The Gold Coast 3 show ran under blue skies May 21-23 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, and riders vied for blue ribbons to match—with a few tri-colors in the mix as well.

Martin McAllister Training had a great show, with four of their riders winning classes. Brittany Albrecq was one of them aboard her Union Jack, moving up to the 1.20M section and winning one of her classes and placing in several others, including a fifth in the Platinum Performance/U.S.E.F. Show Jumping Talent Search.

“It was so exciting to move up and win, especially because I was competing with Jenni, my trainer, and mostly professionals,” commented Albrecq. As for her horse, she said, “He is so much fun to ride because he is quirky and geeky, but he is good at his job and I love him and reward him for that.“ Her goals for this season are to move up to the low junior jumpers and compete in the U.S.E.F. Talent Search Finals at the end of the year.

Albrecq just moved to MMT after getting a fabulous foundation from Carolyn Culligan. “She’s the kind of rider who can watch something one day and do it the next,” Steve McAllister explained. “She works really hard. She gets frustrated with herself like a lot of riders do, but she doesn’t let it work against her.” The 16-year-old rides five days per week and rides in both jumper and medal classes, but she tends to enjoy the jumper classes more. “She’s able to feel what the horse should be doing,” McAllister added.

Other riders from MMT who took home blues included Marnye Langer with Glados and On The Town in the Junior-Amateur Owner Jumpers; Nicholas Rossi, who piloted Monsieur (Alexandra Stewart, owner) to a championship in the Low Children’s-Adult Amateur Jumpers; and assistant trainer Kris DiCarlo, who took a first in the 1.15M Jumpers with Zenon (Donna Richardson, owner).   

Kylee Arbuckle also had a great show, beating out 25 competitors to take the CPHA Foundation Equitation class with D’Anconia Copper (Kimberly Lynch, owner). She also rose to the top of the CPHA Medal class and was second in the Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal. “’Connor’ is such a great horse,” Arbuckle commented. “He’s very simple, straightforward and easy going. And he’s so much fun! His owner, Kim Lynch, was very gracious to let me borrow him, so I’m very appreciative.”

She added that she needed to get points toward this year’s medal finals. “It was a very good day for that. The Gold Coast shows are great, because you can go even for just one day and really get a lot accomplished.”

Arbuckle trains at Karen Healey Stables with Karen Healey, Melissa Jones, and Tasha Visokay, as well as with Devon Gibson and her mother, Christy Arbuckle at Seahorse Riding Club.

Lisa Stroway had wins in both the ‘B’ Low Pre-Green Hunters and the ‘B’ Pre-Green Hunters, as well as ribbons in the Baby Green Hunters on a horse she bred, B Honorable. “I have been doing hunter futurity breeding for several years,” She explained. “Honor is a five-year-old Rhinelander with a great attitude and very athletic, brave way of going.”

Another horse she owns, Nose How, won several classes in the Opportunity and ‘B’ Junior Green Rider sections with Hannah Learner (Stephanie Haney, trainer).

Melissa Sklenar earned some tri-colors with her mount, Viva’s Las Vegas. The pair was champion in the Modified Junior-Amateur Hunters on Saturday and the ‘B’ Open Hunters on Sunday, as well as reserve champion in the Adult Amateur Hunters on Sunday. She purchased “Elvis” late last summer as a high adult amateur jumper prospect, but he is doing so well in the hunter ring that his future is wide open. “As a four-year-old, he had outstanding natural balance. I’d never seen anything like it in such a young horse,” Sklenar explained. “That’s very important to me. Plus, he has tons of scope.” Her goal for him for this show year is to take him out and put miles on him, getting him to go smoothly and quietly around the courses.

“I think the Gold Coast shows are well organized and well run,” she added. “I like getting the feel of an ‘A’ show without paying the price.”

Suzanne Voss also took home some big ribbons, earning reserve champion in the Adult Amateur Hunters and champion in the “B” Amateur Adult Hunters, winning some big classes in both sections. Although she trains with Kim Harries of Southern Cross Show Horses, Voss keeps her horse Makena Beach at home and does all the work with him herself, hauling over to Southern Cross four to five days per week for lessons.

She just purchased Makena Beach last October. She almost didn’t buy him because of his age—he’s now 13—but she’s glad she did. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me: buying a horse like this,” she commented. “He’s just so cool! We’re absolutely blessed to have him.”  

Voss enjoys keeping her animals at home, although she acknowledges that it creates a lot of work and takes a lot of her time. It’s worth it to her, however, to see her horse out in his pasture during the day and bed him down in his stall at night. “It just goes to show it can be done,” she said of her wins. “You can keep your horse at home and be closer to him and still go out and do well. It just takes a lot of work.” However, she caveated that if you want to win, you need a trainer to help you. “Kim is really an excellent trainer to work with me to make this work.” Voss also mentioned that she couldn’t do it without the support—financial and emotional—from her husband.  

“Suzanne is a great student,” commented Harries. “She is dedicated, focused and very determined. She is always trying to be a better rider today than she was yesterday.” She added, “Suzanne knows that as a rider and horse team, there are going to be good days and not-so-good days and that there’s always tomorrow.”

Voss suffered a broken ankle last year, so this year she is focused on having fun, getting back in shape and getting to know Nike. “I just want to go, have fun and ride well. Winning is icing on the cake,” she added.

For complete results of the Gold Coast 3 show, visit http://www.langershows.com/laec/show_details.php?show_id=149.

The Gold Coast show season continues with the fourth show in the series June 18-20. Spectators and exhibitors alike will be treated to a whole lot of jumping excitement at the ever-popular Memorial Day Classic May 27-31, and Colorado jumping fans can look forward to the High Prairie Spring Final May 27-30. The action moves over to Hansen Dam June 5-6 for Verdugo Hills/Lake View 5, then heads north for the Woodside Circuit Opener June 23-27.

Learn more about Langer Equestrian Group and all the shows at http://www.langershows.com.