Good or bad, everyone remembers their first time at Devon. Whether they were still young enough to show in jodhpurs and garters or didn’t come until they were an adult, everyone has a story. We asked top trainers and riders to tell us about their personal debuts in the Dixon Oval.
John French, rider of the 3’6” green hunter champion, Little Brook LLC’s Kaiden, co-trainer of Best Child Rider on a Horse, Paige Walkenbach, and trainer of leading amateur-owner rider, Katie Robinson
“I was in the leadline. I was probably 4 or 5 years old, and I got a fly in my eye. So the whole time I was crying and screaming, ‘I got a fly!’ My mother [Jill French] wanted to kill me.”
Stacia Madden, trainer of the co-winner of the R.W. “Ronnie” Mutch Championship, Clayton Farrell, and the winner of the William P. Cooney Style & Sportsmanship Award, Taylor Cawley
Madden first showed at Devon as a junior in 1987 and estimates she’s attended the show every year since then, including a few years spent in the professional hunters. As a junior, one of her trainers was Bill Cooney, the namesake of the William P. Cooney Style & Sportsmanship Award.
“Part of what was special for me with Taylor [Cawley] winning the William P. Cooney award for the second year in a row is my first year at Devon was my only year riding [here] as a junior, and Bill was one of my trainers,” she said, recalling that she rode her equitation horse Outrageous in the junior hunters at Devon that year as well. “I won the [AHSA Medal] here. And I think I went and made a mistake in the [ASPCA Maclay]. … There’s actually a really fun picture of me after making a mistake in the Maclay, with Bill kind of giving it to me on the sidelines, and I saw that when I was getting ready for Devon.
“So for Taylor to win that award, I think was pretty special for two years in a row, because [Taylor’s mother, Molly Ashe] and I rode together at Beacon Hill,” she added. “Now I’m training my best friend’s daughter, and now the two of us have helped Taylor win that award two years in a row. So that part was really special.”
Colin Syquia, winning rider, $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby with Front Page
“I think one of [my] first times as a rider doing professional hunter divisions was actually riding [Front Page] here. He was a first-year [3’6″ green] horse, and he got nice ribbons. I am a student of the sport, so I read a lot about it, watched a lot of videos and pictures, and you see all the names. It’s all happened here. The best have been here. They’re on the wall. It’s the trophies—and then if you’re lucky enough to have your name and your horse’s name engraved on that trophy, it’s immortalized. And it’s epic.”
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Leslie Steele, rider and trainer
“My first time coming to Devon was in the early ’90s, and I was a professional based in Los Angeles. It was so exciting. I got here, and there was the Ferris wheel and all the cool stuff. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is it.’ I thought getting to Devon, I made it. It was really fun.
“I had customers that came, like Tindle and Elise Haas, and it was just a dream come true. I think I’ve been here almost every year since then. I try not to miss it. It is my favorite horse show of all horse shows.”
Emily Elek, hunter trainer
Elek’s first Devon happened at age 13, on her medium pony Helicon Headliner. She recalled going on the recommendation of a family friend, and her and her mother being surprised when their entry was accepted.
“So I got here, and I was like, so starstruck, just a little kid from Wisconsin,” she said. “I remember sitting on the hill there, grazing my pony and just watching. It was so cool. And I choked and was nervous and probably missed in every trip. But we did it, and it was so much fun. It was just the coolest experience for a kid from Wisconsin to come and see all of my idols.”
Nick Haness, rider of the green conformation hunter champion, John & Stephanie Ingram LLC’s Odette, and high performance conformation hunter reserve champion, John & Stephanie Ingram LLC’s Jenkins, and leading hunter rider
Haness first came to Devon in 2006—a decade before earning his first championship at Devon in 2016—as a junior competing two horses in the equitation under trainer Don Stewart.
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“I remember always reading about and seeing what Devon was, and thought when I was a junior that I would never have been able to have the chance to go compete there,” he said. “So being able to go was sort of magical, to see all of the quality that comes to Devon and the level of high competition that happens there. I loved being in the middle of the fair with all the commotion going on; it was really exciting. And being able to get top ribbons in the equitation was like beyond my expectation, but I was thrilled to have been able to go and compete.”
Katie Robinson, rider of the grand amateur-owner hunter MTM Plus One and leading amateur-owner rider
“I don’t think I did the ponies here but for sure junior hunters and equitation. I was just talking to my mother [Margaret Jacobs] on the phone, and she was like, ‘I saw pictures. It’s still blue.’ Yep, it’s still blue. It’s still the special place that it was back in the ’80s. [I remember] just being really nervous, and I guess maybe it’s age, I’m sort of ‘it’ll be what it will be’ at this point.”
Michael Britt-Leon, third in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby with Prime Time
For me, it’s very special. As a kid, I didn’t get to come here. We couldn’t afford to get from California, where I grew up, to the East Coast, and so I got to watch it a lot and hear all the stories about it, but I didn’t get to come until [12 or 15] years ago. And the first class I did here was the international derby on a horse called C Coast Z that I had. It’s an exciting moment for me to go in that ring, because it’s something I’ve always looked up to being an adult. It’s a little surreal.”
Hunt Tosh, second in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby with Cannon Creek
“I’m lucky enough, we’re knocking on about 20 years of being able to ride for the Wheelers now, and the stories that you hear from them about growing up, coming to this horse show, and you know Ken Ken and Douglas being kids coming here. … Every great hunter, I believe, has a story behind it at Devon. Everyone talks about where they showed this and where they won different places, but every great hunter, I think, had a Devon championship or a Devon story behind it, and to be part of it is amazing.”
