It’s only July, but Rich Fellers is already having a career year.

The 48-year-old show jumper placed second at the 2008 Federation Equestre Internationale World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, in April, the highest American finish in the competition in over 20 years.

“It’s been quite a year,” says Fellers, who lives in Sherwood and is scheduled to compete in Saturday’s $25,000 Grand Prix at the Oregon High Desert Classics. “My performance at the World Cup Finals was the highlight of my career.”

Riding Flexible, a 12-year-old Irish stallion, Fellers became one of just 11 U.S. riders ever to post a top-three finish at the World Cup.

“Being second in the World Cup is equivalent to winning the silver medal at the Olympics,” says Flexible’s owner, Harry Chapman. “I’d rather win the World Cup (than the Olympics). It’s a lot more difficult.”

Growing up in Yamhill County southwest of Portland, Fellers caught the eye of Chapman at an early age.

“I’ve know him since he was a boy,” says Chapman, who first started working with Fellers in 1989, when he was 30 years old. “He used to scald my a– back when we were both riding. I always admired his riding and admired him. I had it in the back of my mind that someday, sometime we’d get together and do something.”

The partnership between Chapman and Fellers has been one of the most successful equestrian relationships on the West Coast.

In 1991, Fellers competed as part of the U.S. Team at the Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, and in 2006 he qualified for his first FEI World Cup Finals.

“He’s done a lot of winning over the years,” Chapman says about Fellers, who is fifth all-time on the career earnings list at Spruce Meadows, a world-class equestrian center in Calgary, Alberta, that is home to some of the most prestigious and richest show jumping events in the world. “It’s a hoot.”

While Fellers won’t be riding Flexible on Saturday night, he will be competing with a pair of Chapman’s horses that have loads of international experience. McGuinness, a 13-year-old Irish sport horse, is coming off a win at the Country Classic Grand Prix in Wilsonville on July 13, his first Grand Prix event in almost a year and half because of injury.

“He’s competed at a couple lower level shows and he’s getting pretty solid,” Fellers says about McGuinness, who was his No. 1 horse ahead of Flexible before getting hurt in February 2007. “He’ll be my go-to guy.”

McGuinness and Fellers combined to finish second in prize money in North America in 2004, and in 2005 McGuinness was named the U.S. Grand Prix Horse of the Year.

“I’m real curious to get him and Flexible in a competition together,” Fellers says about his past and current champions. “They’re similar, but different.”

Fellers will also compete aboard Gyro, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood who also was ahead of Flexible on the depth chart before he succumbed to injury in June 2007.

“He’s about a month or two behind McGuinness,” Fellers says about Gyro’s rehabilitation schedule. “Bend will be his first Grand Prix back.”

An oddity in the show jumping world, Gyro didn’t compete in the ring until he was 11 years old. Fellers found him in Holland when a contact told him about a horse that had a lot of potential but had spent most of his life fox hunting in Ireland.

“He’s still learning,” Fellers says about the horse he rode at the 2007 World Cup Finals. “He was just figuring out the game before he got hurt.”

Fellers will ride a third horse in Saturday’s Grand Prix, Santa Teresita Fantasma, of Kilkenny Crest in Bend. Fantasma, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood, placed fourth with Fellers in Wilsonville, the best Grand Prix placing of his career.

“He’s a fit, athletic horse, but I’m just getting to know him,” Fellers says about Fantasma, who he just started riding this year. “I’m test driving him. If he makes the jumps, I’ll try and be as competitive as I can, but for the most part I’m still feeling him out to see how he reacts and responds.”

A longtime participant at the High Desert Classics — “I’m 48 now, so I’ve been going there for 25, 30 years,” Fellers estimates — Oregon’s most accomplished show jumper insists he’s still learning from the sport.

“When you put two brains together, a horse and a human, and try to get them to perform simultaneously, it gets complicated,” Fellers says. “People say golf is a complicated, tough sport. Well, the golf club always does what you tell it to do. A horse is a little different.”

Weekend Highlights

If You Go

Friday: $1,000 Pro/Am team relay

Teams made up of two horse-and-rider pairs compete together against other pairs. Both horses must do at least one jump, and when a horse faults the other horse must make the next jump. Competition is scheduled to start around 4:15 p.m.

Saturday: $25,000 Grand Prix

Rich Fellers, who finished second at this year’s show jumping World Cup Final in Sweden, highlights the field in the second Grand Prix at this year’s High Desert Classic. Competition will begin at 5 p.m.

Sunday: $2,500 Mini Grand Prix

More than 30 contestants, professional and amateur, are scheduled to compete in an event that showcases future stars of the sport. The Mini Grand Prix often is the proving ground for riders and horses looking to make the leap to the Grand Prix level. Start time is 1 p.m.

What: The Oregon High Desert Classics

When: Today through Sunday, starting at 7:30 a.m. each day

Where: J Bar J Boys Ranch, 62895 Hamby Road, Bend

Cost: Admission is free