Langer Equestrian Group (LEG) celebrated another great show season in 2011, providing high quality shows for all levels of riders from beginners to internationally competitive riders. The LA National provided an exciting climax to the show season, with medal finals, championships, and the $50,000 Legisequine.com Grand Prix of Los Angeles, a World Cup Qualifier run on the new Olympic Mix footing installed by Rudy Leone.
Rusty Stewart was first to return for the jump off. He and Bristol (Grey Fox Farm, owner) wowed the crowd with an inside track and fast pace to finish double clear in 45.51 seconds. "I just wanted to go smooth and clean," Rusty explained. "I knew Rich (Fellers) would be super fast, so I just wanted to go fast and clean and make the others go faster."
The next two riders, Henrik Gundersen with Quintender 2 (Emille Martinsen Rijsnijk, owner), and Otavio Jourdan Penedo and his ES Carando Z, were not so lucky, each racking up eight faults during their trips. This left the door open for Rich Fellers and Flexible (Harry and Molly Chapman, owners) to step in and challenge Rusty for the top title.
Rich and Flexible screamed through the incredibly tight turns that left little room for error. Flexible neatly cleared each fence, and the stands erupted when they crossed the timer in just 42.78, double clear and nearly three seconds faster than Rusty and Bristol, leaving them in second place. Otavia settled for third, while Henrik placed fourth.
"I actually watched Rusty go because I know how good he is," Rich recalled, "and I felt I didn't need to take any big risks. Flexible is naturally a very fast horse, and I knew his ground speed would do it for us. I thought the course was very good and appropriate for a jump off. Flexible was very fresh, but he settled in and jumped well. He felt good."
The $50,000 Legisequine.com Grand Prix of Los Angeles was truly a national event via live feed shot by Show Jumping Unplugged and presented free of charge by the Jacuzzi Bed Collection featuring JelSleep technology. The on demand video of the broadcast is still available at http://www.todocast.tv/lanational/.
Every year LEG awards four trips to Maui to professionals as part of the Maui Trainer Incentive. The race to Maui in Woodside was dominated by Diane Yeager for much of the year, but Toni and Colin McIntosh and their clients rallied at the Woodside Fall Finale to pass Diane and claim the trip. In Southern California, Deirdra Davis led the whole season at the Verdugo Hills series of shows at Hansen Dam. "I think it's a great program and will always support it," Deirdra commented. "I would go to the shows anyway, but it's a nice incentive for sure. It's a nice way for LEG to give back to the trainers who are here early and stay all day long. The customers get their awards, so it's nice for the trainers to have something."
In Colorado, Michael Dennehy won the trip for the third time. A fourth prize was awarded to the winning team in the Memorial Day Classic Equitation Challenge at LAEC, which in 2011 was Tommi Clark, Devon Manze, and Belle Calkin. The program will continue in 2012, with trainers vying for a Maui trip that will take place during the week of December 8-15.
Looking forward to 2012, LEG will celebrate its 40th anniversary with fun activities all year long to remember the past 40 years and look forward to the years to come. Fans of LEG are encouraged to visit the 40th Anniversary event page on Facebook and share their fond memories of LEG shows.
"I never thought I would have a company this big, but my wife Marnye and I enjoy it immensely," shared LEG CEO Larry Langer. "My goal now is to work on LEG as a business that can and will continue long after I am gone. I want it to keep supporting my family, including all the people and their families that have helped make it so great. I won't live forever, but I want the Langer Equestrian Group to be healthy and live a long time."
An exciting new development for LEG in 2012 is the new Year-end Championship Circuit in cooperation with Blenheim Equisports. LEG and Blenheim will rearrange their blockbuster season ending shows to be in the following order: first, the National Preview, second, the LA National, and third, the Las Vegas National.
The two World Cup Qualifying events will still continue to be held on the same respective weeks as in past years. However, the venues will be swapped. The series will kick off with the National Preview, which in addition to hosting the Los Angeles Hunter Jumper Association medal finals for juniors, seniors, and ponies, will also host an FEI CSI-W Qualifying Grand Prix.
“This is something that Robert Ridland and I have been discussing for several years,” stated Larry Langer, President and CEO of Langer Equestrian Group. “It is an opportunity to bookend the country,” added Robert Ridland, President of Blenheim EquiSports. “I have long felt that the West Coast needed a set of special championship shows like the East Coast has had for decades.”
With another great show season on the books, LEG looks forward to a fun and successful 2012. To learn more about LEG and the shows, visit
http://www.langershows.com or connect on Facebook.