Articles: Press Release
McLain Ward and Miss Liberty 7 Wind Their Way to The Winners Circle at the
Pennsylvania National Horse Show
Contact:
Violet Forbes, vfequis@aol.com, 859-537-5441
Harrisburg, PA - October 14, 2009 - McLain Ward showed the crowd that he
deserves his many accolades, as he piloted Miss Liberty 7 to a perfectly
planned and executed round to win the $10,000 Gem Twist Sprint Gambler's
Choice at the 64th Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
The Gambler's Choice competition is very different from the standard style
of classes offered at horse shows. In the Gambler's Choice, the course
designer places fences around the arena and they are given numerical values
depending upon their level of difficulty. The riders plan their own track,
trying to amass the most points in 50 seconds, while only jumping each fence
twice. Once they have completed their course, they are given the
opportunity to jump the Joker fence, the highest fence in the ring, which
will give them an additional 200 points if cleared and if knocked down will
cost them 200 points.
Miss Liberty 7, a 14 year old warmblood owned by Overlook Farm, jumped
flawlessly, and the track that Ward had planned took advantage of the mare's
speed and agility. They were even faster than Ward had planned, stopping
before the final timers and waiting for the buzzer to ring, signifying the
end of their allotted 50 seconds. Their final score after jumping the joker
without difficulty was 1090 points.
"I knew that 12 jumps were the most I was going to get in the time allowed,"
said Ward. "Especially since I didn't get the inside turn after the plank
the first time like I wanted, so I thought to stop right inside the timers.
I actually didn't get her stopped quite as quickly as I would have liked but
I was trying."
"I actually thought that was a course that most people would do. I know
Rodrigo and a few people did different ones at the end. It was a nice smooth
course and she's a very nice experience mare that Katherine Miracle has been
kind enough to let me show while we're trying to sell her. She's been solid
all season and she was good again tonight."
"I got the ride on her this summer. We actually originally sold the horse to
Katherine four years ago and Katherine has since stopped riding , so the
mare is on the market, so I'm going to enjoy her while I have her and then
someone else will enjoy her. She's pretty game. She goes a little bit her
own way but she's very honest and she's careful and she always tries to do a
good job, so if you try to be competitive she'll normally come through with
a nice result. She's brave with all these funny turns and she's careful, a
great speed horse. I took her to Calgary and I've used her in a lot of big
shows in this kind of position and she's a very competitive horse. She
jumps again tomorrow and then she's done for the week."
"Phillipa will be going in the Grand Prix on Saturday and tomorrow Goldika
will go in the Big Jump," explained Ward. "I'm lucky with mares, me and the
girls get along well. We have a lot of nice mares and we've been very lucky
with that."
Second place in the class went to the ever speedy Margie Engle with Hidden
Creek's Pamina L. The pair amassed 1080 points, just ten points fewer than
Ward. The big grey has her own style of jumping and proved once again that
power wins out over pretty in the jumper ring.
The 2009 Pennsylvania National Horse Show runs October 8-17, at the
Pennsylvania Farm and Show Complex in Harrisburg, and features 10 full days
of hunter and jumper competition with both amateurs and professionals vying
for the coveted championships. The Pennsylvania National hosts 10 national
championships. The competition highlight is the $75,000 Grand Prix de Penn
National on Saturday, October 17th at 7:00 pm.
Special event highlights include: Kinsley Construction Company Hunt Night
Competition, Jack Russell Terrier Races, The North American Fox Hunting Horn
Blowing Championship, Family Days with Free Pony Rides. There will be
demonstrations, as well as special educational events and barrel and
carriage racing.
The show is entertaining and educational. Approximately 70 vendors are
accepted offering a wide variety of items: clothing, gifts and antiques,
custom signs and furniture, fine and costume jewelry, toys, pet items,
t-shirts and tack shops. All offer a unique variety of items sure to please
horse lovers and non-horse people alike.
The Pennsylvania National Horse Show is proud of its tradition of supporting
both equine and youth programs. The show benefits the Harrisburg Kiwanis
Youth Foundation and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Foundation, a
501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.
Further information is available at the horse show's website at
www.panational.org or by calling the horse show office at 717-770-0222.
Live streaming webcast of the event is available at http://www.productionseast.com.
|
