Dani Beavers and Sweetness Gallop to Victory in Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumpers at Dallas Harvest Horse Show

Tyler, TX – October 31, 2009 – The Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumpers showed at the Dallas Harvest Horse Show this afternoon, and Dani Beavers and her horse Sweetness were the class winners after completing the fastest jump-off round over course designer Conrad Homfeld’s technical track. The 2009 Dallas Harvest Horse Show features three-star jumper classes with some of the top horses and riders in the country competing through November 1. The show is a very active supporter and contributor for Habitat for Horses, one of the largest equine protection organizations in the country.

Sixteen entries showed in today’s Junior/AO Jumper class, and out of those original entries, eight went clear over the first round course to jump off. Dani Beavers and Sweetness were the third pair to attempt the shortened course, but their time of 38.988 seconds was the fastest within the 49-second time allowed, and held on to first place through the completion of the class. Caroline Beecherl and CR Gardenia followed with their clear jump-off round in 39.109 seconds, but were just off the mark to finish in second place. Nigel Potts went next with Opportunity Knocks and was also double clear, but just over a second slower in a time of 41.302 seconds to take third place.

Class winner Dani Beavers is 18 years old from Argyle, TX, and trains with Matt Cyphert of Woodhill Farm. Beavers began riding at the age of five and has now been training with Cyphert for a year and a half.

Beavers won today’s class aboard Sweetness, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding that she has owned for three years. “I bought him as an investment and I wasn’t supposed to ride him because I always fall in love with my horses, but I showed him one time and won. My parents fell in love with me on him, so I have been riding him ever since,” Beavers stated.

“He is special,” she laughed. “You can’t just sit around and hope he gets there; he really makes you work for it. You have to support him because he needs some accuracy and some confidence. We didn’t start out doing very well because I wasn’t terribly accurate, but he made me work and he has taught me a lot. Now we are number one in Zone 7, so we have gotten pretty consistent.”

Beavers noted that today’s course was very technical and explained that it was good for her horse. “He rides the technical ones the best,” she stated. “He is very with me and he moves up when I ask him to. For the jump-off I just wanted to go as fast as I could and make all of the tight turns. I made all of the inside turns and just kept kicking.”

Beavers hopes to move up to competing at the grand prix level and acknowledged that since Sweetness does not jump much higher than the Low Junior height, she will be selling him soon. She has a few other horses that she shows and hopes that they will step up to the bigger classes when she is ready.

As for next season, Beavers plans to show at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, in February, and will also compete in Colorado. Throughout the rest of the year she will continue attending horse shows in Texas and noted that she loves the Texas Rose Horse Park. “Tyler has a lot of shows all year long, so we come here a lot,” she said. “It is just so pretty out here. It is outdoors and the footing is really nice. It is just a great show.”

Competition at the 2009 Dallas Harvest Horse Show will continue tomorrow with the week’s feature event, the $25,000 Harvest Grand Prix, benefiting Habitat for Horses. The competition will also feature the EMO Equitation Cup Finals in the morning, as well as a $2,500 High Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic following the grand prix. For more information on the 2009 Dallas Harvest Horse Show, please visit www.southboundsshows.com.

For more information on Habitat for Horses please visit www.habitatforhorses.org.

Dani Beavers and Sweetness

Photo Credit: Dani Beavers and Sweetness won today’s Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper class at the 2009 Dallas Harvest Horse Show. Photo C 2009 Lauren Fisher/PMG. Photograph may be used only in relation to this PMG press release.

RESULTS Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumpers

1. Sweetness and Dani Beavers – 0/0/38.988

2. CR Gardenia and Caroline Beecherl – 0/0/39.109

3. Opportunity Knocks and Nigel Potts – 0/041.302

4. Ciara and Linda Law – 0/0/42.294

5. Tumba and Katherine Le Blanc – 0/0/45.098

6. Free Bird and Carson Gibson – 0/0/45.755

7. Mirage and Caroline Gibson – 0/0/45.938

8. MTM Patent Pending and Kimberly Brunson – 0/7/51.642

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