PrintLiving up to her reputation as a rider with nerves of steel (not to mention innate talent), 17-year-old Hayley Barnhill nabbed the most lucrative prize at the Spring Gathering Horse Show, April 9 in Katy, Texas. Best known for her wins last fall in the Pessoa/USEF Medal and the ASPCA Maclay finals, this time Barnhill took home the trophy in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby aboard Alliy Moyer’s 9-year-old warmblood gelding, Safari.
The high school senior from Collier-ville, Tenn., started off by winning the classic round over Jennifer Alfano (who was runner-up in that first round aboard SBS Farm’s Jersey Boy and third on Helen Lenahan’s Miss Lucy). Miss Lucy took the blue in the handy round (just ahead of Safari), placing second overall by 3 points. Tracy Fenney of Flower Mound, Texas, finished third overall on Alexandra Zell’s Exposure.
“I liked the courses,” said Barnhill. “The first round was nice; you could judge more on the horse’s style. It was very inviting, nothing too trappy. I loved the long gallop to the big single oxer. Safari has such great range; you can pick up a gallop from miles away, and he gets there and goes sky high. We knew the four-foot options were no problem for him.”
Richard Jeffery designed the indoor derby courses, and Barnhill admitted that the handy round “was a lot tougher. It was a lot trickier than it looked on paper. The tight inside turns to and after the extremely long one-stride proved to be harder than we all thought. There were a lot of options for tight turns that didn’t end up being very smooth. [But] it was a good test that gave you lots of options.”
Barnhill said riding last in the handy round helped her. She got a little bit of breathing room when Jersey Boy, who’d been on their heels in the classic round and was fresh off a big win at the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby in Wellington, Fla., pulled a rail at the last oxer. He finished eighth overall.
“After all the mistakes [made by some other horses and riders], I knew I didn’t need to do anything crazy, but
I couldn’t play it too safe with Jen having big scores [on Miss Lucy],” Barnhill said. “We decided to go right around to the one-stride but stay handy everywhere else. Safari went around so smoothly, I never had to touch the reins and he jumped great.
“Safari is everyone’s type,” Barnhill added. “He’s the same every time; he rises to the occasion of a big class and goes even better. He could do it on his own. You just tell him where to go, and he has the rest covered.”
Barnhill caught the ride on Safari (and on Moyer’s other horse, Libretto) when the Spring Gathering dates conflicted with Moyer’s SAT testing. Barnhill had ridden Safari during Week 7 of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Moyer, a 16-year-old from Carmel, Ind., acquired Safari as a junior hunter right before the Pennsylvania National Horse Show last fall and the pair has racked up tricolors ever since.
Tricolors came Barnhill’s way at Spring Gathering as well. She and Safari were champions in the small junior hunters, and she rode Libretto to the top of the large junior, 16-17, division. Barnhill also won the junior hunter classic aboard Libretto and finished third on Safari.
The Whole Package
Tammy Provost of Meadowview Farm in Sheridan, Ind., trains Moyer and was pleased that Barnhill could fill in for her absent student.
