Maui Jim Horse Trials History

Upper level eventing made its debut in Wayne in 1981 with the American Continental Young Riders' Three Day Event Championships which attracted riders who came from virtually every corner of the United States and Canada. The following year, the Intermediate level was introduced at the Horse Trials for the first time in the Midwest.

Thanks to the generosity of the Centel and subsequently Sprint Corporations, Wayne hosted the first Advanced level division in the central part of the United States, and today, it still remains the only competition in the United States Eventing Association's Area IV to offer this level. In 2000, and again in 2001 thanks to the sponsorship of Supracor, the Horse Trials offered the United States Advanced Horse Trials Championship for the LeGoff Trophy. In 2002, the Horse Trials featured the Martin Simensen Perpetual Trophy for the United States Eventing Association's Intermediate Championship of the United States, and in 2003, thanks to the generosity of its new title sponsor, Maui Jim, Inc., makers of wildly popular, high end sunglasses, the event hosted the Chronicle of the Horse Northern Adult Team Championship. In 2004, the Horse Trials served as the site of the final selection trial for the Athens bound Canadian Olympic team, and in 2005, the United States Eventing Association included the Maui Jim Horse Trials in its Adequan Gold Cup Series, designating it as one of the ten best events in the United States. Also in 2005, two FEI divisions were added, CIC1* and CIC2*, and they were joined in 2006 by a CIC3*. Maui Jim has signed on as title sponsor through the year 2010.

The Maui Jim Horse Trials is also regarded as a traditional "final prep" site for the North American Young Riders Championship which takes place annually in late summer. Additionally, since 1993, the Illinois Special Olympics Invitational Equestrian Competition has run concurrently with the final phase of the Horse Trials, show jumping. The Illinois-Wisconsin Search Dogs Organization and participating Special Olympic programs will continue to benefit from the Maui Jim Horse Trials in 2007 as they have done since 2002.

The following riders who have represented their countries at one time or another in International Three Day competition have made the long trek to Illinois to ride in these Horse Trials - Americans Mike Huber (Pan American Games Gold Medalist and World Championships), Torrance Watkins (L.A. Olympic Games Team Gold Medalist and World Championships), Jim Graham (World Championships), Ralph Hill (World Championships), Denny Emerson (Olympic Games), Peter Green (World Championships), Denise Rath (Pan American Games), Dorothy Crowell (World Championships), Becky Douglas, and Linden Wiseman (Sydney Olympic Games), Darren Chiacchia (Pan American Games Gold Medalist and Athens Olympic Games), Julie Richards (Sydney and Athens Olympic Games), Karen O’Connor (two Olympic Games and two World Championships), Stuart Black (who represented Canada internationally before becoming an American citizen in 2004), Buck Davidson, Jill Henneberg, Bonnie Mosser and John Williams along with Canadian Olympians Kelli Temple, Anita Nemtin Gilmour, Bruce Mandeville, Penny Rowland, James Atkinson, Ian Roberts, Hawley Bennett, Garry Roque, Bruce Davidson, and Mike Winter.