Author: tbirdnews

In a sport were speed reigns supreme, Kassidy Keith is finding that sometimes the fastest way to win is to take your foot off the gas. Piloting her longtime partner Havana, the Langley native logged the winning time of 42.31 seconds in Sunday’s CSI3* ATCO Cup Grand Prix 1.50m at Thunderbird Show Park’s Summer Fort Classic—a victory born not from pushing harder, but from holding back.

“I saw one last to the last fence and I just said to myself, slow down one step, get her back, and get her balance back. And it worked out,” Keith smiled.

Three combinations qualified for the jump-off in Olaf Petersen Jr.-designed 1.50m track—each returned faster than the last.

First to return, Bryna Closson and Meteroic Rise set the early standard with a clear round in 45.32 seconds. Karrie Rufer and Mr. Europe shaved nearly a second off that time one round later, stopping the clock at 44.46. Then came Keith and her speedy 13-year-old mare—and dropped it down another two seconds.

“Lately I’ve been turning too tight and then I end up having a rail. I get a little bit greedy. So today I was just trying to go smooth,” said Keith.

For Keith and Havana, who have become one of tbird’s most winning combinations, the victory represents a deliberate shift in approach and first international 1.50m win. 

“She’s always been quite good with the roll backs of any kind. That’s where I’d say I shine,” Keith explained. “She tends to be the fastest in the first rounds a lot of the time, but now I’ve slowed it down. I’m actually taking the time and I’m jumping more clear runs at this height.

“My thinking lately is I would rather double clear than go too fast and have a rail.”

The change in philosophy has been paying dividends since April, according to Keith, who credits a bridle change made in California with making “a world of a difference.”

“It allows me to keep her balance without her getting offended. She keeps the shape through her jump and she’s got a lot stronger with her hind end.”

The win marks another milestone for the local rider, who has her sights set on representing Canada on Nations Cup teams.

“The goal has always been to eventually maybe do some Nations Cup teams,” Keith shared. “I just want to start getting consistency and then maybe we can get another horse sometime soon. We try to use Havana carefully—she’s an older [mare] and I would like to have her for three or four more years.”

National and international competition returns to tbird in September with the Harvest Festival and BCHJA Fall Finale.

$75,000 CSI3* ATCO Cup Grand Prix Top 10

Sometimes the most challenging puzzles yield the sweetest solutions. That was the case for Laura Jane Tidball and MacGyver on Sunday at Thunderbird Show Park’s Summer Fort Classic. In a victory that felt scripted, the pair found the key to Olaf Petersen Jr. demanding 1.40m track in the National Grand Prix, using a bit of ingenuity and clever problem solving in the jump off.

“Off the right turns, he cuts in a little bit, so I wanted to give myself a little room to the second jump,” Tidball explained. “I knew I could easily do one less to the next double. He’s so smart and he’s so careful inside of [combinations]. It makes everything just so much easier.” 

She took a calculated risk on a tight inside turn to the liverpool—”that’s one of the tighter inside turns I’ve done with him. That was a little of a risk, but his left turns are great.”

Not even a momentary counting error could derail her victory.

“My plan was to do one less to the last jump. I miscounted. I thought I was doing 10 [strides] when I pulled on the reins to add,” she laughed. “It happens even to me.”

The pair crossed the timers in 45.32 seconds, finishing over a full second faster than runner ups Jamie Gornall and Earthquake MXL Z’s time of 46.36. Samantha Buirs-Darvill and Chic D Emma Z took third in 52.73.

The victory marks a significant milestone for the partnership. Having started in the 1.15m and 1.20m classes two years ago, unlocking MacGyver’s potential has proven to be a tough code to crack and the 2017 KWPN stallion (Van Gogh x Ahorn) had plenty of his own ideas when Tidball first sat on him. 

“He was quite spooky and always really talented. But there was a lot of gears that were missing,” she reflected.

“To be very honest, the first year I had him, it was a struggle. [At times] I thought, I don’t know if I’m going to figure this out,” Tidball admitted. “He was a bit unrideable.”

Like the resourceful TV hero who shares his name, MacGyver required his own brand of creative problem-solving—and plenty of patience.

“It definitely took an entire team,” she said. “It took a lot of training, a lot of time, a lot of faith.”

The breakthrough came this past April at tbird. “All of a sudden it just was a little easier and it just kept getting a little easier each horse show we did,” Tidball said, noting how their dynamic has since changed.

