Horsin' Around Syracuse

It started 125 years ago. Now, the National Horse Show has made its way to the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament. The event that started Tuesday will run through the weekend, with over fifty different class competitions, with first prize winners taking home anywhere from five hundred to one hundred thousand dollars. And that’s per event. But Deborah Sandore of Baldwinsville says just having the opportunity to compete, she is a great accomplishment. “These riders today, you have to have so many points to be in the show. And the other ones, you'd still have to qualify. You have to be, really well ridden.” Wednesday afternoon brought the hunter classes to the War Memorial. Whether it was an event in which the riders and horses had to jump obstacles, or just walking events that consisted of walking, trotting and cantering, the hunter class events are more about the animal. “It's about the form of the horse, and not so much the rider. And the evenness of going over the course” says Linda Peeters. She came from Oneonta to see her daughter, who has loved and ridden horses for over thirty years. She finished eighth and ninth in two events. And while it might be cold and snowy in Syracuse, competitors in this years show are descending upon the Oncenter with their horse trailers in tow from as far as California.