Wellington, FL – February 18, 2010 – Hunters are on the center stage this week in the Bainbridge AHJF/WCHR Hunter Spectacular week of the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. The professional hunter divisions competed in the E.R. Mische Grand Hunter Ring and the International Arena over the past two days to find their champions.
In the Regular Working Hunters, Liza Towell Boyd of Camden, SC, won the championship on Brunello, a 12-year-old gelding owned by Caroline Clark Morrison. The pair was second over fences in the second class yesterday and finished with two blue ribbons over fences today to capture the top prize over Castle Rock and Louise Serio, who rode for Bryan Baldwin.
“It was a bit of a rider error in the first class, and we had a rail behind,” Boyd explained of yesterday’s class. “Since we do not get a hack ribbon, every jumping class needs to count. I knew today we had to win both classes. We were just going to go for it. He walked in there and I asked him, and he was right there for me. He got two scores of 88.”
Boyd and Brunello won in a Regular Working division with 24 entries. “It’s so good for the industry to see that many Working horses; it’s great competition,” she commented. Designing in the International Arena for the hunters this week is Bobby Murphy of Lexington, KY. Boyd noted, “It was fun and different. I thought the horses jumped brilliant over it. It seemed like all of the horses adapted to it well. You could really gallop up and the fences would back them off. It rode great.”
Boyd and Brunello have a stellar history together. They were third in the AHJF Hunter Spectacular of Palm Beach in 2007 when Brunello was a First Year horse, and they have gone on to win championships at all of the indoor shows in multiple years. After Boyd took a break from riding when she had her daughter and Brunello had time off, they returned to the show ring last week.
Boyd smiled, “Definitely last week I was nervous. This week he was right where we left off. It’s so nice to have a horse like that. He has all the scope in the world. It’s the most amazing feeling to have on a horse. The range is endless.”
For Saturday night’s class, Boyd “just wants to have fun.” She added, “It’s so stressful just to qualify! It’s one of my favorite classes of the year. He’s super brave and he’ll give it his all. Caroline is so nice to let me ride him.”
Kelley Farmer had a great day of competition when she brought home multiple tricolor ribbons. Her first championship came in the Regular Conformation Hunters with Second City, owned by Jane Gaston. They won the model class, were fifth in the under saddle, won the stake, and finished with another second and two firsts over fences. The reserve champion was Declaration, owned by Fashion Farm and ridden by Glen Senk. Farmer and Red Sky at Night, owned by CH Farm LLC, were champions in the Green Conformation Hunters, with Stewart and Declaration picking up another reserve championship.
Farmer, of Keswick, VA, has ridden Second City, an eight-year-old mare, since last summer. Although Second City shows in the Regular Conformation division, she is just a First Year horse. Farmer and Second City were champions last week as well, and her owner Gaston shows her in the Amateur-Owner Hunters.
“She’s just a good horse. She walks in the ring and tries hard every time,” Farmer said. “She jumps four feet easy. She’s not one that has to do a professional division to be ready for the amateurs. But you know, a good mare is a good mare, (and) there’s nothing complicated about her. When stuff’s not going well, you can call on her to be the one that goes well.”
Farmer joked, “We call her the big fat mama! She goes in a rubber snaffle, no martingale, really quiet, really smooth, big stride, a ton of jump. She’s big, but she’s light on her feet. She’s beautiful to ride.”
Farmer is looking forward to defending her title in the AHJF Hunter Spectacular of Palm Beach, which she won last year on Early Applause. “I’d love a repeat performance! It’s always fun to ride out in this field. It’s gorgeous out there. The fences are inviting, (and) you can gallop to the jumps. It’s so special because we get an audience for the hunters,” she remarked.
The First Year Green Hunters were split into two sections this week, and the champion of the first section was Blessed, ridden and owned by Scott Stewart of Flemington, NJ. They placed second, second, and third yesterday. The reserve championship went to Showman, ridden by Sandy Ferrell and owned by Alexa and Krista Weisman.
Today in the International Arena, Stewart and Blessed won the stake class with a score of 90. “She was better than I was in the big ring,” he laughed. “I was expecting her to be green and she wasn’t, so I didn’t really ride her the best in the first class.”
Stewart purchased Blessed, a six-year-old Holsteiner mare, three weeks ago from Derek Braun, and this was only her third show. “She was great this week. I was a little nervous because I just don’t know her very well. I was maybe going to reinstate her for Pre-Green after showing three times, but she’s fine. The first show that I did, she really wasn’t ready and she jumped really high, so I didn’t show her for two weeks after that. I did last week and this week to gauge it. Considering the cold, she was very good,” he stated.
In the second section, Becky Gochman’s Vibe and Peter Pletcher of Flower Mound, TX, took home the championship. They won a class yesterday as well as the under saddle and finished second and fourth over fences today. The reserve champion was Madison, ridden by Patricia Griffith for Chansonette Farm LLC.
Gochman purchased Vibe from Scott Stewart at the Devon Horse Show last May. Pletcher showed him lightly in the Pre-Green division and was champion in the Young Hunters at the Capital Challenge Horse Show. “I waited for him to show here. He was reserve champion one week and pretty much peaked at the best time,” Pletcher pointed out. “This is what I was shooting for. I really like to try and have a good champion horse for this horse show.”
Vibe is also six years old, so Pletcher is debating whether or not to show him on Saturday night. “I wasn’t going to because he’s young, but he walked in this ring and was so brave,” he said. “He felt really good. I know it’s a lot different at night under the lights, but he’s an amazing horse. I think if his head is right, he could show really well.”
Pletcher also believes that Vibe is special despite his small stature. “He’s about 15.2 hands, so he’s probably one of the smallest horses I’ve ever ridden, but he goes like the biggest horse I’ve ever ridden,” he described. “He can canter around the course so unbelievably slow and walk the lines. It’s very mesmerizing to watch that horse.”
In the Second Year Green Hunters, Kid Rock and Louise Serio continued their dominance by picking up another championship ribbon. They were first and third yesterday and third under saddle. Today they finished first and second over fences. The reserve championship went to Travino, ridden by Samantha Schaefer for Heritage Farm.
Hunter action continues tomorrow with championships for the Small and Large Junior 16-17 Hunters as well as both age divisions of the Amateur-Owner Hunters.
For more full results and more information, please visit www.shownet.biz or www.equestriansport.com.
The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of top competition running from January 13 through April 4. WEF is run by Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, and Wellington Equestrian Partners and held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. All 12 shows are “AA” rated and Jumper Rated 6, and more than $5.5 million in prize money will be awarded.
WEF is proud to be supported by their title sponsor, FTI Consulting, Inc. FTI Consulting, Inc. exists to help companies and their stakeholders protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex economic, legal and regulatory environment. FTI is the trusted advisor entrenched in many of the game-changing events that make headlines, move markets and create business history. For more information, please visit www.fticonsulting.com.
During the 12 weeks of WEF, “Saturday Night Lights” headlines the entertainment each Saturday night where spectators not only enjoy the Grand Prix class, but a street carnival, live music, and numerous dining options with box seats, sports bars, and the famed Tiki Hut for front row fun.
Please visit www.equestriansport.com or call 561-793-5867 for more information.