Washington, D.C – October 28, 2011 – The Junior Hunter divisions concluded their second day of competition on Friday morning with the presentation of championship awards at the 53rd Washington International Horse Show (WIHS). Victoria Colvin and Sanzibar, owned by Karen Long Dwight, were awarded the Grand Junior Hunter Championship after earning the Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under tricolor. Colvin was also given the Best Child Rider on a Horse honors.


The WIHS continues through Sunday, October 30. The highlight classes of the week are the $25,000 Puissance sponsored by The Boeing Company this evening, and the $100,000 President’s Cup Grand Prix presented by Events DC, CSI 3*-W on Saturday, October 29. The course designer for the hunter classes this week is JP Goddard of Aiken, SC.


Starting out the day, Colvin and Sanzibar placed first, first and second over fences and finished fifth under saddle. Lillie Keenan and Don Stewart’s Confidential were reserve with a first, second and fourth.


Watch Sanzibar and Victoria Colvin’s winning round! All show videos are available at www.shownet.biz. You can watch the entire WIHS live and free online at www.wihs.org

Colvin of Loxahatchee, FL, and Sanzibar were presented The Ides of March Perpetual Trophy donated by Linda Lee and Lee Reynolds. In addition to the grand championship, Colvin earned the prestigious DiVecchia Perpetual Trophy as Best Child Rider on a Horse. The award was sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Crown; the trophy donated by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick DiVecchia.


Following the presentation of awards, Colvin spoke about her grand champion mount, stating, “He is perfect and he has an amazing canter. He is like a couch; you could paint your nails on him.”


Sanzibar and Victoria Colvin

Sanzibar is an eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Sunny-Boy. Colvin praised the horse on his great jump and dependable style. “He was pretty consistent and he has a huge stride, which makes it easy to get around the course,” she said. “He is usually good and he just gets up to the fences nicely. He has a good personality too; he is definitely one of the happy horses.”


Along with her own great awards, Colvin’s trainer Scott Stewart was the top professional rider of the week and her barn mate Becky Gochman led the amateur-owners. Colvin was excited that they all did so well and remarked on the show’s great atmosphere. “I really like showing here,” she smiled. “The ring is a little skinny, but it is nice and I like the crowds, especially in the night classes. It makes the show exciting.”


Victoria Colvin in her Best Child Rider presentation

The Large Junior Hunter 15 and Under also completed their division this morning with a championship win for Lillie Keenan of New York, NY, and Chansonette Farm LLC’s C Coast Z. The pair scored two second place ribbons over fences to come out on top. Victoria Colvin piloted Becky Gochman’s Touchdown to the reserve championship with first and sixth place finishes.


C Coast Z is an eleven-year-old Warmblood gelding by Champion Du Lys. Keenan explained that he was originally purchased as an equitation horse, but settled in well as a hunter. “This is his second year doing indoors and even last year it was no problem for him,” she said. “He genuinely thinks highly of himself and thinks he is really special, so he likes when people are watching him; I think that makes him happier.”


C Coast Z and Lillie Keenan

Continuing the morning’s competition, the Small Junior Hunter 16-17 division awarded championship honors to Olivia Esse of Pasadena, CA and Oscany Inc.’s Clooney. The pair placed first, second and fourth. Reserve champion Tenerife, owned and ridden by Noel Fauntleroy, placed second, second and third.


Clooney is a seven-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Carpaccio. Esse purchased Clooney or “Marshmallow” (as he is known in the barn) this past winter. “He is super friendly and cute; he is always so happy,” the rider praised. “He has been so good coming here. I’m sure he has never seen anything like this and he was just as calm as ever; he handled it really well.”


Clooney and Olivia Esse

“I really like showing here,” Esse added. “Washington is so cool; they block off the street and everyone knows there is a horse show going on. This is such a traditional show and it has been around for a long time, so it is special to win here.”


