Pioneering Davao Horse Club is set to stage its 18th Davao Horse Show & Competition come November 24 and 25. Dubbed “The Grand Finale,” the annual horse sport event is the last and final leg of the Philippine Horsemen’s Federation (PHF) Competition Circuit for 2018 hence the tagline. This was announced by Davao Horse Club President Melody B. Gonzales, who, for the first time in the Club’s history, heads an all-woman, or make that an all-cowgirl, Board of Directors. “The competition among horse sport aficionados has been rather fierce this year and we in the Davao Horse Club wanted to end it fittingly with a bang,” she explained.
Indeed, there has been great interest in horse sport, and consequently of horse shows and competitions, in Mindanao in 2018. As proof of this, the Provincial Government of Davao Oriental and the Kidapawan City Government each held their own first horse shows in Mati and Kidapawan, North Cotabato, in June and August, respectively, urged as they were by newly-minted horsemen from their constituencies. The Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur started its own version last year, taking up the cudgels from the town of Bunawan, and continued it this year. So did the town of Malita in Davao Occidental. Aside from the Davao Horse Club, other original members of the PHF, i.e. the Malaybalay Horsemen’s Association and the Cagayan de Oro Horsemen, each hosted their own shows in March and August this year. On the other hand, to bolster their membership size, the Impasugong Horsemen in Bukidnon joined up with the Misamis Oriental Horsemen to form MOBHA. The Cebu riders have split into two, one group based in the City and the other in Carmen at the Lhuilliers’ safari park where riders are stationed. In Luzon, an active group of horse people based in Clark Economic Zone is on its 10th Horsefest, organized by the El Kabayo Stables. Its members are regular participants in Davao Horse Shows. For sure, the horse industry can only get bigger and brighter, and horse sport more popular in the coming years.
Davao’s event is the oldest of them all. At 18 years, it is the longest-running horse sport event of its kind in the country, supported mainly by the City Tourism Operations Office of the City Government of Davao, the Department of Tourism Region XI and the Philippine Sports Commission who all espouse sports tourism. Select private corporations have also been supportive of the activities of the first horse club organized in Mindanao. Now, offering to close the 2018 PHF Competition Circuit with flair, the Davao horsemen-hosts have prepared a competition like no other. In addition to the mainstay races such as the Barrel Race, the Obstacle Race and the Oval Race, they are throwing in the first Mr. and Ms. Davao Horse Show Contest for good measure while continuing on with Davao signature events like the Drill Team Competition and Halter Class Competition. The former incorporates music to a drill routine on horseback, displaying the riders’ team work as well as the members riding skills. The latter is a contest that determines who is the most beautiful horse of the lot, and perhaps in the whole of Mindanao. Breeders from Davao and Bukidnon are expected to converge for this one important quest to show off their pure Quarter Horses, their Arabians, Thoroughbreds and their mixed breeds. Horse enthusiasts, from kids to executives, and men and women of all ages competing are classified into the following categories: youth, ladies, novice, intermediate, expert, executive, royal and auxiliary. For the Barrel Race, there is a Kiddies category and while the ladies have their own category, they have the option to slug it out with the guys in the other categories.
Project Coordinator Alyssa B. Gonzales, a young Davao horsewoman, expressed confidence that at least one hundred fifty horses and two hundred horsemen are coming to participate in the Davao event. She is inviting whole families to watch as most members of the Davao Horse Club, she said, are whole families who love to ride together. If the enthusiasm of this champion Davaoena rider is any indication, the 18th Davao Horse Show & Competition will no doubt become the Grand Finale! Venue is the Davao Horse Club Open Field located inside a private property (with appropriate street sign showing direction) in Shanghai, Matina Aplaya, Davao City. It is open to the public and admission is free. gwmisa
