Silver Oak Jumper Tournament 2018
Friday, Aug. 17th- Day 3 Recap

And that’s a wrap on day three of exhilarating competition here at the Silver Oak Jumper Tournament! The main event today on all show-goers minds was undoubtedly the riveting Speed Derby sponsored by Stud Tree, owned by one of Silver Oak’s very own judges Carol Coleman who was perched in her judge’s box during the event! Having been a judge since the inception of the show seven years ago, and now a sponsor for the last two years, we wanted to get her perspective of the show from both a judge’s and a sponsor’s lens. Her response was that “This is a rider’s horse show. It’s probably one of the only horse shows in this country that caters strictly to the riders, the horses and even to the people who are sponsoring. (As a sponsor) It’s great because there’s a continuous stream of sponsorship announcements throughout every day for all five days of the horse show, and banners and logos are constantly put on display both around the grounds as well as televised on the jumbotron screen.”

Back out in the arena the chips were stacked as the riders prepared to duel it out in a dance between speed and ridability. By the end of it all Wylde Card Peter did it again, taking his Royal Flush (owned by Kathleen Kamine) all the way to the top of the podium! Nobody was surprised being that, after all, Peter has been on a roll since day one at the SOJT, having won the Welcome Stakes and both open classes earlier in the week.

Fellow competitor Lauren Fischer, who impressively placed fourth on new mount Gk California, was just as star-stuck as the rest of us! “It’s stiff competition, definitely, and with Peter winning everything this week it has been admittedly daunting. I mean, he’s amazing, and it’s phenomenal to watch an Olympic gold medalist as well as World Cup riders go around the same arena you are about to ride in. I’m a professional too, of course, but it’s great getting the chance here at Silver Oak to show with people I don’t usually get to; it’s very inspirational.” She continued, saying this “was my first derby with this horse, so I didn’t know about some of the natural obstacles but you know he really surprised me and handled them with ease!”

Speaking of the Speed Derby Darren was effusive about the quality of the course that was set. “The speed derby is always a very fun class here. I’ve been helping Jeff with this show for almost 15 years now, and this is just such a fun class for everyone. The riders love it, and I thought that the course designer (Olaf Petersen Jr.) did a beautiful job. I liked the way that he did the bank today, and it was the first time we saw it featured this year. It was a super class, my mare jumped beautifully and I’m more than happy with that.”

Rider Stella Manship, who place second in the Derby aboard Liismeen Ludam, also had her own commentary of the main ring. “Last year was my first year here, and I loved it! I like that they changed the natural obstacles a bit (specifically the bank), and I think that was definitely an improvement. The weather was great, the course perfect; I have no complaints. This show is on my list of horse shows we have to come to every year.”

As we head into the weekend with the Grand Prix, Mini Prix, and Farm Cup ahead of us, what has already been a very special and unique week will more than likely leave every exhibitor wishing for more weeks of Silver Oak.