Fields of Dreams
February 24, 2020 – With Blenheim EquiSports’ Spring Series less than a month away, we’ve been busy preparing for the season. As we follow the accomplishments of the riders, horses, and friends that we will see this year and have seen for many past seasons, we are proud of the role we have played in their pathway to success. For more than two decades, our team has remained steadfast in offering green grass for fields of dreams.
We congratulate everyone on their recent wins on both coasts, and think of how their path has been paved to this point. Karl Cook, currently at the top of the North American League – West standings, and competing successfully in Wellington for the winter, has jumped on our fields since he was a junior. We’ve watched him bring his horses along year after year, and have welcomed his coach and mentor Eric Navet and his family each season since he has come to the U.S. We look forward to seeing Karl, Kaley, Eric, and their horses, dogs, and minis this season.
Ashlee Bond, who we also watched grow up riding on our grass fields, won Grand Prix events as a junior on horses that she and her dad bred and raised. Now riding for Israel, she also recently earned top ribbons at CSI-4* and CSI-5* classes in Wellington. Married to Roy and mom to Scottie, Bond and her horses travel the world but always find time to compete on our grass fields.
Nicki Shahinian-Simpson galloped to victory on the spunky Akuna Mattata in last year’s FEI CSI-3* Gold Tour Grand Prix. Based in Wellington in the winter, this pair won two classes at the Palm Beach Masters CSI4*-W and picked up fourth in the CSI-5* Grand Prix at WEF.
Speaking of growing up, Nicki’s daughter Sophie Simpson also earned numerous accolades galloping on the grass in San Juan Capistrano. She led the victory gallop in the 2018 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – West on The Oaks International Grand Prix Field. Soon to be married, her fiancé, Robert Sean Leckie, also rose up through the ranks with Blenheim as a part of his pathway. Together they own Blue Ridge Farms, based here in San Juan Capistrano.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the joy in watching some of the current top professional and junior riders who have garnered miles of experience on our fields winning here, there, and everywhere, including John French, Nick Haness, Jenny Karazissis, Katie and Jamie Taylor, as well as young stars Emma Catherine Reichow, Augusta ‘Gussie’ Iwasaki, Stella Buckingham, Skylar Wireman, and Stella Wasserman… success stories abound!
Most recently in the hunter ring at WEF, Katie, Gussie, Jenny, and John galloped away with second, fourth, fifth, and ninth in the WCHR Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular. Nick led the pack in the Desert Circuit’s USHJA National Hunter Derby aboard Reese’s, a horse he brought along in the Blenheim Young Hunter Program.
As we think about the past, present, and future of our sport, it makes all the work, time, and effort worthwhile when we can see the smiles and applaud the success of horses and riders on our fields. And to be part of their dreams coming true.
These anecdotes are just a small sample of the pathways to success. Over the last few years, we’ve been collecting Show Stories, which you can read on our web site. We thank the media for their coverage, and this season, be sure to keep an eye out for more. We welcome all competitors to reach out to us with your stories.
We look forward to seeing you soon. Cheers to a season of Success!
#BES2020 #FieldsOfDreams for your #PathwayToSuccess
Photos by McCool Photography, Captured Moment Photography, Alden Corrigan Media, and EqSol
Blenheim EquiSports, an equestrian event management company based in San Juan Capistrano, CA, produces events in three locations: San Juan Capistrano, Del Mar and Las Vegas, NV. The events include 19 USEF “Premier” rated hunter-jumper shows featuring five FEI CSI events, including a Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League event; the Markel Insurance 1.40m – 1.45m Jumper Series & Final, Developing Jumper Qualifiers & Championships, USHJA International & National Hunter Derbies, Pony Derby Finals, the Whitethorne Equitation Challenge, Medal Finals and more. New for 2020 – an additional four County Horse Shows sanctioned by the Orange County Horse Show Association and the Greater San Diego Hunter-Jumper Association.