Alexandra Zavoyna had no room for error going into show jumping at this year’s CN North American Junior and Young Rider Championships in the CCI** division, held Aug. 1-6. She and Merloch began their three-day at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va., on a dressage score of 49.2 and never looked back.

Her initial score followed her to the championship podium where she accentuated her USA Area II team silver with the indi-vidual gold medal.

As Zavoyna watched Rebecca Barron’s show jumping trip aboard Relentless Pursuit, she hoped that the second-placed pair might drop a rail to ease some of the pressure. But Barron left all fences intact. So Zavoyna mustered her confidence and left her trust to Merloch’s show jumping forte to hold their 2.3-fault advantage.

“I knew it certainly wasn’t an unreachable goal. [Merloch] is a fantastic show jumper,” said Za-voyna. “I’ve been training a long time for this–to stand on that podium. I was thinking to myself, ‘How bad do you really want this?’ “

And Merloch matched Zavoyna’s composure and heart as they won their first two-star together.

“He’s the most straightforward, honest and big-hearted horse I’ve ever ridden. I just kept my lines, and he did his job,” Zavoyna said of Saturday’s cross-country trip over David O’Connor’s course. “This horse has the best work ethic, and he will try anything for me.”

Bonnie Mosser, with whom Zavoyna has trained since she was 12, found Merloch in New Zealand in 2003.

“She told me, ‘If you don’t take this horse, I will,’ ” said Zavoyna, who didn’t think twice.

It was in September of 2003 when Zavoyna and her dad drove their truck and trailer onto the airport tarmac. “It was a really neat experience, actually. I pulled up, and I saw his nose sticking out of the box and I thought, ‘That’s him. That’s my horse,’ ” Zavoyna recalled. “He just walked off the plane and into my trailer, just like that–he’s never been difficult.”

Now equipped with the 8-year-old sport horse of her dreams, Zavoyna, 17, anticipates a bright future with Merloch, including a return for next year’s NAJYRC.

Zavoyna joined Stephanie Boyer, Ashley Adams and Emilee Libby on the USA Area II team and helped give the combined USA Area I/III team a run for their gold. The two teams remained in a dead heat throughout the first two phases of competition, both maintaining scores of 159.2 after dressage and through cross-country.

Without a cushion to drop the lowest score, the three-member team of USA Area I/III approached Sunday’s show jumping phase with one plan in mind: Each rider putting her best foot forward. Kate Luce and Fox In Flight took the team’s initial trip and finished clear, while Dana Widstrand and Relentless Pursuit followed suit.

After Boyer and Libby caught one rail apiece, Zavoyna’s clear round purged Adams’ 8 faults from the team’s final score (171.2). But Barron’s clean trip aboard Oberon IV secured USA Area I/III’s gold-medal position regardless.

Applause echoed throughout the Virginia Horse Center in celebration of Area I/III’s gold and Barron’s individual silver-medal finish. The team took their victory gallop, each member finishing on her dressage score.

Coming Together
When Barron and Luce arrived in Lexington for USA Area III, they realized they’d need another teammate. “We sort of came in and were thinking, ‘We need to find another good rider to make a team,’ ” said Luce. They met Widstrand that Tuesday, and she was definitely good enough.

Widstrand, of Area I, and her 10-year-old Thor-oughbred–the first horse she’s ever owned–returned to this year’s NAJYRC to finish fourth individually. She took her first trip to NAYRC in 2001 as a groom and returned in 2003 to win the CCI*. This spring, she placed sixth in the Jersey Fresh CCI** (N.J.).

“After I watched Kate go clean in show jumping, I was just thinking, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to go clean–I can’t let my team down,” said Widstrand. “They took me in from a different Area, but everyone has been fabulous.”

Barron added, “Dana fit right in, and we had a great team.”

Luce and Barron have shared a riding partnership for some time and competed on the bronze-medal USA Area III team last year. In preparation for this year’s competition, they trained together at Bouckaert Farm in Georgia.

This year marked Barron’s last NAJYRC, but she plans to compete Oberon IV at advanced this fall. She bought the 9-year-old, Dutch Warmblood gelding from Peter Gray three years ago and took her time bringing him along.

“He was kind of tough on the flat when I first got him. There was a lot of rearing and bucking,” Barron explained. But working with her dressage coach, Eugina Bellow, proved successful. “We’ve just been taking it slow, and Eugina is really good at fixing those kinds of problems.

