Devon, Pa.—May 30

If anyone could be called the de facto hunter king of the Devon Horse Show it would be Scott Stewart. He added his name to the Hope Montgomery Scott Perpetual Trophy as the leading hunter rider for the 14^th time after making quick work of the high performance conformation and high performance divisions, taking the championship titles on Private Life and Catch Me respectively.

“I really love this ring; you can really gallop in this ring,” said Stewart. “And I love a one-ring horse show. It’s one of the few times a year that everybody can watch, and you can watch everybody else’s horse go, and you’re not running off to five different rings. It’s one of the few horse shows left that are that special that you can pay attention.”

Few hunters are as dominant as Private Life. Since October 2016 he’s left every horse show with a tricolor. In head-to-head qualifying championships, which includes Devon and the fall indoor horse shows, he’s undefeated.

Now that he’s moved out of the green divisions he’s found a worthy competitor in barn mate Lucador, who was last year’s champion. Judges Timmy Kees and Brian Lenehan gave Private Life the edge this year, but we’ll let you judge for yourself. Which conformation hunter do you think jumped it best?

Four blue ribbons and two reds gave Scott Stewart and Private Life the high performance conformation championship and the grand hunter championship. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Scott Stewart’s second ride Lucador took the reserve championship in the high performance conformation. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Chris Payne’s mount Truman won the under saddle and turned in some beautiful trips over fences. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

And let’s not forget Hunt Tosh and Patriot, who won the stakes class. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Watch Private Life’s handy round, courtesy of USEF Network:

Whenever Catch Me is in town you can be sure to see some big scores, and he didn’t disappoint. On the first day of the high performance he turned in a 95, and he followed it up in the handy round with a 94.

While it might have been Catch Me’s week, the high performance division is always stuffed full of spectacular jumpers, which turns it into a hard fought race for the championship.

Give these snappy knees a glance and let us know which one you’d put on top.

High performance champions Scott Stewart and Catch Me put in three rounds that scored in the 90s. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Mindful turned in some big scores to take the reserve championship with Holly Shepherd. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Last year’s champion Cameo jumped around 4′ like it was easy for Scott Stewart. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Now that you’ve judged the top placers, let’s give some other beautiful jumpers some love.

It would be hard to find a horse that jumped with tighter knees than Casalino, piloted by Savannah Jenkins. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Robert Crandall’s horse On The Slye made a classically beautiful picture. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Stateside was in fine form as he jumped around the high performance with Morgan Ward. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

There’s no way Charismo was going to touch those rails with David Wilbur aboard. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Is that Canadian show jumper Erynn Ballard you ask? It sure is! She tacked up Enchanted for the high performance. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

All the chrome on Scott Stewart’s ride Captivate made it hard to turn away. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Watch Catch Me’s round that scored a 95, the highest of the horse show, courtesy of USEF Network:

Watch Catch Me’s handy round, courtesy of USEF Network:

Looking for information on where you can watch and when your favorite riders or classes go? We’ve got it all in one place for you. 

Find all our coverage from the show here, and check here for full results.

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Want more Devon? Check out the June 18 issue of the print magazine. What are you missing if you don’t subscribe?