Each year, a select group of riders is chosen to represent the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show as the “Faces of Pin Oak.” For 2023, that honor and distinction has been given to hunter/jumper riders Peyton Addington, Nicolas Gamboa and Jacqueline Ruyle and Saddlebred competitor Chris Tresten.
“Chris Tresten is a top, Houston-based Saddlebred rider and a past Pin Oak president, and all three of the 2023 hunter/jumper Faces of Pin Oak are talented young riders who had success here this year and who, in addition to displaying good horsemanship, are great examples of sportsmanship and positive attitudes,” said Amy Uniss-Coleman, general manager of the Great Southwest Equestrian Center (GSEC), home to the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.
Peyton Addington and Semi-Automatic C jumping to the win in the $30,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby held during Week II of the 2022 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography
During Pin Oak 2022, 17-year-old Addington rode Semi-Automatic C to the win in the Week II $30,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, topping many professionals more than twice her age. Since then, Addington, who trains with Matt Cyphert and Audrey Norrell at Woodhill Farm in Argyle, TX, has continued to see great results in the hunter and equitation rings, including earning the Zone 7 Junior Hunter 3’6” division championship at GSEC in November.
For Ruyle and Gamboa, their 2022 Pin Oak victories came in the jumper ring, where they both had banner weeks.
Jacqueline Ruyle and Cyramo Z led the victory gallop for the $50,000 Hildebrand Fund Grand Prix during Pin Oak 2022. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography
Ruyle kicked off the three weeks of Pin Oak with a one-two finish in the $10,000 Welcome Stake aboard Cyramo Z and San Chano, respectively. The following week, Ruyle and Cyramo Z returned to the winners’ circle with a victory in the $50,000 Hildebrand Fund Grand Prix. In the months since, the Houston native, who trains with Bedoya Training Stables, has continued to climb the jumper ranks, earning her first FEI victory this summer, and she looks forward to returning to her “hometown” horse show venue for Pin Oak 2023.
Nicolas Gamboa and NKH Mr Darcy. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography
Like Ruyle, Gamboa also earned a win during Week I of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, his first ever grand prix victory, in fact. The 22-year-old – who rides for Christian Heineking and Erin-Davis Heineking at Heineking Show Stables and October Hill Farms – topped the $30,000 Third Coast Bank Pin Oak Charity Grand Prix aboard NKH Mr. Darcy, owned by Neil Knox, and the pair returned two weeks later to do it again, this time winning the $25,000 EPIC Sporthorses Grand Prix.
Beginning with his grandfather, Gamboa hails from a family of equestrians, including all of his uncles and his mother, Pin Oak’s own show secretary, Jennifer Gamboa. Since Pin Oak 2022, the talented young rider has amassed 10 total grand prix wins, including in the CSI2* Grand Prix of Monterrey in Mexico.
Tresten has similarly amassed numerous Pin Oak accolades over this year’s, and this summer, she added another impressive title to her resume: reserve world champion in the Adult Three-Gaited Country Pleasure aboard Forged in Fire at the World’s Championship Horse Show in Kentucky.
Chris Tresten and Forged in Fire. Photo by The Saddle Horse Report
Now, as the newly selected Faces of Pin Oak, Addington, Gambo, Ruyle and Tresten will serve as ambassadors for the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show in the lead-up to 2023 event, to be held March 22 through April 16 at GSEC in Katy, TX. In their roles, they will also receive special recognition and benefits, including a complimentary photo shoot with Karinda K.
Faces of Pin Oak was introduced in 2018; to view a list of past rider representatives, click here. To learn more about the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, visit www.pinoak.org.