When Susie Hart, as last year’s champion in the Theodora A. Randolph Field Hunter Championships of America, dropped off the trophy at Glenwood Park in Middleburg, Va., she had just three words for Candace Madigan.

“Bring it back,” Hart told her.

Madigan was competing in the championships aboard one of Hart’s horses, Aladdin. And Hart was confident she could do as ordered.

“There was no doubt in my mind that she was going to win. He’s a fabulous horse,” said Hart.

Hart, the 2003 victor on Bay, wasn’t able to defend her trophy this year because of a busy schedule attending Thor-oughbred sales with her husband, Dr. Pug Hart, who rode Aladdin in last year’s finals. But Madigan made sure that the trophy stayed with the Loudoun Hunt West ranks by riding the Harts’ Aladdin to the victory.

“He’s such a nice horse that I knew if I didn’t make a mistake, we could do it,” said Madigan. “It was amazing. When we finished, I thought to myself, ‘Every step was perfect.’ “

The championship finals, held at Glenwood Park in Middleburg, Va., on Oct. 3, concluded a week of activities. Finals contestants had to qualify by hunting with various Northern Virginia hunts and being selected by the panel of judges. Then, in the finals, they participated in a mock hunt around the Glenwood Park grounds and then did a hack class and a handy hunter course of jumps.

Madigan has been helping the Harts keep their hunting horses fit this fall, so she was the logical choice to guide Aladdin. Still, Aladdin, 11, made it easy for her.

“There are horses that are as good as he is, but there’s no horse better,” said Madigan.

“He’s got a heart of gold. If you’re galloping through a field and want to go one way, and he goes the other, it’s only because he knows there’s a hole where you want to go,” she added. “He takes such good care of you. He makes the biggest coops feel like little logs. He’s 17.2, but he’s such a good mover and he doesn’t land heavily. He just floats along.”

The Harts bought Aladdin, a Thoroughbred-Percheron-Hanoverian cross, six years ago. He’d had a brief career as a jumper, but his speed was more suited to the hunting field. The Harts have enjoyed hunting him ever since.

“He looks like a master’s horse–he’s a big, classic-looking horse,” said Hart. “Even though he’s a half-bred, he can run and jump with any of them.”

Madigan, 44, is no stranger to competition. She grew up in the show ring, showing mostly jumpers. She only started hunting five years ago, when she went to work for Loudoun West Jt.-MFH Joe Rogers.

“I just ran into Dr. Rogers somewhere, and he said that he needed someone to ride his point-to-point horses. I thought, ‘I’ve never done that; I might as well try it!’ It’s fun, because they do a little bit of everything. They don’t race anymore, but they hunt and show,” said Madigan.

Rogers also introduced Madigan to houndwork.

“We used to always go out on Saturdays with the old hounds, and he would tell me all about hunting and all kinds of stories. I had never hunted before, and I got interested in it,” she recalled. She started hunting with Loudoun West on the Rogers’ horses in 2000.

“The first time I went out roading the hounds, we went out and were just standing there forever. I thought, ‘Is this all there is to hunting?’ But I’ve gotten hooked on it now. I like to watch the hounds work, and I can appreciate it. Now, I get bored riding in the ring!” Madigan said.

But for many years, riding in the ring was Madigan’s forte. She grew up in McLean, Va., and rode with Peter Wilson. She showed in the junior hunters and jumpers, and then concentrated on the jumper ring. Madigan always worked hard at various horse jobs to support her riding. But in 1990, she made a huge change.

“When I was 30, I decided that since I hadn’t gotten hurt yet, I would quit while I was ahead. I moved to New York City and worked for investment bankers. But after about two weeks, I was ready to come home!”

Madigan persevered through a year of working in New York City and then made an arrangement with race horse trainer Nick Zito, who would send her slow race horses to reschool and sell as show prospects.

Madigan worked for four years on Long Island reschooling race horses, but in 1995 she decided to return to Northern Virginia. She lives on the Rogers’ farm in Hamilton, Va., and rides for various people. She also waitresses at The Coach Stop restaurant in Middleburg, Va., at nights. “It’s a great life. I get to ride horses all day and talk horses with everyone all night,” she said.

But Madigan hasn’t forgotten her show-horse roots–she’s been showing in the jumper divisions along with hunting.

A friend gave her Full Scoop three years ago when he had trouble selling the Thor-oughbred gelding. Madigan, who trains with Joe Fargis, and “Scoops” have shown at the HITS shows in Culpeper, Va., and even traveled to the Hampton Classic (N.Y.) in 2003. Scoops was off in 2004, but Madigan hopes to have him back in competitive action next spring.