“I have so much faith in him now. I walk in the ring and if it looks a bit spooky, I’m like, great, I can go faster to that one because he’ll just jump higher,” she said. “It feels like the sky’s the limit right now.”

Sunday’s Grand Prix victory carries special meaning for Tidball, who credits two key women in her life for making the partnership possible.

“Nancy Southern and my mom went for a walk at a horse show two years ago and they came back and they said, ‘You’re gonna try a horse,’” she recalled. At the time, Tidball had recently retired her top mount Concetto Son and didn’t have another horse coming up.

“I think the two of them both saw that I want this so badly and I’m willing to work hard. Together they came up with an idea to give me an opportunity,” Tidball said.

Today, she owns half of MacGyver with Nancy Southern, a partnership that continues to bear fruit.

“They’re two of the most beautiful women I know,” she added. “Having people in your life like that are just a gift, and you can’t replace it. It always gives me a warm feeling when I talk about it.”

Next month, Tidball plans to move MacGyver up to the two-star level at tbird’s BCHJA Fall Finale. “He’s just now ready to kind of step into that next level and I’m so excited about what he’s going to do in the future.”

National Grand Prix Top 10

Rank	Horse	Rider	Nation	Owner	Faults	Time
1	MacGyver	Laura Jane Tidball	CAN	Thunderbird / Attache Stables	0/0	45.32
2	Earthquake MXL Z	Jamie Gornall	GBR	Cherokee Show Horses Inc	0/0	46.36
3	Chic D Emma Z	Samantha Buirs-Darvill	CAN	Samantha Buirs-Darvill	0/0	52.73
4	Domina VH Scheefkasteel Z	Jaclyn Duff	CAN	Windermere Stables Ltd	0/8	44.70
5	Mr. Europe	Karrie Rufer	USA	Morning Star Sporthorses, LLC	0/12	52.16
6	Nefrieda	Jamie Gornall	GBR	Peyton Krahenbuhl	4/-	74.55
7	Connery 53	James Chawke	IRL	Jill Blunt	4/-	76.07
8	Grazie	Justin Prather	CAN	Bradon Equestrian	4/-	77.20
9	New Senator	Jeffrey Fields	USA	Janaya Torres	4/-	77.84
10	A Crown Royale	Ayla Martinoff	CAN	Ayla Martinoff	8/-	79.78

Full results here.

Photo credit: Kim Gaudry Photography

Stella Chernoff is trending in the U25 division.

One week after piloting Lady Cassini 3 to victory in the U25 1.40m Grand Prix, the recent Queen’s University graduate returned to Thunderbird Show Park’s Fort Grand Prix Arena and did it all over again—this time aboard Hippy Boy D’Azur in the U25 1.40m Grand Prix, protected by Western Pacific Emergency Response.

Chernoff and the stallion delivered a double-clear effort, stopping the jump-off timers in 43.58 seconds to claim the top spot. Carly Stevens and ESI Jet Set finished a close second with a double-clear time of 43.79 seconds, while Darby Cook rounded out the podium in third aboard Caya with the fastest four fault time of the first round.

“I was thinking fast but also nice clear,” said the 22-year old of the Olaf Petersen Jr designed jump off. “There was an inside turn to the canoes and I thought about it for a second, but I [decided] just gallop around we’ll be still fast anyway. Then the last line, just give it a really good gallop. He really left it all out there for me.”

For Chernoff, the victory marked her second consecutive win in tbird’s Summer Fort series—and also second win of the week on Hippy Boy D’Azur. The pair also captured Friday’s U25 1.40m jump off class—and discovered a new gear.

“Friday, he was amazing in the jump off. I did not know that he could go that fast,” Chernoff recalled. “I have not done a ton of really going-for-it jump offs with him, so it was kind of fun to test the gears a little bit and try out some turns. He can pick up a really good gallop.”

After that strong showing on Friday, Chernoff entered Sunday’s Grand Prix with confidence—and nerves.

“This morning, I came early, walked the course, and felt a little sick actually,” she admitted. “The course was a lot bigger and more technical than the other two days this week, so I was definitely a little nervous. But he just gives me so much confidence. He feels like he could jump the moon.”

With back-to-back U25 wins yielded the same result, but her two rides couldn’t be more different. While Lady Cassini 3 is a quick, deer-like mare who thrives on speed, Hippy Boy is a bigger mover who demands a different kind of precision.

