By Jon F

I’ve always loved the traditional Australian “Ag” show and it’s disappointing that so many have disappeared over the last ten years as rural communities around Australia have struggled to keep people in the bush, & combined with the drought, many agricultural shows have struggled to stay financially viable. Years ago, the “Ag” show for many country towns was the biggest day of the year, with numerous competitions and exhibits ranging from wood-chopping, livestock, side-shows, arts & craft & of course horses in action. Many of the countries largest and hotly contested showjumping events were held in conjuction with “Ag: shows.  Even now, the shows that remain, many are largely dependent on the horses in action section to keep them afloat.  However in amongst the gloom there are still some gems, and we attended and competed at the Angaston Ag show on the weekend, the gateway to the famous Barossa Valley wine region.

There has been talk that Angaston would cease to run the horses in action section, but to the organisers credit, they did run this section, and it was extremely well supported by showjumpers and hack riders alike.

We had another good show. On the Saturday, APH Lukas placed second in the “D” Grade class and jumped a fantastic fast double clear round. MEC Grande jumped double clear in the “D” Grade also. In the 1.20m speed class Glenwood Scout had 4 faults.  The Novice circuit class is held at a number of shows throughout the season, with each placing accumulating points that count toward a final award.  This class if for horse under 40 points and was set at between 1.2m and 1.3m in the first round by course designer John Wiltshire.  APH Lukas again jumped double clear but was not quite quick enough and placed 5th, while Glenwood Scout had 4 faults in the jump-off.

On Sunday, the first class of the day was the C&D Grade, and we scooped the pool, placing 1st & 2nd from around 40 entries. APH Lukas jumped brilliantly to win, with Glenwood Scout hot on his heals.  I’m starting to get quite excited about these two horses. Lukas is mighty scoopy and more careful than I imagined, and I can see him jumping big classes quite soon, although we will take slow as he will just keep jumping if we let him, as he has one of those amazing brains that does not ask questions, and has so much confidence in himself, as almost to be arrogant. Glenwood Scout is very workman like, and what he lacks in scope, he makes up with heart.

MEC Grande jumped his best class ever in the “D” Grade and placed 3rd.  I wanted to put some pressure on him to see how he handled it, and he did the job.  This was probably the best class of the show, as even though it was only a “D” grade class, the gloves were off, and every horse that jumped off just seemed to go faster and faster.

So all in all a very successful show for us.  I’m off to Western Australia for 5 weeks, so that about brings and end to our season, albeit a very short one after the EI outbreak.

We will prepare now for the winter series shows and we will have some very nice young horses to compete I’m sure.