Welcome!
• Home • FAQs
• Site Map
Weather
• Contacts
Free Service Appreciation
Choose Pondside Web Productions for your hosting and web design needs!

Competitors Mount Up for World Cup Qualifier on Saturday

Thunderbird Show Park gets its 35th Season underway in Langley, BC

May 29, 2008

Langley, BC --- It’s been 35 years since George & Dianne Tidball welcomed their first horse and rider into Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC. This week they’re celebrating the opening of another season of world-class show jumping alongside the team of family and friends that run the park today.

The original 26-acre show park opened in 1973 on land that is now home to the Thunderbird Entertainment Complex and features the 18-cinema Famous Players Colossus movie theatre. By 1998 it was clear to the Tidball’s that the shows had outgrown the park and it was time to look for a new home. The new site for Thunderbird Show Park opened in 2000 and has continued to grow ever since.

In its 85 acres, Thunderbird Show Park offers six competition rings, including one of North America’s best Grand Prix fields, five warm-up rings, three indoor arenas, five covered stables, a golf course, riding trails and state-of-the-art footing made with recycled Nike running shoes.

Grandstands around the Grand Prix ring provide a comfortable place for spectators to take in the action, but visitors are also welcome to stretch out on the grass hillside or park tailgate style around the ring.

Visitors are treated to world-class show jumping in a warm and inclusive environment that respects tradition, history, competition and entrepreneurial spirit that inspired George Tidball to bring MacDonald’s to Canada and found the Keg restaurant chain.

“This park is a testament to our commitment to equestrian sport,” notes Jane Tidball, President of Thunderbird Show Park. “Our biggest hope is that our competitors, partners and spectators enjoy the time they spend with us.”

The main event for the BC Open is the $50,000 Warsteiner Grand Prix, which runs Saturday, May 31st at 2pm. Warsteiner is a new anchor sponsor for Thunderbird Show Park. As Germany’s largest, privately owned brewery, providing premium products to over 60 countries around the world, Warsteiner’s involvement in equestrian sport runs deep.

The company owns the Warstein Centre, a world-class breeding and training facility for

Percheron horses located across from the brewery. The centre has hosted international equestrian events for many years. Visitors to the facility are able to watch the riders taking their horses through their paces and tackling a jump or two while enjoying a cup of coffee, a piece of homemade cake or a glass of freshly drawn Warsteiner beer.

“Freshly drawn Warsteiner lager from our travelling pub will help us recreate a little piece of Warstein at Thunderbird Show Park” says Lothar Heinrich, Canadian importer and distributor of Warsteiner lager. “World class international equestrian events and our world class beer have a long and enjoyable history together. We’re delighted to extend this relationship by working with Thunderbird Show Park.”

For more information, please visit our site at www.thunderbirdshowpark.com.

To May 2008 News Articles Index | To Alberta Equine ...On-Line Home