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Cochise having a sweet moment with his owner, Lou Gonda.
RECENT EVENTS
New Mare Added to SCI Breeding Program
In 2019 we were thrilled to welcome Maya, an Andalusian cross, to our SCI breeding program. Since her arrival, she has settled in and has become best friends with our senior broodmare Tequila. A big thank you to our friends, Frankie and Captain Fullilove, for trusting us with Maya.
New 2020 Foals
-"El Campeon's Miranda", a beautiful 2020 filly out of Maya and El Campeon's Donatello.
- "El Campeon's Cruz" A 2020 colt out of Jennifer Stewart's Champion Andalusian PRE mare Heliodora Roy and our SCI stallion El Campeon's Donatello.
PAST EVENTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
El Campeons' Summer Invitational Show 2019- August
El Campeon Farms was proud to host it's first ever Working Equitation show in August of 2019. Our ranch and show staff did an incredible job and we were able to sell out two individual shows! After receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback we have decided to make this show a yearly tradition.
Here are the results for our horses-
Cochise, Novice A Open
High Point Champion
Novice A Open Champion
Christmas, Intro Open (Saturday)
High Point Champion
Intro Open Champion
SCI Truffles, Intro Open (Sunday)
Intro Open Champion
Andalusian World Cup, Las Vegas- September 2019
Cochise, Novice A Open Champion
Donatello, Intro Open Champion
North American Working Equitation Championships- 2019
Norfleets Will Do, Intro Open Champion
Truffles, Intro Open 3rd Overall
Donatello, Intro Open 4th Overall
Cochise, Novice A Open 3rd Overall
April 25-27, 2019- Burbank Showcase Multi-Breed Show-
The teamwork, dedication, preparation, and passion from ALL of those on the SCI team came together in a magnificent way at the Burbank Showcase Working Equitation show this past weekend. Plans don't always unfold the way you imagine them, but when they do it feels so good! Cochise received the highest score of the show with 76% and received his first ever "10" on an obstacle. A special thank you to our fearless leader and coach, Christy Reich. She has dedicated endless hours of her time to not only help further the development of the breed as a whole but her weekly lessons have also played a key role in furthering the training of each individual SCI horse. We could not be more proud of the horses and people on our team!
El Campeon's Cochise- Division Champion
1st in Dressage
1st in Ease of Handling
2nd in Speed
High Point Champion
El Campeon's Donatello- Division Champion
3rd in Dressage
1st in EOH
High Point Champion
El Campeon's Truffles
2nd In Dressage
Norfleets Will Do (aka "Christmas")- Reserve Champion
1st in Dressage
3rd in EOH
Reserve High Point Champion
April 7, 2019- Working Equitation Ramona Show-
Following the WE seminar, the Santa Cruz Island Horses and team had the opportunity to show under international judge, Antonio Vicente. We showed our breed ambassador, Cochise, Donatello, and the newest addition to the team Truffles, one of our SCI breeding stallions. Donatello and Truffles placed 1st and 2nd in their Intro division, receiving many positive remarks from the judge. Cochise was our superstar, placing 1st in his division and receiving a 70.5%, the highest score of the show!
April 2019-Western Dressage and Working Equitation Seminars-
April has been such an educational month for the SCI team. We feel so privileged to have been able to participate in training seminars and clinics for Working Equitation and Western Dressage! Both of these sports have had a pivotal role in the development of our preservation program for the Santa Cruz Island Horses. WD and WE have provided a platform for our wonderful breed to able showcase their personalities and abilities. Christy and Abigail had the chance to learn from WE international judge, Antonio Vicente as well as WD trainers Frances Carbonel and Cliff Swanson.
2018 YEAR END AWARDS
WORKING EQUITATION -
Cochise and Abigail finished the year strong and placed 3rd Regionally in the Novice A Division of Working Equitation!
Monterey and Jeff had a great year and placed 8th Nationally and 3rd Regionally in the Intro Division!
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WESTERN DRESSAGE - Cochise and Abigail were regional Champions in Western Dressage Level 1, and Reserve Champion in the Open division. Additionally they also were high point champions within our local show circuit! Their highest score of the season was 78.5! Monterey and Jeff placed 4th regionally in Western Dressage Basic Level, and they were local high point champions with their highest score reaching 70%.
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WESTERN DRESSAGE - Cochise and Abigail were regional Champions in Western Dressage Level 1, and Reserve Champion in the Open division. Additionally they also were high point champions within our local show circuit! Their highest score of the season was 78.5! Monterey and Jeff placed 4th regionally in Western Dressage Basic Level, and they were local high point champions with their highest score reaching 70%.
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Sept 19-22, 2018 - Andalusian World Cup - This year we took our Santa Cruz Island breed ambassador, Cochise, on an adventure to Las Vegas for the Andalusian World Cup Show held indoors at South Point Hotel and Casino. The loud echoes of excited stallions, trucks unloading, staple guns firing, and the slippery pavement was certainly a cause for concern for the first few hours, but Cochise quickly settled into his new atmosphere.
In addition to competing in one of our favorite sports ever, Working Equitation, Cochise and Abigail competed in their first dressage show!
