Upperville, Va.—June 7

The first grand champions of the week were pinned Wednesday underneath the oaks at the 170^th Upperville Colt & Horse Show.

No stranger to the winner’s circle, Scott Stewart earned two grand championships. Building on his 3’6” green hunter championship at Devon, Stewart rode Sophie Gochman’s Colter to a tie for the grand green hunter championship with Martin Schlaeppi’s Mr. Manhattan, ridden by Tori Colvin. Stewart also took the grand hunter championship on California Love, owned by Rivers Edge, after sweeping the green conformation division, as well as the Leading Hunter Rider title for himself, an honor he’s earned many times, but still appreciates.

“It’s awesome,” he said of the grand hunter championship. “We always strive to have those kinds of horses who can do well here, and I’m very honored to win that award. I’m just happy we can keep it going.”

“We love coming here for the horse show,” added Stewart, Flemington, New Jersey. “It’s one of the few older horse shows that we get to do, and it’s just very special.

Gochman bought Colter, a 9-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Franziscus—Sophie) last fall when he was competing in the pre-greens with Amanda Steege. He’d also done the amateur-owner division with Margot Peroni and Bastian Schroeder.

The flashy bay has been going from strength to strength, taking his winning performance at Devon and improving upon it at Upperville.

“He felt amazing,” Stewart said of Upperville. “Those were two of my best rounds I’ve ever had on him. He got a 92 and a 93. He has a great mouth, he’s really light and really easy.”

The gelding will show again with Gochman this week in the amateur division, then will likely have a light schedule the rest of the year because she’s busy with college.

California Love, an 8-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Clarimo—Daytona Love), came to Stewart’s barn as a 4-year-old stallion. He was gelded last year and didn’t show, but he came out strong this year in Florida.

“He’s still a bit green, but he’s pretty simple and straightforward to ride.,” Stewart said. “He was very consistent today. He won all four jump classes with high 80s scores, so I’m really happy with him.”

Scroll down to view more scenes from the historic show, which continues through Sunday.

Click here for full results.