The 2009 Capital Challenge Horse Show was a great success this year with fantastic competition in hunters, jumpers, and equitation. Many thanks to all the trainers for putting Capital Challenge on their show schedule and for bringing their talented horses and riders to compete at The Prince Georges Equestrian Center. The show was held September 26 through October 4 in Upper Marlboro, MD. Full stories on specific events can be read online according to the day the event took place.

Click the "Read More" button for a summary of the 2009 show.

    On the final day of the Capital Challenge Horse Show top honors went to Laura King and Heartfelt who collected the Small Junior Hunter 16-17 Championship, the Grand Junior Hunter Championship and the Best Junior Hunter Rider Award.
     Heartfelt is owned by Blantyre Farm of Irvington, NY.   
    “His jump is really cool,” said King. “His jump is probably the best part (about riding him).”  King’s year on Heartfelt has included wins at shows such as Devon (reserve champion) and the Winter Equestrian Festival (champion during WCHR week).
    King described Heartfelt as “very sweet” and he is known around the barn as “Skippy.” She explained his nick name saying, “One of the first horse shows we had him at, he ended up eating peanut butter so...Skippy.”

   The Small Junior 15 & Under Champion was Victoria Colvin on Ovation. Ovation is owned by Scott Stewart. Colvin and Ovation finished with a first under saddle, second in the handy hunter and fourth over fences.  
   The reserve champion was Casey Green and her own Savannah. The pair was first in the hunter stake, second over fences, and fifth under saddle.
    Colvin went on to take the Large Junior 15 & Under Champion riding Sambalino. They earned a second, third, and sixth over fences and were first under saddle. Sambalino is owned by Gina Day.

Read today's Daily Update for

• Results from Saturday

• Photos

• $25,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Challenge Cup

• Coverage of Pony Champions

• $5,000 Handy Hunter Challenge

• Junior Hunters

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Hooker takes the Ariat Cup; Barnhill Wins $25,000 Challenge

Tracey Weinberg casually walked into the Show Place Arena aboard Cromwell, holding the reins on the buckle. It was her third mount of the night in the $25,000 North American Junior/ Amateur-Owner Challenge Cup and she was the last of eight riders to face the jump-off course. She walked halfway into the arena and the crowd waited. It didn’t look as if there was pressure on Weinberg, but if she wanted to take home the Ariat Congressional Cup for the second consecutive year she knew she had to win - besting Hayley Barnhill’s time of 38.669 seconds on Toucan Tango. Cromwell picked up the canter and Weinberg casually shortened her reins. If she came in second she would tie with Tim Hooker, who won the first two legs of the three-phase event. If they tied, there would be a jump-off. At that moment, Hooker was already preparing his horse.

Letting go can often be the hardest thing for a rider to do. Trusting your horse or pony is a part of winning that has to come from within, and when Taylor Ann Adams realized that, it paid off in spades.

Adams rode the O’Mara’s Franklin’s Tower in the Large Pony Hunter division and secured the championship with three firsts and third over fences. Adams was awarded the Kitty Borisoff Memorial Trophy, sponsored by Archibald Cox and Brookway Stables.
She then went back into the arena to collect a slew of other awards. Franklin’s Tower, also known as Robby, was decorated from one side of his head to the other, wearing long ribbons for the Grand Pony Championship and the EMO Trip of the Show for their high scoring trip of a 90. Adams was also named the Best Pony Rider and presented with the VanderMoore Designs Trophy.
Last year Adams rode Robby at Capital Challenge but it didn’t end as successfully as it did this year. She is quick to blame herself for the outcome saying, “I was not very good. He tried very hard. He was a good boy. He tried his hardest and he still couldn’t fix what I did wrong.”

Read all about:

• Ariat Medal Finals

• WCHR Adult Amateur Finals

• WCHR Professional Finals

• $10,000 North American Junior/Amateur-Owner Challenge Cup Round II

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Brubaker Takes Second WCHR Adult Finals, Cash Wins Ariat Adult Medal Finals, Hooker Retains Lead in NA Junior/A-O Challenge Cup 

The highlight event of the Capital Challenge Horse Show was held this evening to a solid crowd of fans in the stands. In the WCHR Professional Finals, the top six qualified hunter riders in the nation went head-to-head in a four-round class to determine the 2009 Professional World Champion Hunter Rider. Hunt Tosh of Milton, GA, led the class from the beginning to win in his debut in the prestigious event. 

Tosh started out the night with a bang when he scored a 93 in the first round on the horse he brought to the competition, Lone Star, who is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Wheeler. In the second round, he rode Camira, owned by Melanie Barnes, brought to the competition by Peter Pletcher. They scored a 90.16 to raise Tosh’s total to 183.16.  

