Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024

Little Bo Peep, George Washington And A Zebra Gallop Into A Ring …

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Upper Marlboro, Md.—Oct. 24

Barn Night at the Washington International Horse Show always brings out the spirit of local equestrians in the Delmarva region. On Thursday evening, Prince George’s Equestrian Center was filled with fans young and old representing their barns and cheering on international riders as they jumped in the $63,000 FEI Welcome Stake to qualify for the show’s big jumper class, Saturday’s $340,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Washington.

Then, things got even more exciting with the fan-favorite International Jumper $32,000 1.45-meter Costume Accumulator class. While it might not be the biggest or richest class at Washington, the annual costume class is certainly among its most popular. This year, 27 horse-and-rider pairs from 11 nations got creative with their fancy dress then took on the class, in which they collect points over each fence on course and can attempt a “joker” fence at the end—if they dare to risk 20 points being added to or subtracted from their score depending on whether they cleared it.

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Check out Kristen VanderVeen and Faustino De Tili, who won the Delta Air Lines Trip of the Day award dressed as Little Bo Peep and her sheep:

Here are a few of our favorite moments.

Abdel Saïd and AS AS Trading’s Arpege Du Ru won the $63,000 FEI Welcome Stake. Lindsay Berreth Photos
Barn Night at Washington International (Md.) brought out enthusiastic young riders.
France’s Nina Mallavaey and My Clementine, owned by Rein Family LLC, were “incredible” to win the $32,000 1.45-meter Accumulator Costume class on Oct. 24.
Bull Run’s Faustino De Tili was a good sport acting as Little Bo Peep’s sheep for Kristen VanderVeen. They left a trail of “wool” all over the arena as they jumped their course.
While there were no bonus points for dressing as the show logo, McLain Ward made a dashing George Washington on the aptly named First Lady, owned by Robin Parsky. The pair finished second.
Carly Anthony flew Jet Blue around the ring for Portfolio Horses LLC to win the Best Costume award.
Lillie Keenan and Opium JW Van De Moerhoeve TN, owned by Chansonette Farm LLC, took a walk on the wild side as zebras.
Abdel Saïd, who rides for Belgium, went back to his Egyptian roots with Etincelle D’Ellipse.

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