If the World Championship Hunter Rider Professional  Final were a horse race, it would  have been a photo finish.

The four riders all entered the fourth and final round at the Capital Challenge within fractions of one another. So the call might have gone something like this: “And, into the final moments the riders are really going for the victory. Scott Stewart gallops his horse hard, but a long distance drops him to third. Holly Orlando’s horse loses focus, taking her out of the running, while Peter Pletcher’s horse picks up steam. But, suddenly, it’s Louise Serio, coming from third to surge to the front with a beautiful drive for the finish line.”

As the crowd sat on the edge of their seats during this feature event of the show, held Oct. 1-9 at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md., the race came out in Serio’s favor.

This was the Pennsylvania-based trainer’s second victory in the Monarch International’s Show Circuit Magazine WCHR Professional Finals. It was 2001 when she last won the class, in which the top four professionals in the WCHR national rankings ride four unfamiliar horses over four different hunter courses.

“[The scores] were really tight,” said Serio, smiling. “And I try not to listen to the scores because it makes me even more nervous. So when I went in fourth, I was just thinking I had to do an unbelievable round to do well. That was a great horse.”

Serio said her final mount, Ramsey, owned by April Wehle, was one of the riders’ favorite horses, so she was fortunate to have him for her last impression in front of judges Brian Lenehan, Shane George, Phillip J. DeVita, Mark Jungherr, Tammy Provost and Kim Dorfman. Serio’s polished yet bold ride aboard the bay garnered the best scores of the night (92, 95, and 95).

Serio finished with 363.65 points, while defending champion Pletcher was second (358.49). Stewart was third (357.32), and Orlando placed fourth (347.99).  “When I went into the ring I said, ‘I have to take my best shot.’ I didn’t circle and went right to the first jump. I actually went too soon,” said Serio, laughing. “They hadn’t announced [Peter’s] score, and I thought of that as I was going to the first fence. And then I thought, ‘Just go. You might not see another distance–you’d better take that one!’ “

Major Accomplishments
Serio, a co-founder of the American Hunter Jumper Foundation, said the association’s WCHR finals and challenges at the Capital Challenge have become sought-after goals for many riders in the eight WCHR regions.

“It’s an acknowledgement of the hard work and the success that you’ve had,” she said of the WCHR classes. “When you get to compete in a class like this with such great riders, it’s a real accomplishment.”

Pletcher’s final round aboard Debi Connor Lopez’ Perfect moved him up from third to second. “It’s great to ride with these guys,” said Pletcher, of Magnolia, Texas. “I think the biggest part of the class for me–once you get here and qualify–is it’s who’s the best in our sport. For the winner, it’s a great, great high. But like I was telling Holly earlier, once we get here, we’re still the best. I think that’s a great thing.”
Stewart, Flemington, N.J., a three-time finals winner, said this year’s competition was especially fun.

“This is the first time that I led going into the last round–usually I’m last. Then I bombed,” joked Stewart, who found a slightly long distance to the in-and-out aboard Whitney Roper’s La Caretta, for scores of 85, 88 and 85.

Orlando, Wellington, Fla., was in contention for her first victory until the final round aboard Kiera Piscia’s Nantucket. They had a miscommunication going into the bending line.  “I really liked my first line, but I don’t know what happened next,” she said. “The distance was there, but I just think we weren’t on the same page.”

Orlando’s scores of 80, 80 and 75 left her fourth. “I was hoping the fourth time in the class would be a charm for me,” added Orlando.
Orlando started out the class on horse No. 1, Freedom, but when the big bay spooked hard several times and bolted into the middle of the ring, she was allowed a re-ride. She said doing the first round again on the reserve horse didn’t faze her.

“That’s happened to me once before,” she said. “But I thought all of the horses this year were great–except the first one!”

Orlando will also remember her Capital Challenge experience because of her performances with Rio Renoir. The flashy bay, owned by Thomas and Cynthia Deibert, earned the first year green hunter championship and the grand green title.

Rio Renoir also took two WCHR year-end awards: the Jeffery Katz Memorial award for the horse/rider combination that accumulates the most points in the green divisions at their best four WCHR shows, plus the Capital Challenge, and the Rox Dene Award for the WCHR high-score horse ridden by a professional.

