Devon, Pa.—May 30  

Last week, Andy Kocher was ready to quit riding. He was showing in Canada at the Classic At Palgrave CSI** (Ontario) and nothing was going right.

“I took three horses there and it was pouring rain and they were all stopping. I couldn’t get around the first three days. I literally didn’t make it around the 1.20-meters,” Kocher said. “I called my wife, Jenny Jones, and said, ‘I’m quitting. I’m just going to be a truck driver.’ I have a CDL, so I could do it.”

But on the weekend in Palgrave, things improved. He was fourth in the $86,000 Jumper Classic on Navalo De Poheton, and then on May 28 he won the $20,000 Modified Grand Prix on Prof De La Roque.

Then on Kocher’s first day of showing at the Devon Horse Show, he definitely put the truck driving back to Plan B. In the first open jumper class of the week, the $50,000 Devon Welcome Stake, he blazed to the top of a 16-horse jump-off to take the win with Navalo De Poheton. The starting field of 53 included Olympic gold medalists McLain Ward and Beezie Madden. “That was fun!” Kocher said. “I never thought I’d win one here, especially a night class.”

Andy Kocher on Navalo De Poheton. Photo by Molly Sorge

He came very close to not winning, as he almost fell off after the last fence in the jump-off. Kocher got jumped a bit loose over the last vertical and actually had one leg over the gray gelding’s back. “I was lucky to stay on! I was side-saddle, in the wrong class!” he said. When asked how he did manage to right himself to get through the timers intact, he shook his head with a big smile and said, “I don’t know!” He did, however, pop all the buttons off his jacket in the effort.

Watch Kocher’s jump-off round, courtesy of USEFNetwork:

Kocher grew up in Pennsylvania and the Devon Horse Show was part of his youth, as he watched his father, Kelly, show there. “I did the junior hunters one time, but I always really wanted to show here. I just wasn’t good enough, to be honest with you,” he said.

In fact, it wasn’t until 2016 that Andy decided to venture back to Devon for the open jumpers. He showed Uppie Des Lis in the $225,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon and had 5 faults in Round 1. He’s hoping this year to make another bid for the big class, and Navalo De Poheton is the horse he’s entered.

“That horse is really fast. I’ve only had him since the week after [the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.)], so like two months maybe. I bought him from Schuyler Riley. He’s 16, and I don’t know when the last time he jumped a class like this was. It’s been a while I think.” In fact, Navalo spent WEF in the children’s jumper ring with a student of Riley’s and spent 2016 in the junior jumpers with Katherine Bundy. His last 1.50-meter class with Riley was in the fall of 2015.

Andy Kocher couldn’t stop grinning after his win with Navalo De Poheton. Photo by Molly Sorge

In Palgrave, Andy had trouble getting Navalo past the in-gate once they were in the ring. “So today, I brought treats into the ring, and I rode him past the gate and gave him a treat. And I rode him past the gate again and gave him a treat. I did that in the jump-off too, because I can’t force him into it. I tried that last week and it didn’t work,” he said.

There will be plenty of treats in Andy’s pocket on Thursday night for the $225,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon, and hopefully a new jacket with buttons on it.

See full results from the $50,000 Devon Welcome Stake and from all of Devon. To see all of the Chronicle’s coverage from the Devon Horse Show, click here. And make sure to read the June 19 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse for more in-depth coverage from Devon.