Kent Farrington literally outdid himself at the Duke Children’s Hospital Benefit Grand Prix, held in Raleigh, N.C., Nov. 8-13. He topped his own high score in the jump-off to take the top two places in the $30,000 class aboard two newcomers to the grand prix circuit, Up Chiqui and Neo.

Farrington only took the reins of Up Chiqui, an 8-year-old Belgium Warmblood, before the fall indoor season. “I have been able to ride him and school him a little bit but haven’t had a lot of time with him,” said Farrington of the horse owned by Javier Salvador and Jennifer Greenleaf.

Even with limited time together, the pair appeared confident as they cleared the first round and joined seven others in the jump-off.

With the Gold Coast Group’s Neo, Farrington doubled his duty in the jump-off. “He [Neo] just started in grand prix this year,” said Farrington. “I rode him as a speed horse at Washington [International (D.C.)], and he did well. We want to continue doing some small grand prix [classes] with him and see how he goes.”

For the jump-off, Farrington stepped into the ring with serene confidence. Despite competitors like David Jennings, Pato Muente, and Tracy Bartko Magness, Farrington’s closest competition was himself as he posted a faultless round aboard Up Chiqui in 41.27 seconds, with Neo following suit in 42.50 seconds.

Up Chiqui is definitely one to be watched. Farrington plans to compete him in a number of small grand prix classes at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) this winter.

And while watching Up Chiqui with one eye, he’ll focus the other on Neo. The 9-year-old, Dutch-bred grand prix debutante has been jumping with Farrington for just more than a year, making ground the whole way.

Coming Back Strong
Ivanhoe and Cece Williamson overruled the competition during their first trip to Duke and made it a memorable day off from work by taking the amateur-owner, 36 and over, championship.

The pair earned ribbons in every class they entered at the Pennsylvania National and the Washington International this year. “He’s been very consistent all year,” said Williamson, of Baltimore, Md.

For Williamson, the win was sweetened by the satisfaction of overcoming her occupational time restraints. She juggles showing with a full-time law career and attributes many of her accomplishments as an amateur rider to lessons learned in her junior days.

“When I rode as a junior I really learned how to balance my time,” she said. William-son’s time now is mostly consumed with her budding law practice, Cece Williamson LLC, established October 1 of this year.

“I don’t get to compete or ride as much as I’d like so I need to be selective about which shows I choose,” said Williamson. “But I do like having the balance between the real world and showing.”

Ivanhoe initially sparked Williamson’s attention in France with the help of her law school friend, Gabe Peterson. Williamson has had Ivanhoe’s reins for five years, training with Jack Stedding up until last year.

“[Stedding] was really instrumental in bringing this horse along and helping him get to the consistency he has now,” said Williamson, who now trains with Claiborne Bishop of The Barracks in Charlottesville, Va.

In their first classes at Duke, the 9-year-old Selle Francais and Williamson didn’t have their best rounds. “We didn’t do badly the first day, but I think we could have done better. So for the second day, we had to win both rounds,” said Williamson.

That they did. Ivanhoe brought his consistency and carefree personality to the ring for both rounds of day 2, and the pair took the tricolor. “It really makes the win that much better after making the comeback,” Williamson said. “Especially since I just came back to riding at this level three years ago.”

While her concentration will remain on the development of her emerging law practice, Williamson hopes to compete again soon.

Last-Minute Match Up
AZ’s Radja 4 captured the tricolor as a last-minute entry for Leary Dixon. At the horse’s third show, the pair took the championship for a section of adult amateurs, 18-35, while Radja 4 also reigned victorious as the first year green hunter championship with Danny Robertshaw piloting.

Dixon, 22, graduated from Wake Forest University (N.C.) this year. Yet even with the constraints of college off her shoulders, she shows less than one might expect. “I haven’t even been on a horse since I rode at Blowing Rock [N.C.] in August,” said Dixon.

But even in the saddle of a happenstance entry, Radja and Dixon’s performance rivaled that of veteran partners. “He is such a fun horse, and you would never know he is so young. We got along perfectly. I could just point him at a jump and he would go,” said Dixon. “He’s really scopey, and he’ll leave from any distance.”

Her primary mount is a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood called Mescalero, owned by Dixon’s mother, Kim Dixon. The horse was purchased five years ago as an equitation horse, and Leary competed him as a junior in the medal finals.

But during college, Dixon found very little time to be in the saddle. “It was definitely challenging to find the time to ride and do college at the same time,” said Dixon. “And even now, working 65 hours a week is considered light for me so I really value my weekends.”

Dixon initially intended to ride Mascalero at Duke until her mother’s colleagues Anne Zink (Radja’s owner) and Robertshaw approached Dixon and offered her the reins on the 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood. “He’s up for sale so they wanted to show him as much as possible,” said Dixon. “As soon as I got him out of the ring people were already looking at him and asking to ride him.”

And while she showed Radja, the familiar pressure of junior competition returned. “I usually don’t get nervous any more like I did as a junior. But riding Radja felt like being a junior rider again. There was definitely more pressure showing someone else’s horse and being evaluated,” said Dixon. “But he was so good for me, just perfect.”

Perfect Partnership
Judges reserved no doubt about choosing Mynos and Jillian Fellows as their favorite in the large junior, 15 and under, division.

Fellows found Mynos, an 11-year-old Thoroughbred and Mecklenburg mix, in February from Emil Spadone. “He’s a very happy horse and gets a lot of looks,” said Fellows. “We’ve been showing him since May, and he’s been doing very well and showing a lot of improvement.”

For Fellows, who trains with Jenny Graham of Cedar Creek in Sterling, Va., happy horse equals happy rider. “We’ve [Fellows and Mynos] always gotten along well, and he’s been great since I got him so I wasn’t nervous,” she said.

Their first year together has brought the pair some memorable achievements. They claimed the large junior, 15 and under, championship at the Lexington Spring Encore (Va.) in May and have taken home numerous reserve championships. The pair also lists on their resume the grand junior hunter championship at the Loudoun Benefit Show (Va.) in June.

“My sister, my mom and myself all ride Mynos so he gets his share of show time,” said Fellows, 16.