Tag Archives: Virginia Hunter Championships

Championships, Competitions, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group

Virginia Hunter Championships Continue to Thrive in 2017

August 19, 2017 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Peg Seals aboard Robin Hood. Teresa Ramsay Photography.

Lexington, VA – August 16, 2017 – Chris Wynne’s vision to revitalize small horse show participation in Virginia culminated with another successful year during the Virginia Hunter Champions at the Virginia Horse Center. Created to encourage and reward hunter competition held in the state of Virginia, the Virginia Hunter Championships are run on an accumulating point system, with competitors needing a set amount to qualify.

“You nominate your horse at the beginning of the year, and that’s your only cost,” Chris Wynne, founder of the Virginia Hunter Championships, said. “The horse show doesn’t cost anything. There’s no entry fee.”

“We have a special community and hunter niche in Virginia,” Wynne added. “We wanted to give them an event they could be excited about and proud of without costing them a fortune. We grew exponentially from the first year to the third, and look forward to the fourth.”

In a beautiful round, Peg Seals won the blue ribbon in the Professional Hunter Classic aboard Robin Hood, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood. Seals also came away with the Professional Hunter Rider Style Award piloting her own pre-green mount, Genuine.

“We don’t have a chance to ride for that much money in the hunters very often unless you are doing an International Derby. It’s a great thanks to the sponsors who donate to the Virginia Hunter Championships,” Seals said. “The course at the Virginia Horse Center was well suited for hunters, Aiken type brush, just a gorgeous setting.”

Kate Elliott, who trains with Claiborne Bishop of the Barracks Farm, took the victory in the Junior/Amateur Owner Hunter Classic aboard Orion.

“It was very exciting to participate in the Virginia Hunter Championships for the second time,” Elliott remarked. “It is a great event and the organizers go out of their way to make everyone feel special throughout the day, with beautiful courses and fabulous hospitality and awards. Supporting the tradition of show hunters in Virginia is important.

“Showing at the Virginia Horse Center is always a treat and the management continually strives to improve the facility to benefit horses and people,” Elliot continued. “We are lucky to have such a venue in our region.”

Winner of top honors in last year’s Professional Hunter Classic and Virginia resident, Jason Berry, rode the 5-year-old mare, Something Special, to claim the blue ribbon in the Pre-Green Hunter Classic. Berry has regularly placed at the top of the leaderboard, frequently returning to the Virginia Horse Center for competition.

“I imported Something Special and sold her to the Wheelers. She is so easy and smart. Everybody says if you have a good mare you have a great horse and that’s what she is, phenomenal,” Berry shared. “She’s brave, jumps high, and has super style. She’s everything you want a hunter to be.”

Berry also speaks highly of his experiences at the Virginia Horse Center. “I love competing at VHC. It’s only 45 minutes from my house so it’s like a home show for me. The rings and footing are always great and they have a good crew here running the show.”

In the Children’s Hunter Classic, Grace Owens scored top honors and the Children’s Hunter Rider Style Award on her mount Superlative. Francesca Dussek owned the ring in the Regular/Children’s Pony Hunter Classic aboard Stole the Show and Caitlin Hewitt Schurtz secured a blue ribbon aboard Orchidaceous in the Adult Amateur Hunter Classic.

After three years, the Virginia Hunter Championships is continuing to increase in popularity and Wynne looks forward to the show’s continued benefits to the Virginia equestrian community.

For more information about the Virginia Hunter Championships, please visit www.vahunterchamps.com. To learn more about the Virginia Horse Center, please visit www.horsecenter.org.

Media Contact: Rebecca Walton
Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
phone 561.753.3389 fax 561.753.3386
info@phelpsmediagroup.com
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Championships, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group

Virginia Hunter Championships Looks Forward to Next Year after Successful 2016 Horse Show

September 4, 2016 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Chris Wynne and Silver Lining, winners of the Pre-Green Hunter Classic. Photo By: Teresa Ramsay.

Lexington, Va. – Sept. 2, 2016 – The Virginia Horse Center hosted the second inaugural Virginia Hunter Championships on Tuesday, August 9. The program designed to foster, promote, reward and encourage hunter competition at independent horse shows throughout Virginia was once again a huge success and the planning for next year has already begun.

