Devon, Pa.—May 25

It’s hard enough to win one championship at the Devon Horse Show, but Paige Walkenbach and San Pedro 15 have managed it three years in a row. And this year Walkenbach took it one step further, riding “Parker” to the grand junior hunter championship to boot.

Walkenbach and Parker picked up three blue ribbons and a yellow in the large junior hunter, 16-17, division to take the division and grand title for Walkenbach Equestrian.

“He’s definitely developed a lot with me, and this is our third year in a row being champion, so it’s just really special,” said Walkenbach, Paradise Valley, Arizona. “And I think he performs the best here out of all the shows we have done this year. Yeah, he loves [Devon]. He jumps well, and moves great. It’s really fun.

“He’s got a little energy for himself,” she continued. “He can be a little looky. He’s just kind of aware, I would say. So he needs just someone who can calm him down and just know that he’s OK going around.”

Jim Hagman of Elvenstar trains Walkenbach on Parker.

“He’s sensitive, but he’s got a beautiful brain,” said Hagman. “He’s a little bit traffic shy. He doesn’t sit and spin around the other way, but he wants to feel secure; he doesn’t like to be trapped. … They’ve just really grown together over the last three years.”

Watch San Pedro 15’s large junior hunter, 16-17, handy round with Paige Walkenbach, courtesy of USEF Network powered by ClipMyHorse.tv.

When Walkenbach paired up with Parker, an 11-year-old Hanoverian (Stakkato—Cassandra), three years ago he was newer to the hunters, but the pair quickly meshed and started winning.

“I think we clicked pretty fast,” said Walkenbach, 17. “It was more just me learning how he wants to go around the ring and how he feels best. And I think he as a horse has just grown a lot. He’s gotten so much calmer and just he trusts Elvenstar and all the people around him, which is probably the most important thing.”

Walkenbach also earned the small junior hunter, 16-17, division title on Babylon for the second year running. It’s that horse’s fourth year earning a Devon championship; owner Ariana Marnell won two titles with him before that. The judges selected Babylon to win the Angelo Award as the junior hunter who best exemplifies the classic hunter horse for the third time, and they also selected Walkenbach as the Best Child Rider on a Horse.

“Paige has a great feel for horses,” said John French, who trains Walkenbach on Babylon. “She rides so well in the equitation as well. I think all that helps you have feel. She’s super in the handies, and she has a lot of that foundation from Jim of making the horses turn. I think she’s even made Babylon better at that in the last two years. I’m a little bit more soft and [like to] leave him alone. But he needed a little bit of structure for the handies and making sure he landed on the leads and things like that, and she’s done a great job of bringing him even further.”

Play Date Rises To The Top

Heading into Devon, Grace Stenbeck-Werner had a big decision to make: should she bring last year’s grand pony hunter champion Cleverist to show in the medium ponies, or take a chance on a newer partner, Play Date?

In the end Stenbeck-Werner decided to take her newer partner, and that decision paid off with a win the division and the grand pony hunter championship. After last year’s success Stenbeck-Werner felt some pressure coming back to Devon, but she stayed focused to get the tricolor. Orchard Hills Firefly and Hilton Wescott claimed the reserve championship in the medium division.

Stenbeck-Werner paired up with “Petey” at the start of this season, and at first blush things didn’t go to plan.

“It was just a little bit like we did not get along,” said Stenbeck-Werner, 12. “We were just figuring each other out. But I thought, ‘You know, I’ve heard the best things about him.’ And the first when I got on him, I knew he was a good boy.”

Stenbeck-Werner lives in North Salem, New York, and trains with Maddie Flocks at home, meeting up with David Belford of New Hope Farm at shows. Belford flew to North Salem from Ohio before Devon and set some tough courses for Stenbeck-Werner to practice.

“You need to use both hands to direct him and go straight, because sometimes he’ll try to go left or right,” said Stenbeck-Werner. “And he is definitely a little bit of a lazy boy so he does need a lot of leg.”

The Chronicle has a pair of reporters at Devon bringing you photos, stories from the competition and more at coth.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss a thing. You can see a full report from the entire competition in the June 20 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse magazine.

Important Links: Devon Horse Show website / Detailed schedule / Results and orders of go / All the Chronicle’s coverage