The Large Junior Hunter 16-17, sponsored by Pam Carmichael Keenan, next awarded championship honors to Meg O’Mara and Walk the Line, a 12-year-old Selle Luxemburg gelding owned by O’Mara and Don Stewart. The pair earned two first place ribbons over fences and was awarded The Chance Step Perpetual Trophy, donated by Brooke Carmichael McMurray Fowler and Pam Carmichael Keenan. Heather Hooker guided Richard Prant’s Castlekeep to the reserve tricolor with a first over fences and sixth under saddle. 


Walk the Line and Meg O’Mara

O’Mara of Rumson, NJ, and Walk the Line were awarded The Lyrik Challenge Trophy, donated by Ashley and Courtney Kennedy, for the top junior hunter stake round. O’Mara also earned the brand new Georgetown Trophy as the high-score junior hunter owner-rider with scores of 89 in both classes won.


“He was awesome; he could not have gone better,” O’Mara beamed following presentations. “I changed my ride on him a little bit and tried to ride him with more connection than usual and he has been so much better; he was perfect.”


“It is such an honor to do well here; this is one of my favorite shows and I love D.C,” the rider acknowledged. “There are so many spectators that come here and I think that is awesome.”


In addition to Junior Hunter championships, the WIHS hosted the hunter phase of the WIHS Equitation Classic this morning with an early lead for Shawn Casady of Harriman, TN. Casady rode Ashland Farms’ Worlds Fair to a score of 87.666 over the other thirty-four competitors. Elizabeth Benson and Hayley Barnhill each finished with scores of 87. Other top finishers included Charlotte Jacobs, Lauren Tyree, Chase Boggio, Meg O’Mara, and Victoria Colvin.


World’s Fair and Shawn Casady

“I was really proud of Worlds Fair,” said Casady. “I was happy with the way he jumped; he was slow and smooth, and walked right up the lines. He’s really good in the jumper phase, but the top three are all really close.”


Watch Shawn Casady’s winning round! All show videos are available at www.shownet.biz

The WIHS Equitation Classic will continue tomorrow with all riders returning for the jumper phase. The hunter and jumper scores will then be averaged out to determine the top ten riders who will participate in the final work-off.  The riders change horses by determination of a random draw by lot and then compete over the jumper course for final scores.


The Washington International Horse Show continues tomorrow with the opening classes for the pony hunters, followed by the Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic and the $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic. The jumper phase for the WIHS Equitation Finals will close out the afternoon session. 


The evening session begins at 7 p.m. with the WIHS Equitation Finals work-off with the top 10 riders, followed by a Caisson presentation, terrier races, Chester Weber driving exhibition, and the highlight class of the week, the $100,000 President’s Cup Grand Prix presented by Washington Convention and Sports Authority, a World Cup qualifying event.


Tonight’s evening session will kick off at 7 p.m. with the $31,000 Open Jumpers 1.50m Faults converted class, terrier races, a Chester Weber driving exhibition, and the $25,000 Puissance presented by The Boeing Company. The entire session will be available for viewing on the free live feed at www.wihs.org.

Final Results: WIHS Equitation Finals Hunter Phase
1 731 Shawn Casady                             87.666
Scores :   88.00,   88.00,   87.00
 2 748 Elizabeth Benson                             87.000
Scores :   87.00,   86.50,   87.50
 3 739 Hayley Barnhill                             87.000
Scores :   86.00,   85.00,   90.00
 4 740 Charlotte Jacobs                             86.416
Scores :   86.50,   85.50,   87.25
 5 755 Lauren Tyree                             85.833
Scores :   82.50,   87.00,   88.00
 6 735 Chase Boggio                             85.333
Scores :   83.50,   86.00,   86.50
 7 749 Meg O’Mara                             84.500
Scores :   84.00,   83.50,   86.00
 8 213 Victoria Colvin                             83.333
Scores :   82.75,   83.25,   84.00
 9 763 Allison Toffolon                             83.000
Scores :   85.00,   84.00,   80.00
10 781 Sarah Milliren                             82.250
Scores :   83.75,   82.50,   80.50

Photo Credit: Photos © Shawn McMillen Photography, www.shawnmcmillen.com and Jennifer Wood Media, Inc. These photos may only be used in relation to this press release and with full photo credit.