“You don’t qualify through winning,” Chris Wynne, founder of the Virginia Hunter Championships, said. “You qualify through participation. To be eligible you have to participate in a certain amount of shows in Virginia.”

Wynne continued, “You nominate your horse at the beginning of the year, and that’s your only cost. The horse show doesn’t cost anything. There’s no entry fee or anything. We’ve been fortunate to collect enough donations to put this show together. All of the prize money ($65,000) has been donated.”

The 2016 turnout was exciting to witness for Wynne, Leslie Brown, Claiborne Bishop and others who founded and created the cost-effective show. Thanks to donors like Markel Insurance, Southern States, Lynne Rice, the Fauntlaroy family, Keevil family and Wheeler family the 2017 circuit is already in the works.

One of the well-known locals, Jason Berry, took home the blue-ribbon victory in the Professional Hunter Classic aboard Wistful. The two have been working together for two years and have earned a fair-share of victories in that time.

“He’s a great jumper and super brave,” Berry said. “He’s really scopey. He can jump a mountain. The course was built great and rode great, and the venue is so nice. It was a good two-class format.”

Sharing sentiments of the well-designed courses provided at the Virginia Hunter Championships was Haley Redifer. The 16-year-old earned two big wins in the Junior/Amateur Hunter Classic and Pony Hunter Classic.

“The courses were fantastic,” Redifer said. “The jumps were nice and big. There were a lot of bending lines that really challenged the riders. I really liked it.”

Redifer earned the Junior Amateur/Owner victory aboard Linus, a horse she has only ridden for four months.

“He’s a new ride for me and different than my other horses, because he’s a little bit greener,” Redifer shared. “Going into the championship class, I wasn’t sure how he’d be. I’ve only showed him in an indoor arena one time. I was nervous going in, but he walked in and went around like he’d been in there 100 times before. I couldn’t have asked him to be any more perfect.”

Aboard Champlain Sovereign, a catch-ride for Redifer, she took home the top honors in the Pony Hunter Classic. The two have been a dominating pair in the pony hunter division for two years.

“I started riding him last summer,” the junior rider said. “He is one of the easiest ponies I’ve ridden in my entire life. He is a perfect pony. His rhythm is a horse rhythm. The distances just come up and you just have to sit there. It’s fantastic.”

Wynne also joined in on the victories, taking home the blue aboard Silver Lining in the Pre-Green Hunter Classic.

“He’s a fearless horse,” Wynne said proudly. “We imported him a couple years ago. He’s an extremely quiet horse. He’s not scared of anything. He’s the type of horse that would walk right into anything and ride like he’s been there his whole life.”

Wynne continued, “He’s brave and doesn’t look at things on the side of ring. He doesn’t look at the jumps. He’s never going to let you down with being spooky or anything. He’s a careful jumper. He likes to jump higher than he needs to and puts a little more effort into his job.”

With the wrap up of the 2016 show, Wynne and the board advisors have put the planning and organizing for 2017 into motion and look forward to the growth of this show circuit.

For more information about the Virginia Hunter Championships, please visit www.vahunterchamps.com, and for more information about the Virginia Horse Center, visit www.horsecenter.org.

Rebecca Walton for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International

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Championships, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group

Virginia Hunter Championships Award $60,000 in Successful Inaugural Year

August 13, 2015 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Peg Seals and Son of a Sailor, winners of the $15,000 Professional Hunter Classic. Photos by Teresa Ramsay Photography.

Lexington, VA – August 12, 2015 – Nestled across the state of Virginia in beautiful venues are some of the country’s most historic, traditional horse shows, but in recent years, many of these stand-alone shows have seen a decline in participation.

Keeping Virginia horse shows thriving and rewarding the riders and trainers who participate in them is the concept behind the all-new Virginia Hunter Championships, held for the first time on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the Virginia Horse Center.

