Hot Sun and Huge Numbers for Kilcoy Show

Supreme Led Exhbit - Janevelyn Pantz On Fire - with owner/exhibitor, K Matters, who was thrilled with the beautiful Horsezone trophy rug

Dicavalli Royal Gianni and Sarah Ryan were awarded Supreme Hack of the Show - pictured here being presented with their prize by Sponsor, Jenny Searle, of Searles Garden Products - a well known national company, based in Kilcoy

The showjumping ring went flat out all day with plenty of entries in all classes

It was 'Mini Mania' at Kilcoy, with huge numbers of the little equines showing, as well as a cavalcade of Mini cars in the Grand Parade!

As far as agricultural shows go, you couldn't get a much more perfect show than Kilcoy Country Show, held on Saturday 21 April!

A foggy start promised a classically hot and clear Queensland autumn day, and by 9.00am the sun was beaming down on the seven main rings, showjumping ring and dressage arena, which were all packed with horses and ponies of every size, shape and colour. 

Typical of ag shows, there were plenty of terrifying monsters for the horses to deal with such as cattle from the fat cattle judging in pens alongside the pony and galloway ring and chainsaw races not far from the western and coloured breeds ring. In addition to these challenges, many of the big horses’ eyes were on stalks at the huge number of miniatures in attendance at the show, and the ponies and horses in harness also added to the degree of difficulty for ridden competitors. That said, anyone who competes at ag shows knows that these are the types of sights their horses have to put up with and most at Kilcoy, if a little spooked to start with, settled in and were soon used to gigs whizzing by, and miniatures - who were all beautifully well behaved - trotting past under their noses.

On the topic of miniatures, it certainly was 'Mini Mania' at Kilcoy on Saturday, with huge numbers of these lovable little equines in attendance and a full programme of classes.

The showjumping ring - which was in a separate area to the main ring - was also extremely well attended, with large numbers in all classes.

Due to the popularity of these rings, both the miniatures and the showjumping went on until dark.

Horsezone, proud sponsor of Supreme Led Exhibit, put up a beautiful trophy rug, which generated plenty of interest and was seriously coveted by competitors. Even though there weren't large numbers in some of the breed classes, there ended up being approximately 15 horses in the Supreme Led Exhibit line up, making it a very tough decision for the judges! Many breeds were represented, from the tiniest miniature up to the largest draught horse, with everything in between. Judges finally decided to pick a shortlist to assist with choosing the final winner. The shortlisted equines, all fine examples of their breed, included an Australian Saddle Pony - Janevelyn Pantz on Fire, Quarter Horse - A Cool Phenomenon, Miniature -Tyrone Park Zyera and Thoroughbred - Corvi and Cowan's, Symphony.

After much deliberation from the judges, there can only be one Supreme Led Exhibit and at Kilcoy this honour went to the very elegant Australian Saddle Pony, Janevelyn Pantz on Fire. Owner and exhibitor of this lovely horse, K Matters was thrilled with the win and the Horsezone trophy rug!

Once all the breed classes were wrapped up, it was on with the hacks and there good numbers across all rings, meaning that Supreme Hack wasn’t judged until late and only the pony, Rothwell All Time High (ridden by Isabella Sheridan) and the show hunter, Dicavalli Royal Gianni (ridden by Sarah Ryan) had hung around to compete, which was a shame. Not to worry, because both were fine examples of their types and did superb workouts, which were a pleasure to watch!

This year, the stunning show hunter, Dicavalli Royal Gianni was sashed as the Supreme Hack, much to his owner/rider Sarah Ryan's delight.

Sarah and the gorgeous Gianni had a super show winning not only the Show Hunter Hack, Champion Show Hunter and Supreme Hack, but also Champion Girl Rider. Hailing from Dulong on the Sunshine Coast, talented 14 year old Sarah has only had Gianni for a year and couldn't be happier with her gorgeous big boy. A Warmblood x Arabian, bred by Di George, of Dicavalli Stud in Samford, Gianni was only gelded six months prior to Sarah purchasing the now seven year old.  Gianni was campaigned by Paul Austin for a short period of time, prior to becoming Sarah's and has had a successful show career since, including wins at the 2011 Brisbane Royal. The picture perfect pair has already qualified for Brisbane Royal this year and we look forward to seeing them out and about at future shows!

So that's it for Kilcoy Show until 2013, when the committee are hoping for an even bigger and better event, with more show hunter hack classes and the screaming chainsaws moved further away from the horses!

Story: Jo Johnson/Horsezone

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