The Kesslers are no strangers to winning, but for the second time this year, Reed, her father Murray, and her motherTeri Kessler, all took home championship honors, this time during the two weeks of shows at Lake Placid, N.Y., June 29-July 3 and July 6-10.

They also pulled off multiple championships at the Old Salem Farm II (N.Y.) show in May.

“There is no feeling like having everybody you love in arm’s reach, at the top of their game and living out their dreams,” said Teri with a smile.

Murray agreed. “Riding is a great joy for the whole family. It gives me a sense of pride, and I feel very fortunate that we are able to compete as a family.”

Reed was the small pony hunter champion with Cardiff Mardi Gras as well as co-grand pony hunter champion with her friend, Audrey Coulter, who rode her medium pony, Enchanted Forest, to the win.

“Mardi,” as Reed affectionately calls her 10-year-old Welsh pony, was purchased during indoors last year. Since then, they have been champion or reserve every time they have competed except for once. Reed was also small/medium green pony hunter champion on Snowbrook Inc.’s Media.

Teri was amateur-owner, 36 & over, champion on her 10-year-old Westphalian gelding, Pavarotti, and ended up grand amateur-owner champion during the first week of Lake Placid.

Pavarotti was purchased from Europe two years ago. In his first year in the United States, he showed in the first year greens with Peggy Gayman

“He’s like a big comfy couch. He’s dark and swarthy, lazy, but extremely talented,” said Teri.

Murray took home the adult amateur, 41 and over, jumper title as well as the top prize in the $5,000 Lake Placid Lodge WIHS Adult Amateur Jumper Classic on Teri’s ex-amateur-owner hunter, All That.

“All That is like a sports car. He is very fast, turns quickly, and loves his job,” said Murray. “He was unhappy as a hunter, but now he adores his job. When he hears the horn blow, he gets excited and is always looking for the next turn.”

When Teri and trainer Andre Dignelli of Heritage Farm decided All That, an 8-year-old Oldenburg, wasn’t happy as a hunter, Teri started showing him in the jumpers and eventually handed the reins over to her husband.

“Teri has gone out of her way to make things easy for me. Teri and the rest of the group at Heritage do all the work with All That during the week so that I can show on the weekends,” admitted a grateful Murray.

The Kesslers keep some of Reed’s ponies, including Mardi, at home in Bedford, N.Y. Reed rides every day except for Mondays and ships to Heritage Farm for lessons several times a week.

“We never practice real hunter courses,” said Reed. “We jump skinnies, jumps without standards, and do lots of rollbacks. The only time we jump real hunter courses is at horse shows and before indoors.”

Reed also competes in the pony medal and various other equitation classes. “My goal for this year is to win a class at all the major horse shows we go to, including Devon [Pa.], Lake Placid, Pony Finals, Hampton Classic [N.Y.], and the indoor finals,” said Reed.

And so far this year, she has met her goal. On July 9, during the second week of the Lake Placid show, Reed celebrated two events: her second week as grand pony hunter champion and her 11th birthday.

What made the day even sweeter was that she once again shared the grand championship honors with Coulter. Reed’s ponies went home after the first week of Lake Placid, but Reed and her mother stayed so that she could show Coulter’s small pony, Hillcrest Blue Winsome, also known as “Busy.”

“I’ve gotten too big for him and I thought Reed would do well with him,” said Coulter, who misses showing the 13-year-old Welsh pony.

“Busy is small, but he has a gigantic stride. He pulls a little, but I just pick him up and he jumps really high,” explained Reed.

The girls actually planned on being co-grand champions in the pony hunters for the second week. “We were swimming in the lake yesterday, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we did it again?’ and we did,” said an elated Reed.

Coulter piloted Enchanted Forest, a 10-year-old New Forest pony, throughout the week in hot contention with Reed. “Forest is real smooth and fun when we have the right rhythm. His stride is big, so we have no problem getting down the lines, and I just need to work on keeping him the same the whole way around,” said Coulter.

Forest and Busy flew from California, where Coulter trains with Mary Manfredi and Peter Lutz. After Lake Placid, the ponies go to HITS On The Hudson (N.Y.), then they fly home and return in the fall for indoors.

Duplication

Lee Kellog’s Duplicated and Maria Takacs’s Mombo were a formidable duo the second week of Lake Placid. Jennifer Bauersachs cleaned up in the first year green division aboard Duplicated, who was champion, and Mombo, who ended up reserve champion.

“I was very pleased with both horses. It was hard for the horses to go from galloping on the grass at Fairfield [County Hunt Club (Conn.) in June] to here, but they both adjusted well,” said a surprised and excited Bauersachs.

