Albuquerque Equestrian Cup

Wonderful event..... wonderful benefit to assist our elderly, the Duke City's most unique, delicious and funfilled day of ABQ'S premier restaurants & breweries as well as beautiful Art & other Local vendors, Silent Auction and of course the thrill & skill of a hunter/jumper competition. My most favorite event we attend every year. The only thing I believe they need to really do is Market this great event way ahead time, (social media, Flyers at restaurants..etc) I believe this year was far less of a crowd, then what they use to capture. Nonetheless a lovely day horsing around supporting a beautiful event, good food, good music, & good times goes a long way.Ciao

First off I'd like to send a HUGE shout-out to Howie "The Duke of Duke City" K. for the heads up & the hook up! We had a great time!!I was expecting a larger turn out, but all the more breathing room for us! It was awesome!The Rodney Bowe Jazz Trio were rockin the house! Err... Jazzin the house, they were really good and it set a nice mood. Great grub samplings, nice wine samplings from St. Clair Winery, which was pretty good. They brought a Cab, a Pinot Grigio, a Chenin Blanc & my preferred one, a Meritage, which is a blend of a few red varietals. Nice!!!Marble Brewery was sportin a seasonal Pumpkin Spice brew, which I really liked! Enough to warrant my DD, AKA my wife, to drive home.There was a kids zone with a couple bouncies and Tons-O bubbles and other fun games for the kidos to play with, and they even had a box full of McDonalds hamburgers they were handing out.Naturally the main draw, the horses & the competition, was VERY cool! This was our first time to an event like this, but I suspect it will NOT be our last. Something about seeing those riders & those big beautiful horses leap over the obstacles up close was just majestic. The whole event was a big hit! We'll be there next year, and so should all of you!

Sunday Funday!! This is such a great event and a wonderful opportunity to be able to chit chat with vendors about their products and services. Don't eat before you go, because that is almost the reason to go. Food...food...food, and it's all really good! We had some amazing Sea Salt Gelato and Thai Coconut Sorbet from the Chocolate Cartel. Scalos and Elaine's (discovered they are associated with each other) made a giant batch of paella, in a giant disk, by a pretty giant chef, and the taste was also giant! Two Brothers had caramel apple slices with huge chunks of caramel and fresh cotton candy. There are also several adult beverage vendors. Cheers! Parking was really easy and only five dollars. They even had a golf kart shuttling guests to and from their cars, don't forget to tip these hard workers. The silent auction was pretty elaborate and had something for everyone; art, jewelry, alcohol, experiences and more. My friend bid on a beautiful piece with horses by a local artist, and won! On to the horses! Ive been to a rodeo and watched the fast paced excitement of barrel racing and roping. This was exciting as well, but in a much different way. The precise movements that they train the horses to do are so impressive, and executed with almost no effort or signal. The costumes some of the riders wore were super cute, but the horses steal the show. These were some of the most beautiful horses that I've ever seen! All-in-all, this was a great event! Add some culture to your life and check it out! You'll learn a few things and leave stuffed with good food!

Nice event overall. Only one winery for tasting - St. Clair. Tyler was very friendly and informative on the wines and the bistro. Food sampling was excellent. Not a huge selection but everything sampled was top notch. Vintage 423 had a pulled pork with jalapeno aioli that was a wonderful. I think several vendors left early. Jazz Trio was on point with relaxing and soulful tunes. Didint seem to be anywhere to interact with the horses which was a disappointment to my wife. But they were majestic and beautiful to watch in the arena.

I went to this event last year and was so thankful to have went again this year. I can say that the event was overall the same set-up, but it was so very nice to try new vendor's foods and see what local services were available. It was fun, and I left, yet again, with a full stomach and a smile. I brought my daughter to this event, who is 11 and she actually had a really good time as well. We watched the horses prance around and compete, bet on some of the silent auction items, ate some tasty food and had a merry time. We walked around and visited each booth, some offering food samples, such as Scalo, Chocolate Cartel, Matanza Beer Kitchen, Poki Poki Cevicheria, Garcia's Kitchen and 2Bros Sweets. Beverage tastes from Trifecta Coffee Company (which is a place I've been dying to try), Left Turn Distillery, St. Clair Winery, and Rio Bravo Brewing Company. Local artists displayed some of their art to purchase and look at, and a local band played off to side so you could enjoy everything to the beat of some music. It was all very classyMany sponsors and vendors, as I mentioned before. The vibe was exciting, yet relaxing enough for you to enjoy all that it had to offer. I'd definitely like to attend next year! Already looking forward to it.

