Jennifer Alfano Nominated as 2012 USEF Equestrian of the Year

Jersey Boy Nominated for 2012 USEF Horse of the Year

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Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy are nominated for the 2012 USEF Equestrian of the Year and Horse of the Year awards. Photo By: SportFot

Buffalo, NY – December 14, 2012 – Professional hunter rider Jennifer Alfano and the stunning Hanoverian gelding Jersey Boy have become household names in the hunter industry over the years. With their recent victory during the 2012 $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals – a feat which had eluded the pair in their lengthy list of accolades – it is no wonder that the dynamic duo has been nominated for the 2012 USEF Equestrian of the Year Award and the 2012 USEF Horse of the Year Award. Voting will run through midnight (EAT) January 7, 2013, with the champions claiming their crowns on January 18 during the 2013 USEF Annual Meeting as part of the 2012 USEF Awards Celebration.

This is the first year that Alfano has received the coveted Emerson Burr Trophy, as well as had the honor to claim a place among the eight nominated athletes of the equestrian sport. Alfano is no newcomer to the honor of awards in the hunter ring, consistently proving herself as the crème de la crème of the hunter industry.

Alfano has worked for Susie Schoellkopf and SBS Farms, Inc. for more than 20 years. She has proven herself time after time through her partnership with numerous SBS mounts, taking top awards across the nation. Aboard the chestnut gelding Jersey Boy, Alfano has dominated the hunter derby domain for the past four years.

“I was really excited to find out that I had even been nominated for the award,” Alfano explained. “To receive an honor such as the Emerson Burr Trophy is something truly amazing. There are so many wonderful riders to vote for, and to even be a part of that list is a feeling of gratitude I can’t even describe.”

Jersey Boy competed in a battle of the best in Kentucky, surpassing the ultimate competitors of the world’s top hunters and winning the esteemed 2012 $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals. He is currently ranked as the Highest Grossing Horse for Lifetime Earnings with an astounding $196,640 in earnings. He won his 21st International Hunter Derby at the $50,000 Chicago International Hunter Derby in September 2012. He has been recognized as the winner of the George H. Morris Perpetual Trophy for three consecutive years, earned the 2011 National Show Hunter Hall of Fame High Performance Horse of the Year and the 2010 USEF Regular Working Hunter Horse of the Year.

“What’s really exciting about these awards is the fact that Jersey Boy was nominated this year,” Alfano remarked. “It is even more important to me that he receive the recognition for all of his hard work. Without the horses, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and he has done such an amazing job, no matter what is asked of him.”

Jersey Boy was also recognized as the 2011 National Show Hunter Hall of Fame Horse of the Year, as decided by the most prestigious professionals of the equestrian sport, and was the 2010 USEF Horse of Year. Alfano and Jersey Boy have captured championships throughout the Jacksonville series, HITS Ocala, the Devon Horse Show, the State College Classic, Skidmore College Saratoga Classic, and the Chagrin Valley Hunter Jumper Classic. Alfano and Jersey Boy have also captured the first place finish twice in the $25,000 USHJA Devon International Hunter Derby, as well as the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Winter Equestrian Festival.

As a two-time World Champion Hunter Rider in 1996 and 1997, Alfano has nabbed the coveted Leading Hunter Rider Award at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, the National Horse Show and the Ocala HITS winter circuit. She was the Top Grossing Rider with over $400,000 in earnings in 2010, and currently sits second in the USHJA Lifetime Rider Standings with an astounding $299,650 earned in International Hunter Derby winnings, with $70,000 earned in the 2012 year alone. The National Show Hunter Hall of Fame voted Alfano 2009 and 2011 Hunter Rider of the Year.

To place your vote for Jennifer Alfano as the 2012 USEF Equestrian of the Year, please visit http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/eoty/. To place your vote for Jersey Boy as the 2012 USEF Horse of the Year, please visit http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/hoty/ and type in your email address to access the voting portal. Voting will end at Midnight [EAT] on Monday, January 7, 2013.

Based out of Buffalo, NY, SBS Farms’ Susie Schoellkopf and Jennifer Alfano run one of the foremost show hunter training operations in the country, and travel nationwide to compete in the nation’s most prestigious horse shows. SBS Farms, Inc. continues the proud tradition of the Saddle and Bridle Club as one of the top show stables in the northeast. Schoellkopf is also the Executive Director of the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center, which houses both The Buffalo Equestrian Center as well as SBS Farms. Built in 1922, the 160-stall facility is a historical landmark, with its unique English Tudor and gothic style architecture. For more information on SBS Farms and the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center, please visit www.thebtrc.org.

Kendall Bierer for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International

Media Contact: Mason Phelps
Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
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