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News 2007 MAUI JIM HORSE TRIALS WRAP UP It hardly seems possible that the 2007 Maui Jim Horse Trials have been and gone and have been put to bed. The summer months spent planning, implementing and recovering from (in that chronological order) absolutely flew by, and here we are already facing another long winter. What’s even more impossible to contemplate is that eight weeks after Maui Jim wrapped up, the Wellpride American Eventing Championships took place at the same venues – and we all survived! A grand total of 852 horses “entered at A” for the two events (including Young Event Horses) – 309 for Maui Jim and 543 for the AEC’s – setting some sort of record I guess for people who like to keep track of such things.Maui Jim went extremely well. The typically hot and humid Chicago July weather that we suffered through the weekend before broke following a lovely series of rain showers the Monday and Tuesday preceding the event, and several mornings, goose down parkas were even spotted! Weird!! The hard working jump builders, Dan Starck and Jon Wells, busily did their magic right up to the time the courses opened on Wednesday. Jon and Ritch Temple, the two designers, spent the week tweaking their plans, and Chris Owens aeravated and mowed while Ana Schravande decorated fences and helped to make everything pretty. Not to be outdone, Steve Cooper and Tom Moxley, the co owners of Lamplight, fine tuned the two spectator areas with finish mowing, trimming and landscaping. Whoever said it takes a village? Hell, it takes a whole country to put one if these things on! The weekend was marred by the tragic death of Forrest El Effendi’s beautiful horse Paradigm in the middle of their CIC 2 Star dressage test. Out of the tragedy however came my great and continuing admiration for Roger Lauze from the Massachusetts SPCA who handled the situation with great cool, efficiency and tact. Life is so very fragile. My happiest moment (besides thanking whatever gods look out for such things that the human ambulance never moved the entire weekend and the paramedics were bored) was welcoming Bruce Davidson to his first time competing at Maui Jim. His son Buck was here last year and told his Dad he should come – and he did. Watching him riding his incredibly beguiling mare Jam to third in the 3 Star was like watching an icon in the sport – and applauding from across the pond when the pair finished tenth six weeks later at Burghley with one of the only two clean show jumping rounds. I guess Maui proved to have been a pretty good prep for them both! One of the things that has made Maui Jim what it is today is the enthusiasm and pride which our volunteers manifest during the week. They work their tails off – and do so with huge smiles. That’s what makes the event both special and exciting. Add to this the generosity of our sponsors starting with, but not limited to Mike Dalton and the amazing people at Maui Jim in Peoria, and two beautiful venues, Lamplight Equestrian Center and the Pratt Wayne Forest Preserve, and you have the basis of stuff dreams are made of. Our beneficiaries, the Illinois Wisconsin Search and Rescue Dogs Organization and the programs that participate in Sunday’s Special Olympics Equestrian Competition provide us a reality check about groups that operate for the benefit of others. All these facets make up a successful and much appreciated whole. The 2008 dates are July 10-13. The place is the same. Watch this web site for details as they unfold. We look forward to welcoming you all. Have a lovely winter – and we’ll see you next year!
Congratulations to Area IV's Cindy Zitko who will be receiving the coveted Worth the Trust Adult Amateur Scholarship award for 2008 at the USEA Annual Convention in December in Colorado Springs. Cindy is a tireless volunteer in the Area, serving as Chief Cross Country Fence Steward for both Maui Jim and the AEC's. She divides her time when not flying for United Airlines between her Thoroughbred gelding Dickens and her numerous volunteer efforts for Area events and the Illinois Dressage and Combined Training Association. The scholarship check will be used for clinics and educational opportunities within the sport of eventing. Congratulations Cindy! We're proud of you!
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