Competing in her final year as a junior rider at the Keswick Horse Show, Kacy Jenkins was honored as the best child rider on a horse after earning the small junior, 16-17, championship with her Signature.

The award is determined by a vote of the judges, and Jenkins said she was surprised and pleased by the recognition she received during the show, held May 17-21 in Keswick, Va.

“It’s one of those things that you always hope for,” she said.

Jenkins, 17, Sterling, Va., also won the Toff Challenge Trophy, awarded to the older small junior hunter champion. Signature is a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood that she purchased in 2001 from Ashmont Farm.

“He’s my baby,” said Jenkins of Signature, who is known around the barn as “Comet.”

Jenkins lost her horse, Jahari, in 2002 to deterioration of the cartilage in one ankle. “I got to see him before the surgery, so I got to say good-bye. But I knew that would be the last time I saw him. That was hard. I said I could never love a horse like I loved him, but I do. Comet surpasses everything. He was the one that got me through it all.”

Jenkins also brought her 10-year-old, Holsteiner mare, Chanteuse, to Keswick. “They’re both great but completely different,” she said. “But that’s one of my favorite things about riding–learning to ride the different types of horses. I love getting on different horses, having to change my style, and trying to figure what each horse needs to help it do its very best.”

Jenkins said on Comet she barely touches the reins. “All I have to do is just look pretty,” she said. Chanteuse “likes to stay connected, with a little more leg to hand feel. She’s my princess.”

When she turns 18, Jenkins said, she plans to ride as an amateur. She will attend a college with a strong riding program and then decide whether to turn professional.

“I have a strong competitive drive, and I love the horses,” Jenkins said. “I guess you have to love the horses in order to make the sacrifices and do this. But nine times out of 10 they will give you their all. So I try to give my all 100 percent of the time. I’m hard on myself, but it makes me ride up to my standards.”

Jenkins attributed much of her success to the support of her mom, Dana Jenkins, and her trainer, Pam Baker. She said Baker has focused on helping her “go in the ring and get it right the first time. It’s all about having the spirit and being positive.”

Megan Fellows and On Star starred in the small junior, 15 and under, division, taking the championship and the Coat Of Arms Perpetual Trophy.

Fellows, 15, shows On Star, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood, for her older sister, Jillian. “He’s just the best, such a pet,” Megan said. “We’ll never let him leave the family.”

Megan started riding On Star after Jillian outgrew him. “He has so much scope,” she said. “You can leave from any distance, and he’ll always do it and take care of you. He’s just about perfect that way.”

Megan, Great Falls, Va., has worked with Jenny Graham for the past eight years. “She’s helped me so much to get me where I am today,” Megan said. “We have a lot of fun together, but we also get things done. It’s just a cool combination.”

Like many other riders at Keswick, Megan was using the show as a warm up for Devon (Pa.). “This is just such a fun environment, and the courses have all just seemed to roll,” she said. “We really felt no pressure this weekend, so everything just worked out well.”

Both Jillian and Megan said there’s no familial competition. “My parents try not to put us in the same division, so we don’t have that issue,” said Megan with a laugh.

Caroline Gottwald, 15, of Richmond, Va., rode Blue Canyon to the large junior, 15 and under, championship. “He’s always good,” she said. “It’s up to me to give him the ride that he deserves.”

Blue Canyon, an 11-year-old warmblood, belongs to Caroline’s older sister, Nancy, but she’s been riding him for the past year. The teenager spends about three hours every day after school at her family’s farm. She’s looking toward riding jumpers some day soon. “But I guess I need to get my mileage in the juniors,” she reflected.

Trainer Bob Crandall works with Gottwald and recommended that she start riding Blue Canyon in order to have a solid horse when she turned 16.

“We’ve really been working hard getting the horse together and out in front of me,” she said. “And we’ve been working on my position. I sometimes make everything a lot harder than it needs to be.”

Dedication Is Rewarded
The Keswick Horse Show is almost in Zachary Parks’ back yard, and the 16-year-old from Charlottesville, Va., enjoyed top ribbons aboard his own Nacito as well as on The Barracks’ Cowboy Up.

Parks is something of a walking advertisement for riding helmet safety–and also for that old adage of climbing back on after taking a fall. Parks spent 21�2 weeks in a coma when he was 7 after taking a spill while trail riding. The family lived in California at the time.

“I had just taken my helmet off because it was very hot, and I was about to get off,” Parks recalled. “Something spooked the horse, and he took off running.”

Parks’ saddle had no safety stirrups, so he ended up caught, dragged and kicked in the head three times by the panicked horse before bystanders were able to get the pair stopped.

The family moved to Virginia shortly thereafter, and Parks said he didn’t hesitate to return to riding. But he’s emphatic when asked if he ever rides without a helmet. “No ma’am. I always have it on,” he said.

Parks lives just a mile from The Barracks, and he’s there every afternoon after school.

“He’s delightful, and he’s come such a long way,” said Barracks owner Claiborne Bishop. “He’s a good student. He’s very smart and really tries to do what you tell him to do. Sometimes his nerves get in his way, but that’s a growing process, and he’s certainly getting better and better at it. He’s starting to put things together, figure out things on his own.”

Nacito was out for most of last year with a suspensory injury, but he took home five ribbons at Keswick including a win in the VHSA flat equitation. Cowboy Up earned the small junior, 16-17, reserve championship.

“They’re both great horses,” Parks said. He credited Marianna Bishop for the help she’s given the pair. “The courses here were really flowing which really suited Cowboy Up,” Parks said. “He’s really simple. I just ride into the ring on loose reins.”