When Kelsi Robinson started riding with Louise Serio four years ago, she didn’t have a horse of her own. Serio gave her the ride on Sleigh Ride for somewhat practical reasons. “They put me on him because he’s big, and I’m really tall,” said Robinson.

But the partnership has blossomed, and Robinson rode the big gray to the overall grand championship at the Show Circuit Magazine/USEF National Junior Hunter Championships-East Coast, held Aug. 1-2 in Lexington, Ky. They earned the large junior hunter, 16-17, tricolor as well.

Robinson and Sleigh Ride took second in the handy class, won the under saddle, and were third in the stakes class to clinch the
tricolors.

“He was so relaxed. We had to go really late in the day, and usually both of us aren’t quite as focused at the end of the day. For the first half of the stakes course, he was a little uptight, and then he really relaxed and jumped well and I was able to really hand gallop the last fence,” Robinson said. Sleigh Ride, or “Hogan,” had been Robinson’s only horse until this winter, when she bought a young prospect. She leased him for three years and bought him at the junior hunter finals last year.

“He’s come a long way since I started riding him; he’s gotten a lot more relaxed. He’s big and white and a good mover, which gives him a lot of presence when he goes in the ring,” she said.

Their partnership didn’t have the most auspicious beginning, however. “I showed him a couple of times in the children’s, and then in the juniors, but it didn’t go so well, so we were looking for another horse. But then I tried him again, and I loved him. I guess we got used to each other and we clicked after a little while,” said Robinson.

Hogan, now 18, had plenty of professional and amateur division miles, but Robinson was the first to show him in the junior hunters. “He’s not a push-button horse. He can be perfect and awesome to ride, but he can also be difficult and get really strong,” she said. “From him, I’ve learned that you’re going to have good days and bad days. For a while there, he had rails all the time, and it got very frustrating. But we worked through that. Sometimes, you just have to cover up as much as you can and go with it.”

Robinson, West Chester, Pa., will conclude her junior career this year, and she plans to show Hogan lightly in the amateur classes next year.

And On The West Coast…

Stephanie Danhakl claimed her own top prizes in the second incarnation of the finals, the Show Circuit Magazine/Junior Hunter Championships-West Coast, held Aug. 16-17 in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Danhakl guided Callaway to the overall grand junior and small junior hunter, 16-17, championships, and took the large junior, 16-17, tricolor with Lifetime.

“This was definitely a goal of mine because last year I was overall reserve champion by less than a point. So, I was very excited when I did so well this year,” said Danhakl.

While Danhakl has ridden Lifetime for four years and “knows him through and through,” she said, Callaway was a new ride for her this year. Trainer Archie Cox found Callaway, formerly owned by Cayce Harrison, this winter for Danhakl to lease and show on the HITS Desert Circuit (Calif.) while her small junior hunter was recovering from colic surgery.

But after Danhakl and Callaway claimed the Desert Circuit circuit championship, she knew he would stay with her, and she bought him. “We worked so well together that it seemed like the right thing to do,” she said.

Danhakl was mildly surprised at their instant success. “Callaway hadn’t been shown for a year; he was just kind of waiting to be sold,” she said. “Archie saw him and liked him, so he came here. I got on, and he’s so easy to ride. He’s got a huge stride, and he’s a good mover and jumps well. It just worked out really well. The first show I went to he was great, and he got even better as we went along.”

Callaway, a 9-year-old Hanoverian, enjoyed galloping over the long, open courses on the fields at the Oaks/Blenheim facility. “It was fun for him. He’s not a spooky horse, so he did the funny-looking jumps without a problem, when some of the other horses were looking,” said Danhakl.

And the different courses perked up Lifetime, whom Danhakl has ridden for four years. “He definitely was even better than normal and jumped better. He likes the big field. It keeps his attention more. I’ve done so many rounds on him that sometimes he gets bored, so he was a little more alert out there over the different kinds of jumps,” she said.

Lifetime, 11, has been not just a winner, but also a best friend to Danhakl, who only started riding four years ago. She bought him to debut in the children’s hunters, but he proved himself worthy of more by moving up into the junior division and winning
frequently. “He’s kind of taught me everything. He’s not the fanciest hunter, but he’s always very consistent and has a very nice way of going,” she said.

Monica Bernstein has had Chawton for just a year, but they joined forces for the large junior, 15 and under, championship on the West Coast. Bernstein and Chawton won the under saddle and stakes classes, and placed second in the handy class for the tricolor.

“I’d been planning to go, and I definitely wanted to do well, but I didn’t expect to win,” said Bernstein.

Bernstein, 16, was actually looking for a small junior hunter when she found Chawton, an impressive 17.2-hand, 8-year-old, Holsteiner. “I like big horses, and I got on him and really liked him right away. He was big and slow and strong,” she said. “He doesn’t act green, and he doesn’t ever care about the jumps. He’s just very willing.”

Bernstein, Phoenix, Ariz., has the unusual handicap of living in a different state than her horse. She travels six hours to ride with trainers Phillip Cillis and Marcy Gehrke in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

She spent a summer riding with them three years ago and fell in love with their program. She rides two or three times a month, except during the winter and summer circuits. “It’s tough, but I don’t have that hard a time with it. I don’t have much trouble being rusty at seeing distances, but I do know that my equitation would be better if I rode all the time,” she said.

Winning With The Mares

Caroline Searcy gets to ride all the time. Four years ago, she spent the winter in Ocala, Fla., with trainers Kim Burnette-Mitchell and Dennis Mitchell, and she ended up staying with them. She lives at their farm, Kimberden, in Knoxville, Tenn., and rides as many horses as she can every day. The hard work paid off with the East Coast small junior, 16-17, championship aboard the catch ride Lauryn Hill.

“To tell you the honest truth, I was a little surprised to win,” said Searcy. “I knew the mare was more than capable of it, but I didn’t know if I could come through. In the handy class, the horse was great, but I wasn’t on it like I could have been. But we were great in the stakes class and pulled it off.”

Searcy, originally from Tuscaloosa, Ala., took over the ride on “Lauryn” in June. Braider Tammy Peterson owns the mare and had brought her along through the amateur divisions.

“She’s brave, honest, and tries hard,” said Searcy of Lauryn. “She’s got a great expression, and she goes right to the jumps with her ears forward. All you do is loop the reins at her.”

Searcy, 17, doesn’t own a horse of her own but shows ponies, hunters, equitation horses and jumpers for the Mitchells. “They have been the best of everything for me,” she said. “They support me and help me in every way possible.”

Searcy plans to turn professional once her junior years are over, and she aims to stay at Kimberden.

Hayden Warmington rode her own American Beauty to the East Coast large junior, 15 and under, championship, and the War Dress Memorial Trophy for the highest-scoring mare. “It wasn’t really my goal to be champion there, but I was certainly happy that it worked out,” said Warmington, of Alpharetta, Ga.

With a second in the handy class and a win in the stake, Warmington and American Beauty clinched the title. “In the handy, she gets a little bit confused, with all the turning. But she was good there and stayed focused, and in the stake class she was absolutely perfect,” said Warmington.

Warmington, 15, who rides with Don Stewart Jr., bought “Lucille” two years ago in Belgium. “She was supposed to be a broodmare, but they couldn’t get her to come into season,” she said. “I think they broke her just to make the tape they sent us. But we really liked her.”

Warmington started showing Lucille, a 7-year-old Selle Franç¡©s by Narcos II, and spent six months in the children’s division before moving up to the junior ranks. “She’s a fast learner, and she’s so much fun to ride. She has this rhythm that you get lulled into, and after the first jump you just don’t have to worry about the pace at all,” she said.