THE prestigious Bega Showjumping Cup event is turning 20 this December and to celebrate, the Bega Showjumping Club will be hosting an eight-day long party!
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From Monday, December 28 to Monday, January 4 the Bega showground will be home to hundreds of horses and their families who have come to participate in the massive seven-day showjumping program and celebrations.
Two rings of showjumping will be on display throughout the festival with a rest from competition on New Year's Day.
The very first Bega Showjumping Cup was held over three days leading up to New Year's Eve in December 1995.
The Bega Showjumping Club had always hosted an annual championship but some prominent Bega business people fell in love with the sport of showjumping and saw huge potential in turning the championships into a major event on the Australian Showjumping calendar.
This group of local business people put their idea to the club.
The club was sceptical. In the minutes of a club meeting held on February 8, 1995 the general response was recorded as "...the club discussed whether or not they really want to be involved in such a big weekend. Perhaps it would be better to start off small and gradually work up to be a big weekend with big money. It was decided that a second committee be formed to run the championships and not involve the club. Committee members are prepared to help."
Little did the club know that they were going to be swept up into one of the biggest, most grand events to ever be staged in Bega.
The Bega Showjumping Cup Committee was formed with the likes of Geoff Williams, Anna Glover, Susie Pfieffer, Caitlin O'Connell, Helen Slater and Noel Perry with the strong business minds and club members Richard Otton, Jeffrey Otton, Sue Smith, Graham Johnson and Chris Smith helping out with the horse side of things.
The committee set themselves a huge task but just over 10 months later, the very first Bega Showjumping Cup was run and won and to say it was a huge success is an understatement.
The committee organised what was at the time the richest showjumping event in Australia with over $30,000 in prizemoney, all of which was donated by local businesses.
The event was spectacular with extensive television and print promotion and coverage, sponsor and rider VIP marquees, overseas guest riders, Australia's best riders competing for a place in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Team and entertainment in all shapes and forms.
It attracted so many entries, the lights had to be turned on and competition continued on well into each night.
Volunteers came out of the woodwork to help and witness one of the most successful and exciting events ever seen in Bega.
The New Year's Eve party was massive and Bega left a huge impression on the many visitors that attended that year.
That first event is still fondly spoken about today with many riders continuing to return every year since.
The Slater family has been a large part of the event since its inception.
Malcom and Helen Slater operated the local Ampol fuel depot and were more than happy to come on as naming rights sponsors in the first few years of the cup.
The first events were known as the Bega Ampol Showjumping Cup and then later changed to the Caltex Showjumping Cup.
The rich Futurity Event has always held a special place in Helen's heart and was fittingly named in her honour several years ago.
Following the death of Malcom, an award in his memory is given to the rider with the highest point score in ring one each year.
Helen is still an active worker on the committee and vows to keep on sponsoring until she dies.
Other naming rights sponsors of the cup include Bega Cheese, Bakers Delight and The Grand Hotel.
The Bega Showjumping Club certainly changed its tune in the lead up to the second cup event.
The minutes from meetings in the following year were much more positive and pro-active. In a way, Bega were trail blazers for small clubs all around the country as today almost every showjumping club hosts a great event but the buzz created by those early days of the Bega Showjumping Cup is almost impossible to replicate.
In 2008 the committee dissolved and now the cup is run and organised solely by Bega Showjumping Club members.
It is a huge job every year but the satisfaction of staging such a popular and successful event each year far outweighs the stress and long hours of tireless work.
Of course the success is not only due to the hard working volunteers but also the many, many generous sponsors who support the Bega Showjumping Cup.
It goes without saying that the generosity of local businesses is amazing and something that local sporting clubs and organisations cannot survive without.
Thank you to all of the cup's sponsors, both now and over the past 20 years.
Plan's for this year's 20th anniversary celebration are in full swing.
For the latest news and information on this year's event and everything to do with the club, head to the club's website.