United States Eventing Association

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).

Marshall hired Jay Hambly as the new course designer, Bert Wood and crew to build the cross-country course and maintain the footing, and Gray Area Events to manage the event. Additionally, Marshall launched a fundraising campaign to help fund all the improvements to the courses, arenas, stabling, footing and more.

The awards ceremony took place for the CIC divisions at the competitors' party under a beautiful tent at FCHP, with many happy faces receiving their ribbons and prizes. A silent auction was open throughout the event, concluding on Saturday evening. Many trainers and horse show venues donated lessons, coaching and entries to raise funds. The second part of the ongoing fundraising campaign is a cross-county jump sponsorship, where folks can sponsor a jump for as little as $100 for Intro to $1,000 for 2*. The support has been incredible! The silent auction alone raised $3,500 and so far the Cross-Country jump sponsorship has raised $4,000. Fundraising will continue until the $25,000 goal is met. To support this fundraiser go to the FCHP website for more information at www.fresnohorsepark.com.

Today the horse trials concluded with show jumping and cross-country, starting with the lower levels and progressing to the Intermediate division. Matt Brown won the Intermediate division aboard one of his many mounts, Happenstance, after jumping one of the few clean rounds. Brown, excited about Happenstance, said “That horse was so good on the course; just ate it up yesterday.”

Robyn Fisher also had a stellar weekend with her various rides, one of which was With Class, who won the Open Preliminary division finishing on their dressage score of a 28.6. While With Class lived up to the horse’s name with their performance throughout the weekend, Fisher also finished second in the 1* on Vanity behind Tamra Smith and Fleur de Lis.

After a successful weekend, FCHP looks forward to their next competition in April where the new Dressage arenas will be completed as well as more changes to the lower level cross-country courses. FCHP wishes to extend gratitude to all who have played a pivotal role in making this first International event one to remember and build on in the future.