TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – The North Texas Hunter Jumper Club opened its 2026 show season with its annual benefit horse show, drawing approximately 200 horses and competitors of all skill levels to one of the club’s most popular venues near Tyler.
Lexie Boley, sponsorship chair for the North Texas Hunter Jumper Club, said the event serves as the circuit’s traditional season opener.
Proceeds from the event go to a therapeutic equine facility in the North Texas area.
Boley said that horses are really good at sensing feelings and emotions from people. “They really do have this healing and calming sense about them.”
The club hosts two types of competitions at its shows. Hunter competitions are scored by a judge on a numerical basis, while jumper competitions are judged on speed and time.
The show season runs from March through November.
Boley said club membership has reached approximately 600 members this year, with attendance growing annually. The club aims to keep its shows within a two-hour radius of the DFW Metroplex, and the Tyler venue is among its most frequently used locations.
Equestrians had to be prepared for all possible weather conditions.
Skyler Berkvens was working to make sure she was ready to compete alongside her horse, named Z, even with the high wind gusts.
“Just doing a lot more practicing in the wind,” Berkvens said. “Making sure he doesn’t do anything that will impact when we go into the show ring.”
The North Texas Hunter Jumper Club operates as a nonprofit organization run largely by volunteers. Boley said the benefit show is intended to give back to the local community and invite new participants into the circuit.
“We just love to get back to the community every year,” Boley said. “This is just a fun way to invite local people to come and join our circuit and just be a part of a big family, a big growing local community.”
Lexie Boley, sponsorship chair for the North Texas Hunter Jumper Club, said the event serves as the circuit’s traditional season opener.
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