“A lot of these great horse shows in Virginia still revolve around hunters, not around jumpers, and that’s a different horse show,” said Chris Wynne, the man who has been the driving force behind the Virginia Hunter Championships. “A lot of horse shows now have so many jumper numbers to make money; it can be hard to make just the hunters work. You have to have very good hunter participation. So we decided to give something to the hunters.”

Presented by Markel, the inaugural Virginia Hunter Championships gave away $60,000 in prize money to riders competing in six different hunter classic divisions: a $15,000 Professional Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Pre-Green Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Children’s Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Adult Amateur Hunter Classic and a $5,000 Pony/Children’s Pony Classic.

Riders competed over two rounds, each scored by three judges sending in scores on separate radio channels from separate locations around the indoor Anderson Coliseum.

“People were excited with how we did the scoring system,” Wynne said. “The judges obviously didn’t know the other scores, and then we averaged the three scores together for each round’s score. In the end, three of the classics were decided by less than a point, which is amazing and exciting. It was very good for everybody, because it was great, close competition; there was no clear cut winner in anything. Nobody was running away with it.”

In the $15,000 Professional Hunter Classic, both of the close top two spots went to Peg Seals. She earned the top call in the two-round classic aboard Emma Fass’ Son of a Sailor and finished second aboard Jennifer Parish’s Select.

In the $10,000 Pre-Green Hunter Classic, Chris Wynne edged out Maria Shannon and The Barrack’s Chicago by just 0.8 points to earn the win aboard Pemberley, owned by Ashley Billman.

*Chris Wynne and Pemberley, winners of the $10,000 Pre-Green Hunter Classic*

“[Pemberley] is a 5-year-old that we bought a year ago and have brought along, and a young lady in our barn bought him,” Wynne said. “[The Virginia Hunter Championships] felt like a great test before Kentucky [and the Pre-Green Incentive Championships] because the young horses had to be in a demanding, indoor venue. You got to see where your babies were before Kentucky. The timing of it was perfect.”

It was also a great opportunity for junior and amateur-owner riders, and the win was again determined by less than one point in the $10,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic. The first place honor went to Kelsi Okun and her own Consigliere, and second place went to Madeleine Lohr and Cameo Appearance.

Additional winners on Tuesday, Aug. 4, included Cary Braun and Gratitude, owned by Emily Langhorne, in the $10,000 Adult Amateur Hunter Classic and Lekha Ramachandran and Jennifer Basile’s Playmore in the $10,000 Children’s Hunter Classic. The $5,000 Pony/Children’s Pony Hunter Classic ran separately and in conjunction with the Lexington National Horse Show on Saturday, Aug. 8.

“As a horse show manager, the Virginia Hunter Championships is such a great concept,” said Leslie Brown, who manages shows at the Virginia Horse Center such as the Lexington National Horse Show, the Lexington Spring Premiere and the Lexington Spring Encore. “There were so many horses from our zone here on Tuesday that all jumped so well, and they are all products of our horse shows.”

In order to be a part of the classics at the Virginia Hunter Championships, horses had to qualify by showing at Virginia horse shows throughout the year. Horses wishing to compete for the professional classic must have shown in at least four of the qualifying shows, while those qualifying for all other classics must have shown in at least six. Listed qualifying shows included:

The Barracks December “A” (12/11-14)*       Lexington Spring Encore “AA”(4/29-5/3)
The Barracks January I “A” (1/2-4)*           James River Hunt “A” (5/8-10)
The Barracks January II “A” (1/8-11)*       Keswick Horse Show “AA” (5/12-17)
Stonewall Country I “A” (1/15-18)           Upperville Horse Show “AA”(6/1-7)
Stonewall Country II “A” (1/30-2/1)           Loudoun Benefit Horse Show “AA”(6/10-14)
The Barracks February “A” (2/6-8)*           Roanoke Valley Horse Show “AA” (6/16-20)
Hollins Spring Welcome “A” (2/26-3/1)       Deep Run Horse Show “AA” (6/17-21)
The Barracks March “A” (3/6-8)*           Warrenton Pony Show “A” (6/24-28)
Rosemount Farm “AA” (4/8-12)            Rosemount Farm “A” (7/24-26)
Lexington Spring Premiere “AA” (4/22-26)

A-rated shows were given a value of 1.5 shows, and AA-rated shows a value of one show.

