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The winner of the $5,000 1.10m ELLA-Equestrian Lifestyle Luxury Art AA Jumper Classic was Marianne Woolpert riding her mare, Happyness. The showcase class was sponsored by local equestrian lifestyle luxury brand, ELLA. Embodying the equestrian spirit is a way of life at ELLA and they share a passion for horses through different vantages, including the celebration of equestrian living and home decor. ELLA proprietor Melissa Lu stated, “ELLA has been a proud Diamond Sponsor of the Menlo Charity Horse Show since 2015. Heralding in the Big "50", ELLA presents Bravo Ideas: discover the future of eCommerce. Thanks to the participants and the dedicated Menlo crew for making this golden anniversary one to remember!"
Back in the ring, Marianne and Happyness carefully maneuvered through round one of the Jumper course, making their way to the jump off along with four competing riders and horses. The duo came out on top, winning the jump off with a speedy time of 30.183, only 1.32 seconds ahead of the competition. Marianne, trained by Matthew Sereni, is no stranger to Menlo.
"I’ve been attending Menlo since I was a teenager, we probably started coming when I was 14 or 15" she said. "We actually hadn’t come to a Menlo for ten years, and then we decided to come back this year. I was just talking to Matt about how happy I am that we decided to come again, since we haven’t for a while. It has been a really fun week." Marianne continued, "I love Menlo because you see people that you haven’t seen in… 10 years or so! It’s like a big reunion every time. It’s the only horse show where my mom will find out how I’ve done before I tell her, even if she’s not here at the show, because she knows so many people here. It’s pretty funny."
“Happyness has been incredible, I couldn’t be happier with her. She jumped clean the entire week, and was just a star. She loves this horse show. She really likes to be a part of the action, so I think she enjoys having people around watching her. She’ll jump anything. She just likes the attention, and she felt great. This was also the first time I’ve ever shown her on grass. They have done such a great job maintaining the grass and it was still perfect today. There aren't a lot of horse shows in Northern California now that have grass, so it was really neat getting to jump her on it for the first time."
"I am really grateful for my horse and the horse show in general. It was really, really fun to be able to ride most of the days this week. Matt Sereni is a great trainer, too, and I love working with him. This was by far my best Menlo and I credit a lot of that to Happyness, but also to Matt." Marianne said.
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