Seven weeks in Thermal or six weeks in Tucson might seem like plenty of horse showing for most people. Some, however, are such gluttons for punishment - or, more likely, love the sport so much - they just keep right on going. Two days after the last horse showed in Thermal and Tucson, things started up all over again at Horseworld in Scottsdale, Arizona. These two pleasant shows are not the monsters that their big cousins are; perhaps 300 horses, only four rings - and that's just on the weekend. They offer an attractive low-key approach to equestrian competition.

Small does not imply chintzy, though. Chris Collman, whose shows they are, has a jump-building business. From grand prix down to short stirrup, the fences in all the rings were freshly painted and beautifully decorated. The two shows in Scottsdale featured a $20,000 grand prix each Saturday night, and held one of the $10,000 USHJA international hunter derbies that are becoming so popular across the country. That was the highlight of the first Friday night in Scottsdale. It was an Arizona horse with a California rider that had the best of it under the lights. Peter Lombardo took Jane Fraze's Mandarin to the win, earning the high score in both phases of the competition. The wonderful gelding, fresh from championships in Tucson in regular conformation and 36-over amateur owners, relished the idea of getting to run a little. Chris Collman's creative course featured a long run to the last oxer in the handy phase. Lombardo got up in two-point and chucked the reins. Mandarin soared to the victory at a full gallop, much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd.

Saturday night it was the jumpers' turn. Four jumped clear over a Scott Starnes course the first week. Alison Kroff, for several years the one to beat in the amateur jumpers, has recently turned pro. She went last in the jumpoff, taking her new horse Miss Hans to the win at the expense of J.J. Atkinson of Calgary, Alberta. The scenario was much the same in the second of the $20,000 classes the following week. Alison had two in the jumpoff, going first and last of the five who returned. Returning for her second ride, Alison knew she had the class won. None of the previous riders had turned in a clear jumpoff, and Alison's other horse, Nomograaf, was the fastest of the four-faulters. She made it a one-two finish by taking her veteran Omar Sharif to the evening's only double clear.

Dr. Marlee Hoffman pulled off a double the first week in Scottsdale. She was champion in the 18-35 amateur owner hunters with Ja'Loup, and in the younger adult amateurs with Othello. This is something unique to USEF Zone 8, where riders can cross-enter the two divisions at the same show, albeit not on the same horse. Hoffman and her husband own and manage several radiology clinics in the Phoenix area. Riding is her therapy, the way she escapes from her busy workaday world. A rider since the age of 5, she can't imagine ever giving up the sport. "It's very relaxing. You tune everything out when you're out there. There's no stress," she said. "The only time I stopped was when I was pregnant with my three children."

Pam Stubbs took her Absolut Mocha to the 36-over adult amateur championship both weeks in Scottsdale. "I saw Absolut Mocha when he was two years old, in Kentucky in the hunter futurity. I really fell in love with him then, but he was not for sale," she said. "I saw him again when he was three, fell in love with him even more, but not for sale. I saw him again as a 4-year-old, and really wanted him then, but not for sale," Stubbs recalled. Finally the horse did come on the market, and Stubbs made haste to make the first offer. "He's been a great horse for me," she said. He's the same every day, he's great fun to ride. He's a real amateur horse."

Archie Cox and Peter Lombardo brought some of Ashley Pride's junior hunters out from California, and asked local rider Tina Dilandri to show them. Tina responded by earning the small championship with Pringle and the large with Truly. Tina came back on Sunday morning to take first, second and third in the junior/amateur owner hunter classic. The clean sweep saw Pringle earn first, Truly second, and Wesley third. Peter Pan and Greenwood Village, Colorado junior Brook Kennedy were fifth in the first week's classic. They did much better the second week, jumping all the way up to first. Another Colorado youngster, Georgia Griffis, earned the week two championship with her wonderful little almost-pony Game Boy in the low children's/adult jumper division. Georgia then cheered from the sidelines while her mother Susan rode to second in the $2500 high junior/amateur jumper classic, finishing just behind Skimberly and Kelly Bogaard.

There was a special award presented to the overall high point adult amateur jumper, based on the results from both weeks. The perpetual trophy is in memory of the late Bill Jorgensen, announcer, jumper judge, and all-around good guy. Two riders shared the award, Isabella Searcy and Carsten Heyer. Carsten showed Pioneers Dorado the first week, and Isabella the second. Their accumulated points were enough to earn the horse the grand championship.

That's pretty much it for horse shows in the desert until the fall. There will be some smaller events for the rest of the spring, but the big outdoor shows will have to go on hold until the weather cools down again. Time for the truly obsessed horse show junkies to head west to California, where the sea breezes keep the temperatures down, or wait until May when things start up in the Rockies. It's probably time to take a break anyway. The two shows in Scottsdale represented the seventh and eighth consecutive A-rated horse shows in Arizona. Surely that's enough for now. It's equally sure, though, that in a few weeks the itch will return, and both horses and riders will be looking for someplace to feed their competition habit.