May 29—Devon, Pa.

Kelley Farmer finally got the upper hand in a friendly rivalry she’s carried on with Scott Stewart for years—this time it was her turn to take home the leading hunter rider award at Devon.

Farmer surpassed Stewart, who’s earned the award 12 times in the past. “He makes it hard, trust me!” Farmer said with a laugh. “To dethrone him is amazing, but I’m sure payback is going to be amazing!

“Scott and I show against each other every week pretty much, so what an honor to be able to do that, but I couldn’t do that without the group of horses I have,” she continued. “I’m lucky enough to have a barnful right now. That’s horse showing. Sometimes there’s one, and sometimes there’s none, and right now I’m lucky enough to have a bunch. It’s a blessing.”

Farmer was certainly the busiest rider of the week, and it paid off. She earned the first year green and high performance hunter reserve championships with Mythical, the green conformation hunter championship and reserve with Back Story and Quotable, respectively, and the regular conformation hunter reserve championship with Back Story.

To top it all off, Back Story was named the grand hunter champion, and Farmer won the high performance working hunter leading lady rider title. “It was certainly an achievement I wanted to accomplish, but my horses going well is first and foremost. After that, then the rest comes,” she said of her leading hunter rider win.

Farmer, Wellington, Fla., was particularly proud of Back Story, an 8-year-old German Sport Horse gelding (Collini—Peddy) owned by Tia Schurecht. “He was fantastic. [This season] he was reserve to Quotable every time we showed, and this week he got him!” she said. “He’s huge-strided and lovely to ride. You don’t have to go anywhere fast. He’s scopey, you don’t ever have to worry about going anywhere. You can crawl basically!”

Farmer’s winning week was all the more special since she’s been coming to Devon since her pony years. “This ring brings out the best in horses. It brings out the best in good horses. It’s one I look forward to every year,” she said. “It’s the ring, it’s the tradition, it’s the people, it’s everything. It’s a pleasure to watch those kinds of horses go well.”

Stewart was more than happy for Farmer. “I think Kelley deserves to be leading rider. No one works harder than she does with as many horses she rides every week. She puts a lot into it,” he said. “Devon’s one special show I look forward to coming to. There were a lot of amazing rounds this week. It’s one of the ones where we don’t have to run off to different rings. We can feed off the competition. You get to watch.”

Stewart, Flemington, N.J., took the high performance hunter championship with Betsee Parker’s Dedication and the regular conformation hunter championship with Alexa Weisman and Krista Weisman’s Showman, a newer ride for him. “Showman’s one of the easiest horses I’ve ever ridden,” said Stewart. “He’s very laid back and not spooky. He’s a really nice horse to ride.”

Stewart and his partner Ken Berkley imported the now 11-year-old Westphalian gelding (Showstar—First Lady) a few years ago, and Alexa rode him in the amateur-owner hunters before Stewart got the ride last summer.

First Time’s a Charm

For Jamie Taylor, her first time at Devon couldn’t have gone much better. While she was just hoping to be called back for a jog or maybe pick up a ribbon, she ended her week with the second year green hunter championship aboard Queen Lattifa, an 11-year-old Westphalian mare owned by Jennifer Stillman. “It was just as amazing as everyone has always said it was. I never came as a junior, since I didn’t have hunters,” said the Thousand Oaks, Calif., native. “She always gives you her best effort every time out, which is a really awesome feeling. She’s really big, so the hardest part with her, this is the first time I’ve ever been able to go in the ring and let her go and let her gallop a little bit. Normally I’m trying to fit everything in. She seemed to really like that!”

Taylor, 29, grew up riding mostly jumpers and started her professional life at jumper sales barns. She currently runs Huntover Farm with Mark Bone, where she’s gaining more experience with hunters, although she’s always on the lookout for a good jumper. “The jumpers are where my heart lies,” she said with a laugh. “I love a good hunter, but I really love the jumper ring.”

Taylor has had the ride on Queen Lattifa since October. “Mark always describes her as the worse version of me. We can be very friendly, [but] we have no problems being left alone, so we clicked really quickly. I seemed to get her, and she seemed to understand me,” she said.

Queen Lattifa is in the process of being sold, so while it’s bittersweet for Taylor, she sees the silver lining. “It’s a good way to end it I guess. You’ve gotta go out [on top],” she said.

Kingpin Rules First Years

While Amanda Steege has been a regular at Devon for several years, this year marked Kingpin’s first time in the Dixon Oval. The 6-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Carolus II—Mirkowitz) made his debut a winning one, clinching the first year green championship. “He was just so relaxed the entire weekend. This is his first time showing at Devon. You can really never expect exactly how they’re going to act here. Some horses come and seem like they eat up the activity and the attention, and it makes them better and rise to the occasion, and some get nervous, and it goes the other way. For him, I think he really loved it here. Each day he felt better and more relaxed,” said Steege, 37.

“Bruno” is owned by Jimmy and Ellen Toon and lives with them in Wellington, Fla. and South Salem, N.Y., but Steege rode him briefly as a 4-year-old, then picked up showing him again last year.

Steege, of Bedminster, N.J., was proud of Bruno’s win in the handy class on Tuesday, and she hopes to continue on with him this year. “I’m a professional rider, so I’m supposed to be able to ride all styles of horse, but there’s certain horses you get on that just feel like you were made for each other, and the style of riding that I like to do is the style he likes as well, which is just a soft, relaxed, trusting ride. It’s never really felt like work for me on him,” she said.

For complete results, visit the Devon Horse Show website.

See more of the Chronicle’s coverage of Devon.