Maria Schaub, of Holmdel, N.J., sat quietly atop the chestnut mare I Toon and made two rounds in the Monarch International North American Junior Equitation Championships look effortless as she posted the highest scores in the history of the class.  Schaub finished with a two-round total of 191.6 to lead the victory gallop on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30, at the Capital Challenge Horse Show in Upper Marlboro, Md.
The North American Equitation Championships were the first of three championship classes held on Sunday in the Show Place Arena.  The class drew 92 entries, and the order read like a Who’s Who of the nation’s junior riders.

A panel of five judges narrowed the field to 20, and those riders returned in reverse order of preference to compete over a second course of 14 fences. The top five riders all held titles from Saturday’s classes and battled it out for the blue. Jessica Springsteen, who won the Monarch International Flat Championship, returned in the fifth position. Sara Green, who collected the 15-year-old division championship, returned in the fourth. Chase Boggio was the 13/14-year-old division champion held the third spot, while Katherine Newman, the 16-year-old section champion held the second. 

But no one could touch Schaub, who led the first round with a 94.2. The young rider, who also collected the 17-year-old championship on Saturday, concluded her successful weekend at the Capital Challenge by flawlessly tackling the second course and posting a 97.4 on the board.

“I loved the course,” said Schaub. “I thought it was challenging in terms of striding and yet for younger less experience kids you could change the striding. There was a winning track, and there was a track that you could take if it was your first time or to gain experience.  I always love that about this horse show. They always do a great job of setting a course for everyone.”

Taylor Ann Adams Wins Again

Taylor Ann Adams can add another win to her long and impressive resume after collecting the title in the Show Circuit National Children’s Medal Finals.  Adams has been ticking off the wins over the past two months, collecting the blue in the USEF Pony Medal Finals, the reserve champion in the Medium Green Hunter Pony Finals, a win at the USEF Junior Hunter Finals and even a second in the ASPCA Maclay Regionals.

Adams gave most of the credit to Underado Tibri, the horse she piloted to the win. She said, “He’s the sweetest horse. He’ll save your life in a heartbeat.”

Despite being an active pony and junior hunter rider, Adams made it a goal this year to ride in the Show Circuit National Children’s Medal Finals.  She was happy with the win, especially since she hadn’t ridden Tibri for a month. She said, “It is a good feeling (to win). I’m really lucky that they got me a good horse. He walked in and did it for me.”

When asked if she was worried about anything in the course that would bother Timbri, she laughed and said, “He could pretty much do it without me. I think he was worrying about me more than I was worrying about him.”

Elspeth Roake Takes Adult Title

It was a close race for the adult amateurs as Elspeth Roake and Teri Kessler went head-to-head in the Monarch International North American Adult Amateur Finals.  The battle for the blue was determined after a final test of the two riders – a test that moved Roake to the head of the class.

The adult amateur championship was the final class of the Monarch International Equitation Weekend.

Roake, of New Canaan, Conn., rode Poseidon, a 10-year-old warmblood gelding who she’s been riding for just over a year.  She said, “He’s very, very honest. He takes care of me.” 

Capital Challenge was Poseidon’s first show back since being sidelined due to an illness. Roake said, “It was pretty amazing to win. It’s very exciting to know he can still do it.”

Roake trains with Michelle West and Leslie Kogos. Kogos said of Roake’s win, “She’s a working student. She works full-time to do this. In fact, she works full-time at the horse show for everybody else. She really, really deserves this because she works so hard.”

Roake was thrilled with the win saying, “It means a lot to me to win here. I previously won the Marshall & Sterling Finals at HITS, and this kind of proves to me that it wasn’t just luck, that I can do it again!”