T
Dianne Grod and Navitore, Indio 1970
sideration. Shows were a place where all competitors could come together and compete in one place, no matter what your saddle of choice was. Shows throughout the west would mostly start out with the
he show jumping sport on the west coast has a long, colorful and var- ied history. Back in the “good old days” of AHSA top shows, life was simpler, friends were closer, parties were wilder and having a good time was a major con-
Hunters first thing in the morning, then to Gaited Horses be- fore going on to Western and Roadster competition through- out the day. Usually the Jumpers went in the evening to a rowdy crowd cheering wildly and indeed drinking quite a bit to make it more interesting. The excitement of the Jumpers was only topped by Sad-
dle Seat classes, complete with fireworks and flapping bags to make those horses “step higher” as they raced their way around the ring. Western Stock Horse classes were as impor- tant to the Jumper riders as an Open Jumper class was to rid- ers with western boots and spurs. Everyone knew everyone and trainers worked together to devise new bits, bigger spurs and have new ideas. Warm up for a class was usually done in the barn aisle, over
jumps brought there on your trailer, with sand purchased by the exhibitors to spread in their barn aisle. If a new train- er could not afford this luxury, the older guys would always share. There were movie stars galore around the ring that star struck juniors followed around. Joe Montana, Tab Hunter, Loren Green, Mohammad Ali and his wife Veronica, Charles Bronson, Joe Namath, Paul Newman, John Travolta and the list goes on. They were just ordinary people who loved to compete horses. Grand Prix’s were not ‘all the rage’ yet and Open Jumpers
were the big classes of the show. The Knock Down and Out Open Jumper class was a huge favorite where ALL the com- petitors really really wanted everyone else to go “clean”. When that happened the jumps would go up a notch and all the clean rounds did the same course again. If there were multiple clean rounds again, they would raise the jumps again. To save the horses, Touches to Count classes were imple-
mented. Four for a knock down, half a fault if your horse touched the rail with a hind leg, one fault if they touched it with a front leg, three faults for the first stop-six more for the second stop and the third stop you were OUT! Each class took half a dozen judges and there were usually fireworks re- garding the decision a judge made about a horse touching, or NOT touching, a jump! Rounding the show jumping competition were the ever favorite
Puissance Wall class, the High Jump competition, the popular Six Bar class and a wild evening of the Gamblers Choice. Consider- ing the variety of classes it never got repetitious; there was always
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