In addition to the Professional Finals title, Serio, of Kennett Square, Pa., also collected the regular working hunter championship with Bridget Hallman’s Gray Slipper. Then she watched her student guide the stunning gray gelding to the grand amateur-owner and amateur-owner, 18-35, hunter championships. Hallman was also named the best amateur-owner rider.

To The Top
Stewart and his students didn’t get shut out of championship honors. Alexandra Arute and Folklore topped the WCHR Junior Hunter Challenge.  Arute, 13, Avon, Conn., went first in the class and posted an 83.33, a performance no one else could match. As she watched and waited for the remainder of the riders to show, she said she became more nervous.

“After I went, I hoped I’d be in the ribbons, but when they announced 10 trips left, I went, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m still leading!’ ” she said.
Winning this class meant a lot to her for several reasons, especially because it’s her first year competing in the junior hunters with Folklore, a 6-year-old, chestnut warmblood she received for Christmas last year.

“He’s a really cool horse,” she said. “You keep a nice gallop, and he flows around the jumps. He’s just amazing.”
She also enjoyed competing against the veteran junior hunter riders, whom she’s watched for years. “I was a little nervous riding against Hardin [Towell] and Lexy [Reed], for example. They’re such great riders,” she added.

Towell and Reed didn’t disappoint. Aboard Blink, a first year green horse, Towell earned the large junior, 16-17, championship and
the best score of the show in the junior hunter division. In addition, Towell, 16, Camden, S.C., earned the WCHR Junior National Championship with his third-placed finish aboard Bellingham Bay in the WCHR Junior Challenge.

Reed, 16, Ocala, Fla., and her Double Cinco garnered the small junior, 16-17, title and the grand junior hunter championship. Reed was also named best junior hunter rider and finished fourth in the WCHR Junior national standings.

In the WCHR Amateur-Owner Classic, it was also a race for the national title. Even though Leah Schwendeman topped the class aboard her La Cara, it was the valuable sixth-placed points won by Caroline Moran that gave her the national championship.  Moran, 38, of Bedford, N.Y., was leading the WCHR amateur-owner national standings, and the final class would determine who went home with the title.

“After the amateur division finished, I wasn’t sure [where I stood],” said Moran. “I didn’t know if I was tied with Avery Dimmig, but Alex [Rheinheimer] told me I had to win a ribbon in this class in order to win it. We just had to get a ribbon, and thank God I got sixth!”
Moran joked that wearing the WCHR leading rider armband was like “the kiss of death.” After several years of wearing the armband and never claiming the year-end championship, Moran had every right to be nervous going into the last class aboard Pave.

Pave, 10, who was once her “second horse,” was champion at every WCHR-qualifying show this year.  “My little horse has been so good,” said Moran of her 15.2 1/2-hand gelding. She admitted that Pave wasn’t the type of horse she would normally have chosen to ride.

“Sometimes he’s really low and downhill. But without having anything else, I’ve had to adapt to it,” she said. “I put a pelham on him and it lifted him up a little bit, and now we actually get along much better. In the beginning he really wasn’t my ride, so that’s why I didn’t have high expectations of him.”

Moran said this WCHR victory meant a lot to her. “I’m on the board of the organization, and I think that they do a wonderful job trying to promote the hunters,” she said. “And it’s something that people can keep track of and look forward to throughout the year.”

Touching Victory
Jenny Karazissis and Touchstone returned to the second round of the WCHR Professional Challenge in fifth, having scored an 86.66 in the first round. But after a brilliant trip in the second round, the judges posted 94, 93 and a 92, which propelled her into the lead with 179.66.
Neither Havens Schatt, on Charming, nor Hunt Tosh, on Storm Of Angels, could best her score on Touchstone.

Karazissis said of Touchstone, “He’s a thrilling horse to ride. He just gives you such an amazing feeling in the air.”  Touchstone, 8, is a Hanoverian (Silvio I–Evita) owned by Davlyn Farms, and Karazissis met him as a pre-green horse. “A couple of years ago I rode him in the first years at Indio [Calif.],” she said. “It was his first time doing the division, and we started him in it the third week because he did the pre-greens the first two weeks.”

That winter, Touchstone earned the reserve circuit championship in the first year green division. In April 2005 she and Touchstone met again when she showed him in the second year green division and then the regular working division. She was thrilled to ride Touchstone at the Capital Challenge, where they also earned the second year green division tricolor.

