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WELCOME TO JUMP ALBERTA


A GRASSROOTS NOT FOR PROFIT ALBERTA CORPORATION

2021 BURSARY APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN


CHECK YOUR POINTS

2021 Points are now available! Check your standings now.


Click here


2021 GALA TICKETS

Join us January 8, 2022 at the Delta Edmonton South!


CLICK HERE


ABOUT US


Learn more about our mission, vision and our board.


Click here


READ THE FALL 2021 ISSUE OF GRAYT TIMES!


LATEST NEWS

March 14th | 2022 AGM

The 2022 Jump Alberta Annual General Meeting will be held March 14, 2022 at 7:00
pm at Bradon Equestrian Centre, 3039 Township Rd 243, Calgary, AB.

Everyone welcome.

September 16th | Kim Kirton announced as 2021 Symposium Presenter

The 2021 Jump Alberta Symposium on Nov. 20 & 21, 2021 at Rocky Mountain Show
Jumping will feature Kim Kirton as the main presenter.

Few riders and coaches have spent as much of their life in a professional
capacity as Kim Kirton.  Kirton is the daughter of one of the pioneers of
professional horsemen in Canada. She has represented Canada in international
competition, as both a junior and a member of Canada’s senior nations cup team.
She has coached some of the top junior and adult riders in the country. She has
sold horses that have gone on to national and international success, and is an
experienced clinician and judge. Her riding, coaching and judging includes
hunter, jumper and equitation. 
 
Having been one of the most successful junior riders in the history of Canadian
show jumping, Kirton’s coaching career has concentrated heavily on juniors,
young riders and newcomers to the sport. She enjoys finding new talent, in both
riders and horses, and “taking them to the next level”. With over 45 years of
experience serving clients in her father’s stable, then in her own stable, and
the private stables of others, she has amassed an impressive resume.
 
Kirton has the bloodlines to be a champion, and to make riders and horses into
champions. Her father, Gord Kirton, was a rider and one of Canada’s most
respected coaches. Her uncle, Dick Day, was also a pioneer among professional
horsemen. So she was immersed in the horse industry and the sport as long as she
can remember. 
 
Kirton was first put on the back of a horse before she could walk. By the age of
6, she was riding competitively for her father’s clients. She was often the
youngest competitor in the pony ring. She knew immediately that she wanted to
make it her career. By the time she was 8, she often had as many eight pony
mounts for eight different owners. 
 
It wasn’t only the pony ring where she found herself being the youngest. In
1973, as a 4-foot-11-inch, 13-year-old, she jumped against international team
veterans Michael Matz, Jim Elder, Jim Day and Kelly Hall-Holland at the Buffalo
International Horse Show, winning the Power and Speed competition. Newspapers
often described her as her as “little Kim Kirton” and the Cleveland News Herald
dubbed her “Tiny Kim”. 
 
By age 14, she had won ten junior grand prix and was the dominant force in the
junior jumper division in Canada. She was also a regular in junior international
team competition. In the rare position of being a “junior professional”, she
continued to ride multiple horses, for various owners. She and her father were a
partnership. “He’d train them and I’d ride them”, she says. Since age 3, she had
spent two hours a day in the saddle under her father’s tutelage. By age 16, she
had competed at five Royal Winter Fair Horse Shows. It would only be a few years
until she was a member of Canada’s team in the nations cup that was then held at
the Royal.
 
In 1975 she was honoured with the Province of Ontario Achievement Award in
recognition of distinguished performance in amateur sport. That year she had
been a member of winning junior nations cup teams in both Canada and the U.S.,
and earned the Leading Rider title at both. 
 
Kirton represented Canada in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, England,
Ireland, Bermuda, Barbados and on home soil. When she was 17, she broke the
Barbados puissance record, jumping 5 feet, 7-1/2 inches on a borrowed horse.
 
In 1981, at 21, Kirton began a string of consecutive appearances on Canada’s
senior nations cup team. Her first overseas competition was in 1982. She was
asked to join veterans Jim Elder and Mark Laskin when Ian Millar was unable to
go. The three-member team travelled to Sydney, Australia and won the nations
cup. Kirton was the only female rider in the international tournament. She also
won an individual competition against the all-male field. Due to strict
quarantine regulations, competitors had to ride horses from a pool of Australian
horses. Kirton chose a Buckskin named Bonanza. The British weekly magazine Horse
and Hound described them as “the star attraction”.
 
Then well beyond the junior ranks and pursuing a grand prix riding career,
Kirton sought to expand her basic training, beyond the wealth of knowledge she
had gained from her father. She spent a year in Virginia training with American
grand prix legend Rodney Jenkins.
 
Injuries sustained in a car accident in 1984 sidelined Kirton from riding for
most of 1985. But it didn’t keep her away from coaching. While forced to take
time off, she realized that coaching young riders was where she found the most
satisfaction. She did, however, return to  competition as strong as ever. By
1987 she had qualified for the World Cup Final in Paris, where she rode Lorbas.
The following year, 1988, she was on the short-list for the Canadian Olympic
team. 
 
