Showjumping teams to contest Rutherford Cup

Press, 12 November 1985, Page 36

Showjumping teams to contest Rutherford Cup

By

PATRICIA WINDER

The Rutherford Cup, valued at more than $35,000 and regarded as the “Ranfurly Shield” of show jumping, will be at stake at the Canterbury show this week. The cup will be competed for by area teams comprising four riders and their A and B grade horses. The scores of the best three competitors in each of two rounds will count towards the cup. Already teams from Canterbury, Bay of Plenty and Southland have entered.

The cup event is sponsored by Trusteebank Canterbury and will be held on Thursday evening. The guest of honour at this spectacular event will be Mrs Monica Rutherford, of Amberley, widow of the cup’s donor, Mr Ben Rutherford. Mrs Rutherford will present the cup to the winning team.

The cup has a chequered history, and was orginally presented as a New Zealand cup for galloping at Riccarton. It was won in 1921 by Mr Rutherford’s father with his horse Royal Star and in 1955 Mr Rutherford, who

was then president of the New Zealand Horse Society, presented it to the society for a provincial teams event.

The cup was initially competed for at Horse of the Year shows, but now different regions host the event. It was changed to an area team contest in 1982.

Traditionally, the cup was filled with champagne supplied in his day by Mr Rutherford, and passed around all the teams.

The cup holds five bottles and the rising cost of champagne has probably put an end to the tradition. The cup was won last year by the Hawke’s Bay team. The Hansen family, of Hawke’s Bay, has had a long association with the cup by having horses in most winning teams. The three Hansen brothers, Kevin, Warwick and Chris, made it a family affair in 1982 when they won the cup on horses from their own stable.

Another exciting event on Thursday evening’s programme will be the scurry and teams event for Shet-

land ponies. Those people who saw them in action at Ellesmere on Labour Day were captivated with their performance. Following the scurry will be a costume parade of Arab horse exhibitors and a round-the-ring race by the harness horse entrants. A highlight of the evening’s entertainment will be the equestrian musical quadrille sponsored by C. S. Stevens. Twenty-four horse and rider combinations have spent many hours perfecting a 20 minute routine where taped music provided by the Royal New Zealand Air Force Brass Band at Wigram gives a rollicking background for the horses to perform an eye-catching precision display. Creating this effect requires much discipline, time and effort and even the most simple movement needs hours of practice. The temperament of each horse and rider must be respected and treated accordingly and the finished effect will prove what can be done by enthusiasm and dedication. The quadrille will be presented at 7 p.m. on Thursday and repeated at 12.45 p.m. on Friday, just prior to the Grand Parade. On Wednesday, the Wrightson N.M.A. AM3 event for B grade horses has drawn 19 entries. Colin Mclntosh will ride Real McCoy and his wife, Penny, from the Taupo Equestrian Centre will compete also. A favourite with the crowd, Mrs Ngaire Lamb, of Southland, will ride Beaumont which took the A and B grade championship at Ellesmere on Labour Day

and also top honours at the Ashburton show.

Local riders with a good chance are Brian Costello, on Merry Orbit, and Mrs Vicky Hansen, on Sunnybrooke. Others include Miss Cynthia Preece, riding Beat the Bullet, and Richard Hampton, of Rakaia, with Rich Hill. Also on Wednesday, the Gamblers Stakes for A and B grade ponies has attracted a field of 10. Placegetters in this event could include such well-known combinations as Miss Phillipa Horn, riding Royal Blaze, Miss Leah Meares, on Barnacle Bill, Phillip Honeywell with the wellknown Navaho, or one of the top combinations in Canterbury,- Miss Mary Wakeman and Cobber. This pair won the 14.2hh section of the John McEwing Mini Circuit and was second in the Labour Day Championship. © Continued next page.