Liza Boyd and Crack On. Photos copyright Shawn McMillen Photography.
Haleigh Landrigan Tops the ARIAT Adult Medal Finals
Upper Marlboro, MD – October 4, 2013 – Professional riders gain points all year in order to be the top six in the country and qualify for the WCHR Professional Finals, sponsored by the John R. Ingram Fund, at the Capital Challenge Horse Show. This year, the top six were Liza Boyd, Kelley Farmer, John French, Peter Pletcher, Amanda Steege, and Scott Stewart, and it was Liza Boyd who finished the competition with top honors. In the afternoon session, Haleigh Landrigan was awarded as the winner of the ARIAT National Adult Medal Finals sponsored by ARIAT International. The Capital Challenge Horse Show, held at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center, will run through Sunday, October 6.
This year’s WCHR Professional Finals had a change in format. It was shortened to three rounds, with riders switching on two donated horses for the first two rounds, then bringing a horse of their own for the third and final handy round.
In the first round, Boyd rode Crack On to a score of 88.33 and was sitting in third place. She had the high score in round two of 91.33 on Corduroy, but still sat in third place behind Scott Stewart and John French.
The third handy round, which included a trot jump, bounce, and hand gallop, was what made such a huge difference for her. Riding Quatrain, a horse her family’s Finally Farm owns with Janet Peterson, she laid down a fantastic round. She was rewarded by the judges with equal scores of 95 across the board from the three judges’ positions, giving her a total of 274.66. However, she would have to wait and see what French and Stewart would do.
As it turned out, both French and Stewart had bobbles that landed them into the bottom two positions at the end of the class.
Stewart explained, “I chose Declaration (for the handy), who I’ve had for a really long time. He’s usually really, really good in the handies… until tonight. I don’t know what set him off. He’s usually perfect. He’s done really well in a lot of derbies so far. I’ll have to try again.”
French wasn’t worried about the handy part of the course with Sander, who has had experience at major equitation finals as well as in the hunter ring. “I brought him knowing that if there were any tricky things, bounces or whatever, in Missy Clark’s barn he’s seen all that before,” he said with a smile. But a slip off of his lead brought the scores down.
Moving up in the final round as well from fourth to second place was WCHR Pro Finals rookie Amanda Steege of Far Hills, NJ. Steege rode Susan Darragh’s Zidane in the final round and scored 88.33 for a total of 265.49.
Third place went to Peter Pletcher of Magnolia, TX. He finished with a total of 262.49, while Kelley Farmer of Wellington, FL, was fourth with 261.16. John French of Woodside, CA, was fifth with 257.83. Stewart, of Wellington, NJ, placed sixth with a total of 257.66.
Boyd, who is from Camden, SC, spoke about the format and how it helped her. “I obviously am a really big fan of the new format. I was from the very beginning,” she said. “I think that bringing your own horse in the end was very much in my benefit. If you picked a horse you knew really well you could really shine, and it definitely was in my favor.”
Boyd said that it was a “no brainer” for her to bring Quatrain to this class after his handy hunter victory this week in the High Performance Hunters. “He goes smooth through the turns and is easy to stay with like an equitation horse. But he jumped in beautiful hunter style. He was definitely the right pick for sure,” she confirmed.
While the riders enjoyed riding a familiar horse, they also remarked about the true hunters that were donated. “I loved my donated horses. They were perfect and perfectly prepared and fun to ride,” said Steege. Boyd added, “It’s great for sales horses; it’s great for promoting horses. Hopefully in the future there will be more and more of those.”
Pletcher had to make a last minute change to his horse for tonight’s class. “I chose a different horse, but he wasn’t right today so I had to quickly grab the sane, safe adult hunter from Eva Bisso, which was very nice of her to let me all of a sudden at the last minute use that horse. She marched right in there and couldn’t have given a better try. I was really happy with her.”
Farmer said that a decision to make a tricky inside turn in the handy course was a make-it-or-break-it moment. “I was in a position where if I tried it and it worked, great. I was low enough that in order to move up, I was going to have to do something. We have to try something,” she pointed out.
Farmer was also very appreciative of those owners that brought horses to the class. “That’s very generous of all of them,” she remarked.
