country part of the course,
including water and a ditch. My horse is brave and is also a careful jumper. He’s easy to jump
because he’s balanced and has good instincts. You have to gallop at the end and that was fun because I hadn’t really opened him up before.” This was also Tamra Smith’s first time participating
in the YEH and she says, “I think it’s great you can take a young horse and be able to compete without the pressure of a full cross-country course. Even though you’re still being judged, they want to see how the horse reacts. They’re not going to mark you down if you have a stop at the ditch, for instance.” Tamra had taken Cinco, purchased from upper-level
rider Kristi Nunnink, to three shows just to hang out, but he hadn’t competed in a horse trial before his first YEH experience. “His owner and I sat down and decided that we didn’t want to put a ton of pressure on him,” Tamra says. “I feel like the foundation for the young horses is so important. I’ve sat on so many young horses that show a lot of anxiety when they get to their first show, so I wanted him to not have that pressure.” “I think the program is great,” says Max McManamy. “It
promotes breeding and highlights what an event horse should be: their soundness, conformation and ability. It’s more about their potential than how well they’re trained. It’s a nice mix because it’s not a super long, inten- sive jumping round but still asks all the right kinds of questions, such as, can they gallop, do they go into water, do they leave the show jumps in their cups?” Though Max plans to focus on developing her current
horses for now, she remarks, “If I get any babies in the future, I’ll definitely do the Young Event Horse program again; I love it.”
X
What Makes a Champion? All four of these champions all have similar qualities: athletic ability, very good movement and a willing attitude. Astro, who was also the West Coast champion four-year-old last year, was bred by Tim and Cheryl Holekamp. He follows in the footsteps of Max’s other young horse, Project Runway, also bred by the Holekamps, who was reserve champion in both 2008 and 2009. Astro is competing at the Novice level, ready to move up to Training, while Project Runway is now competing at the two-star level. When asked to compare her two winning young
horses, Max replies, “Devon (Project Runway) is extremely spooky but in a really good way: it makes him a pheno- menal show jumper. He doesn’t want to not do his job, but he always takes a second to look at things. He’s a careful jumper and really knows where his legs are. He’s super talented and always tries his hardest and wants to please his rider in all three phases. I think that’s what has gotten him so quickly up the levels.” She continues, “Astro is a completely different horse
than Devon. Devon is very personable—he’d come with me and curl up at the end of my bed if he could, while Astro is businesslike, likes to work, and really likes dressage—he has three lovely, powerful gaits and is built uphill, so the dressage comes naturally to him. Maybe Astro is a little harder to figure out. Devon was a bit of a prodigy from the moment he hit the ground, and he’s pretty easygoing. I put young kids on him and he goes on trail rides and he’s very even-tempered, while Astro’s a little hotter and it’s taken me a little bit longer to figure out his quirks.” While he may be biased, Doug says that there is
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