Warm up and exploration was all that was on the to-do list for the first day. Cochise was overwhelmed with curiosity and astonishment at all the odd things he saw! Carts attached to horses, moving trees and shrubs (making their way to the WE arena;) and more horses in the warm-up arena than he's ever witnessed in all his life! Throughout all this, our amazing breed ambassador stayed calm and collected and took everything in stride... (literally;)
We were there for 5 days and Cochise brought home ribbons from every event he competed in. He placed 1st in both of his dressage tests AND was High Point Reserve Champion! If you aren't familiar with Working Equitation, there are three different phases; Dressage, Ease of Handling, and Speed. This is one of the top rated and attended shows in the nation and it was easy to see why! Throughout all of the phases, Cochise gave it his all! He and Abby placed 3rd overall in their division and we couldn't be more proud!
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August 9, 2018 - Ventura County Fair Cowboy Challenge - This is one of our favorite shows of the year! Crowded grandstands, friendly competitors, exciting obstacles, and the sound of waves crashing in the background are just a few of the things we look forward to. Cochise was a total crowd pleaser and ended up placing 3rd overall!
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January 2018- Working Equitation Show at Pence Ranch Winery- Abigail and Cochise competed in their first ever working equitation show at the beginning of this year. This sport is relatively new to the US but has been rapidly growing in the past few years! After learning about it’s history, our SCI show team thought it would a great fit for the Santa Cruz Island Horses. At their first show, Abigail and Cochise placed 2nd during the dressage trial and 1st in the Speed trials.
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August 4, 2018 - Santa Barbara Fiesta Rodeo and Stock Horse Show - SCI Ambassadors Cochise and Monterey made us proud as they competed in the trail and ranch horse classes at this annual event! It was fun to see familiar faces from the Ventura area and we were thrilled to see some of the ladies that were part of the original efforts to save the Santa Cruz Island Horses!
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February 2018- Working Equitation Show at PepperGlen Farms- This was Monterey’s FIRST EVER working equitation show- He was shown by Jeff Ohaco and they placed 1st in all three phases AND they were awarded overall CHAMPION for their division. Cochise was his wonderful self and he placed 4th in the dressage phase, 2nd in the obstacle (Ease Of Handling) phase and 3rd in speed phase!
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March 2018- Field Trip Fun- The Santa Cruz Island Horses attract the attention from people of all ages! When local schools come to visit El Campeon Farms, Cochise and Monterey get to show off their moves for all the kids. Our visitors get to learn about what makes our breed special and get to watch as the horses perform different ranch and trail obstacles.
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April 2018- Fiesta of the Spanish Horse - The Fiesta Charity Horse Show, held every year at the LA Equestrian Center is one of the areas most attended equestrian events. This year they added a “Colonial Spanish Horse” class to their featured breed divisions. This gave us a substantial platform to showcase the Santa Cruz Island Horses from El Campeon Farms alongside other horses of similar decent! We were so thankful for the opportunity and we couldn’t be more proud of the 7 SCI horses that we took to the show. Here is a brief glance at the show results.
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English Hack- Abigail and Donatello placed 2nd
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English Pleasure- Abigail and Donatello placed 2nd
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Halter Class, Mares 4yrs and Under- Isabelle placed 2nd
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Halter Class, Mares 4yrs and Under- Ariel placed 3rd
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Halter Class, Mares 5yrs and Over- Coleta placed 2nd
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Halter Class, Stallions and Geldings 5yrs and Over- Donatello placed 2nd
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Halter Class, Stallions and Geldings 5yrs and Over- Truffles placed 3rd
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Western Dressage, Level 1- Cochise and Abigail placed 1st
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Working Equitation- Cochise shown by Abigail Placed 1st in Ease of Handling and 3rd Overall
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Working Equitation- Monterey shown by Jeff placed 3rd in Ease of Handling
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May 20th 2108 - Western Dressage at White Birch Farms - Cochise received his highest western dressage score at this competition! This is our first season in Level 1 and we are so proud of Cochise and all the progress he’s made! He received a lovely score of 74.8
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June 17th 2018 - Working Equitation at PepperGlen Farms - This was such a fun show! Monterey and Cochise were superstars and really gave it their best. Working Equitation is quickly becoming one of our favorite sports! It can definitely be challenging at times, but it is so much fun for both the horse and rider!
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Cochise placed 3rd in Dressage, 2nd in Ease of Handling and Reserve Champion Overall
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Monterey had a good Dressage test and placed 3rd, and everything was going so smoothly in Ease of handling but a small rider error meant a DQ.
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June 30th- Working Equitation Show at Creek Hallow Ranch - We had a fabulous time with the SCI horses at this show! Jeff and Monterey took 2nd place overall in their division! Monterey has come really far this year and Jeff has done a great job building his confidence at home and at these shows. All of their hard work is really starting to pay off! Cochise and Abby had a lot of really great moments throughout the dressage test and ease of handling; However, a rider error in the speed phase meant we got disqualified. With this sport, the devil is in the details! It’s always disappointing, but we took it as a learning moment and moved on. Overall Cochise continues to progress in his training and we couldn’t be more proud of how far he has come, especially this year!