Emma Mann-Meginniss Soared to the Tri-Color Win in the CPHA Style Of Riding Championships
Photo © ESI Photography
For Immediate Release:
THERMAL, Calif. – November 6, 2020 – Equitation riders stepped up to the challenge this afternoon as the CPHA Style of Riding Championships was held in the Grand Prix Stadium at the Desert International Horse Park. A total of seventy-five horse and rider combinations took to the first round and the top ten riders were asked back for additional testing in round two. In the end, it was Emma Mann-Meginniss (Oakland, CA) who was crowned champion. Second place was awarded to Juliette Joseph (San Diego, CA) and third place was presented to Jamye Omand (Sacramento, CA) respectively.
Equitation riders were tested across twelve obstacles against a time allowed of seventy-one seconds and, to make it even more challenging, the first round ran well into the night and riders were able to compete under the lights in the stadium. Ten competitors were brought back for the jump-off. The shortened course had eight obstacles and against a fifty-four second time allowed. Course designer Manuel Esparza (MEX) presented two well-rounded courses with plenty of challenges and options for riders to take. Mann-Meginnis reigned supreme to earn the tri-color as the most consistent across the two rounds.
Based out of Oakland, California, Mann-Meginniss is elated to return to the equitation arena. As an amatuer, she has been aged-out of the big equitation classes for a few years and been competing in the jumpers at the majority of the shows she attends. Her mount Erolie, a ten-year-old gelding owned by Louisa Ward, started out in the hunter derbies with trainer Lindsey Archer before transitioning into the equitation with Mann-Meginniss. At eighteen hands tall, ‘Tiny’ was able to leave out strides during round one to help make the tight time allowed.
“[The course] walked a little more open than it ended up riding. Once you got in there and got on ring pace, from one to two, it all sort of flowed. I have a very large strided horse, so I did a lot of the leave outs,” mentioned Mann-Meginniss. “There was a line across the middle we walked in a seven to a one to a eight, but I ended up just galloping up in seven. It invited much more of a jumper style to stay within the time allowed.”
Mann-Meginniss proved worthy of the champion title after exceeding expectations from the tasks asked of her. She performed her first round during the afternoon daylight and came back hours later, under lights, to clinch the tri-color.
“I went during daylight during my first round and under the lights in my jump-off. It was definitely different. I think there is a different feeling in the ring with the lights on. It is almost like black walls around you and it creates shadows that you are not necessarily thinking about when you are walking the course hours before,” commented Mann-Meginniss. “For me, I had to be more definite and sure of where I was placing the horse and what I was asking him to do. He was phenomenal but you had to ride a little more in the second round.”
About the Desert International Horse Park
With nearly 1.3 million square feet of competition and riding space, the Desert International Horse Park is one of the largest equestrian facilities in North America. Offering multiple weeks of world-class equestrian competition from October through March, the facility is a destination location for thousands of equestrians, their horses, family and friends for several months annually. Competitors from all over the world travel to Thermal, CA to not only compete but to enjoy everything the desert has to offer.