Olivia Dorey and Ali Baba B Win The NAL Low Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Final — Al Cook – www.alcookphoto.com 

Dorey and Ali Baba B, a seven year old gelding, were one of six horse and rider combinations to go clear over the first course to advance to the jump off round.  Many of the other pairs had faster times than Dorey, but could not leave all the fences intact. 

“The course seemed made for my horse,” said Dorey.  “I get excited when I look at a course and see left hand turns, because he’s really good at those, he has a natural left drift. The left turn after jump 2 really helped us out because he landed right on that left standard and galloped right on to the next jump.”

The left drift paid off for Dorey as she and Ali Baba B left all the fences up and crossed the timers in 36.296 seconds,  a full 3 seconds faster than the only other double clear, posted by second place recipient Christina Firestone with Mr. and Mrs. Bert Firestone’s Chantilly, who cleared the tract in 39.287 seconds.

 “I have ridden him for a year and a half and have owned him for a year,” said Dorey of Ali Baba B.  “I rode him in the six and seven year olds, so he is a young jumper and I’ve been paired up with him ever since, and he has won a lot of classes along the way.  I’ve never thrusted any horse as much as I trust this one. You point him at a jump and he just goes. I absolutely love him.  I’ve never done jumpers indoors, this was my first real Final event so it was a lot of fun.”

The NAL hosts National Finals at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg and West Coast Finals at the Las Vegas National Horse Show. The NAL offers a great opportunity for competitors across the country to compete in five divisions: Adult Hunter; Children’s Hunter; Adult Jumper Presented by SmartPak; Children’s Jumper Presented by EquiFit; and Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Presented by UltrOZ. The qualifying season for the NAL runs from September 1 through August 31. Anyone can compete in NAL qualifying classes, but only current members are awarded points. Joining the NAL is the best way for riders to get the points necessary to make it to the Finals. Annual memberships are only $40 per rider.

For more information regarding the North American League series please call (717) 867-5643, email to NAL@Ryegate.com or visit www.ryegate.com. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NALFinals.  Compete results from this class can be found by using the following link:  http://ryegate.com/SHOWS/PNHS/results.php?class=229.