“I’ve been coming back for this class for five or six years now,” she said. “And a lot of times I come back and borrow a horse. In the past I always did a catch ride that I’d never ridden before. But this time I was riding a horse that I was really comfortable with.”

Kristen Vale may not have known Belgique before the WCHR Adult Amateur Classic, but from now on she’ll have fond memories of their time together. After qualifying for the classic aboard catch-rides, she went to Maryland knowing trainer Christina Schlusemeyer had two possible mounts for her to show. So, two days before the classic Vale tried them and picked Belgique, 10.

Owned by Adele Einhorn, the chestnut Belgian Warmblood produced two solid rounds–scoring 84.33 and 83.58 points–to carry Vale to the title.  Those who attend horse shows might be more familiar with Vale, 31, in her role behind the scenes–she’s worked for Tom Struzzieri’s Horse Shows In The Sun for the past nine years. She runs the office at the HITS Ocala (Fla.) venue and travels throughout the year. She rides when she can and shows six to seven times per year.

“Christina’s been so kind to me for the past couple of years, always having a horse for me to show at a few horse shows,” said Vale. “I haven’t owned a horse since I was 10. My whole career has been catch riding, and that’s what gave me the skills for this.”

“He wants to be the mayor,” said Einhorn of the friendly gelding, nicknamed Sprout. “He’s very social and loves the horse shows. I’ve had him five years, and I showed him in the amateur-owners. I won the New England Medal Finals on him and showed him here in the Ariat Medal Finals when he was only a 4-year-old.”  Einhorn, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has suffered back problems the past year and sent Sprout to Quiet Hill, in preparation for the fall indoor circuit. 

Schlusemeyer knew Vale would ride Sprout well. “She can ride anything we have, anytime,” said Schlusemeyer with a smile.

Super Supporters
Cindy Cruciotti, 41, of Elizabeth, Colo., made the Ariat National Adult Medal Finals her focus for 2005. And when the two rounds and work-off culminated, Cruciotti emerged the winner, accomplishing her goal.

“I’ve done this for so long that it’s nice to see a group support the adults and really inspire them to stay within the equitation and improve their riding skills,” she said. “The Ariat is something that we can really work toward and still stay within the boundaries of our family life.”
Cruciotti rode Q to victory. She found the 9-year-old Swedish Warmblood in Belgium five years ago and has brought him along with the help of many people, including Pletcher, who coached her at Capital Challenge.

“We bought him for a hunter, and it didn’t evolve into that,” Cruciotti said. “He’s really stepped into the equitation and become a wonderful equitation horse. He really likes it.”

On her way to the finals, Cruciotti won 12 Ariat Medal classes in California and Colorado and finished second in the national points standings. In between the shows, Cindy and her husband, Augie, along with children Kelly, 8, and Michael, 12, built their business called Serenity. Cindy manages the boarding stable, with resident professional Keiri Kaneps as the trainer.

Cindy said she couldn’t have accomplished her goals without her family and friends supporting her, including her best friend, Kelli Clevenger, a trainer in California.  “Can you imagine doing this without your family?” she asked, with her children by her side. “My son was supposed to fly back today for a football game tomorrow, and he chose to stay here so he could watch me.”

Schaefer Raposa, 11, also thanked her parents and trainer Patricia Griffith for supporting her on the way to the WCHR Pony Challenge blue ribbon aboard Adrienne Sternlicht’s Vanity Fair. Raposa guided the 7-year-old, large green pony to a score of 85.58 in the one-round challenge class.

“I thought our course was really smooth,” said Raposa. “I was a little long in one place, but he covered it up.”

Vanity Fair seems to rise to the occasion. The gelding, nicknamed “Coco,” starred at the USEF Pony Finals (Ky.) in August, winning the grand green and large green pony championships, with Sternlicht in the irons.  Raposa accepted the ride on Vanity Fair since Sternlicht, her barnmate and friend, was trying to defend her WCHR title aboard small pony champion Ingenue.

Raposa hadn’t ridden the Dutch Riding Pony since May, when she took the ride while Sternlicht recovered from a broken leg. But Griffith was confident that Raposa could quickly re-acclimate to the elegant bay.

“Since Schaefer moved to North Salem, she’s been taking lessons regularly with Adrienne. And because she really pays attention, she knows the pony well,” said Griffith. “It’s like riding your best friend’s pony–it’s much easier than riding a different pony.”

