HITS Thermal Update After a rather interesting and uncharacteristically lengthy trip involving a freak snowstorm,Derby Hill made it to the Desert for the first year of the HITS Winter Circuit at the new facility in Thermal. We are impressed with the size of the circuit’s new home! The spacious layout boasts an expansive stabling area, RV area, plenty of good size paddocks, and so much work space for the horses that not once did we feel crowded, despite the large turnout! The Grand Prix, and main hunter rings are extremely large, enabling interesting courses, and the rare occasion for the hunters to actually be able to gallop on course. The remainder to the 4 Jumper show rings, and 6 Hunter show rings are all a very good size and uniform in quality. The jumper rings all have individual warm up rings of matching size, and the Hunter rings share an enormous area that runs the length of all 7 arenas! The rings aren’t the only things that have increased in area! The office, restrooms, feed storage, restaurant, VIP area, and other buildings have also greatly expanded, and thought was put into the parking situation so that everyone is able to conveniently park close to where they need to be. We are very excited about the new grounds, and can’t wait to see them mature over the coming years!
We started the circuit with 13 horses, and Week 1 proved to be an incredibly successful start to the circuit. The professional days saw Fenwick and Demitasse both win classes to become the Adequan Open Hunter Division’s Champion and Reserve Champion respectively. Demitasse went on with her debut performance in the Small Junior Hunters to Reserve Champion honors with catch rider Mallory Olson. We wish to thank Joe Thorpe and Keri Kampsen for “lending” us such a lovely young rider. Cindi Perez reunited with our very own Brownie Points to secure Championship honors in the largely populated Novice Adult Hunter division. Adrianne Dixon showed Dakota Gruener’s Korbel and successfully brought home some blues of her own in the Adult Equitation ranks. Susan Meadows showed her fabulous gelding Topper to a win in the Modified Amateur Jumper Classic. It was our pleasure to have fellow professionals Caeley Morrison from Northern California, and Gretchen Lof from Arizona join us for the start of the circuit as well. Caeley brought his own young horse, Monty to get some good exposure in the 6 Year Old jumpers, and some level classes while Gretchen brought the Hormel’s lovely Grand Prix horse, Zambezi for a tune up before going to the Arizona Winter Circuit. We congratulate the Hormel family on their purchase of Lauren Wasserman’s Lektor who came with us as a sale horse to Thermal this year. Thank you to Gretchen for facilitating this sale, and best of luck with him at Arizona!
Raul and Mariano spend a rare resting minute at the end of HITS Thermal Week 1
Week 2 did not go without accomplishments either! During the professional days, Annie Bennett’s handsome bay gelding Understood put it all together to win a very competitive Pre Green class, as well as earn some other good ribbons and a more than respectable 4th place finish in the hack class. The weekend had Demitasse again being a class winner in the Small Juniors, and in a tie for Reserve Champion, although honors went to Fellici who had more points over fences. She ended Sunday with a 10th place finish in the combined Junior Hunter Classic. It was great to have Dakota Gruener come for her first week of showing in the Desert! She worked on forging a partnership with new horse, Fenwick, while capturing some ribbons in the huge Children’s Hunter Division with her old standby, Korbel. Jessica Zlotnick also started showing her mare, On The Rocks week 2, and had strong results in the Adult Equitation division, as well as a7th in the Marshall and Sterling Adult Medal, and a 6th in the Ariat Medal. The mare also confidently cantered around some Level 1 and 2 Jumpers for mileage, and really impressed us with how much she has grown up, smoothly and confidently executing the questions asked on course. Adrienne Dixon handily won the USEF Adult Medal on her own Declan, and additionallyfinished 4th in the Foxfield Medal, and 2nd in an age group Equitation over fences. In the Jumper ring, Adrienne got her Alize started in the Level 4 class with a very fast round for a 6th place ribbon in the heavily populated class. Alize ended the week with an 8th place in the Modified Amateur Classic. Buddy surprised us all by showing Betty Meyer’s fabulous Santana in a Level 8 class on the spur of the moment. Later in the week the pair contested a big track in the Jimmy Williams Futures Class. It was great to see Buddy back in the show ring! Susan Meadows moved up to the Low Amateur Owner Jumpers to end her week with a 7th place finish on Topper. It was our pleasure to have Mary Tiscornia join us for two weeks of showing with her lovely Jumper campaigner, Kilrushe. Mary is such an interesting and uplifting person to be around and it was fun to watch her grasp new concepts with enthusiasm.
Week 3 took its’ toll on the rider’s health, with Vanessa, Susan, Mary, Jessie and Dakota all suffering from various colds, fevers, and ailments! Despite the illnesses, everyone persevered and showed. Vanessa piloted (if you could call it that in her condition) Fenwick around the Regular Conformation Hunters, finally ending the division with a 4th place finish as her health started to return. Buddy moved Annie Bennett’s Understood up to the 3’5” Adequan Open Division to finish well over fences, win the hack and ultimately become Reserve Champion. Korbel received early ribbons in the Low Hunters with Adrienne Dixon on Thursday before being piloted by owner Dakota on the weekend who immediately had a beautiful round for a 2nd place in the Schooling Hunter Class. Dakota’s partnership with Fenwick started to gel in places, and the pair received some ribbons in the once again large Children’s Hunter division, and qualified for the Classic.Demitasse and Mallory Olson had another good week, once again winning a class, and ending up as the 3rd place contenders in the Junior Hunter Classic on Sunday with scores in the mid eighties. Cindi Perez returned for consistent results with Brownie Points in the Novice Adult Hunter’s, including a 2nd place ribbon over jumps. She matched that placing in the Novice Adult Equitation division and paired it with a 3rd place as well. Jessie continued consistently in the Adult Equitation division with respectable placings and continued to give her mare some good mileage in the Jumper rings. Susan Meadows once again proved how fast Topper can be by handily winning a Modified Amateur Jumper class early in the week. Buddy once again tackled the Futures class on Santana, and a very unlucky rail left the pair just out of the ribbons. The week was capped off with Demitasse and Fenwick both being awarded Mid Circuit Reserve Champion honors.
We are looking forward to the second half of circuit, and enjoying a little down time on the Off Week. Once again, we owe so much to our wonderful clients, and our grooms, without who’s dedication and hard work none of this would be possible. We are proud of everyone, and extend our gratitude to our entire team, including the health care professionals who keep all the animals in top shape both physically and mentally.
