their amazing journey with us – hope you enjoy the ride! And to learn more about Shannon, visit her blog and website.