A special young horse brought Mary Jane Hunt back to her roots.

Mary Jane Hunt hasn’t owned a show horse for decades, but with Holden, she’s been able to take a trip down memory lane and become part of the show world again.

Kenny Wheeler held Hunt’s 2-year-old Thoroughbred gelding for the best young horse title at Devon, Pa., on May 28.

“When I was showing in the ’70s and ’80s, they were the wonder years of my life,” said Hunt. “Some of my closest friends now are from that time in my life, so it’s been fun to be back in that world a bit.”

Hunt showed in the amateur-owner hunters and was champion at the Washington International (D.C.) in 1980. She also judged.

Now Hunt, of Reddick, Fla., concentrates on breeding and selling for the Thoroughbred race horse market. But she had a different plan for Holden (Indian Ocean—Hold The Dream, Hold Your Peace).

“He was one of those foals that, from the moment he stood up, you knew he was something special,” she said. “When the market in the Thoroughbred world softened, I thought that it was more important to me to see more of this colt’s future than I would if I sold him at an auction. I decided to keep him. But I wouldn’t have made the decision to send him the show horse route if he hadn’t had the temperament he does. Once you show him what you want him to do, he does it. He’s a very smart horse. I thought the life of a show horse would suit him.”

Holden is the last foal out of a mare that was special to Hunt. She bred and raised Hold The Dream and raced her before retiring her to broodmare status.

“She had two stakes winners and two stakes-placed offspring. Every foal she produced was lovely,” said Hunt of the mare.

Hold The Dream delivered Holden when she was 23, then Hunt retired her. The mare died peacefully in the pasture this winter.

“She was an amazing mare. I was so fortunate to have had her in my life for 25 years. It’s a nice tribute to her to have this young horse,” Hunt said.

Hunt chose Indian Ocean, a young race horse stallion standing in Florida, for Hold The Dream’s last foal. Holden is part of Indian Ocean’s first crop.

“Indian Ocean is a big, beautiful horse. I think they both stamped Holden pretty well. When he was born, he had the best of both of them,” she said.

Holden’s Jockey Club-registered name is Hold On To Dreams, but he’s registered with the U.S. Equestrian Federation as Holden, the nickname Hunt has called him since birth.

In December of 2008, Hunt sent photos of Holden to Kenny Wheeler.

“Kenny and I have known each other for a long time, but we hadn’t done much business together,” Hunt said. “I sent him the pictures and told him this was a special one. He agreed, and we worked out an alliance.”

Hunt shipped Holden to Wheeler’s Cismont Manor Farm in Keswick, Va., in March with the intent of showing him at Keswick (Va.), Devon and Upperville (Va.). Holden earned the best young horse title at Keswick on May 13-15.

Unfortunately, Hunt didn’t travel from Florida to Devon to watch Holden show.

“The night before he showed at Devon, I so regretted not going to watch, so I will crawl over ground glass to go watch at Upperville,” she said.

Mary Schulte-Shields had the same “that one’s special” feeling when she first saw Oak Hill two years ago. And at Devon, she got to see her premonition come true as the flashy chestnut gelding took the reserve best young horse title and won the 2-year-old colt/gelding, other than Thoroughbred class.

“Just winning a ribbon at Devon is thrilling, much less being reserve best young horse,” Schulte-Shields said.

Junior Johnson held Oak Hill for her, and he was named leading handler at Devon.

Schulte-Shields first saw Oak Hill (Nob Hill—All The Piczazz, Alla Czar) when he was just 5 months old and showing at Deep Run (Va.) with breeder Diana Dodge. “He just had so much presence about him in the ring,” she said. “I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.

“His temperament is great. He’s like a little kid. He’s everything I’ve hoped to have,” she added. “I bought him as an investment horse, but I changed my mind and I want to keep him as an amateur horse for myself.”

Johnson said, “There aren’t many horses as correct as he is. And he’s always grown in one piece.”

Johnson showed Oak Hill’s sire, Nob Hill, on the line. Another Nob Hill offspring, Capital Hill, was best young horse at Devon in 2007 and 2008 with Wheeler at the reins.

Oak Hill showed at Devon as a yearling but placed second in his class.

“Last year here, he dug a hole so deep that he got cast in his stall. The braider called at 3 a.m. saying he was stuck. He was worn out from digging his hole all night,” Schulte-Shields said.

The habit might be hereditary, as Oak Hill’s yearling full brother, Kara Selby’s Apenberry Hill, was also doing some excavation work at Devon and placed second in his class.

Molly Sorge

Falling Moon Cabaret Steals The Show At Devon

When it comes time to pick out a pony, you might want to bring along veteran pony handler Richard Taylor. There aren’t many people who can glance at a foal a week after he’s born and tell you if he’s extraordinary, but Taylor has just that gift.

He knew as soon as he saw Falling Moon Cabaret that he and Thora B. Pollak had found their next Devon winner.

“I looked at [Cabaret] when he was only a few days old and made a decision that very day,” said Taylor, who runs Venture Stables along with his wife Patsy and daughter Drew. “That scares some people to death, but I’m perfectly comfortable with it.”

So Taylor couldn’t have been happier when the judges at Devon agreed with his choice by pinning Falling Moon Cabaret at the top of the yearling colts and geldings class, then awarding him the best young pony title on May 21.

And if that wasn’t cause enough for celebration, another Pollak entry, the 2-year-old filly Royalty, took the reserve title, this time with Drew Taylor holding the line.

Pollak and Richard already had plenty of reason to suspect Cabaret might be destined for big things. Two of his siblings had already proven themselves in the show ring, with Falling Moon Celebration picking up best young pony honors at Devon in 2007, and Falling Moon Cheers earning the same title at Warrenton (Va.) the next year.

“I knew as soon as I saw [Cabaret] that he was at least as good as Celebration; it jumped right out at me,” said Richard. “That line tends to be very correct as foals, and they all have good temperaments. When you’re buying the third in a row from the same line, and you’ve had the experience of seeing the previous two, you’re not going that far out on a limb.”

Lynn Keifer, of Warrenton, Va., bred Cabaret, who is by the Welsh stallion Telynau Royal Anthem and out of the Thoroughbred Claire.

“I loved the refinement that’s a result of the breeding,” said Pollak, who has been calling on Richard to hold the line for her since she caught the pony bug in 2003. “The head and neck are beautiful, and they carry themselves very well. Most importantly, they’re easy to work with—just wonderful children’s ponies.”

The Taylors bred Pollak’s reserve entry, Royalty. “She’s a lovely pony, by Land’s End Poseidon and out of Chelsea’s Renaissance, who has the same sire and is from the same immediate female family as [eventing superpony] Theodore O’Connor,” said Richard.

Royalty debuted this season as a 2-year-old and showed for just the third time at Devon. She sat out last season so that Richard could show another yearling for Pollak.

In addition to the biggest trophies of the day, the Taylors picked up plenty of other awards for their Montpelier Station, Va., tackroom. Cabaret earned the best turned out pony award, and Drew picked up the pony breeding leading handler honors and was selected as the best turned out handler.

Richard deferred the accolades for Cabaret’s gleaming coat to his wife and daughter.

“We have his and her barns,” he quipped. “Patsy and Drew do the training and in-hand pony barn, and I do the stallion and broodmare barn. Patsy and her people do a wonderful job. The judges commented that they could look at the six ponies we brought and tell they came from the same place. That’s a pretty good compliment.”       

Mollie Bailey