Significant changes have been made to the Tavendale & Partners 2020 New Zealand Show Jumping & Show Hunter Championships – with the biggest change that the event has been brought forward by a month, to be held in mid-January.
The National titles are decided after three rounds of jumping over the four-day show, a format that rewards consistency rather than a one-off brilliant performance. Each round is a separate class with prize money offered for each, starting with a speed class on Thursday January 16. Friday’s competition has a two-round format, as does the final day on Sunday.
The schedule for the Saturday of the show is mostly taken up with the series classes, so as the horses and ponies vying for the national titles are able to have a rest day.
The prize money has had a significant boost, with a purse of more than $12,000 for the Premier Horse Championship; the winner receives $3600 as well as their name being etched on to the prestigious Rutherford Cup.
This large silver trophy is named after Ben Rutherford, who was president of ESNZ (known then as the NZ Horse Society) from 1959-1962, and a huge personality in show jumping circles. He had the nickname of ‘Mr South Island’ , as he was always keen to promote the Mainland and its riders.
Ben was the manager of the New Zealand show jumping team who competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, as well as being one of the selectors. An excerpt from the NZ Horse & Pony mag archives is a great record of the 1964 Olympic equestrian team’s endeavours:
“After extensive public fundraising, a team of Bruce Hansen and Tide, Adrian White and Eldorado, Graeme Hansen and Saba Sam, and Charlie Matthews and Syndicate, is sent to compete at Tokyo. Of the total £5500 cost, more than £3000 is raised through a national appeal and raffle. The team finishes 10th, with the best individual performance by Saba Sam, who had 12 faults in the first round. Public expectations had been high, and team manager BG Rutherford says later that he didn’t believe the Kiwi horses had produced anything like the form they had shown in training.
This is the first time in several years that the Premier horse class, as part of the POLi Payments Premier League Series, is being held at the Nationals, so the Rutherford Trophy hasn’t been awarded since 2016, when it was won by Katie Laurie and Dunstan Lucca.
Katie was a frequent and successful competitor at Nationals, and had won the Rutherford Trophy three previous times, with Dunstan Breeze, Kiwi Iron Mark, and Dunstan Delphi.
Katie was also a firm supporter of the three-round format for the national titles, as she said it was a great way of getting her horses competition fit in their build up to the Horse of the Year Show.
Unfortunately, few North Island riders have travelled down to the Nationals in recent years – although those who have always rave about both the show and the famous southern hospitality.
It is hoped that with the change in dates and the increased in prize money, more North Islanders will commit to a Nationals roadie in the New Year.
ESNZ has a subsidy available for the ferry across Cook Strait, and in additional, any horse competing in the premier class is exempt from ground, camping and stabling fees.
The schedule is now available on Main Events and the organising committee looks forward to welcoming all the competitors, wherever they may travel from.
