If Jill Humphrey were to list a favorite show, she would probably tell you it’s the Los Angeles International Jumping Festival. In 2005, she rode Riva 49 in her first World Cup qualifier and finished 11th. But this year she topped that–she rode Kaskaya and posted her first grand prix win in the $50,000 L.A. International CSI-W Grand Prix, held Sept. 20-24 in Burbank, Calif.

Fourth to go in the five-horse jump-off, Humphrey rode a conservative but clear round. The others who went earlier had faults, so Humphrey knew she was at least second as she exited the ring.

“I came out of the jump-off and started taking off Kaskaya’s boots,” said Humphrey.

“I thought to myself how great it was being second to Joie [Gatlin]. And then I heard the rail fall.”

The thud of the rail falling from Gatlin’s Suncal’s King was obliterated by the pounding in Humphrey’s ears as her heart raced when she realized what had just happened.

“I was just so happy to have a clear round in a World Cup qualifier,” said Humphrey, 23. “I didn’t think I would win. Last week at the Oaks [Calif.], Richard [Spooner] and I jumped off with 4 faults each, and I was second, so this week I was really happy to jump clean.”

Tough Challenge
Anthony D’Ambrosio, Mt. Kisco, N.Y., designed the major jumper courses at the L.A. International, and his grand prix course proved challenging for the 34-horse field.

“There is a movement in the West to build to the specifications,” said D’Ambrosio. “There was a good, strong international test put in front of the riders, as it should be in a World Cup qualifier.”

For the past few years, international course designers and leaders in the sport have noted that grand prix courses on the West Coast don’t have the same level of difficulty as comparable classes in the East.

Oxers are not quite as wide, times are not quite as tight, and the general level of difficulty has been a notch lower. That’s changing, however.

“These World Cup qualifier classes should not be orchestrated for the crowd, but as a preparation for the World Cup Finals,” continued D’Ambrosio. “A good, strong course with quality horses should be entertaining enough.”

D’Ambrosio need not have worried about how the class was going to play for the audience in attendance. Perennial favorite, Spooner, rode a beautiful round aboard Cristallo and posted the evening’s first clear round as fourth in the order. As easy as Cristallo made the course look, many other horses and riders struggled.

“The oxer-oxer combination separated some horses and riders,” said D’Ambrosio, “but the faults were fairly well distributed throughout the course.”

Rich Fellers on McGuinness and Cathleen Calvert on L.B. Hotess de Rosieres posted the second and third clear rounds of the night, respectively. Both of their horses jumped around confidently and solidly.

Humphrey added a fourth clear round, and then Gatlin made it five when she posted a clear round as the last entry in the first round.

Spooner led-off the jump-off with Cristallo. The 8-year-old bay owned by Show Jumping Syndicates is emerging as one of Spooner’s serious grand prix horses. The pair won the first two World Cup qualifiers of the season and looked on target to post a third win.

As first to go, Spooner knew he had some fast, experienced horses behind him. He made a daring turn after the first fence back to the large wall. However, Cristallo didn’t have the experience to handle the deep distance off such a short turn. The gelding made a valiant effort, but they left most of the wall in the dirt. Rattled from the shaky jump, Cristallo stopped at the combination.

This mistake left the door open for Fellers and McGuinness, Harry and Molly Chapman’s veteran Irish-bred. They pulled two rails despite posting one of the fastest times of the class. Calvert followed and dropped just a brick off the wall, giving her the momentary lead.

Humphrey’s goal was to be clean and worry about speed later. The strategy paid off as Kaskaya jumped beautifully and never touched a rail. Their time of 45.83 seconds was more than 5 seconds slower than Calvert’s time, but they left all the rails in the cups.

Gatlin simply had to jump clear just a smidge faster than Humphrey. She looked on target as she chose to take the difficult options early in the course, and Suncal’s King was jumping beautifully. An aggressive ride up the line from fences 9 to 10AB resulted in a rail at the A element. Gatlin settled for third, while Calvert finished second.

Great Partnerships
“This is only my second year of grand prix,” said Humphrey. “Winning this class is unbelievable. I never imagined it would come out like this. I only did my first World Cup qualifier a year ago at this same show. It’s so exciting.”

After graduating from the University of California at Davis in 2004, Humphrey really wanted to ride. In fact, all she had ever wanted to do was ride, but she knew having her college degree was important. During college she met long-time horseman Rudy Leone and rode horses for him as her studies allowed. Upon graduation, Leone made Humphrey a deal she couldn’t refuse, and she began riding horses for Leone full time.

They discovered that not only did they share a passion for the horses, but that they were also suitable for one another, and their partnership has yielded solid results.

Humphrey earned the Pacific Coast Horse Show Association Rookie Of The Year honors in 2005 and now looks to be on target to qualify for the 2007 FEI World Cup Finals.

“It’s hard to imagine,” said Humphrey of possibly going to the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas, “but it’s becoming more possible.”

After three shows in the qualifying period, Humphrey is solidly in second in the West Coast League standings behind Spooner.

Humphrey has garnered a great deal of jumper experience as a result of her partnership with Leone. “About any horse she rides likes her. She’s awesome, and they try their guts out for her,” he said.

The partnership between Humphrey and Kaskaya, 11, clicked right away. “The mare is sweet,” said Humphrey “and she tries to do everything right. It’s easy for her. The bigger the jumps, the better chance we have.”

Due to a legal dispute, Kaskaya, owned by Leone Equestrians Inc., was out of the show ring for almost a year. In her first outing with Humphrey, however, they finished fourth and have been in the top 10 in every class since, culminating with their victory at the L.A. International.


Marnye Langer