Even though Kaitlin Porath hasn’t been riding In A Dream all that long, she and the dapple-gray looked like old friends as they produced two beautiful rounds that left them at the top of the WCHR Children’s Hunter Classic with 164.5 points.  Porath, 13, of Charlotte, N.C., purchased “Smarty” from Bill Schaub and has been riding with Jack and Liza Towell of Finally Farm since last March. Kaitlin and her older sister Elizabeth keep their ponies and horses at their family’s Meadow Hill Stables and meet the Towells at shows.

“He felt really good,” said Kaitlin of her German Riding Pony. “This [final round] was one of the best trips I’ve ever had. He really listened and stayed with the perfect pace.”

Kaitlin and her trainers chose to enter Smarty in the children’s pony division at Capital Challenge instead of the regular large pony section to keep his confidence in his first fall indoor experience. The 7-year-old is in his green year and placed fifth overall in the large green section at the USEF Pony Finals.

“Winning here means a lot,” said Kaitlin smiling. “I’ve really wanted to try and win something like this. And the presentations and awards are really great.”

Jack Towell added, “They really make this show special. This show’s become every kid’s dream. And Kaitlin did a great job–I’m very proud of her.”

Kroon Gravin Cruises To Victory
When 13 of 36 horses qualified for the jump-off in the $50,000 Ariat Congressional Cup Grand Prix at the Capital Challenge, it was clearly going to come down to speed.

Molly Ashe and Kroon Gravin went second in the twisting jump-off. When they galloped down the length of the ring over the final jump to stop the clock in 38.55 seconds, they not only set the pace with a clear round, but their time also held to win the FEI World Cup-qualifying event, Oct. 8 at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md.

“It was a bugger of a jump-off,” said Ashe, shaking her head.  The first part of the course was a series of tricky rollbacks, with the second jump set at an odd angle.  “I walked it carefully when I walked the course, just because of the turns,” she said. “The part I missed when I walked the course so carefully was that there was a timer in the way of the first rollback.”

Ashe saw the timer as she landed off the first jump and didn’t know if she should go inside or outside. “I was looking for footprints, then I saw a set going to the inside and so I went that way–and it was ugly. All of it came up so fast. I don’t think that jump-off round was ever going to feel good with all of the turning. It wasn’t like you could pick up a gallop and just slide around it.

“Actually, I can’t believe that Norman [Dello Joio] didn’t beat me,” she added. “I thought he was faster.”

Dello Joio and Quriel, the 12th pair to return, raced through the course. Quriel stalled slightly approaching the in-and-out, a mistake that cost Dello Joio the victory. He tried to make up time galloping down the long approach to the final skinny vertical, but when the clock stopped at 38.59 seconds, Dello Joio was a fraction off the mark.

“My horse has been fabulous this year–he hasn’t been out of the ribbons,” noted Dello Joio.

Ashe has shown in the Ariat Congressional Cup five times and has placed second three times. She was thrilled to finally earn the blue ribbon. “Winning on this horse is special in many ways. She’s been my horse of a lifetime,” she said.

Ashe also lauded course designer Leopoldo Palacios. “He’s a top-notch course designer, and I really like this show,” she said. “I know their focus is more on the hunters, but I think it’s one of our better venues as far as the World Cup qualifiers go. I think as far as prepping us to send the best people over to the finals, it’s very strong. It’s the type of venue we need to be jumping in to qualify.”

Beacon Hill Shines
Brianne Goutal, 17, of New York, N.Y., returned to the Capital Challenge and bested her 2004 second-placed finish in the Monarch International Show Circuit Magazine North American Equitation Championship. In a field of 107 competitors, Goutal rode Logan to a blue-ribbon finish.

Goutal led the two-round class with a 92.2 in the first trip and clinched the victory with a brilliant second round that the panel of five judges scored as 92.6. The class is a highlight of the Monarch International Equitation Weekend, held Oct. 1-2, in Upper Marlboro, Md.

“I thought I had a good trip after the second round, but I didn’t know if they were going to test. When I came out of the ring, I thought, ‘If I mess this up in the test, Frank [Madden] is going to kill me.’ I didn’t even care about myself,” said Goutal, laughing.  Goutal was referring to last year’s final, when she returned on top for testing and then forgot to walk where the judges had requested.  Second place this time went to Sloane Coles, 17, of The Plains, Va., who rode Cino to scores of 90.6 and 86.7.

