Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—Oct. 15

When Nick Haness got a call from Shelley Campf earlier this year asking if he’d be interested in riding Modern Man at the Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships (Kentucky) in August he didn’t have to think about it before he accepted.

“I knew the horse a few years ago when he was a really young horse,” said Haness, Temecula, California. “Shelley and her program had developed him beautifully. I’ve watched Shelly win on this horse throughout our circuits in Thermal and on the West Coast, and she wasn’t going to be making the journey this year herself back east.”

After Green Hunter Incentive Championships went well—they finished eighth—Campf and owner Lynn Olson opted to let him finish out the season the East Coast. That decision paid off when the 8-year-old warmblood (Casallco—Galdaire) won the green conformation hunter championship, the grand green hunter championship and the grand hunter championship at the Pennsylvania National with Haness up, just one week after taking the division title at Capital Challenge (Maryland). Customized and Steven Gregorio earned the reserve green conformation title.

“He’s a funny horse, just a huge character,” said Haness of Modern Man. “He has a beautiful jump and he’s really, really brave and he always was. I actually knew him as a 4-year-old before he was sold to this partnership, and he was a stallion. He was a little hellion when he was 4 years old and he’s really developed beautifully throughout his career. He’s a gorgeous mover—he won the hack here. In fact, I always laugh. My boyfriend Ryan [May] actually usually rides him in the hack for me and he always wins with him, but I never do.

“His jump is so extravagant,” he continued. “He’s not a horse I have to ever worry about getting a rub in the schooling ring with. He just always wants to jump carefully and correctly, and he has grown up a lot. He was green at times, but whenever it was important this year, like Kentucky or Capital Challenge or in here, he always found a way to rise to the top.”

Haness also rode Balmoral’s Day Won to the 3’9” green hunter championship over Ritz and Matt Cyphert. Haness rode Day Won for trainer Carleton Brooks last year, and then he was leased to Mary Kate Nolan, who rode him in the junior hunters. His lease ended recently and Brooks called Haness a few days before the show to see if he could show the horse.

“I said, ‘I love riding him. Let’s go. Let’s do it,’ ” said Haness. “I hadn’t ridden him in a minute. The first class, he was solid; he got a nice ribbon. But he went in for the handy yesterday and laid down a tremendous effort, a beautiful round to score a 92, which was a big, exciting win.”

Haness was also honored with the Leading Hunter Rider title and the Kenneth Wheeler Style of Riding award.

“Being selected to be the epitome of a hunter rider again is something I’ve worked my whole life to be recognized for,” he said. “And I’m very blessed and very excited and very honored to have been given this award. It’s very meaningful to me. There are so many great riders here and so many people that are capable of being named this title.”

Four Aces Plays A Winning Hand

Four Aces has had a pretty darn good season. Brian Feigus rode him to a pair of derby wins at HITS Ocala (Florida) and a third-place finish in the first round of the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship (Kentucky), among other things. David Wilbur took over the reins for a few shows, including at Capital Challenge where he rode Four Aces in the WCHR Professional Challenge, finishing second, but really he was Feigus’s ride.

But then Feigus got kicked and had to sit out the Pennsylvania National, so owner Marita Zuraitis asked Wilbur to step in. That decision paid off when the pair earned the high performance hunter championship over the Wheeler Family’s Cannon Creek and Hunt Tosh. Four Aces was also awarded the EMO High 5 award for having earned the highest score in the open divisions: a 93.

“We were very fortunate to have two really good days yesterday and today,” said Wilbur, Ocala, Florida. “And again, you don’t get many opportunities to ride horses that good, so you hope you can put it all together, and luckily we did. So it was definitely, I’d have to say, one of the best weeks of for sure of my riding career.”

Zuraitis’ daughter Casey Zuraitis has been showing the 9-year-old Holsteiner (Acodetto 2—Haamoon) in the 3’3” amateur-owner division where they’ve regularly been picking up tricolors. Four Aces has no problem going back and forth between the open ring and the amateur ring despite it being his first year showing as a hunter.

“He just tries all the time,” said Wilbur. “I think it’s amazing how he walks into the ring and you can let him just gallop down to that first jump. He showed indoors at Capital Challenge and he showed here, but these are his first two indoor shows in America—for sure in Europe he had a lot of experience. He just really always is trying for you and if you can give him a good ride, he’s always going to give you the best he can give you. So he’s amazing.

“I’ve ridden a lot of horses in my life and he’s like the 1% of the 1%.”  

A New Winning Partnership

Halie Robinson didn’t have much time to get to know Circa. Her client at Huntridge, Presley Wade, bought the mare a week before Capital Challenge and Robinson made her show ring debut with the 8-year-old Holsteiner (Casall—U2 II) there, winning the 3’6” green reserve championship. Then two weeks later she came to the Pennsylvania National and outdid herself, topping the 3’6” green division over True Cassini and Michael Britt-Leon.

Robinson, Santa Barbara, California, was thrilled with the win, but she wasn’t surprised that they got along well. She’d known that they would from the start.

“I feel like any horse that when you pick up the trot and you know, that means it’s going to be a great match,” she said.

“She is absolutely incredible,” she continued. “She is everything that you would think she is. She is just the most special horse.”

Circa has made a name for herself since 2022, when she won the grand 3’ and 3’3” green hunter championship at Capital Challenge, and she earned the 3’6 and 3’9” title at this year’s Green Incentive Championships. Wade had asked Robinson if there was any chance she could buy the horse, and soon they were trying the horse in Michigan. Wade will tack Circa up for the junior hunter divisions next year.

“I think she has all the right characteristics,” said Robinson. “She’s really special in the sense that she’s so kind and humble and sweet. She really has such a unique mind; she has all the talent in the world obviously, but as a horse she’s so human-like and you can sense that about her right away. It’s been really fun getting to know her. She has a lot of fans for sure so I’m happy that I got to carry the torch.”

Leffler Chimes In With A Big Win

When Brookeville, Maryland, professional Marylisa Leffler’s client Dorli Burke decided it was time to sell her amateur-owner hunter Chime in March, Leffler’s heart sank. She loved the mare, so rather than market the horse Leffler followed her heart and bought her herself.

That leap paid off when Leffler rode Chime to the 3’9” green hunter title at the Pennsylvania National over Haness and Jenkins.

“Over the oxers is an incredible feeling,” said Leffler. “Last year she came in and she got scared the first class, then she put it together.

“I think she’s just maturing,” Leffler added. “Now she can take a little peek but it’s just a little peek. She’s learning that it’s not such a big deal.”

Leffler started riding Chime when she was in the baby green division, eventually turning the ride over to her niece Ashley Worthington. But last summer she took the ride back and they’ve gone from strength to strength, regularly earning the division title.

At home at Rolling Acres she’s one of Leffler’s favorite charges. She said the 10-year-old Holsteiner (Cascadello I—Viva Carrado) is only about 15.3 hands high, leaving her looking up at her fellow competitors during the line up after under saddle classes.

“She gets to go home today out to her nice field,” Leffler said. “Then she’ll do [the Washington International (Maryland)] and the [National Horse Show (Kentucky)]. Since this is so close to home she can go home and enjoy the green grass.”

Find full results here. Check out all the Chronicle’s coverage from the Pennsylvania National here.  Check out the November 18 issue of the Chronicle of the Horse magazine for analysis from the competition.