Written by: Antonella Gliori
ERCHA/NRCHA HACKAMORE CLASSIC 2017 – KARZPACZ – WESTERN CITY
The traditional facility called Western City, in Karpacz, Poland, hosted the 2017 edition of the Hackamore Classic, the Ercha Special event, Nrcha approved, reserved to 4 and 5 years old horses, ridden in a Hackmore, in the weekend of the 10th and 11th of June 2017.
The show was attended by a great number of riders coming from seven different nations of Europe: Italy, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Czech republic and Austria. Not only they could compete in the special event, but also in the huge series of ancillary classes for the European and Regional Championship. In addition, also a special Herd Work All Ages class was added to the rich menu of the international cow horse show.
The event, entirely judged by Augusto ‘OTTO’ De Fazio, from Italy, turned out in a great success, thanks to the efforts of the whole ERCHA Staff, of the facility staff, but also to Poland trainer Thomas Bartha, who really tried his best in the last years to develop and promote the discipline of reined cow horse in the Eastern Europe countries.
The competition was organized in a unique Go round, with the herd work held on Saturday 10th of June morning, the reining and the final fence work on Sunday the 11th. If compared to the last year edition of the show, held in this same pleace, the cows were very good this time, and this fact made it possible for the competitors to realize nice runs, both in herd work and fence work.
Coming to the final results of the Hackamore Classic competition, there were four horses and riders combination that competed in the open division. Markus Schopfer, from Italy, was Open Champion, with composite score 215 (71-71,5-72,5) after a thrilling fence work, astride Miss Betsy Chex, a beautiful, 4 years old, dun mare, by Big Chex To Cash and out of Hollywood Betsy Cody, by Hollywood Dun it. The mare, owned by Agostino Novaresio, was 2017 ERCHA Spring Stakes Open Champion in march; in this show, she gained the championship thanks to the best performance in the final fence work, scoring 72,5. Schopfer also placed reserve in the Open ranking, riding Magic Nu Cash, owned by Elian Gfeller: same composite of the winning horse (215) but a lower fence work score (72-72-71). ‘Betsy is a nice mare, with a strong character ’ explained Schopfer after his win. ‘Last year we made some reining shows with her, but she was still green for it. She was good at the Spring Stakes this year, and also at the Ercha Derby we gained the finals. Now we are preparing her for the Futurity in Americana, and therefore, this show was an important step for her training. She improved in the herd work, and did a nice rein work: finally, we had a very nice cow for the fence work, and so she had the chance to win, in the end. The stallion is a very clever horse either: we won the Ercha Futurity last year, and I was leading with him after herd work and rein work. Unfortunately, we had a very big and strong cow for the fence work, and we got 2 points penalty. This is why he placed second. But he was very good all thru the show: I am very happy with both my horses!’.
In the Limited Open division of The Hackamore Classic, German trainer Phillip Martin Haug gained the championship riding Jessica Tari Boon, chestnut mare by Boogie Boon (by Smart Little lena) x Jessica Tari (owned by Jiri Roubicek): the pair was ERCHA Derby Open finalist last may in Cremona, Italy.
The composite score for this pair was 211 , thanks to a brilliant fence work (70-68.5-72.5). Limited Open Reserve Champion title went to Czech rider Ondrej Houska, riding his mare Smooth Black Cat, by Smooth As A Cat x Paddys Irish Miss, with composite score 200.
Great performance for the Hackamore Novice Amateur Champion, Ingo Linke, from Austria, with composite score 205,5. Coming from Austria, Ingo started riding horses only one year ago, and has already become an affectionate and passionate of the Cow Horse discipline, thanks to the training with Thomas Bartha. Ingo was riding his horse Smartest Aristocrat, trained and previously shown by Bartha in ERCHA Special Events, and the pair scored an astonishing 70 in fence work, which demonstrate the good feeling between the horse and his brave owner!
The event was enriched by a wide series of ancillary classes, eligible for the European and regional championships. Here is the winning stride of all the champions of each single class.
In the Novice Riders, with two competitors, Bettina Knogsbauer from Germany was the champion, riding Jacs Royal Boonsmal, owned by Richard Forster, with a score of 139 (69.5/69.5). In the Novice Horse Open (Regional) with three competitors, the winner was Jercy Pokoj, from Poland, astride his horse Top Golden Funnychex, with score 143.5 (71.5/72) . the rider is the owner of the nice facility of Western City, that hosted the entire show, and performed really good in the whole contest. The Novice Horse Non Pro Chamipion (regional) was Maria Von Arbin from Sweden, riding her Pablo Pepita Quixote, with score 135 (67 / 68).
In the Non Pro Limited, with 4 contestants, the winner was Jiri Roubicek, from Czec Republic, riding his horse This Cats Light: the pair scored a consistent 144.5 (70.5/74); on the other hand, the Non Pro Bridle Champion was Andrea Popp astride Sugars Smartest Lena: the Poland lady scored an astonishing 146,5 composite (72.5 / 74), placing first of 6 contestants.
11 riders from all over Europe took part to the Open Bridle + Limited Open Bridle, class-in-class, division: Italian professional trainer Markus Schopfer won the Open Bridle astride Surley A Peptocat, owned by Caroline Baudinger, with score 144 (71 / 73), and was second with same score with his other horse, Spat Sailor Lena, owned by Jeannette Krahenbuhl (74 / 70). Thomas Bartha, from Poland, won the Limited Open Bridle riding Sugars Smartest Lena, owned by his wife Andrea Popp, with score 143.5 (72,2 / 71).
There were 4 riders competing in the Two Rein classes: Markus Schopfer took the win in the Two Reins Open, astride Surley A Peptocat (score 144.5 – 71/.5/73), while Peter Kun, from Hungary, won the Two Reins Non Pro, riding his Cr Sassylittlelegend (score 140 – 70 / 70).
The winner of the Open Hackamore class was again Markus Schopfer with Miss Betsy Chex (score 143 – 70.5 / 72.5) for owner Agostino Novaresio.
A consistent number of competitors took part to the jackpot class Herd Work All Ages, divided in Open and Non Pro: the best of them was again Jercy Pokoj, from Poland, riding another horse, High Jack Hickory, scoring a consistent 73 in herd work! In the Non Pro section, the best combination was the one composed by Hungary rider Peter Kun and his Smart Blackbird, scoring 70.
The next step of The ERCHA Championship and Special Event will be the ERCHA/NRCHA Prefuturity, which will be held in Travagliato (Bs), Italy, on 5th and 6th august 2017!