To learn more about other upcoming horse shows and events at the Virginia Horse Center, visit www.horsecenter.org.

The Virginia Horse Center is situated on a 573-acre site with eight barns to accommodate 750 horses in permanent stabling. Indoor stabling can be increased to 1,200 horses with the use of temporary stalls. The Virginia Horse Center hosts 19 show rings, including two large arenas and a five-mile Olympic cross-country course. Four of the Virginia Horse Center barns are winterized with close access to the 4,000 seat indoor coliseum. The Virginia Horse Center is recognized for the excellent footing of its show rings and the durable construction of the concrete stalls. The Virginia Horse Center also offers camping facilities and on-site food and beverage services. Find the Horse Center online at www.horsecenter.org.

Emily Riden for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International

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Championships, Competitions, Hunter/Equitation

Virginia Hunter Championships Debut August 4 at Virginia Horse Center

July 24, 2015 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Lexington, VA – July 23, 2015 – The state of Virginia is home to some of the nation’s longest standing and most historic hunter horse shows. And now the Virginia Hunter Championships offer an added incentive for riders and trainers competing at these notable shows within the commonwealth.

The inaugural Virginia Hunter Championships, presented by Markel, will be held at the Virginia Horse Center on Tuesday, August 4. The one-day show will give out more than $60,000 in prize money to exhibitors who have been competing in Virginia throughout the year.

“There are so many horse shows in Virginia that are sort of ‘stand-alones,'” explained Chris Wynne, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Virginia Hunter Championships. “A farm has one or two shows, like Rosemount Farm, or an organization has one or two like an Upperville or a Keswick. We’re trying to help those horse shows and get people to stay at home and show in Virginia at their home horse shows.”

The Virginia Hunter Championships on August 4 will offer a $15,000 Professional Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Pre-Green Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Children’s Hunter Classic, a $10,000 Adult Amateur Hunter Classic and a $5,000 Pony/Children’s Pony Classic.

The Barracks December “A” (12/11-14)*                Lexington Spring Encore “AA”(4/29-5/3)
The Barracks January I “A” (1/2-4)*                       James River Hunt “A” (5/8-10)
The Barracks January II “A” (1/8-11)*                     Keswick Horse Show “AA” (5/12-17)
Stonewall Country I “A” (1/15-18)                           Upperville Horse Show “AA”(6/1-7)
Stonewall Country II “A” (1/30-2/1)                         Loudoun Benefit Horse Show “AA”(6/10-14)
The Barracks February “A” (2/6-8)*                       Roanoke Valley Horse Show “AA” (6/16-20)
Hollins Spring Welcome “A” (2/26-3/1)                 Deep Run Horse Show “AA” (6/17-21)
The Barracks March “A” (3/6-8)*                          Warrenton Pony Show “A” (6/24-28)
Rosemount Farm “AA” (4/8-12)                             Rosemount Farm “A” (7/24-26)
Lexington Spring Premiere “AA” (4/22-26)

A-rated shows were given a value of 1.5 shows, and AA-rated shows a value of one show.

“We have a lot of good professionals that have qualified for it, and we’ve received great sponsorship support for our first year,” Wynne said. “A number of individuals and Virginia families have been very nice to sponsor this as a way to show support and to keep the Virginia horse shows going. They’ve shown at Keswick or Warrenton or places like that and want to make sure that they keep going. Today it’s difficult to keep these historic hunter horse shows alive and thriving if you don’t have jumpers. We hope that this gives another avenue for that.”

All of the entry money and money raised for the Virginia Hunter Championships is funneled directly back into the event, allowing for greater prize money, exhibitor parties and more.

“Every dollar earned toward the event is put back into the event,” Wynne said. “It’s not a moneymaker. It’s all for the exhibitors and the trainers that have supported the Virginia horse shows for the year.”

The Virginia Hunter Championships will immediately precede the Lexington National Horse Show, held August 5-9, 2015. Click here to learn more about the Virginia Hunter Championships and the Lexington National Horse Show.