Upper Marlboro, Md.—Oct. 26

Adriana Forte has had a lot of firsts lately: This was her first year going to Devon (Pennsylvania), and her first year qualifying for the Washington International Horse Show Equitation Final. And once she got to the final, she nailed both the hunter and jumper rounds to come back for another first—the final work-off, where the top 10 riders swap horses and repeat the jumper course—in the lead.

“I had never done a ride-off before on a different horse,” said Forte, Water Mill, New York. “It was my first time doing it, so it was definitely a little nerve-wracking. It was a lot of pressure, obviously, coming in on top. I just knew, that as long as I put in the round that I could, that I would hopefully be in a good spot.”

For the work-off Forte handed the reins of Candescent, whom she rode in the first round, to Paige Walkenbach and got a leg up onto Walkenbach’s partner Let’s Go. Judges Timmy Kees, Mark Jungherr, Lillie Keenan and Laura Kraut were impressed with her final round, and she won the class in her second year of contesting equitation finals.

Taylor Cawley, who won the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals-East (New Jersey) at the beginning of the month, claimed second on Oki D’Eclipse. Christian Dominguez leapfrogged up the standings from 22nd place to finish third aboard Iwan.

Forte started out the competition by winning the hunter phase, and she earned eighth in the jumper phase to have the highest overall total going into the final phase.

Forte is trained by both First Blue LLC, headed by Hayley Iannotti and Jenna Weinfurt, and Heritage Farm, headed by Andre Dignelli. She lives on Long Island and has to take a jitney then a bus then a train to get to Katonah, New York, to train with Dignelli.

“But it’s worth it,” she said. “When I do get there, he makes it worth it. I get to ride a bunch of different horses, which has helped me to be able to switch onto different horses, and I will jump a few of them when I come up.”

Forte gave her horse much of the credit for her win.

“‘Carson’ came to Andre in June or July, we haven’t had him for long,” she said of the horse, owned by Heather MacInnis. “I did him at USET finals, and he’s been amazing; you can count on him to do anything. He has a humungous stride, he’s adjustable. I trust him with my whole life. It’s his first indoor [show] as well, and he stepped in like ‘no problem.’ I’m very lucky to have that horse.”

Cawley, 16, was thrilled to finish second. She was 12^th after the hunter phase and won the jumper phase to go into the work-off in sixth.

“Last year was my first year doing the equitation here,” said Cawley, who rides with Stacia Klein Madden and the Beacon Hill team. “I had a pretty consistent two rounds but didn’t make the top 10. Then coming into this year, I really wanted to come in clean. I was coming up through the ranks as a little bit of an underdog, which I like to do because I have nothing to lose.”

Dominguez, Barrington, Rhode Island, counted on a long partnership with Iwan—they’ve been together for four finals seasons—to help him get to third. Dominguez lay 22^nd after the hunter phase and eked into the final when he averaged 10^th after the jumper phase. He rode Schuyler Dayner’s Talk for the horse swap.

“I was fortunte enough to ride a horse that I’d previously been mounted on, so that was super special and he gave it his all as well,” said Dominguez, who rides with Jennifer Hannan at Ocean Echo Farm. “I had shown him [at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida)] a good bit.”

Find full results here.

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