This was the fourth time that Boyd has competed in the WCHR Pro Finals and, she said, the first time she was relaxed going into it with a “good mindset.” Steege, in her first year, was “shockingly relaxed.” She continued, “The thing I didn’t expect about this class was how much camaraderie there is between the riders and show management. So many people have pulled me aside to say ‘Make sure you have plenty of help. If you need help, we can help you,’ and all of these guys really helped show me the way. I had a great time.”
Geoff Teall, WCHR Task Force Chairman, noted that the new format “kept everyone in the playing field.” He continued, “The new format really allows for top hunters and allows for strategy.”
For her win tonight in the WCHR Professional Finals, Boyd was presented with the “All the Way” trophy. The Far West Farms Perpetual Trophy donated by the Karazissis Family was given to Contelido as the Best Horse.
ARIAT National Adult Medal Finals
The ARIAT National Adult Medal Finals welcomed 29 competitors in today’s competition. Since its inception in 1994, the ARIAT National Adult Medal has given adult riders the opportunity to compete in a competitive equitation class over fences 3′ in height. The classes are held at select shows across the country and riders collect points to qualify for the Finals.
The top 10 from the first round returned for the second round. From there, the top four tested since all were within two points of the lead. With a .15 point margin of victory, Haleigh Landrigan of Marshfield, MA, rode Acobibu, a 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Acorado I—Siena) owned by Nancy Vinal.
Landrigan sat in seventh place after round one and moved up to third place for the test, eventually putting in a solid test with a bold hand gallop to move up to the win. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be for the first round. Once I got past the first round, it was a huge relief and really, my goal was to make the second round. I went in there knowing I had a ribbon regardless. I knew if I moved up, great. It was the same with the test. I just wanted to give it my all; surprisingly didn’t have that much stress!”
Landrigan got the ride on “Abu” through her friend Vinal. She started riding him in Florida this winter, and while Vinal rode him in the summer while out of college, Landrigan got back the ride when school went back into session a month ago. During the summer, Landrigan qualified on the generosity of borrowed horses from Annie Dotoli. She trains with Greg Prince and Cookie DeSimone and had help preparing for the Finals with Alex Schwartz.
This was Landrigan’s third time competing in the ARIAT Finals. “I did the equitation as a junior, and it never went that well, so that’s why I love being an adult. I feel like I can go around and be happy,” she related.
Round 1 of the North American Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Challenge Cup sponsored by Kate Considine/Willow Brook Stables kicked off this afternoon with a speed class. For the second year in a row, Victoria Colvin and Monsieur du Reverdy were the fastest to win. There were 29 entries in the class and 12 were clear, but Colvin’s time of 48.952 seconds took the top spot. One second behind was Cloe Hymowitz on VDL Wardorette in 49.970 seconds. Third place went to Colvin on Don Juan in a time of 50.476 seconds, while Kelsey Thatcher recorded a time of 50.828 seconds for fourth place on Everything. Kalvin Dobbs and Winde’s time of 51.139 seconds slotted them in fifth place. The jumpers will return tomorrow night for their final round, the $10,000 North American Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Challenge Cup.
The Capital Challenge Horse Show continues tomorrow with championships for the 16-17 sections of the junior hunters, the pony hunters, the Children’s Pony Hunters, the WCHR Handy Hunter Challenge, and the final round for the junior/amateur-owner jumpers.
For full results, more information, or to watch the SmartPak live webcast, please visit www.capitalchallenge.org.
About Capital Challenge
In its 20th year, the Capital Challenge Horse Show sets itself apart with a distinct and unique focus on preeminent hunter competition. Held each autumn at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD, this year’s show will take place on September 28 – October 6.
Top competitions include the ARIAT National Adult Medal Finals and the THIS National Children’s Medal Finals, along with the Capital Challenge Equitation Weekend, presented by Bigeq.com. In addition to these prestigious equitation events, the Capital Challenge Horse Show will once again host the World Champion Hunter Rider Finals and will assemble the country’s best horses and riders to compete in junior, amateur, and professional hunter classes.
For more information, please visit www.capitalchallenge.org or visit the Capital Challenge Horse Show page on Facebook!
Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Equestrian Public Relations
info@jenniferwoodmedia.com