Tracy Fenney made it look easy in the $40,000 Country Heir I Grand Prix. The Texas professional had three of the 11 clear rider over Hector Loyola’s first-round course and took all three horses to clear jump-off rounds.

Fenney finished first, second and sixth, a feat outshone only by her one-two-three finish in the $25,000 Tulsa Classic Grand Prix (Okla.) in April. The Country Heir I Grand Prix was one of the featured events of the Country Heir I horse show, held June 13-17 in Lexington, Ky.

Fenney, going second in the jump-off, turned in the first clear round with Grace in 47.15 seconds. But Katie Prudent quickly upped the ante and jumped into the lead with Sassicaia, stopping the clocks in 44.81 seconds.

Two horses later, Fenney responded by knocking more than a second off Prudent’s time with MTM Centano. The 7-year-old gelding did not appear to be going that fast, but his immense stride covered the ground deceptively quickly. “He leaves out strides where no other horse does,” Fenney said.

The next two horses in the second round managed clears, but a couple of ticks too slow.

That left only Fenney with her third ride. She already had the win in the bag and could have opted for a conservative round. That’s not her style, though.

She and S&L Willie took almost a full second off Centano’s leading time, and Willie carried both the red and the blue ribbons on his bridle in the victory lap. “I think this one just turns better,” said Fenney of the 12-year-old Dutch-bred gelding. “The other one’s got a huge stride, but Willie’s quicker.”

Fenney is a fierce competitor on the national grand prix tour but has yet to venture into the international scene. Her partner, Mike McCormick, has been pushing Fenney for some time now to make a serious push to qualify for the FEI Show Jumping World Cup Finals.

Fenney, despite her outstanding string of grand prix victories, has never been all that eager about World Cup competition. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of effort,” she said. “You’ve got to be on the road so much [to qualify], and I just love being at home.”

Just For Fun
The grand prix ring was host to a very different competition on Saturday evening. The course designers used every bit of the huge arena to set a long, flowing three-foot hunter track for the children’s/adult hunter classic.

Katie McKenna and her Dutch-bred gelding Vincero ended up topping a field of 44. McKenna, who trains with Patty and Richard Rogers, liked riding out there in the wide-open spaces. “The ring’s a lot bigger, so you can open up the step more,” said McKenna, who rides in the children’s hunters, 14 and under.

“It just flows a lot better. It’s really fun to show in this ring.” Asked if she were nervous before the class, McKenna just shook her head. “No, it was just for fun,” she said.

Meredith Darst had her own share of success over even smaller jumps. The Lebanon, Ohio, junior, just 9, took champion and reserve in the small pony hunters with the Lochmoor Stable entries Hillcrest Blue Gemstone and Magic Carousel.

Darst came right back a few minutes later to earn champion and reserve in the medium ponies with First Blue and Hillcrest Kilkenny and added the reserve championship in the large division aboard Lovin Life for good measure. Darst finished her remarkable Sunday by winning first and second in the pony hunter classic, earning the top prize with First Blue.

“I just got her in January, and I’ve been doing really well on her the whole time I’ve had her,” Darst said of First Blue. “She’s a lot of fun.”

Darst, who trains with her mother Mindy, has been riding longer than she can remember. All she knows is that she loves being on her ponies. “I just love ponies,” she said. “I’ve been riding for a really long time, and I really enjoy them.”

Becky Gochman had a pretty fair week herself. She earned both the championship and the reserve in the amateur-owner hunter, 36 and over, division with her Cape Town and Godiva.

Gochman, of Houston, Texas, trains with Peter Pletcher and has had Cape Town for a little more than a year. “He’s getting just a little bit older and wiser every show,” she said of the 6-year-old gelding. “He has a person-ality almost like a loyal dog. He’s so fun to hang out with at the barn.

“He’s been very consistent, and just a joy to own and ride. He’s just a beautiful, good, solid amateur horse,” she said. “I hope I have him, God willing, for a long time.”

Gochman recently retired her other hunter, Primrose, and was worried about finding a suitable replacement. It turned out that there was a horse right in the barn, the junior hunter Godiva. “I feel excited to have a horse that’s similar to Primrose,” she said. “Both my horses are pretty small, and I just feel like they’re perfect for my size.”

Kids Win
Another of Peter Pletcher’s students, Vicki MacNaughton, took her Sonduetta to the championship in the small junior hunters, 16-17. The Burnet, Texas, teenager is very tall and was looking for a second large junior.

“Peter went over to Europe and brought back a hunter for us to look at,” she recalled. “I got on her and realized she was a small, but she seemed to work pretty well for me.”

Sonduetta is indeed a small, at only 15.3 hands, but has so much jump and step that she seems larger. “I feel kind of short riding her, which is not something I’m used to,” said MacNaughton, laughing.

MacNaughton placed second in the Washington International Equitation Classic jumper phase, was first in the hunter phase, and crowned the overall winner. MacNaughton likes the equitation because of the options it offers the riders. “You can sort of make it work for yourself,” said MacNaughton. “You still have to look pretty, but you can have a little fun with it.”

Ali Boone of Lexington, Ky., made her 3’6″ debut a successful one. Boone, 13, took Glenda Morris’ Mactier to the championship in the large junior hunters, 15 and under. “He’s been doing the children’s the last few weeks,” Boone said, “and this is our first weekend in the juniors. It’s a lot of fun.”

Boone admitted to being a little nervous about showing for the first time over the bigger jumps in the juniors but put her faith in her horse. “I knew he could do it,” she said.

Top honors in the small junior hunter, 15 and under division went to Caitlin Campbell of Upper Black Eddy, Pa., on Rachel DeGabrielle’s Polina. She also claimed reserve with Krestwood LLC’s Unique.

Campbell, who trains with Kelly and Tim Goguen, was very pleased when her trainers asked her to ride Polina. “Rachel wasn’t going to be here this weekend, so they asked me to ride her,” she said. “She’s really fun to do, and easy.”

Campbell, 13, has solved the school attendance problem that so often plagues young riders.

“I’m home-schooled,” she said. “I do most of my work during the school year, and then work with horses during the summer. I use University of Nebraska – they send me all my stuff. It allows me to do the horse shows.”

Lindsay Maxwell rode her Been Swayed to the tricolor in the large junior hunters, 16-17, winning all four classes over the jumps. Maxwell has had the big warmblood since he was 4.

“My trainer, Mindy Darst, went over to Europe with Abby Blankenship and found him over there,” said the Atlanta, Ga., teenager. “We bought him over there, gelded him and brought him back here.”

Maxwell, 18, was instrumental in her new horse’s development. “We did pre-children’s, children’s, and we’ve been doing juniors for four years now,” she said.

Maxwell graduated from high school just a couple of weeks before the Country Heir show. She’ll take next year off to ride before starting college in Sewanee, Tenn. The downside to this is that Been Swayed is for sale. “I have Been Swayed’s half-brother, by the same sire, and I’ll be competing with him in the amateur-owners next year,” said Maxwell