In the third round, Tosh and Lindsay Wolf’s Lazy Sunday had a score of 89.33 for a total of 272.49. Tosh qualified as one of the top three riders to return for the final handy round. He piloted Fine Kiss, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ernest M. Oare. They scored the highest round of the night with a 94.33 to give Tosh a total of 366.82 points for the win. 

Tosh was thrilled to win his first WCHR Professional Finals. “When you win in a class like this, it’s an especially big victory, and it is fun to do. I’ve watched it in the past, and it’s something that you always want to win and hope you can come back. I hope to do it again like these guys.” 

Tosh was speaking of his fellow competitors, like three-time winners Peter Pletcher and Scott Stewart, two-time winner John French, newcomer Ken Berkley, and Kelley Farmer. 

“I was lucky to have a high score on my horse to begin with,” Tosh pointed out. “So once you start thinking about the third and fourth horse, you’re basically hoping you don’t mess up. Everything happens so fast down there, and you just get caught up in it. It was nice that way for me because you don’t have time to slow down and think about where you are and where everyone else is.” 

In August, Jeanine Cash set her sights on the Ariat National Adult Medal Finals and never backed down.  Navigating the course aboard Calinka, the talented rider dominated the two-round class, posting top scores for both rounds and winning the National Adult Medal Finals hands down.  Her final score of 173.8 was nearly six points higher than second-place finisher Brian Feigus on Winston.  Cash was lucky to get the ride on Calinka, a horse owned by Laura Gamino who was loaned to Cash just days prior to the class. Cash hails from Winthrup, MA, and trains with Geoff Teal.

To read more about Jeanine’s win be sure to read the Saturday edition of the Daily Update.


ARIAT National Adult Medal Finals

1. Jeanine Cash, Calinka 87.20+86.60=173.80

2. Brian Feigus, Winston 85.00+82.95=167.95

3. Amy Brubaker, War Eagle 83.70+84.20=167.90

4. Emma Mann-Meginniss, Temptation 82.05+81.10=163.15

5. Kristina Lyons, Cocoa Chelsea Keyes 78.05 84.00 162.05 5

6. Melissa Feller Commander Tom 79.00+82.00=161.00

7. Amy Cooper, Spy Glass 78.05+79.00=157.05

8. Elise Cook, Lion King 80.50+76.00=156.50

9. Elysse Ruschmeyer, Arkits 79.20+77.00=156.20

10. Caroline Hughes, Prince Ferdinand 78.50+75.60=154.10

 

       For the second consecutive year, California rider Amy Brubaker came to Capital Challenge and picked up a catch ride for the World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) Adult Amateur Finals and for the second year in a row she has led the victory gallop.
   Posting an 83.66 in the first round, Brubaker was in the fourth position coming into the second round with Relentless, owned by Caitlin Ziegler and Artisan Farms.  Lisa Arena was leading after the first round with a high score of 87 on Endo Fino. But when Brubaker posted an 87 in the second round she took the lead and never gave it back.
    Brubaker trains with Archie Cox and Tracy Behr who help her find rides throughout the season.  In doing so, Brubaker, who doesn’t have her own horse, is able to compete at the WCHR shows. This year’s efforts paid off as Brubaker not only won the WCHR Finals class, but also collected the National WCHR Adult Championship.

To read more about Amy’s story be  sure to read the Saturday edition of the Daily Update.

When a parent raises a child there are two things that parent must give to them – roots and wings. Giving them roots takes work and time and patience. But giving them wings can be even harder. How does it feel to give them what they need and then watch them leave the nest? And is it any different when that child is your horse?

There is a responsibility you feel as the owner of a talented horse. It is the responsibility to allow that horse to be the best that it can be. It is the job of the owner, like a parent’s responsibility to a child, to give that animal the best education you can so they may truly excel and use their gifts. First you must give them roots…and then, often, you must let them go and give them wings to fly.
In May of 2007, at the Showpark Ranch & Coast Horse Show in Del Mar, CA, professional rider Erin Duffy saw Rumba for the first time.

He was 7 years old, and Cam Smith had just imported him from Denmark the month before. He was at the show getting some experience, but not competing.
Erin was sitting on a horse and saw Mosegaarden's Caramba trot across the warm up arena. She realized this was the horse that Mandy Porter had told her about; Cam had a new gray jumper that looked more suited to the hunter ring. Erin went straight up to Cam and asked him about Rumba. Cam told her the horse was for sale as he was a little more horse than he had expected for his client (a junior jumper rider). Erin immediately asked to sit on him and asked for first right of refusal. Once she rode him, she said, "There was just no question in my mind that he was 100 percent genuine and had all the quality that you are lucky to find once in a lifetime! " She knew it from that first day.