“My mare, she’s obviously she’s very quick and she has even a bigger stride than him most of the time. So with her it’s that initial little bit of supporting all the time and then making little adjustments [on course],” Chernoff explained. “And then with my stallion, it’s making sure I have my good canter all the way around.”

“It’s actually really easy to switch between the two of them because they are so opposite,” she added.

And while Happy Boy is a fierce competitor in the ring, off it, he’s a gentle giant. “He is actually the sweetest guy ever, he loves pets. But as any stallion does he definitely gets grumpy sometimes—he can bite a little bit—but for the most part he’s very sweet, he loves snuggles, he’s very chill.”

Showcasing the next generation of show jumping talent, the U25 division, protected by Western Pacific Emergency Response, returns to tbird in September for the Finale at the Harvest Festival.  

$15,000 U25 1.40m Grand Prix, protected by Western Pacific Emergency Response Top 10

For James Chawke and the 8-year-old gelding Nandos S, the climb up the ranks has been swift—and successful.

One week after stepping up to the 1.40m height for the first time and winning the Bradon Equestrian National Grand Prix at the Summer Fort Welcome, Chawke and the promising gelding returned to Thunderbird Show Park for the Summer Fort Classic and did it again—this time at 1.45m in Saturday’s CSI3* tbird Winning Round.

The Winning Round format brought the top 10 combinations back in reverse order, with the lead changing hands with nearly every round. Third from last to return, Braden James and Hermes Des Carmilles set the bar, shaving two and half seconds off Jeffrey Fields leading time on Noble. Thursday’s winners Francisco Lomelin and Con Amore fell just short of the mark, slotting ahead of Fields, while Chawke and Nandos S (Van Gogh x Numero Uno) set a new one entirely, dropping the time by another second and a half.

The pair stopped the clock at 40.31 seconds—a double-clear effort that secured the win.

“He is very quick naturally,” said Chawke. “Obviously Braden was fast. I wasn’t sure if I could get 10 [strides] one to two and once I got that I figured I could continue and do the eight [strides to the next] and then just sort of stay on it for the last few jumps.”

For the Irish rider, the victory is another milestone in a carefully managed development program for the young horse, owned by Vanessa Mannix.

“He’s not that much experience. Last Friday was his first 1.40m. Wednesday was his first 1.45m. So we’re just trying to teach him to jump bigger and also be efficient and a bit handier.”

Chawke praised the horse’s natural athleticism and scope. “I mean, he’s wildly talented. He’s a very big step. He’s quite quick in the air. He is careful and he jumps high, but he always keeps going across the jump, which I think helps you land with a bit of foot speed.”

The win caps a remarkable two-week stretch for the partnership at tbird, highlighted by three wins, as Chawke continues to develop the future grand prix contender.

International competition continues Sunday at tbird with the CSI3* ATCO Cup Grand Prix 1.50m. Tickets are available exclusively at tbird.ca/tickets.

$10,000 CSI3* Winning Round 1.45m

Con Amore is Spanish for “With Love.” But Francisco Lomelin’s fiery gelding by the same name brought something else entirely to Thursday’s CSI3* YETI Challenge 1.40m at Thunderbird Show Park: a need for speed.

The Mexican rider piloted the 8-year-old Polish-bred gelding to a decisive victory in the CSI3* Summer Fort Classic, clocking a jump-off time that shaved more than two and a half seconds off the mark set by Jeffrey Fields and Noble. Lomelin crossed the timers in 43.63 seconds, besting Fields’ 46.21-second effort.

The win marks the first international victory for the fleet-footed chestnut, who had just four international starts with Lomelin at the 1.40m level prior to this week’s tournament.

Charlie Jones and Casirado 3 rounded out the podium in third with the fastest four fault first round.

If there’s a hunter derby at Thunderbird Show Park this summer, Nicole Bourgeois is the one to beat. And this week, she proved it once again.

The Oregon-based professional continued her unparalleled run of form at tbird, capturing the $25,000 tbird USHJA International Hunter Derby aboard Vino Bianco at tbird’s Summer Fort Classic. Bourgeois has won every hunter derby she has entered at tbird this summer, cementing her status as the queen of the derby ring.

Or perhaps co-Queen. Bourgeois and her sister Kendall have now won this week’s USHJA International Derby for three consecutive years.