For Duplicated, it was the first time he showed two weeks in a row, and it paid off for the 7-year-old Oldenburg. “We don’t like to show him too much and too hard because we want to make him last,” said Bauersachs. “He has so much jump, it’s like riding a tuned jumper. You don’t have to be so accurate and precise as you do with most hunters.”

Once Duplicated finishes out his first year with Bauersachs, Kellog will begin showing him in the amateur-owners.

Takacs has a similar agenda with Mombo, a 9-year-old Westphalian. She showed him in two amateur-owner, 36 & over, classes at Lake Placid, and it was the first time she ever jumped a line with Mombo.

“I was so nervous because I hadn’t practiced on him. We just need to get to know each other better, but he was great,” said Takacs, who finished second in one of the classes.

In March, Takacs gave birth to her second child, a girl named Samantha. Since then, she has had no trouble returning to the amateur-owner hunter division. The 37-year-old, of Rumson, N.J., was also champion in the amateur-owner, 36 & over, with her other horse, Fiorello.

“Fiorello is the most reliable horse on the show grounds,” said Takacs with a smile.

Takacs purchased the 8-year-old Holsteiner as a first year horse two years ago from Holly Orlando and Joe Guzman. “Fiorello has been a challenge for me,” admitted Takacs. “I’ve had to learn to stay back and get off my hands so that he’ll give me his best jump.”

Bauersachs and Takacs weren’t the only champions from Spring Hill Farm during the two week Lake Placid Horse Show. For the second week in a row, Jane Barber and 7-year-old Westphalian by Florestan, Ottobahn, took home the championship in the adult amateur, 36-50, division.

“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” said Barber, 44, of Downington, Pa. “It feels absolutely amazing to be champion at a horse show like this.”

Without A Doubt

“There was no question he was the one,” said Callie Seaman of her new 7-year-old Holsteiner, Harbor Isle. Together, the pair earned top accolades in the large junior hunters, 15 & under, during the second week of Lake Placid.

Harbor Isle, also known as “Actor,” was purchased as a jumper during the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) circuit from Margie Engle.

“I was looking for a junior hunter–one that could win– and that was special. I tried about five that day, but when I saw Actor, he was so beautiful, small, and cute, that I knew right away,” said Seaman, 16, of Greenwich, Conn.

At the end of the WEF circuit, with the help of trainer Val Renihan, Seaman started showing Harbor Isle in the junior hunters and was consistently in the jog.

“His head was high and he still went like a jumper,” said Seaman, who has put a lot of hard work into Actor.

The Lake Placid horse show was Actor’s 10th show as a hunter and his first championship honor. “The competition in Lake Placid was tough, so it was real exciting for me to have him winning at such an early stage,” said Seaman, who hopes to qualify for indoors.

Seaman also shows her other large junior hunter, Blue, her equitation horse, Cassini, and competes in the low junior jumpers with her 9-year-old mare, Vera.

A Bittersweet Reward

For Lindsay Phoebus, of Lafayette, N.J., her grand amateur-owner title aboard Jupiter came with a smile and a few tears. It was their first grand championship title together–and maybe their last.

Phoebus, 25, has owned Jupiter for five years, but the 16-year-old Oldenburg stallion is for sale because Phoebus is heading for law school.

“He has amazing qualities. He’s a great jumper and mover and is absolutely amazing in the rain and mud. It’s like he loves it–the more it rains, the better he gets,” said Phoebus.

Phoebus purchased Jupiter from the woman who bred him. He had very little mileage, but that didn’t deter Phoebus, who was eager to find a new horse to replace the one she had just sold.

The first year that Phoebus owned Jupiter, he showed in the first year green division with Scott Stewart and was circuit champion at the 2000 WEF.

“Jupiter doesn’t act like a stallion,” said Phoebus. “He’s pretty much always quiet and mellow, even in the hacks with mares.”

So far this year, Jupiter has been collected seven times. “We don’t advertise him. Most of his breeding is done by word of mouth,” said Phoebus.

This year marked the 13th year for Phoebus at Lake Placid. She began showing her pony, Landfalle Lady Slipper, at the show when she was 12 and has come back ever since. “Lake Placid is a great show and a fun town. There is so much to do–it’s like a vacation,” said Phoebus.

The 2005 show year has also been like a vacation for Brighton, the grand hunter champion during Lake Placid’s second week.

Brighton has shown lightly, but success-fully, in the green conformation hunter and adult amateur hunter divisions this year. Sissy Wickes rides the mare to help prepare her for the adult amateur division with owner Felicia Weiss.

“Felecia wants to make her last, so we don’t show her a lot,” said Wickes.

The 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare won every class except for one in the green conformation division.

“She is like riding a big medium pony. For a small horse, she has a lot of stride and is very brave,” explained Wickes.

Brighton was imported from Europe a year and a half ago. She was a low level jumper in Europe, but transferred her talent to the pre-green hunters, before moving up this year to the green conformation division.