Coles and Goutal train with Frank and Stacia Madden and Krista Freundlich at Beacon Hill Show Stables in Colts Neck, N.J. Training together gives them the opportunity to ask each other questions about the courses and share with one another how they ride. Both agreed that parts of the courses, designed by Michael Rheinheimer, were challenging.

One spot in particular was the second round’s final line. It was a forward line that required pace coming in, but many riders still opted for a tight inside turn to the line. By taking the inside track, it was difficult to get the pace down the line to make it look smooth. Coles and Goutal chose to go wide around the end jump to get a longer approach to the final line.

“When we walked the course, the entire rest of the course was turns and collection and finding jumps out of the turn. We decided that we should go around [the end jump] and really get the hunter stride we needed for the last line,” said Coles.

Goutal said, “There were a lot of bending lines that you had to move up, but at the same time you had to hold your horse out, and a lot of people got caught trying to line it up or were getting dead to the second jump.”

Coles added, “There were a lot of short turns in the second course where your horse was able to get their eye on the different jumps. You had to try and school them so they weren’t looking at the jump you didn’t want to jump.

“The first jump [in the second course] the horse was kind of blind to it. It was at a funny angle, and Brianne was the only one who really got up to it at a good pace,” added Coles.

California Dreamin’ Of Blue
Californians ruled the latter part of the Capital Challenge equitation weekend, Oct. 1-2 in Upper Marlboro, Md. Katie Kramer, 15, of Sherman Oaks, bested the top 29 riders in the country to win the Show Circuit Magazine National Children’s Medal Finals.

Course designer Michael Rheinheimer built a challenging track. Filled with turns and rollbacks–it forced riders to get their horses focused on the jumps. For Kramer, making sure her horse Providence can see the jumps is a requirement.  “He’s half-blind in his left eye,” she said. “You really have to make sure he sees the jump, so I over-bend him so he sees it with his
right eye.”

The final was held in a two-round format, with the top 10 returning for the second round. Brooke Coleman of Houston, Texas, led after Round 1. Coleman, 16, scored an 88.2 , while Kramer who scored an 87.7.

Riders returned in reverse order of preference for the second round. Kramer posted an 89.4, for a combined score of 177.1. Coleman came back as the last rider and had a beautiful trip. The five judges posted scores of 89, 90, 89.5, 92 and 92, so her total average score of 178.7 kept her on top. But because the riders’ scores were within 2 points, they returned to test.

Although both girls performed accurate tests, the judges chose Kramer to win the class. She’s trained with Dick Carvin since last January. Coleman trains with Patti Harnois, Cathy Grady and Caitlin Venezia at Holly Hill Farm in Marstons Mills, Mass.  “I’m very exited,” said Kramer, who also placed fourth in the National Children’s Medal year-end standings. “This was a goal for me. It’s something I’ve been aiming at for the past three years.”

Unlike Kramer, Elsa Horrigan of Camarillo, Calif., didn’t set her sights on the Capital Challenge–it just sort of happened. The 19-year-old led both rounds of the two-round Monarch International North American Adult Equitation Championship and then proved the win was hers after going head-to-head in a final test against Cindy Cruciotti, who later won the Ariat National Adult Medal Finals.

Horrigan rode such an accurate test that no one watching would have suspected the horse and rider had only been together for the duration of the class. She borrowed Galileo from trainer Don Stewart Jr.

“I didn’t come here to ride. I came to mentor another young rider who was showing in the National Children’s Medal class,” she said.
Her trainer, Jim Hagman of Elvenstar Stables, suggested she enter the adult classes at the last minute. Hagman’s assistant sent Horrigan’s show clothes east via FedEx to arrive Saturday morning, and his associate, Amanda Ballew, found a horse for Horrigan to ride.
Horrigan got on Galileo 10 minutes before her first class. The pair went on to be champion in the adult equitation division and then topped Sunday’s championship class.

“She rides so well and is such an experienced rider that for her to just get on and do it is better,” said Hagman. “She has a beautiful 5-year-old amateur horse, and he’s been winning a lot and could do it, but we thought, ‘Oh he’s only 5.’

“But after all the stress in the juniors, this was fun,” added Hagman.

So Hagman didn’t say much to Horrigan before she went into the ring. “I wanted her to do well,” said Hagman, “but it was just for kicks and giggles no matter what.”