After many years near Larkspur, Colo., the Arapahoe Hunt reinvented its traditional fall hunter trials on Sept. 24 at a new venue: Bruce and Faith Albrecht’s Sandwillow Farm near Elizabeth, Colo. During the summer and early fall, the Albrechts, along with stalwart hunt volunteers and friends, built new and challenging hunter trials fences, with the assistance of course designer and show jumper John McConnell. Set in a grassy, creekside meadow, backed by towering cottonwoods, the new course was constructed with materials donated by hunt members and friends from throughout the Front Range. Local eventer Lyn Klisavage also helped design the new course, and it beckoned competitors to display their equestrian skills for judge Wilson Dennehy, comfortably ensconced in a stylish carriage. This year’s show produced two new stars: Julia Spatt and Linda Berkowitz. Spatt, 13, a Pony Clubber and hunt member, wowed the audience with her trips on two horses, Dreamer and Tango. She placed in 11 classes in different divisions, setting a record for both good riding and physical endurance. It was an impressive feat not seen before by the older generations present. Spatt took home three important trophies with Tango: the Pine Cliff Championship, the Cherry Creek Pony Club Junior Hunter, and the Junior Fox Hunter Perpetual. Berkowitz, a new Arapahoe member, reigned supreme in the adult division with her handsome bay North Again, a quiet Dutch Warmblood show jumper and field hunter. She turned in outstanding rounds in the working hunter and handy hunter classes and gave a beautiful performance in the hunter under saddle. She carried off the coveted Pine Cliff Challenge Bowl, which has passed through several generations of Arapahoe Hunt winners. Other wonders also brightened the day. During the lunch break, Huntsman and Jt.-MFH Marvin Beeman and the hunt staff exhibited the hounds, delighting the crowd as they suddenly appeared from the trees behind the course and galloped across the field. Harness devotee Eric Jensen and his daughter Christina thrilled spectators with their rounds on his flashy wheel horses, a high-stepping Hackney-Percheron pair. Shari MacCallum-Clark, on Sebastian, rode a winning round in the Hunt Special Handy Hunter, only seven weeks after the birth of her son, John, who was also the trials’ smallest spectator. Katie Albrecht, the organizers’ daughter, took time off from building jumps to win ribbons on two horses. To finish the day, the hunt teams class produced an unexpected upset, when Julia Spatt, Katie Albrecht and Tom Mallard broke the lock that Beeman’s team has had on that trophy for the past several years.
