February Zone 9 Update

Thank you for being a Zone 9 member! Apply for the Emerging Athletes Program, test your horsemanship knowledge, learn about grant opportunities and more.

Applications Open for Emerging Athletes Program Regional Training Sessions

Interested in participating in the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund/USHJA Emerging Athletes Program this year? It's time to apply! The session closest to Zone 9 is: July 8-12, Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Burbank, Calif., led by Joe Fargis and stable manager Colleen Reed Zone 9 offers EAP Grants to assist members in attending Regional Training Sessions. Click here to apply by April 1.

Apply for EAP by April 1

Learn more about EAP

The Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is Open

Registration to the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is open! Exciting changes being implemented for 2020: Updated free online HQC study guide with new sections added covering saddle fitting, teeth and more. The program will open to adult amateurs ages 21 and above later in 2020. More information to be announced.

Learn more and participate!

Congratulations to Horse of the Year and Stirrup Cup Winners

Congratulations to our members who received 2019 Horse of the Year and Stirrup Cup year-end honors! Check 2019 Zone 9 standings to see who received awards here: HOTY (2019) Stirrup Cup (2019) Check 2020 Zone 9 standings here: HOTY (2020) Stirrup Cup (2020)

Mark Your Calendar for Zone 9 Championships

Dates and locations for Zone HOTY Championships and other special classes have been announced. Equitation Championship, Aug. 26-30 Northwest Spectacular, Wilsonville, Ore.  Horse of the Year Jumper Championship, Aug. 26-30 Northwest Spectacular, Wilsonville, Ore.  Stirrup Cup Championship, Sept. 5-6 Cascade Finals, Cle Elum, Wash. Horse of the Year Hunter Championship, Sept. 9-13 Northwest Autumn Classic, Monroe, Wash.

Click here for more info

Early Application Deadline for USHJA Platinum and Zone Jumper Team Championships is April 10

Applications are open for the USHJA Zone Jumper Team Championships, open to juniors and amateurs at the 1.10/1.15m, 1.20/1.25m and 1.30/1.35m levels, and the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships, open to juniors, amateurs and professionals at the 1.40/1.45m level. You must apply to have your points count toward qualifying. The Championships for USHJA Zones 9 & 10 at National Sunshine Series II in Thermal, Calif., November 4-8, 2020 (Qualifying Period: December 10, 2019 - September 20, 2020). *Early application deadline for the $75 rate is April 10. Starting April 11 until applications close, the price increases to $150.

Apply for Platinum Jumper Championships

Apply for Zone Jumper Team Championships

USHJA Affiliate Member Organization News

American National Riding Commission The ANRC National Equitation Championships are coming up April 9-11 at Swan Lake Stables in Littlestown, Pennsylvania. The championships will now include adult amateur and ANRC alumni divisions, in addition to the traditional junior and college divisions. Entries for the Championships are due March 1! The Championships will be livestreamed on USEF Network.  Click here for more info

Sport History: Fun Facts from the USHJA Wheeler Museum

The Caprilli Revolution American hunter/jumper equitation developed from new ideas introduced by Italian Cavalry officer Federico Caprilli in the early 1900s. His “forward seat” changed forever ideas about the safety and comfort of the horse and rider over fences. When foxhunters and military riders began jumping fences cross-country in the 1800s, they rode in a “chair” seat with legs pushed forward because sitting vertical in the classical (dressage) seat was tiring, and they leaned back over fences in case the horse stumbled. Horses instead were struggling to keep their own balance, let alone that of the rider. Caprill’s method of sitting forward with shorter stirrups to rise out of saddle created angles in the rider’s hips, knees, and ankles that act as springs and allow the rider’s arms to follow the motion of a horse’s head and neck over jumps. A hundred years later, Caprilli’s principles to help riders perform “with safety and dispatch” and horses to “respond to what is required of them quietly and smoothly with the minimum possible wear and tear” still hold. Pictured above: Left: Caprilli's Forward Seat. Right: Hunting Chair Seat

Know Your Zone 9 Committee Members

Clare Warren, Chair Max von Zimmermann, Vice Chair Megan Jordan, Treasurer Nicole Bourgeois Kathryn Hall Jessie Lang Quinn Partridge

Martha Price Gayl Russell Corene Smith Nora Thomas Mary von Zimmermann Katherine Wade-Easley

Special thanks to these members who serve our zone! For more information about the committee and contact information, click here.

Recent News

Private Practice and Victoria Colvin Claim Consecutive Victories in $100,000 WCHR Peter Wetherhill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular USHJA Gladstone Cup Equitation Classic East and West Coast Dates and Locations Announced NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team Starts 2020 Nations Cup Season With Home Victory in Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ USA Following Exciting Jump-Off U.S. Youth Teams Sweep Top Podiums for Second Consecutive Year in Palm Beach Masters CSI Team Competition

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

March March 13: Deadline to apply for the USHJA Gochman Grant March 31: USHJA Webinar with Jill McGrady to discuss Outreach Competitions April April 1: Deadline to apply for the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund/Emerging Athletes Program Regional Training Sessions and the EAP Grant April 10: Early application deadline for USHJA Platinum Jumper and Zone Jumper Team Championships May May 15: Deadline to apply for the Hamel Family Scholarship for Further Education

USHJA Official Sponsors

USHJA Sponsors & Partners

Photos: Tricia Booker and Rachel Sowinski

United States Hunter Jumper Association | (859) 225-6700 | ushja.org

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