Jenni Martin and horse Rio Grande have only been riding together for a couple of months but the duo won the $15,000 Open Jumper Prix June 30 at the HITS Tahoe show grounds in Minden.
The Open Jumper Prix will be held every Friday during the five-week HITS Tahoe horse show circuit presented by Panacur Powerpac. The next big money event in the series is the $50,000 Rio Vista Grand Prix on July 2.
Martin and Rio Grande won their money on Conrad Homfeld's course design that included 14-jumps. Homfeld, who is an internationally known course designer, was a silver medalist on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Jumping Team.
"I thought it was a nice course," Homfeld said.
Martin and Rio Grande couldn't agree more.
"It was a good technical course," Martin said. "He (Rio Grande) is a big horse with a big stride and he handled the course very well."
Martin will take home $4,500 for Rio Grande's owner Augustin Welch.
For more information on the HITS Tahoe horse shows, contact Mary Hilton at 783-8907.