Saturday saw an early start for the jumping horses on the most perfect of mornings with the sun out in a bright blue sky with a gentle breeze keeping temperatures at "perfect" for jumping.

I was surprised at the number of spectators who found their way to the jumping arena for such an early start but then again there was quite a buzz aorund for the four year old jumpers.

Saturday also saw the mircophone turned on and commentary being made for every horse that jumped with an explanation of the marking which was fabulous! This was something which was done in 2007 by Franke Sloothaak and it certainly made for a much more enjoyable class to watch and also made it more interesting as the watching crowds understood what it was the judges were looking for and why certain horses scored better than others - this is an important part of young horses classes which are being judged for style, as there are always so many varying opinions about what is good and what is not!

The message which came through so clearly in all the comments was that most of the horses were so obviously not trained in dressage - and so many of the riders felt it necessary to explain to anyone who would listen that they "do jumping flatwork"! It is painfully obvious that Australian showjumpers still have a strong dislike of the idea of doing "pure dressage" work with their jumpers to develop the strength over the back and the ability for their horses to jump out of the power which comes from the back end of a purpose bred jumping horse.

Australian showjumping was born out of taking the rejects from the racing world and so the riders developed their own method of working them and this did not include "dressage" as many of the horses had already had their brains blown through racing - the "throw them over the fence" method worked and worked at quite a high level but it simply will not work for the new breed of Australian showjumping horses and this message has been given by all the visiting judges to JWTS from its inception in 2002 - perhaps the message got through this year!

The majority of the four year old horses showed tiredness after three days of jumping which is not unexpected - but there were exceptions and Melissa Froesch's Moon War was one of these. This horse would have the biggest feet I have ever seen on a horse and you can hear him coming which leads you to think he would not be all that athletic over a fence - but how wrong can first impressions be! Moon War - pictured below - moved up in todays class with the comments from the judges "this horse has improved over the 3 days - it is a good handy horse. A few heavy touches on fences lost it some marks but the reaction to the touches was good".

Brook Dobbin's GP Marjorie - pictured left - stayed in the placings on Saturday but dropped from equal 4th to 6th place. This mare, who is so like her Irish Sport Horse sire, Carrick Clover, received the following comments from the judges "the horse is possibly getting tired - a careful, pleasant horse who could have a more ground covering canter".

Adam Johnston's dunn horse, Rodd & Gunn did not make the placings today even though this combination jumped a lovely round but it was very obvious this youngster was feeling the effects of three days of jumping and being away from home. The judges commented about him "this horse started well but

is obviously a victim of tiredeness - failed to hold the rhythm of the canter and the tiredness showed at the end when the last two fences fell".

Mark Brennan's, Snowy River Offsider - pictured below - entered the placings today with a lovely round. Offsider, by Sterling Liberty is a nice type of horse and impressed the judges who commented "agin we have found a real jumping type - nice attitude - but another victim of tiredness - this is a horse with a future".

The horse I would personally like to take home this weekend was Russell Johnstone's Gold Park Goldflush - pictured below. This lanky, scopey Irish bred horse has a jump which must give a good feel - the only criticism I would have would be that Goldflush needs slightly more canter but I suspect this will come with maturity - right now the horse doesn't really know what to do with those long legs.

The judges again gave this horse second place which gave it second overall - the judges commented "very nice horse, nice round jump, very nice type of horse" and that really says it all.

The judges comments for almost every horse was that they were showing the effects of 3 days of jumping and were showing tiredness which is totally understandable especially as Australia has been in llock down for most of the 2007/2008 season so horses were definitely all lacking in competition fitness but that is also not something you would be surprised at for 4 year old horses.

The other comment which came across for virtually every horse was the need for more canter and more education, even for the 4 year olds. the judges continued to stress with every horse that at the height they were jumping the flatwork was not going to be an issue for the jump but for these horses to go on to be Grand Prix horses the lack of rideability was going to catch them out from about 1.30m onwards and would be the difference between a super star and a horse which went around a course with fences down.

The overall impression of the current crop of Australian bred babies is very good - the breeding programs are working and the future

is in good hands if these super 17+ four year olds come back in 2009 as 5 year olds and upwards from there.

It will be interesting to see how many of the horses in this weekends 4 year old class come back and have improved as 5 year olds.

Good to see spectators coming to watch the jumping horses - there is no question that in years to come this will be the show to come and see young horses of the future for jumping and I suspect that in the not too distant future this will become very much a "buyers show" - it will be the place to showcase young horses for the buyers.

Pictured above right - the judges from left to right - Brian Sheffers, Sue Coman, Melanie Landmeier.