Horse Trials: Riding in The Rain at Seneca Valley Pony Club
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Horse Trials: Riding in The Rain at Seneca Valley Pony Club

MHS Cooley Vegas and Cindy Anderson Blank in the Preliminary (3-foot-seven-inches) show jumping at Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trials at Bittersweet Field on Saturday, Sept. 8 in the rain.

MHS Cooley Vegas and Cindy Anderson Blank in the Preliminary (3-foot-seven-inches) show jumping at Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trials at Bittersweet Field on Saturday, Sept. 8 in the rain. Photo by Mary Kimm.

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Castle (Windchase Castle Comer) and Alcor (High Aspirations), two black Irish Sport Horses from Windchase, wait for their rider, Cindy Anderson Blank, while she competes Greg (MHS Cooley Vegas), another Irish horse, in the “preliminary” show jumping phase at Seneca Valley Horse Trials. The rain is holding off at this point, and a towel over the saddles keeps them dry enough.

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After heavy rains, the grounds were under standing water in quite a few places. With all day rain predicted for Sunday, Sept. 9, officials decided to cancel the second day of the horse trials for safety.

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Cindy Blank and Greg (MHS Cooley Vegas) jumping the brush fence on the cross country course at Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trials at Bittersweet Field on Saturday, Sept. 8 in the rain.

Seneca Valley Pony Club’s horse trials are a favorite among eventers, equestrians who compete in the three phases of dressage, stadium jumping and cross country jumping. The event was held this past weekend, Sept. 8-9 at Bittersweet Field off River Road and more than 300 horse/rider pairs were entered from Starter/Elementary, designed to be appropriate for those with limited experience, a friendly introduction to cross-country; to what eventers call “Intermediate,” which involves jumps of nearly four feet in height and much wider in complicated combinations intended to be ridden at a gallop, with penalties for falling below the time. Heavy rain complicated every aspect of putting on the competition, and officials decided to cancel Day Two for the safety of horses and competitors.