Monmouth horse show set for stop in Freehold

New Jersey's longest running hunter and jumper horse show will be visiting East Freehold Park for the 111th annual Monmouth County Horse Show.

The Monmouth County Horse Show, which is one of the oldest equestrian events in the nation, will take place from Aug. 16-20 at East Freehold Park, Koz-loski Road, Freehold Township, beginning at 8 a.m. each day. Admission and parking is free to the public. The park is between Route 537 and Center Street.

The horse show will benefit the Jane H. and John Marshall Booker Cancer Center at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank.

The Booker Cancer Center, which opened in 1998, offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient oncology services in an environment that is comforting, easily accessible and technically advanced, according to a press release.

The "Ride for Riverview" fundraiser is a charity that enables the cancer center to enhance patient treatment rooms. In 2005 the Monmouth County Horse Show raised more than $75,000 for the center.

The events for the four days of the horse show are as follows:

+ Aug. 17 will feature the $25,000 Paul Miller Automotive Group Grand Prix competition.

+ Aug. 18 will feature the $3,000 NAL Jumper Speed Stake and the Marshall and Sterling Children's Hunter Classic competitions.

+ Aug. 19 is family day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day will feature pony rides, face painting, clowns, rides and games. The competitions for the day are the Monmouth Junior/Amateur Owner Hunter Classic, children and adult jumpers and the Marshall and Sterling Adults Hunter Classic.

+ Aug. 20 will feature Stillwell Hansen Leadline classes. The competitions for the day are the Pipe and Drums of the Jersey Shore Shillelaghs, the $2,500 Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Classic, the $30,000 Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix and the Marshall and Sterling Jumper Children's and Adults Classics.

The Monmouth County Horse Show is welcoming returning trainer and horsewoman Carol Thompson back for this year's event. Thompson, who owns Quiet Winter Farm, Colts Neck, sponsors the Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Classic.

Thompson, who has been featured at the county show since 1966, has a history that includes the Olympics, numerous international victories and extensive training. Thompson returns to the county horse show with a string of students and horses from Quiet Winter Farm and her professional rider Callan Solem.

"Callan came to me 10 years ago ... She loves to ride and loves the horses," Thompson said.

Solem will compete in the $30,000 Stillwell-Hansen Grand Prix competition aboard Delilah, a horse owned by Mr. and Mrs. Holik, of Czechmate Farm, and Gael Force, a horse owned by Drumnacross Farm.