“We were just talking about that,” Nicole said with a laugh. “Kendall said in 2019 she won it. Last year I won it on Connect the Dots and then the year before she won it on Tic-Tac-Toe. We were joking that wow this is a good derby for us!”

Thursday’s win marked a significant milestone for Vino Bianco, the talented mount owned by Hilary Sosne who delivered a two-round total of 380 to claim top honours. The 8-year-old mare won last week’s Amy Brattebo Real Estate Canadian Hunt and Go Derby at tbird, but had yet to break her international maiden.

Bourgeois revealed, “She has placed in so many international derbies, but that poor girl has been a bridesmaid—second or third—so many times. So, this actually is her first international derby win, believe it or not.”

The tbird USHJA International Hunter Derby featured a two-round format, with competitors first tackling the classic hunter round before the top 12 returned in reverse order for the handy round. Course designer Lynn Mullins set a challenging track, with the nine-fence handy round featuring four high options and a hand gallop to the last.

Bourgeois brought four horses to the class and piloted all of them to top-12 finishes. Vino Bianco took the win with 380, while Mc Queen earned third place with 362. Nantucket Bay finished 10th with 274, and Stout placed 11th on 199.5.

“Bianco is a very seasoned derby horse at this point, and so is McQueen,” Bourgeois said. “The course was a bit tough in the first round, so it was very nice to have my two really seasoned derby horses with me. And then my other two are a little bit greener and still figuring it out. But I was really proud that all four got ribbons.”

Molly Graham completed the podium, taking second on Cornaidy with a score of 365. 

With the summer season winding down, Bourgeois’s stable stars will take a well-deserved break before gearing up for Regional Finals.

“They’ll get a little break. A bit of turn out time and we’ll rest up and get ready for Sunshine Series and the Regional International Derby Finals—that’ll be next for them.”

$25,000 tbird USHJA International Hunter Derby Top 10

Rank	Horse	Rider	Nation	Owner	Score
1st	VINO BIANCO	NICOLE BOURGEOIS	USA	HILARY SOSNE	380
2nd	CORNAIDY	MOLLY GRAHAM	CAN	WENDY VALDES	365
3rd	MC QUEEN	NICOLE BOURGEOIS	USA	BARB LOVRE	362
4th	CHOCOTOFF	MORGAN THOMAS	USA	ROBERT FRIES	353
5th	OXO VAN DE BIEN	GEORGIA HUNT	CAN	JOANNE DIXON	341
6th	MACALLAN 1926	AVERY WORTHINGTON	USA	AVERY WORTHINGTON	334
7th	ANDORLENSKY	EMILY HOLMES	USA	RED HORSE STABLES LLC	322
8th	BP SCARLET	JULIA STANLEY	CAN	JULIA STANLEY	304
9th	BY THE NUMBERS	QUINN PARTRIDGE	USA	ASPEN HILL FARM LLC	279
10th	NANTUCKET BAY	NICOLE BOURGEOIS	USA	DAPHNE STAVIG	274

Full results here.

Photo credit: Viola Mitchell Photography

Some partnerships take a short time to build a strong connection. That was the story in the combined Grand Hunter Ring and Dina Happy Hunter Arena at Thunderbird Show Park’s Summer Fort Classic, as two relatively fresh horse-and-rider combinations delivered veteran performances to capture the Open and Jr/Am divisions of the $6,500 Country Lane Farm USHJA National Hunt & Go 3′ Derbies.

Nicole Bourgeois (USA) piloted Coralina to victory and a 186 score in the Open division with a smooth, confident round that belied the fact it was their first derby together. In the Jr/Am division, Kelsey King (USA) and Champagne Problems proved that a partnership forged just a few months ago can look like years in the making, topping the field with a score of 181.

The Hunt & Go Derby format is a single-round competition that seamlessly blends the Classic and Handy hunter rounds into one uninterrupted trip, rewarding handiness, adjustability, and boldness. The Lynn Mullins’ designed course featured 13 fences with two high options in both the Classic and Handy sections. A key decision point came at fence 11, where riders could choose their lead for the rollback to fence 12 before a hand gallop to the final fence.

For Bourgeois, the win was a testament to trusting her mount. 

“I thought the whole round was actually really smooth. She is a very seasoned national derby horse, so I knew that she knew what she was doing and I’ve been told she’s really good at the handy [rounds], so I just kind of winged it and she was fabulous,” smiled Bourgeois, noting that she appreciated the optionality built into the course.

