The showjumping at Mortlake this weekend was of an excellent standard regardless of the name change to this great weekend on the Victorian Showjumping calendar! And to be honest jumpingaround.com are well aware that this is no longer the Buskers Festival Showjumping but we admit to not knowing what the new name is......but regardless of the name this would have to have been one of the most emotional weekends of showjumping and as you read through our coverage all will be revealed!

The showjumping in Mortlake is run by the Caramut Riding Club, which is one of the oldest riding clubs in Australia and boasts members such as Bill and Mavis Roycroft and Colin and M Kelly who are without doubt founders of performance horse sport in Australia and they do a fabulous job putting on this weekend.

The support for this show comes from Woodglen Percheron Stud and The A.C.E group, Clarke Pies, JohnWilsher.com, Peter and Di Kemp, Fiona John, the Mt Shadwell Hotel and Stables Motel - these are the people who keep this show running at such a high standard.

the ground maintenance and the hard work has paid off. The arena is an excellent size and the equipment used by the Caramut Riding Club is also very good - the gear has been built by local members with the assistance of John Wilsher who is known for building the best jumping equipment in Australia.

Officials for the weekend - the Course Designer was John Wilsher from Mount Gambier who makes "a weekend" of the show bringing his caravan and wife to Mortlake - now he did get prime parking position (pictured below right) which was ringside and some did suggest this was to enable him to "have a little nap if he got tired during the day!"

The Judges box was under the care of Peter Kemp and his penciller was wife, Di - and this is where some of the emotional part of this show began!

Peter has decided to "call it a day" with Judging for health reasons and this show is to be his last appearance in the Judges box. I would suggest that many are hoping that Peter's health will improve or stabilise sufficiently that we may see him back in the Judges box for perhaps a few "special" shows as his retiring is a great loss to showjumping and

I suspect that showjumping people won't realise just how great a loss until they try and replace both Peter and Di to cover the many shows throughout Victoria and South Australia that these two have been doing over the past 26 years!

The Mortlake Show is always known for its relaxed atmosphere which may be due to the beautiful weather we always seem to have there and also the swimming pool right "there" which means that a quick dip sometimes happens between classes and then there is the Mt Shadwell Pub and Rooms which is a quick trot across the road - so everything you could possibly need to put everyone in a good mood is there and there are always those who have a "play" during the day................

Pictured left: Flash (aka Jamie Kermond) seems, at this stage to have the upper hand on girlfriend Dink (aka Di Sutherland) but that advantage didn't last.... as we see pictured below left......as Dink turns the tables and seems to be in control..... but then as we see in the photo below right Flash seems to be in trouble as Dink holds the advantage but I think Flash ended with the win......