Lauderdale and Christine Kear celebrated the one-year anniversary of their partnership in winning style, taking the championship in both the green working and green conformation divisions as well as the grand hunter championship at St. Christopher’s Horse Show in Quentin, Pa., May 10-14.

“This was my first show with him last year so it’s nice to come back and do so well,” she said.

Kear, 33, of Nottingham, Pa., first saw the 6-year-old, bay, Dutch Warmblood gelding last winter at the Wellington, Fla., farm of her business partner, Joe Norick.

“I had him picked out from the beginning!” she remembered. “It was love at first sight.”

When an opportunity to purchase “Billy” suddenly presented itself, Kear wasted no time, buying a plane ticket to Florida for the next day. But she couldn’t book a flight directly to Palm Beach on such short notice and instead had to land in the Fort Lauderdale airport. She derived Billy’s show name from the slight detour.

“He’s a bit of a finicky horse–he’s very sensitive. He rules the barn. If he’s not comfortable, he lets everyone know it,” Kear said with a laugh.
At shows, she rearranges her barn aisle to suit him, taking down the tack and grooming stalls to give Billy the space he prefers. And a bag of carrots is a required accessory for his every appearance in the ring.

“At home, he just gets hacked out in the grass field. He knows that there’s no pressure; he gets to stop and eat grass whenever he wants,” said Kear.

Kear’s indulgence of Billy’s demands has paid off. The pair started the 2006 season with the green conformation circuit championship in Jacksonville, Fla., and good ribbons in Ocala, Fla. They have already qualified for the fall indoor shows.

“This is his second show back since Ocala so I’m really pleased with him this week,” she said.

Billy has also shown successfully in the junior division under Kear’s student Claire Wilson. Kear was initially nervous about pairing the young, green horse with a rider new to the 3’6″ height.

“I thought I was going to chew off my fingernails, but he handled it great,” she said. “It makes me nervous because he is my baby, and I have to make sure he takes care of my children and they take care of him, but it’s good for him. He was such a great pre-green horse, and it’s nice that he has stepped up and made such a nice 3’6″ horse.”

In the pony ring, Kear’s student Devon Walther took home many prizes, including best child rider on a pony. Walther was reserve in the small pony division aboard Louis Vuitton, reserve in the medium division aboard Sno Secret and champion in the large ponies aboard Monarch International’s Texas.

Walther started riding with Kear this winter in Florida. “Chrissy is really nice and has good things to tell me,” she said. “I know that I’m going to learn a lot from her. Plus all the people who ride with her are really nice so it’s just a lot of fun.”

Looking Between The Right Ears
Joy Slater’s secret to success in the amateur-owner jumpers is simple. “I ride the right horses. I know that,” she said succinctly.

At St. Christopher’s, the right horses were Olivier and Shindig, who accounted for the championship and reserve championship in the junior/amateur-owner jumper division.

“They’re both pretty sensitive and quite fast,” said Slater. “I’m lucky; I have good-guy horses.”

Slater, of Unionville, Pa., purchased Olivier, nicknamed “Ollie,” a 9-year-old Irish-bred, from Steve Mackin and the late Paul Darragh three years ago. The pair also topped the standings in the $5,000 junior/amateur-owner jumper classic.

Her other “fat brown horse,” Shindig, “believes in eating and doing as little exercise as possible, but he really likes to jump,” said Slater, who has owned “Scrappy,” a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood, for five years.

Though she modestly credited her wins to “looking between the correct ears,” Slater herself is far more than a mere passenger.

A lifelong horsewoman, she trained with Frank Chapot as a junior and went on to a historic timber racing career, twice winning the nation’s most arduous steeplechase, the Maryland Hunt Cup.

At Slater’s Fat Chance Farm, her horses enjoy daily turnout and frequent cross-country outings. “They don’t do too many circles, so they’re fresh and happy when they go to the horse shows,” she said.

Slater trains with her goddaughter, Laura Chapot.

Both of her mounts are qualified for Devon (Pa.). The first time the venerable show offered the amateur jumper division 30 years ago, Slater was champion aboard her Wile E. Coyote.

Bittersweet Wins
Winning three of the four over fences classes in the large junior hunters gave Lauren Baum and her partner of almost two years, Markelo, the division championship, the best junior rider and grand junior hunter titles.

At the St. Chris-topher’s show two years ago, the Baums viewed the video of Markelo, who is named for the European town in which he was born. “I’m really glad that my mother agreed to bring him over. He is really special and so much fun,” said Lauren.

Lauren will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall. “I have to give up my lease after Devon on my other junior hunter, Pitinella, and Markelo will hope-fully be sold before I leave for college,” she said. “So I’m a little sad about it all, but I understand.”

Lauren has ridden with trainer Jill Shull for two years. “It was really a good choice. I have learned so much from her, and I’m very grateful to her,” she said.

On Wednesday, Lauren had to leave after her lesson to give a speech to the National Honor Society, and she plays in the orchestra.

Susan Kelly proved that not practicing does make perfect with her win in the adult amateur hunter classic on Endless. “I don’t do much with him. All I really do is trail ride, and I might jump once before a show. I don’t really like to practice, and he really likes to be left alone,” she said.

Kelly trains with Phoebe DeMott and has been riding the Dutch Warmblood for six years. She juggles three children and her riding with ease. “I think where there is a will there is a way,” she said. “I want to do it so we make it work.”

Don’t Stop Galloping
The cold and dark didn’t seem to bother Kirk Webby or his 11-year-old, Belgian mare, Sitah, on their way to the win in the $10,000 Newsprint Farm St. Christopher’s Mini Prix. The three-week-old partnership appeared to be a good one as they conquered Dean Rheinheimer’s course.

“The worst part of the entire night was that it was just dark,” said Webby. “The schooling area had one light so you could only jump a few jumps. I went after three jumps, but I knew she would be great. The difference for me was that I did the inside turns and that’s what made me the winner.”

“I just told her to keep galloping,” said trainer Mary Babick of Catie Torcivia’s win in the children’s jumper classic on Straight Up. “His stride is extremely long, and he covers a lot of ground so she isn’t going as fast as she looks. Plus she is a great student and does what I tell her to do.”

After his win “Ivan” looked into the crowed and hammed it up for them. “He likes to do that. He knows his name, and if someone calls it he will zone in on them,” said Torcivia with a laugh. “He will play games with you.”

Torcivia has been Babick’s student for five years, since she was 10. “I had only ever taken lessons from her, so everything I know about showing came from Mary,” she said.

In addition to the jumpers, Torcivia would like to take a spin in the hunter and equitation rings “in order to better myself in the jumpers.”