This event had me curious about what happens and what goes on. I thought it would be very different than what it turned out to be. First everyone running the event was gracious, friendly, and efficient.There is plenty of parking and getting to the Dairy Barn is easy. The will call and buy tickets windows are easy to find and check in was super fast. Once inside, there was a silent auction, food, cars, and football, oh and horses. The best thing there was the Storm Trooper! What a nice person inside the costume. Posed for a picture and allowed me to take a picture with the Trooper as well. Back to the inside happenings. There are plenty of local businesses and startups showing their goods, wares, and apps. Trifecta Coffee was there with plenty of cold brew to share. Pizza 9 was there sharing pizza and promoting their franchise opportunities. Rio Bravo Brewing not only had a booth sharing their fine craft beer, the actual owner was there working the taps! Left Turn Distillery was there with great tastes of their fine liquor. My favorite was the pinon run, Rojo! Going to be someone's Christmas present! Everyone there was there to support the great work of the Equestrian Cup. Share your care was also there letting people know about adult day services they provide. Great job everyone!

Based on the info online on the actual website, I really didn't know what I was really going to experience... Upon entry to the event I still was a little uncertain about the events of the day. At first we checked in and got our beverage tickets. We walked into the main event area and I was surprised to see such a small turn out (even some of the vendors were missing or had already left). Regardless of my confusion and uncertainty, we really had a splendid time! I really appreciated the opportunity to attend this event. The food options that we tried included: Pizza 9, The Left Turn Distillery, Matanza, Scalo, 2Bros Sweets, Trifecta, and Chocolate Cartel. The food was absolutely amazing! All of these places definitely will gain my business. The food was super high quality and sooooo yummy. Scalo had a delicious rice dish with shrimp, sausage, chicken, and vegetables (the portions were insanely generous). Wow... This stuff was super good!!! They also had a very yummy cheesecake for a dessert.Pizza 9 of course had pizza! I tried the cheese! It was very tasty!Matanza had served chicken or carne tacos with delicious salsa (I'll be honest, I didn't know this place even existed.... I was glad to find out they did because their food is yummy!).The Chocolate Cartel served two different delicious kinds of chocolate covered nuts, toffee, and two different kinds of gelato. If you haven't tried them, you need to!Trifecta served cold brew coffee. I will be honest, I am not a huge coffee fan, but Trifecta has won me over! Their coffee was really really yummy! 2Bros Sweets had OMG delicious caramel apples with chocolate and cinnamon! They had fresh cotton candy! I have seen this place on Menual, but never checked them out... I am so glad I got to try them out!The Left Turn Distillery had a bunch of different beverages to try. I had to try the pinon rum! It was pretty good! I have to mention that all of the food vendors were really super friendly. They took the time to talk with you and explain their products! I was beyond impressed with the food and the company that allowed us to take group photos!Also at this event they had the silent auction and they had so many options of things to bid on. They had things like evening getaways, gift baskets, artwork, jewelry, gift cards, etc., etc.! There was literally something for everyone (even a basket geared for the youth). The event of course had the horses which were fun to watch and live music as well! The kids were definitely not forgoten... Outside they had a jumper and several tables with activities from Explora! I didn't see many children, but the ones that were participating in the activities seemed to enjoy the fun! Overall, this was a really nice charity event, and despite the fact that it was small it was really fun!

I was at this event with my mom,and it was amazing. They had great food, pretty pictures, and also really beautiful horses. I can definitely say one of the best booths in my opinion is the Chocolate Factory I thought it was amazing. Like they had these Sea Salt Toffee and i wanted to buy a bar it was so good. They also had a Silent Auction, and i bid for a pretty lightning picture. But i actually had to bid twice. I had to leave early so i wasn't able to win it.But right before we left we saw the horses. They were beautiful. I would for sure come back to this event. It was really fun. :)