DIY Amateur Anita Newbigging and Landing Gear win Amateur Masters Jr HUS!

On Thursday morning, June 29th at the 2023 APHA World Championship Show, Anita Newbigging and Landing Gear won the top spot in the Amateur Masters Junior Hunter Under Saddle!

Anita is a DIY Amateur from Ontario, Canada, who gets help from Trainer Kelly Chapman of Michigan. Anita explains and she and “Tango” will get virtual lessons or meet Kelly at a show to obtain her expertise. For this particular show, they hadn’t been able to meet recently, so Anita came a couple of days early.  “We kind of got some bugs fixed that I had, and here we are today,” she explains.

The DIYer bought Tango when he was three months old and just waited on him.

“I showed him four times last year, and the last time he was shown before I came here was last September,” Anita explains.   She says she was really proud of his performance in the Eq on Wednesday, where they earned a Bronze Championship in the Masters Amateur Hunt Seat Equitation 45 & Over.  The pair also won a Bronze in Non Pro 3 Year Old Hunter Under Saddle Sweepstakes this week. “He’s been a good boy considering he’s only been to a handful of shows.”

The third-generation exhibitor did Walk Trot as a Youth, then showed Appaloosa, then moved to showing Quarter Horses when she was 18, and now she shows Quarter Horse and Paint – Tango is double registered.

Besides the assistance she receives from Kelly Chapman, Anita says a DIYer still needs to have a support system in place.  “As much as you’re a do it yourself, are you really a do it yourself? It takes so many people –I might sit up there and do all the riding, but at the end of the day, we have people who have eyes on the ground watching, helping, being pit crew, fly spraying, helping, cleaning, and buffing – it’s a lot even as a DIY.  I’m fortunate, as my mom Sherry still shows, too.”

Her advice for other DIYers: the wins are yours and the losses are yours, but there’s no greater reward than when you do it yourself.

Results for Anita’s class, the Amateur Masters Junior Hunter Under Saddle:

1

LANDING GEAR/NEWBIGGING; ANITA C

NEWBIGGING; ANITA C (E)

2

CHROMED FOR SIRTAIN/HEUKER; DUANE C & JENNIFER J

HEUKER; JENNIFER J (E)

3

MAKIN IT PLATINUM/SHANAHAN; CHRISTINA A

SHANAHAN; CHRISTINA A (E)

4

IMA LOPIN SENSATION/FOSTER; KELLI C

FOSTER; KELLI C (E)

5

AWESOME OVATIONS/SNAPP; TIM AND CINDY

SNAPP; CINDY (E)

6

SOO DRESSED HOT/BRACKEN; LAURA A

BRACKEN; LAURA A (E)