For one week every year hundreds of the best show
horses in the western United States descend on the Hood River
area for the Hood River Classic at Jensen Mills Meadows.
This year will be the 17th for the show, which
has come a long way from its humble roots.
In 1992 the first Hood River Classic was held at
Hood River Valley High School. About 80 horses and their riders
attended.
Things have grown considerably since then.
Show director Lynn Everroad has been with the
show since the beginning, and is amazed at how far it has come
since then.
“We don’t necessarilly want to be the biggest
show around,” she said. “We just want to be the best.”
The show made the move to Jensen Mills Meadows in
1999 and has been there ever since. The sprawling grounds of the
Meadows will again host the show when it begins today.
The show is split into two elements, the Hunter
section and the Jumper section.
The hunting group is derived from obstacles faced
by English fox hunting horses and must jump over fences of
different sizes and is judged on the details of their appearence
and performance.
“The Hunter class is more subjective, it’s sort
of a beauty contest,” Everroad said.
The jumper class has more obstacles and is timed
through the course.
“It’s a horse race,” Evverroad said. “It’s more
of a ‘Yee-Haw’ kind of thing than the Hunter class.”
The show will run Wednesday through Sunday with
the $10,000 Hood River Inn Grand Prix competition providing the
highlight of the show on Saturday evening.
There is no admission Wednesday and Thursday, and
admission Friday through Sunday is $6 per person or $7 per car.
