Horse show regains its place

The Flintridge Riding Club celebrated its 90th birthday last weekend with its Flintridge Autumn Classic show, drawing more than 1,000 participants and 500 spectators to the grounds adjacent to Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The big winners of the weekend include Del Mar-based horse owner Kendra Rusinek, her horse Winston, and rider Chris Pratt, who took first prize in the $15,000 Land Rover Pasadena Grand Prix Hunter Derby; and Kyujin Michael Whang, whose horse Varon won the $5,000 Mini Prix with rider Katrina Karazissis aboard.

State Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) and Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) were on hand for Saturday night’s ringside dinner celebrating the club’s 90th birthday. They presented the club with proclamations, as did a representative of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

Dale Harvey, who joined the organization in April as show manager for the revamped Flintridge Horse Show, said that heat wave aside, his second show at the club was a smooth experience.

“After working with the whole team in the spring, it went a lot easier [this time] because everyone had an idea of where to go and what to do,” he said.

“I think overall, people were very happy with it … there were a lot of new people [participating]. I think it comes from sort of revamping the horse show and just producing a new version of it.”

Autumn Classic attendee Caroline Craven, a La Cañada Flintridge resident, said the show brought out local horse lovers.

“I felt they brought the horse show back to the level it had been at in its heyday,” Craven said. “They’ve made it into an excellent boutique horse show, and it’s nice to see locals back and participating.”