“I really liked the option at the end of the ring to the hay bales that you could turn either way on the landing. I thought that was really nice of the course designer to give us a little choice without making our brain hurt too much.”

Coralina is a new ride for Bourgeois, but the frequent derby winner had inside information working in her favour.

“She’s a sweetheart. She just moved to us a couple weeks ago from my good friend Lindsey Gardner, so I’m lucky that I have all the insider information. But at the end of the day, she is a lovely horse and I’m very lucky to have gotten to ride her.”

King’s victory aboard Champagne Problems (aka, Henry) was the culmination of a partnership that only began in April. King started a summer lease on the horse when his owner became pregnant—a decision that has clearly paid dividends.

“Henry was super brave and really confident, and he was just right there with me from the start to finish,” King said. “I thought the first couple of bending lines were a bit technical, there’s a lot of different options in terms of the number of strides you could get. We stuck with our plan and he was just right there and happy to do it. I’m just super proud of him.”

King credited the support system around her for making the opportunity possible.

“We’ve only been working together for a few months now and our partnership has just grown so much. I’m so grateful for everyone at Goodwin [Horses] and for his owner, Kalli [Heffner Gray], for giving me this opportunity.”

Describing her partner’s personality, King couldn’t help but smile.

“Henry is very silly. He can be kind of spooky at home. He doesn’t love the white boxes, but he’s a very good boy. He’s very loving. He’s very sweet. He’s just a goofy guy.”

Thursday’s derby classes conclude the 2026 Country Lane Farm USHJA National Hunter Derby series. Georgia Hunt and Paddington won the overall series, earning a Butet hunter bridle, martingale, and girth based on accumulated scores.

$6,500 Country Lane Farm Open USHJA National Hunter Derby Hunt & Go 3’0″

Rank	Horse	Rider	Nation	Owner	Score
1st	CORALINA	NICOLE BOURGEOIS	USA	KATE CHURCHFIELD	186.0
2nd	CASUAL	ISABELLE GRAY	USA	MARIA VAIL	183.5
3rd	REPUTATION	DUSTIN GOODWIN	CAN	KALLI HEFFNER GRAY	182.5
4th	HOMECOMING	DUSTIN GOODWIN	CAN	MELANIE KUECHLE	177.0
5th	CALL ME	KASSIDY KEITH	CAN	DIRECT GROUP SPORT HORSES	176.25
6th	CENTRAL CITY	OLIVIA BUFFONI	CAN	CHANNAY LLOYD	176.0
7th	SPECIAL EDITION RW	ELIZABETH GINGRAS	CAN	KAREN ROGERS	175.0
8th	DIPLOMAT	CHELSEA MCNEILL	CAN	LINDSAY MORRISON	169.5
9th	A’INT HE SPECIAL	KATRINA KLIMACH	CAN	SHENAE JOHNSTON	169.0
10th	QUSTOM Q	HEATHER MACDONALD	USA	ELLE HUBER	168.0

Full results here.

$6,500 Country Lane Farm Jr/Am USHJA National Hunter Derby Hunt & Go 3’0″

Rank	Horse	Rider	Nation	Owner	Score
1st	CHAMPAGNE PROBLEMS	KELSEY KING	USA	KALLI HEFFNER GRAY	181.0
2nd	SEVILLE	ISABELLA FERRARA	CAN	ISABELLA FERRARA	179.0
3rd	KING OF CHEERS	AUDREY SMITH	USA	ALLISON SMITH	178.0
4th	DOLCE’ DACAPO	LISA WILLIAMS	CAN	LISA WILLIAMS	176.0
5th	ZHILLO	SYDNEY ROOTMAN	CAN	HEATHER ARCHER	175.75
6th	LA BOHEME	AMY BAUTISTA	USA	A&B BAUTISTA, LLC	174.5
7th	DARLING SHERLOCK	REID TAPP	CAN	REID TAPP	171.5
8th	RECORD YEAR	LISA PLEASANCE	USA	LISA PLEASANCE	169.25
9th	CASSIONATUS	ELLIE AITCHISON	USA	STACEY LUCKO	168.75
10th	OCHO	DENIM SCHNEIDER	USA	MARIA VAIL	168.0

Full results here.

Photo credit: Viola Mitchell Photography