Articles: Press Release

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.