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The Fun of Eventing with a Gypsy Vanner
On July 7th, Shanon Hanley of Deerfield Stables, Palgrave Ontario, competed 12 year old Gypsy Vanner gelding KF Prince Bo, owned by Jim Wilson, at Will O'Wind Farm in Orangeville, Ontario.
It was Bo's very first Eventing show and they entered at Pre-Entry Level which entails a walk/trot/canter dressage test, a 2'6 feet jump height Show Jumping course and a Cross Country Jumping round.
Here is what Shanon shared about this fun
experience:
"From the moment he stepped off the trailer, Bo grew quite a crowd. People were wanting to take pictures of him, commented on his beautiful braids and how clean and sparkly he was. Vanners are not seen at Eventing Competitions very often and we were being watched in the warm up rings we received a lot of compliments and comments on how people didn't realize how athletic Gypsy Vanners could be.
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I was excited to have coaches recognize Bo's potential for this discipline. Bo is a bit sensitive for a Gypsy Vanner and was a little nervous of all the action taking place around him at first. Once he settled into the atmosphere though, he was an absolute super star! Attentive and listening to me all the way through the Event. Feeling Bo's confidence grow throughout the day was the absolute |
highlight of the show to me.
His first few jumps in the Show Jumping ring were rather reserved and he had to trot into them to have a closer look. By the third jump he was soaring over them! At the cross country stage we witnessed a lot of riders having refusals at the very first fence. It was really close to the start box and some horses didn't feel confident leaving their buddies behind. Not Bo! By that time he had grown so confident, he didn't even hesitate. He flew out of the start box and cleared everything out on the course with ease. His ears were always forward and I could feel his excitement in every stride. We placed 8th Overall and I could not be happier with those results.
| I was so proud of him and we had an absolute blast. I really hope this is just the start of Bo's Eventing career. We have a few more shows planned this summer and I can't wait to see him develop." |
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