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Buffalo, NY – December 29, 2011 – SBS Farms, Inc. had a remarkable show season in 2011, taking home top honors at the most prestigious events in the nation. Trainer Susie Schoellkopf and professional rider Jennifer Alfano are now gearing up for the 2012 show season, where they will showcase both their skills and those of their students in the hunter and jumper rings.

The first stop for SBS Farms will be during the last week of the Jacksonville Winter Series, held at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Green Cove Springs, FL. Alfano plans on showing Helen Lenahan’s Sting in the Derby at Jacksonville where he will make his comeback. Shortly after, SBS plans on making its mark in Ocala, competing in their Winter Series beginning in early February 2012. To end their winter calendar, Alfano plans on competing in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at WEF.

If SBS Farms’ 2011 year is any indication of what 2012 holds, only success can be foreseen. Jersey Boy was recently awarded the USEF 2011 High Performance Working Hunter National Horse of the Year Award, ending with a total of 52,791 points accumulated during 16 competitions.

Other highlights in the ring with Jersey Boy include Alfano winning the High Performance Reserve Championship at the Capital Challenge Horse Show, taking top honors in the hunter divisions at the esteemed Alltech National Horse Show and $25,000 Chicago Hunter Derby. The duo also earned multiple tricolors during their time at the Jacksonville National Horse Show and HITS Ocala. Together, Alfano and Jersey Boy also dominated the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby of Devon and the 2011 $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at WEF.

“It really was a great year, and I have to say that Jersey Boy is the highlight of any year,” Alfano explained. “When you have a horse like him, you know he was great all year and Horse of the Year, you can’t ask for much more. I think winning the International Hunter Derby in Palm Beach was one of the biggest things for this year. The second round on that field, felt to me like the best trip I have ever had on him, it was one of those rounds that I will remember forever.”

Additional accolades include taking home the First Year/High Performance Hunter Championship with Rose Hill, owned by Sharon O’Neill at HITS Saugerties VI, sweeping the Second Year Green Working Hunter at the I Love New York Horse Show with Miss Lucy, and earning multiple top honors at other impressive shows across the nation. Miss Lucy, owned by Lenahan, was awarded the USEF 2011 Second Year Green Working Hunter Reserve National Championship for her total points earned, 33,640 points.

SBS Farms also looks forward to an exciting year with Billie Steffee’s most recent rising star, the five-year-old bay Brandenberger mare, Maggie May. With Alfano in the irons, Maggie May has already claimed the championship award for the Pre-Green Hunters at the Buffalo International Horse Show, as well as the Baby Green Reserve Champion at the Bluegrass Festival in Lexington, KY.

Luke Olson and Mick O’Angelo will race against the timer in the Children’s Jumpers this 2012 season, while Grace Weidner will compete in the Low Junior Jumpers with Only Jumping Boy. Weidner also plans on showing Serato in numerous equitation divisions. Both Weidner and Alfano will show Castell in the Junior Hunters and High Performance Hunters, respectively. Katherine Karrer will ride Contifax in the Adult Hunters. Emma Bergqvist of Erie, PA, looks forward to showing her recent lease, Bennilly, in the Children’s Hunter and Children’s Equitation.

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.

Media Contact: Mason Phelps
Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
phone 561.753.3389  fax 561.753.3386
pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com