She had often been given horses that had previously been ridden by Canada’s team
veterans and were owned by the most loyal team supporters. She had a long and
successful run on Beefeater, who had been ridden by both Jim Elder and Torchy
Millar and was owned by Cudney Stables. At the height of her grand prix career
came Shawline, the horse Jim Elder rode in the 1984 Olympics. The owner, Sam Son
Farm, gave the ride to Kirton and, together, they became one of the most
recognizable partnerships, of the era, on the grand prix circuit. During her
time as a team member she was a member of winning nations cup teams on the North
American fall indoor circuit (Washington, New York and the Toronto’s Royal
Winter Fair).
 
During this period Kirton had also developed her own coaching business at her
own stable. Among those she coached was the younger generation of the legendary
Eaton family. She also served as Chef d’Equipe for Canada’s Junior International
Team, of which she had so often been a member herself.
 
In the early nineties, although she was spending most of her time teaching young
riders, Kirton was partnered with a superstar speed horse named Kiko. Together
they would conquer another specialty.  Newspapers in western Canada dubbed her
“The Queen of Speed” and the Ottawa Citizen hailed her “Canada’s foremost speed
derby rider”. Calgary’s Spruce Meadows was, by then, North America’s  premier
show jumping venue. Kirton had competed, as a junior, at the first tournament
there in 1976. Returning with Kiko, in 1993, she became the first rider to win
three feature speed competitions over four days at the North American
tournament. 
 
In recent years, Kirton has been the private coach to the Irving family, of New
Brunswick, working out of their Windhaven Farms and touring the Canadian and
U.S. hunter/jumper circuit. This involved coaching both adult and junior riders,
as well as managing/training horses owned by Windhaven Farms and ridden by other
professionals. Her work resulted in the family members winning Zone
Championships and championships at the Royal Winter Fair.
 
Currently Kirton is judging, both hunters and jumpers, and giving clinics. She
has extensive contacts in Europe to assist those who are shopping for horses.
She provides what she calls a “personal shopper service”. Due to her experience
with juniors and newcomers to competition, she enjoys “taking riders to the next
level”.  Her coaching experience ranges from beginners, who have never ridden
before, to national champions. Her experience buying, selling and training
ranges from ponies to grand prix horses. 
 
March 8th | Jump Alberta AGM to be held virtually; Board nominations now open

The 2021 Jump Alberta AGM will be held virtually on March 8th. Click here to
nominate a board member.

2020 | Jump Alberta Finals, Symposium, and Gala Postponed

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult but necessary decision
to postpone these events until 2021-22. We look forward to seeing you all again
when it’s safe.

Mar. 9, 2020 | Jump Alberta Annual General Meeting

Join us on March 9, 2020 at the Sandman Hotel and Suites Calgary South for the
Jump Alberta Annual General Meeting. All are welcome to attend.

Nominate a 2020-2022 Board Member here.

Jan. 11, 2020 | Jump Alberta Awards Gala

Join us January 11, 2020 at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary for the Jump
Alberta Year End Awards Gala. We’ll have a great evening of celebrating our
riders, trainers and members with a delicious dinner and dance that’s fun for
all ages. Tickets are $75; $35 for kids 14 and under.

Reserve your room at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino with code GMTJUMPA to get our
special rate of $149.


GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

Nov. 15-17, 2019 | Jump Alberta Symposium

Join us at the Jump Alberta 2019 Symposium at Amberlea Meadows, November 15-17.

Presenters: Hope Glynn and Ray Texel


REGISTER HERE
$75 FOR MEMBERS
$115 FOR NON-MEMBERS FOR THE ENTIRE WEEKEND
FRIDAY NIGHT IS INCLUDED FOR FULL WEEKEND
PURCHASERS; $35 AS A STAND-ALONE

We’re looking for volunteers! Contact us at jumpalberta@gmail.com to apply.

Hotel Bookings: 4 Points Sheraton Gateway

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/yegef-four-points-edmonton-gateway/)
with the Group Codes:

AJAAJAB for rooms with 1 King
AJAAJAF for rooms with 2 Queens.

Sept. 20-22, 2019 | Jump Alberta Young Horse Finals

The 2019 Jump Alberta Young Horse Finals will be held at St. Georges Stables,
Sept. 21 and 22 with a warm-up day on Sept. 20.
In addition, Jump Alberta Sponsored Young Horse Warm-Up classes will be hosted
in Edmonton at the Amberlea Meadows Harvest Classic and in Calgary at RMSJ Fall
Classic.

Information: Download now

Schedule: Download now

Entry: ShowGroundsLive

Copyright 2019 - Jump Alberta
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 * Home
 * News
 * About Us
   * About Us
   * Programs & Events
 * Membership
   * Membership
   * MEMBER PORTAL
 * Horse Shows & Points
 * Young Horse Program
 * Contact Us
 * Gala Tickets