NorCal Prix de Nations 1.10m Team
Maggie Massie, Ashley Norris, Justine Dodds and Leslie Wright
Story by Leslie Wright

I would like to start off with the fact that everyone rode fantastically! The 1.10s, 1.20s, 1.30s, and 1.40s! Ashley Norris, Justine Dodds, Margaret (Maggie) Massie, and I rode on the 1.10 meter team, captained by Sue Lightner. The first week, the Continental, was a giant success! I don’t think any of us had over 8 faults on the jumps and no time faults what so ever. The Continental was a huge learning experience, we were all so incredibly nervous; none of us had shown at a show this big or important.

The second week, the week of the Skyliner, the show specifically designed for only junior and amateur riders, was another great leap for us. All the points would be added up for the end of the week Final Four, which only made us even MORE nervous. The Final Four  is the top four riders of the week who, at the end of the week, ride their own horse and the three others that had made it. The show would be so big that they would split the division so there were 54 in each section. Justine, Maggie, and I, were in the first section, while Ashley was in the second section. The second day was the team competition, which we all nailed. I went first and had no faults, Maggie, second, had four, Ashley, third, also had four and Justine who went last, had no faults. We ended up 6th place out of 23 teams. The teams placing above us were truly amazing riders and people. The third day was the 1.10 meter Grand Prix, of which we all did really well.

Over all, we competed with people from: Mexico, Canada, USA, Germany, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, all of which were phenomenal riders! This was one of the most amazing expierence I’ve ever had. We’ve all decided that we most definitely want to come back next year.

Thanks to all the sponsors, trainers, and supports!

Sincerely,
Leslie Wright, Ashley Norris, Justine Dodds, and Maggie Massie

NorCal Prix de Nations 1.20m Team
Julia Nagler, Shannon Wright, Ramsay Kubal, and Courtney Bohart
Story by Shannon Wright

This was my first time showing at Spruce Meadows, and it was better than I had ever  imagined!  As people say, it’s like Disneyland for horses.  We came up for 2 weeks, the Continental Tournament and the Skyliner, which had the Prix de Nations Team Events.  Spruce Meadows management and of course the Southern family have made this tournament especially amazing.  The whole Skyliner  week is all about the Junior/Amateur events.  Even if you aren’t on a team when you arrive, management will assign you a team, so everyone has a chance to participate which is really great.  I rode on the 1.20m team along with Julia Nagler, Courtney Bohart and Ramsay Kubal, captained by my mother, Sue Ellen Wright.  My dad, Glenn Wright, was supposed to be on the team, but unfortunately his horse didn’t feel comfortable on the grass after struggling with the wet footing the first week.  Therefore, he was reassigned to another “orphan” team for the Prix de Nation event.  Ramsay was our first alternate and she filled in beautifully for Friday’s class.  The format starts with Thursday’s class as the speed leg which counts towards Sundays individual Final Four.  I rode my horse Donny Darco (Bidar) and he was perfect as always!  We were 7th in that class.  Friday’s class was the Prix de Nations Team Event and there were 20 teams in our division.  We all had great rides.  I went first with 4 faults, Courtney was 2nd to go with 4, Ramsay next with 8 and Julia was our anchor rider and she was clean.  They only take 4 teams back for the 2nd round.  The top 6 teams got ribbons and we were just out of it in 7th place.  Not bad for our first trip up there.  Saturday’s class was the 1.20 Grand Prix.  Again I had 4 faults, but it was so exciting and so close, Donny was a star.  He’s just 7 years old, and has never performed at any venue like this.  He didn’t care if it was raining, thundering, lightening whatever.  The only thing he didn’t understand was the hail.  He truly thought the sky was falling!  Other than that it was such a great experience, we both matured and learned so much in just two weeks.

Thanks to all the sponsors, trainers, and supports!
Sincerely,
Shannon Wright, Julia Nagler, Ramsay Kubal and Courtney Bohart

NorCal Prix de Nations 1.30m/1.40m Team
Zoe Kornberg, Peggy Munkdale, Aundra Urban (1.30M), Morgan Caplane (1.40m)
Story by Aundra Urban

Walking the course for the 1.30 Prix de Nation felt intimidating, yet exhilarating. 
It was a very demanding course of 14 obstacles set by Leopoldo Palacios.  We started with a very wide triple bar, followed by a red triple combination made up of rails with
white horizontal stripes - it looked like a sea of rails. Later on in the course was an imposing white, narrow wall  And if that didn’t seem like enough optical illusions, there was a green and yellow one stride with green boxes at the A element that brought the horses’ focus straight down to the bottom of the jump.  All in all, there was a total of 18 teams that tackled the tough course. The 1.30 NorCal Team captained by Lindsay Archer finished a very respectable 6th place out of 16 teams.

I was the first to ride, starting the team off with 8 faults.  After having the big triple bar and the in of the red combination, I finished up well. With other riders falling off, stopping out, and having rails I was very happy with my performance. Zoe was next for our team and was eliminated at the daunting red triple, despite her valiant effort. Our adopted member, Carol Bird from Malibu, California rode third for the team.  She jumped the triple bar effortlessly, braved the green and yellow combination and rode clean. 
Peggy was the anchor and her beautiful clean round put us with a total final score of 8 faults for Team NorCal.

After careful calculations and a few teams remained to finish, we were still in it.  As per the rules, the top four teams were to come back and complete a second round over the same course.  I dashed back to the barn for Stella, who was happily dozing in her stall and we made our way back up to the “Meadows on the Green.” As we arrived, Lindsay handed me a pink ribbon.  We just missed the final four and finished sixth.  As I walked back to the barn the adrenalin left my body I felt proud of our first NorCal 1.30 team - sixth place was a great starting point and we have set the bar for the NorCal 1.30 team 2009! We also want to congratulate Morgan Caplane and her adopted team members Taylor Coe, Danielle Korsh, and Chelsea Wilkinson for  winning the 1.40meter Prix de Nations - Congrats to Morgan for a job well done!

Thanks to all the sponsors, trainers, and supports!
Sincerely,
Aundra Urban, Zoe Kornberg, Peggy Munkdale and Morgan Caplane

Time is running out!! Please be sure to get your stories in to Peggy Munkdale by December 10th. E-mail: pmmunk314@yahoo.com.

There are still several NorCal division sponsorships available. The sponsorships are $425.00 for a full sponsorship and $250.00 each for a shared sponsorship. Sponsors receive advertising in each bulletin and on the website; they also receive 2 complimentary tickets to the NorCal Banquet. The money helps NorCal cover the costs of the year-end division awards. We appreciate your help, so if you are interested in sponsoring a division, please click here for a sponsorship form or contact Peggy Munkdale at pmmunk314@yahoo.com