Fairground Show Proves an Equestrian Extravaganza

Outfitted in English riding attire, 16-year-old Amy Wymer was the picture of concentration Friday as she rode her horse, Styx to Business, through a hunter’s course at the Del Mar fairgrounds.

She counted off steps cantered between the 3 1/2-foot-high fences before leaning forward and cuing her horse to leap in a perfect arc, legs tucked, then stretching out for the landing and striding away.

“The idea is to look the best and make everything look effortless,” she said after completing her run.

The Calabasas resident was a competitor in the Del Mar National Horse Show, which began April 30 and runs through May 12.

Billed by organizers as the largest horse show on the West Coast, the event is actually a series of competitions, or classes, in which riders and horses win points from judges. The points are tallied up for awards and are used to qualify for other major horse shows on the national circuit, as well as for U.S. Olympic equestrian teams.

It is serious competition for horse and rider, but for spectators, “it’s great family entertainment,” said Robert Drennan, one of two managers of the event.

“It doesn’t get any more wholesome than this,” he said. The event, which is technically part of the Del Mar Fair, was designed to be affordable; tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for people 62 and older, and $1 for children between 6 and 12. Children 5 or younger are free.

The climax of the hunter and jumper portion of the show is the Grand Prix of Del Mar, to be held tonight at 7, after the day’s full slate of competitions, which begin at 8 a.m.

The Grand Prix carries a $40,000 purse, including a $12,000 first prize. The event will be taped by ESPN and is scheduled to be aired next Saturday.

“This will be Olympic-caliber jumping,” Drennan said, explaining that the nation’s top horses and riders will be judged partly on speed, competing over fences more than 5-feet high. “It’s exciting . . . and easy to follow along.”

Drennan, who owned his first pony at age 11, , was holed up in the show office, alternately answering the phone or using his walkie-talkie. The latest glitch: A sponsor’s jump, a fence bordered by two fiberglass whales and scheduled to be used in the Grand Prix, was stuck somewhere in Oklahoma.

After Monday, about 700 new horses will replace the thoroughbreds and warm-bloods--a mix of thoroughbred and European draft horse--that competed in the hunter and jumper classes.

The new group will include Arabians, quarter horses and miniature ponies competing in Western-style riding events and breed classes.

Spectators, talking about riders and trainers, on Friday were being shuttled among three arenas to watch classes.

“I brought my binoculars, but I don’t think I’ll need them,” said Michigan resident Jim LaCombe, who was visiting the show with his wife, Jesse.

“I love their outfits,” Jesse said. “And I can’t believe how friendly the people are out here. I don’t want to go home.”

Meanwhile, Wymer, dressed in khaki jodhpurs and a velveteen-covered helmet, was thinking about riding in classes later that day.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I love it. You have to give up a lot with school and friends at home, but it’s worth it.”