“I’m just so pleased with how we went this year. I added about 20 jump penalties to my dressage score last year–big improvement this time,” Barron added with a laugh.

Jessica DiGenova took the individual and team bronze medals home to Ontario, Canada, with her 16-year-old mare, Upolu.

After dressage, the pair’s score bested Zavoyna’s by slightly more than 1 point. Even though they decisively navigated O’Connor’s cross-country course, DiGenova and Upolu earned 4 time penalties and dropped 0.6 points behind Barron.

The pair won the non-championship one-star at last year’s NAJYRC and have since stepped up to two-star level, taking the Florida CCI** this spring at Ocala’s Florida Horse Park.

New Friends and New Terrain
Katlyn McMorris and Clifton Peekachu returned to the NAJYRC this year from the flatlands of Barrington Hills, Ill., to take on Lexington’s hilly terrain once again. But they wouldn’t settle for silver this time. The pair doubled their pleasure with a team gold for USA Area IV and the individual gold in the CCI*.

McMorris, 18, and Peekachu left the dressage arena with 40.7 penalties to instantly establish a strong hold over the 29-entry class. The pair and their team only widened their leads as teammate Cassidy Lundmark took over second place after cross-country aboard What’s Shakin. But McMorris still kept 10 penalties between the gold and silver positions.

“The cross-country course was a blast but very challenging,” said McMorris.

“Our line into the second water complex was a little challenging, but [Peekachu] saved me.”

On Sunday, only five combinations managed clean rounds in show jumping–including silver medalist Jessica Rice and I’m So Brite and bronze medalist Caitlin Silliman on Twain.

McMorris remained confident in the lead she’d established, and, though she caught one rail near the end of her trip, she and Peekachu cleared the three final fences. They finished with 44.7 penalties, still 9 penalties ahead of Rice who took silver after her faultless show jumping round.

McMorris and Peekachu began their partnership 212 years ago after Donna Smith imported the Thoroughbred gelding from New Zealand. “He’s always been awesome for me, but he had a lot of holes to fill when we first got him,” McMorris said. “He had the ability and talent in him, but he needed the strength and training.”

 While McMorris continues her 10 years of training with Jennifer Rousseau, she also sought dressage coaching from Kim Barteau and with four-star eventer Becky Holder.

The pair also competed on last year’s USA Area IV one-star team but just missed the medals in fourth place. “It’s a great experience whether you’re in the medals or not,” said McMorris.

The team agreed that camaraderie made NAJYRC unlike most other competitions. “It’s a great feeling knowing that we did our best and did our Area proud,” said 14-year-old Callie Judy of Columbia, Mo.

McMorris added, “We all met two weeks ago at training camp and bonded immediately.”

For Meaghan Marinovich, 16, of Edina, Minn., her first team experience and first year at NAJYRC “was just perfect.”

Rice trekked to Lexington with I’m So Brite from Kingsburg, Calif., also combating nervousness about tackling the rolling Shenandoah terrain.

“My horse was amazing. It’s a totally different atmosphere here, and we were really worried about the footing and the weather and that kind of stuff,” Rice said of her first experience eventing in the East. Nevertheless, the pair excelled throughout their three-day and finished on their 51.7-penalty dressage score.

While warming up for show jumping, Rice said she was just trying to stay focused on her horse and her riding. After Silliman and Twain posted a clean effort before Rice’s ride, one rail would have dropped her and I’m So Brite into fifth place. But like their cross-country performance, they performed with unwavering focus and a spotless round to secure silver.

Rice picked up “Brite,” who was formerly ridden at the four-star level by Phillip Dutton, in January when she began training with Debbie Rosen. “I instantly fell in love with him,” Rice said of the 12-year-old Thoroughbred.

Rice plans to ride Brite in the CCI** this November at Galway (Calif.) and will continue in two-star competitions in preparation for next year’s NAJYRC.

Silliman not only left Lexington with an individual bronze but also took team bronze for USA Area II at her first NAJYRC. “I was really nervous about the water on the cross-country course,” Silliman admitted. “But [Twain] was awesome everywhere.”

They also finished on their dressage score of 53.8. Riding for Area II also marked Silliman’s first team experience. “I loved it. Everybody relies on each other when all the scores are combined, and the team spirit made it awesome,” she said.

Joshua A. Walker